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Canadiens Rookies Kidney, Mysak And Mailloux Excel Vs Senators

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7 months ago

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Montreal Canadiens rookies tournament

The Montreal Canadiens faced the Ottawa Senators on Monday afternoon, their final game of the 2023 Prospect Challenge in Buffalo. The Senators rested most of their players, as evidenced by the fact that the Canadiens had over twice the number of drafted players in their lineup.

David Reinbacher made his second appearance of the tournament, as did Jakov Novak, who was facing the team that traded him less than a week ago. William Trudeau was once again named the captain for the Canadiens, with Joshua Roy and Jan Mysak serving as alternate captains.

Before we get into the action, I would like to apologize for the quality of the videos. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much we could do to improve the quality beyond looking like it was filmed underwater with a discount watermelon.

The Canadiens controlled the play, spending most of the game in the offensive zone, but Senators goaltender Leevi Merilainen stood tall.

The Canadiens outshot the Senators significantly. At one point the shots were 31-9, and that did not include the six posts the Canadiens hit throughout the game.

Mailloux’s Shot

Logan Mailloux has an affinity for getting pucks to the net.

Of course, this is based on my numerous viewings of his games, and not any sort of tangible metric, but you’d be hard-pressed to argue he’s not excellent when it comes to shooting the proper shot type.

Mailloux hit the post twice and made the right decisions when it came to pinching, as evidenced by his great scoring chance that was set up by Filip Mesar. His defensive positioning still leaves something to be desired, and that’s something he’ll need to work on with the development squad as he prepares to make his professional hockey debut.

Speaking of Mesar, it was his best outing since the start of the tournament. He made several great passes and was a threat to score in the offensive zone during most shifts.

Another play that stood out for the right reasons was Sean Farrell. He made several poor decisions in the first game of the tournament, a rather disappointing result given his dominant season in the NCAA.

But against the Senators he was playing like a prospect that had just finished second in the NCAA for points per game.

Kidney Shot

Riley Kidney wasn’t having a bad tournament by any means, but as one of the most offensively-inclined players in the lineup, the Canadiens were surely expecting him to stand out from the crowd.

He put it all together on Monday afternoon, scoring a great goal to tie the game. It should be noted that Kidney won his puck battle prior to scoring, a very encouraging sign for a player who doesn’t always engage physically.

As Expected

You always want to see solid play from the team’s top prospects. William Trudeau and Joshua Roy did meet the challenge with aplomb, showing why they’re among the players who are likely to receive a call-up from the Montreal Canadiens if injuries should occur.

When it comes to Jan Mysak, no one expects perfection, but he’s one of those prospects who are at risk of falling behind in his development compared to the rest of the players in the prospect pool.

Thankfully for him, he had a very solid tournament by scoring two goals and being involved in several good scoring chances. Don’t forget, the coach for the Montreal Canadiens team was none other than Laval Rocket head coach J-F Houle, the very same many that will be coaching Mysak in the AHL this season.

As for David Reinbacher, he wasn’t particularly noticeable, though he did make a great play to cut off a rush and quickly transition the puck into the offensive zone.

Overall, it was a tentative tournament for Reinbacher, which isn’t a surprise. More than anything, he was trying to avoid mistakes while adapting to the fast-paced hockey.

I mistakenly attributed his great play to Trudeau in my Tweet, which you’ll find below, but it was definitely Reinbacher who used good positioning to shut down the rush.

A Family Affair

Florian Xhekaj continued the family tradition, feeding Connor Clattenburg a knuckle buffet early in the second period.

You’ll remember that his brother, Arber, made a name for himself by knocking out Senators prospect Zachary Massicotte during last year’s rookie tournament. Florian also happens to be able to get under the skin of his opponents, which is apparently a shared trait in the Xhekaj family.

Xhekaj wasn’t the only player to engage in physical play. Camp invite Rikey McKay, who had a very strong game, attempted to fight a much bigger Djibril Toure. McKay is 5’11, whereas Toure is 6’7.

The fight went exactly how you’d expect.

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