Valiev and Fucale Recalled And In Tonight + Gameday Vs. Slumping Devils (pacioretty)

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Valiev and Fucale Recalled And In Tonight + Gameday Vs. Slumping Devils

By Brandon Smillie

Mar 6, 2018 • 9:19 am

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RINAT RECALLED FROM ROCKET

The Montreal Canadiens kept the youth movement in top gear before tonights game against the New Jersey Devils as they recalled both Z Fucale and R Valiev.

The 22 year old, 6’02…, 208 lbs Valiev was recalled after one game with the Laval Rocket in which he tallied an assist and finished the game with a +/- of 0. Valiev is lauded more as a defense first defenseman and is also said to be NHL ready for a bottom pair role to truly begin his NHL career.

He is definitely at the right age for his potential breakthrough season and only has 10 NHL games under his belt, all from the 2015-2016 season. Valiev definitely hasn’t been rushed into the NHL and just as recently as the 2014-2015 season the defender was in high demand. That season saw Valiev play in the WHL (9G, 37A, 52 Games), AHL (2 games), and the World Juniors (3A, 7 Games).

This is a player that seems to have some potential attached to him that simply wasn’t able to find his way up into the Leafs lineup. Now, I’m not too sure the Leafs have a stellar D core but they felt it was better for his development in the AHL.

The Montreal D core has received its second overhaul in a year now after the shuttling of Markov, Beaulieu, and Emelin.

The injection of Benn, Davidson, Alzner, Streit, Schlemko, Mete and Morrow.

The purging of Streit, Davidson, Morrow.

Aaaaaand the subsequent addition of Reilly, Juulsen, and now Valiev.

Wow. Bergevin wasn’t kidding when he said he loves defensemen eh.

I’ll admit though that the D core including Mete, Juulsen, and Reilly is one that I like much better. With Mete, as readers know, I was already really high on him. I felt he would be a very good addition to the team, but I admit I didn’t know it would be this early. Juulsen is someone I’m sure we all have looked forward to seeing and if not for the unfortunate rookie camp injury he likely would have already seen NHL time this season. Stealing Reilly for a 5th rounder after dumping Morrow for a 4th is just fantastic by me. Reilly has already shown me more promise than Morrow had all year and comes in with excellent potential.

Now we get to see Valiev audition and what he could bring to the team now and in the future. Hopefully it’s an improvement.

FUCALE GETS HIS LOOK

In Fucale, the Canadiens will get a no pressure look at the 22 year old goaltending prospect. Fucale was viewed as a great grab at the time of his draft in 2013 at 36th overall after his 2012-2013 season saw him go 45-5-3 with a 2.35 GAA and .909 SP% with Halifax of the QMJHL.

His development after his draft year started to trend down in the 2014-2015 QMJHL season when his GAA ballooned almost an entire goal per game and his SP sunk into the .880’s. After that he has struggled at the AHL level and has bounced back and forth between the AHL and ECHL the last two seasons.

The career arc unfortunately is downward for Fucale, but with opportunity sometimes comes an injection of confidence and desire. I think Montreal will give more starts to Lindgren with Niemi the latest Hab to join the sick bay, but I would think they don’t want to risk injury to Lindgren either so expect to see Fucale get in a few games in the last 17 games.

Hopefully he shows enough to NHL types that he is a good goaltender who simply needs his shot. It would likely land him a trade out of town to a team that could use him and who could give him that chance. The Habs are simply too deep at G with Price, Lindgren, Hawkey, and Primeau, and I would say they all have passed him on the depth chart (potential wise). Fucale and McNiven are kind of in the same boat, potential wise, in that they are struggling to succeed at the next level.

But, hopefully Fucale brings himself to the show ready to battle.

GAMEDAY IN NEW JERSEY

The Habs are in New Jersey tonight to take on scorching hot Taylor Hall and the suddenly struggling Devils. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 PM EST.

The Devils enter the game losers of 3 in a row and 5 of their last 7, 2-5-0 to be precise. This has put their playoffs hopes in jeopardy as they currently hold the 7th Wild Card slot while being 3 points ahead of 8th place Columbus and 5 points ahead of 9th place Florida. Florida holds 3 games in hand over the Devils so if there was any desperation in the Devils squad I would expect to see it come out tonight against the Canadiens, a team that most would say they should win.

Some have passively thrown some shade at the Habs lately saying things like “If the Isle’s can’t beat the Habs then they don’t deserve playoffs…. While these comments were directed more at the Isle’s and their struggles its insulting to the Canadiens for sure as its implied they should always be defeated but it kind of shows that some haven’t been paying attention to the last couple weeks of Habs hockey.

The Canadiens are not making playoffs, we all can assume that, but they have probably played their best hockey the last two weeks with all the youth being brought in and battling for careers. To dismiss the Habs because of their record would be poor preparation on the part of the opposing team as these kids are still working and they are holding their own for the time being.

If the Devils underestimate their opponents they could be in for a rude awaking tonight and a preview of what could be coming next season.

Go Habs Go!

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