Top-3 Montreal Canadiens With Most To Prove Next Season

The Montreal Canadiens want to move to the next phase of their rebuild, but to get there, some players will have to take their game to new heights next season.

Like any rebuilding club, every summer is important in the preparation for next season.

Players, young and old, head back to improve their skills and get into top physical condition to be ready to take the next step in the fall.

There are many candidates that need to up their game on the Canadiens like Mike Hoffman, Christian Dvorak and Jake Evans, but for the organization as a whole to move forward, they’re going to need big seasons from a select few players on the club:

Juraj Slafkovsky

There was a tentative worry this season from Habs fans regarding the usage and play of Juraj Slafkovsky. Coming into camp at a staggering 238 lbs, the youngster was never really able to get his footing before his season was cut short due to a knee injury.

Slafkovsky showed progress on the ice as the season went on by better using his imposing frame, taking pucks to the net and playing with more physicality, but it all came to a screeching halt in January leaving fans wondering whether the season was a loss for the 19-year-old.

The youngster attended almost every game after being ruled for the season and watched from above for three months in the press gallery, picking up on finer details.

With the Montreal Canadiens wanting Slafkovsky so focus on his training rather than rushing back into play by attending the IIHF World Championships, the message is loud and clear: he has to have himself a very big summer.

For the young power-forward to effectively play his game, he needs to come into camp leaner, faster and meaner than last season to force the head coach Martin St-Louis to play him in a consistent offensive role.

A strong sophomore season from him would go a long way in assuring fans of the long-term direction of the club.

Rafaël Harvey-Pinard

Rafaël Harvey-Pinard was one of the best stories around the Montreal Canadiens last season, jumping into an injured lineup and putting up 14 goals in 34 games as a rookie in the NHL.

RHP quickly became a crowd favourite at the Bell Centre and was often one of the most exciting players on the ice.

Playing alongside Nick Suzuki, Harvey-Pinard continually elevated his play and looked like he belonged in a scoring role on the team; outplaying veterans on the club and taking nothing for granted.

Likely to receive an extension this summer, expectations will now surely rise for Harvey-Pinard, as he looks to make it in the NHL on a full-time basis.

Over an 82-game season, many things can happen and ice time can fluctuate, especially with a healthy lineup, and it will be up to Harvey-Pinard to prove that he not only belongs in the starting 12, but could repeat his scoring prowess if positioned in the right slot.

There’s very little doubt that he’ll continue to be a very useful and hard-working player, but the true test will be to see just how high his offensive ceiling could go.

Samuel Montembeault

Samuel Montembeault has been doing his best to prove he is deserving of the starting role with the Montreal Canadiens.

After putting up a multitude of solid performances for the Habs in the second-half of the season, Montembeault then backstopped Team Canada to a gold medal at the World Hockey Championships earlier this week.

The 26-year-old has been deemed by general manager Kent Hughes as an important piece for the organization moving forward, meaning there could be big things on the horizon for the Quebec-born goaltender.

But it’s one thing to be given the tag of a No.1 goaltender, and another entirely to keep that tag once you’ve been given it.

Due to injury and incredible performances, Montembeault has played 78 games over the last two seasons, which is almost the workload of a starting goaltender in the NHL.

The physical toll of an NHL season is likely not going to hold the youngster down, but for him to truly take the next step in his development, he’s got to play with more consistency.

Montembeault was one of the goaltenders with the most games played with a 0.930 save percentage or higher in the NHL, but his save percentage was 0.901; meaning that, due to mistakes on his end or the extremely inexperienced lineup in front of him, he wasn’t able to maintain that success.

As the team continues to mature and grow together, it will be up to Montembeault to string together more game-stealing performances to truly help the Canadiens get back into a competitive mindset.

I say he does it.