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Canadiens Prospect Highlights

Key Canadiens Prospects Building Encouraging Chemistry In AHL

Published

6 months ago

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Montreal Canadiens prospects Sean Farrell and Joshua ROy

The Montreal Canadiens have high hopes for many of their prospects currently developing in the AHL.

The team itself is off to a rough start, with just four regulation wins in 12 games, and though the Laval Rocket currently find themselves at the bottom of the North Division, growing pains were to be expected.

It’s much easier to accept an AHL team is struggling to find chemistry with a lineup that’s brimming with legitimate prospects, rather than a roster that’s populated by aging veterans who were signed to one-year mercenary deals.

Fortunately, there are some important silver linings emerging, including the chemistry between two important prospects: Joshua Roy and Sean Farrell.

King Of Laval

After a rather impressive start to his professional hockey career, which included 12 points in his first six games, Roy went through four games without registering his name on the scoresheet.

It was to be expected. Roy is an excellent prospect, and he’s going to play an important role for the Montreal Canadiens at some point in the future, but his hot start risked ruining his steady development if the team acquiesced to fan demands.

Now that he’s cooled down a little, the calls to promote him to the NHL have been silenced, and Roy has gotten back to his old ways.

He has four points in his last two games, including a two-point effort against the Manitoba Moose on Monday afternoon.

Roy’s seventh goal of the year came off an excellent pass by Sean Farrell, who has shown an impressive amount of chemistry when he plays alongside the 2021 fifth-round pick.

Roy returned the favour in the third period by setting up Farrell’s third goal of the season, though we shouldn’t ignore the play of Brandon Gignac, who produced the control entry and found Roy once he entered the offensive zone.

Roy and Farrell have actively participated in the same scoring play six times this season, more evidence of their budding magnetism.

As it stands, Roy leads all AHL rookies in scoring, with seven goals and nine assists in 12 games. That’s good enough for fourth overall in league scoring, though it should be mentioned Roy has played fewer games than all three players who have scored more often. He’s also much younger than the players ahead of him.

With three goals and six assists, Farrell ranks 10th among rookie scorers. It’s a very solid start for the former Harvard Crimson forward, who finished second overall in the NCAA last season in points per game.

He only has 19 shots in the 12 games he’s played, and he’ll have to improve his shot production if he’s to really emerge as a constant threat in the offensive zone, but it’s also worth remembering he’s still getting acclimatized to the pace of professional hockey.

Laval Rocket News And Notes

  • Defenceman Jayden Struble, who has emerged as the most reliable defenceman on the team this year, was suspended for three games after coming off the bench and jumping into the fray following Sunday’s game against Manitoba. The Montreal Canadiens prospect has looked great to start the season, but he will have to monitor his emotions going forward.

  • Fellow defenceman Logan Mailloux is still adjusting to the lack of time and space in the AHL, but he’s looked much more comfortable in recent games, particularly when driving the offence. Mailloux has three goals and four assists in 12 games, which places him among the top 20 defencemen in the league, but more importantly, he’s taking a ridiculous number of shots, and that’s when you know he is at his best in the offensive zone. Mailloux has 37 shots on net this season, the fifth-highest number among all the league’s defencemen.

  • Riley Kidney isn’t playing particularly poorly, but he’s having a hard time finding space on the ice. Consequently, the Nova Scotia native only has one point in nine games this season, though those games included limited usage.
  • Jakub Dobes and Strauss Mann both have underwhelming save percentages, with .861 and .866, respectively. Dobes has looked better in recent games, but he’ll need to find his rhythm in the near future if the Rocket are to climb the North Division standings.

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