Canadiens Analysis
Montreal Canadiens Forward Depth Chart – A Trade Would Help
Every training camp leads to a certain level of excitement when it comes to the team’s top prospects, especially since the Montreal Canadiens are in the midst of a rebuild that ensures some turnover among the players. The long term goal is to replace aging veterans with cheaper, younger, and more talented players, a strategy Habs fans have wholeheartedly endorsed.
The Reality Of Constructing A Professional Sports Roster
This time around, there are a few forwards who are knocking on the door leading to an NHL job. Oliver Kapanen put his professional hockey experience to good use since camp opened, and has quickly established himself as one of the top targets to earn a roster spot. Owen Beck is in the same boat, though his experience comes from enjoying a very fruitful CHL career that culminated with the Port Hope native earning MVP honours at the Memorial Cup.
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And while it’s always fun to suggest the team must add new blood, there’s more to it than just removing a player from a projected lineup and replacing him with a 20-year overflowing with potential. Ideally, the Canadiens would run a meritocracy, but the process is slightly more complicated than most would assume.
Waiver status, trades, contracts, available ice time, and roles are just some of the details that will influence the roster construction going forward. With that in mind, by breaking down the current situation we can get a better idea whether the Canadiens can realistically add an influx of youth to the 2024-25 lineup.
Montreal Canadiens Job Openings Among Forwards
There are 11 forwards who are essentially guaranteed a roster spot once camp opens. Of course, the team could always send a veteran to the AHL, as they did with Joel Armia last season. And then there’s other roster movement options, including trading some of the surplus forwards.
But for now, let’s assume Armia, Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, Alex Newhook, Kirby Dach, Patrik Laine, Brendan Gallagher, Christian Dvorak, Jake Evans, and Josh Anderson will be in the lineup when the Canadiens host the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 9.
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Personally, I have no issue suggesting Joshua Roy should be counted among those who clearly deserve a spot, but given that he does not have to go on waivers, there’s an outside chance he may end up in the AHL. It would be unfortunate, as Roy has already established himself as one of the best forwards on the team, but such is life in a professional sports setting.
If we assume the Canadiens agree with the assessment of Roy, that leads us to 12 pencilled-in forwards. In other words, the team’s four lines are already spoken for. But that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s no job openings. However, it does mitigate some of the value of the available roster spots, as they’d be closer to the 13th or 14th forward depending on the configuration of the roster heading into the 2024-25 season. That’s not an ideal situation for a young player who needs ample ice time to continue down the established development path.
In a perfect world, the Montreal Canadiens would enter into trade negotiations with a team looking for a veteran forward. The return would not be as important as the ice time that would be liberated with such a trade, similar to when the team traded defenceman Johnathan Kovacevic to the New Jersey Devils. The return was unspectacular, but the true prize was the opportunity it opened up for top prospects David Reinbacher and Logan Mailloux.
Owen Beck and Oliver Kapanen are likely to earn a roster spot in the NHL at some point in their careers, as their skill sets project nicely to the highest level of hockey, but as it stands, finding a job in the NHL this season may not be realistic unless general manager Kent Hughes manages to carve out a role for them through the use of a trade.
Dvorak needs to go, no matter how.
Given we are in a re build it strikes me that some of the younger guys have to be given a chance to play this year The simple idea being they are better next year, because of the experience, when we really need them.
Dvorak is on the last yr of his contract. Eat some salary and trade him. Columbus needs to reach the cap. Utah . Kapanen has to be in the line up. Also IMO i would like to see Roy on the 2nd line. IMO I think he thinks the game the same as Dach and Laine. I watched the jr world championship and how he manages the puck. Kapanen , Newhook and Anderson IMO would click although IMO Anderson is 1 dimensional type player. Never see him in front of the net like Galley getting those garbage goals. He’s a perimeter type player
Then why would you want to see him with Newhook and Kapanen ???
They traded Kovacevic because he was the worst defenceman on the team. I thought initially that Dvorak should be playing and be dealt at the trade deadline, but it is apparent other players are passing him. Either he is dealt for minimal return or even put on waivers if only to get rid of his salary.
Why are so many players now shooting right? Suzuki, Dach, Evans, Beck,Kapanen all shoot right. Perhaps Newhook will have to play centre.
Sorry, not sure if you understand how hockey works. Kovacevic was and will continue to be a plus player. As will Harris in Columbus. They don’t have the “WOW” factor but they are very effective players.
It opened a spot for Hutson. Mailloux and Reinbacher would need to be lights out better than Barron and/or Struble to make it I think. Dvorak needs to go somewhere for certain. All respect, but he’s out of our top 15 forwards for sure. Demotion would be harsh, but if no trade partner can be found, it’s worth considering. I highly doubt he will have any kind of Armia-esque resurgence, but if he does, perhaps we can move him then.
Kapenen will be going back to Sweden for this year. It does 2 things, he will play big minutes as a top line center and it puts off his entry level contract by 1 yr. Beck will be in Laval until Dvorak is traded. Also, not sure they will pay Evan’s what he is worth so he may traded at the deadline as well. Armia makes 3 that will be traded with Pezzetta and Harvey-Pinard possibly going. That will be 5 forwards that will not be here 1 yr from now. Add in Demidov, Kapanen and Beck as sure bets. Tuch or Xhekaj to replace Pezz. Anderson and Gally stay for the playoff run next year.
Hughes has some difficult decisions to make but that’s why they pay him the big bucks. Looking at the situation logically, a few forwards are getting older and are getting past their prime or are in the late stages of their prime years. So, it’s just a matter of time before certain players are traded or retire. Even if Beck or Kapanen have to wait another year or half year to join the big club, it’s not the end of the world. Evans, Dvorak, Anderson, Armia, Gallagher are probably still as good or better than all the up and coming young players , however, I doubt any of them could even come close to scoring 7 goals in the World’s like Kapanen did , but if the Habs really want to make the playoffs this year, keeping the old guys might be the way to go…but on the other hand , when really thinking about it, can Hughes really justify keeping Kapanen out of the line-up? He’s just too good, imo, to cut from the team…