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Habs Rookie Tournament Recap |
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At the rookie tournament in London, Ontario, the Montreal Canadiens prospects won their first match against the Pittsburgh Penguins and lost the following two to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators. It was an excellent opportunity to see how the Canadiens rookies stacked up against their peers from other teams. All in all, there were few surprises and the players who were expected to excel came through and delivered.
Michael McCarron centered Artturi Lehkonen and Nikita Scherbak to form the top line and they certainly did not disappoint. They are the future of the Canadiens and showed that they are ready to compete now. Michael McCarron was given the ‘C’ for the tournament and he wore it with pride. He played in the first two games of the tournament and recorded 3 goals and 1 assist. According to those in attendance he looked noticeably lighter on skates, the result of losing 11lbs in the off-season. His linemates also impressed. Scherbak was the Canadiens highest scoring playing and displayed his skill and scored perhaps the most dazzling goal of the tournament. Chances are that he still requires some more seasoning in the AHL but he is showing that there is a very good reason the Canadiens and Trevor Timmins decided to select him in the first round of the 2014 NHL draft. For his part, Lehkonen had a very mature game. He showed his offensive skill but also his ability to play a 200 foot game. He seemed to enjoy the smaller rink and did not need very much time to make the adjustment to the North American style of game. It was a bit of a surprise that he was given an ‘A’ for the tournament given that it was his first appearance at the Canadiens rookie camp. It is a testament to his confidence and skill that he was bestowed the honour.
Here are a few highlights from the trio:
Will Bitten, Jeremiah Addison and Daniel Audette formed a strong second line for the Canadiens. Bitten showed flashes of great skill that makes you wonder how he fell to the third round at the 2016 draft. He has a nose for the net and doesn’t back down, similar to Brendan Gallagher. He needs to continue to get stronger and hopefully he will get traded in the near future from Flint in the OHL so that he can further his development. Addison, showed that he can contribute in the offensive end as well and could one day be a third line player in the NHL. As expected, he showed his physical side as well.
Mikhail Sergachev was having his best game of the tournament on Sunday against the Senators until he got hit by a cheap shot. He left the ice and did not return to the game. The Canadiens announced that he had an upper body injury and more should be revealed in the coming days. Sergachev is coming as advertised and hopefully he will be ok for training camp as everyone wants to see him go up against NHL players to see how close he is to being ready.
Noah Juulsen showed that he might just one day be Sergachev’s partner in crime on the blue for the Canadiens as they complimented each other very well. Hopefully he gets to play in the World Junior Championships this coming year... Victor Mete impressed as an 18 year old. He has speed to burn and showed some nice poise with the puck. None of the goaltender’s had a particularly great tournament but Charlie Lindgren likely played the best of the group. He kept the Canadiens in their first game as the team got off to a slow start in the opening period. It would not be a surprise if he surpasses Zach Fucale on the depth chart as soon as this training camp.
The prospects will practice again on Tuesday at 1:00pm in Brossard while the main players will be participating at the Canadiens golf tournament. There will be another practice Wednesday at 10am in Brossard while the main camp holds their physicals. Any cuts will be announced in the coming days.
Cheers & follow along!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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