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Late yesterday afternoon, the Canadiens announced that Arber Xhakej had been demoted to the Laval Rocket, an announcement that raised a few eyebrows, until we all realized that it was simply an administrative assignation until the team could put Paul Byron on LTIR this morning. That’s were Byron landed bright and early today and Xhekaj was promptly recalled. It’s hard not to feel bad for Byron, there’s no indication if and when he’ll be able to play again, he’s in the last year of his contract and if he’s not healthy, he cannot prove himself to earn another deal elsewhere. Say what you will about Byron, but he’s always been a hard worker and by far, one of the best waiver pick-ups the Canadiens ever had.
Meanwhile Joel Edmundson skated again in Brossard this morning, but Mike Matheson was nowhere to be seen and even though he’s day-to-day, chances are he won’t be in tomorrow night against the Leafs. The lines and pairing used at practice were as follows with Drouin and Pezzetta alternating on lines 3 and 4:
Caufield-Suzuki-Anderson Monahan-Dach-Hoffman Slafkovsky-Dvorak-Gallagher (Drouin) Pitlick-Evans-Dadonov (Pezzetta)
Guhle-Savard Xhekaj-Wideman Harris-Kovacevic
Logan Mailloux was alternating with Kovacevic on the bottom pairing, but we know he’ll be sent back down to London shortly. Speaking to the media yesterday, Martin St-Louis said that Jonathan Drouin was still part of his plans, that he’s got a high ceiling and it’s just a matter of reaching it…This is Drouin’s 7th year with the team and fans’ patience is wearing thin.
Two power play units were also deployed on the ice: Caufield, Suzuki, Wideman, Monahan and Anderson on the first one and Hoffman, Dadonov, Gallagher, Dach and Dvorak on the second one. As Gallagher said post practice, games are often won and lost on power play opportunities and it’s important to get as many reps in in these situations. Pitlick was rotating with Dadonov while Drouin was also taking some reps with the 1st unit. Given how important power plays are, it’s far from reassuring that the 3 players who were arguably the worst during training camp (Drouin, Dadonov and Hoffman) are part of the man advantage plans.
While some will complain that Slafkovsky is not on there, I for one think that’s fine. He might have made the opening night roster, but Slafkovsky has got a lot to learn and to adapt to, so a spot on the third line without power play time doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Let him dip his toe in the water and see how it goes. Besides, we know that the lines are far from set in stone and if he outgrows his role, it’s always possible for him to get a bigger role. After the practice, he confirmed that his dad was set to arrive in Montreal tomorrow at 1:30 PM to catch his son’s NHL debut.