Montreal Canadiens
Three Canadiens Players Invited To Team Canada Camp
Three Montreal Canadiens players were among those invited to take part in Team Canada’s Orientation Camp, scheduled for August 26th-28th in Calgary.
Nick Suzuki, Samuel Montembeault, and newcomer Noah Dobson will represent the Habs at the event, which is essentially a meet-and-greet before the on-ice festivities begin in anticipation of the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will take place in Milan, as well as Cortina d’Ampezzo in mid-February.
In total, 92 players were invited to the camp, however, only 42 NHL players made the list, with the rest of the skaters divided between the Women’s National Team and the Paralympic squad. You can click here to see the press release via Hockey Canada.
Montreal Canadiens Brass Tacks
Montembeault has represented Canada recently, including at the 4 Nations Faceoff, as well as the World Championship in 2023, where he was named the top Canadian player of the tournament. There are no guarantees he will get to play if he makes the Olympic roster in 2026, as he will once again have to face stiff competition from St-Louis Blues netminder Jordan Binnington, as well as Vegas Golden Knights netminder Adin Hill.
Regardless, it’s quite an accomplishment when we consider Montembeault was once placed on waivers by the Florida Panthers.
As for the forwards, Suzuki will also have to start the 2025-26 season on the right foot if he hopes to earn a roster spot with Team Canada. It’s not that Suzuki hasn’t yet proven his worth, his 2024–25 statistics clearly point to his ascension as a top centre in the NHL, but we all know that Hockey Canada tends to overthink rosters, sometimes ignoring talent in favour of role-players, a questionable approach in a short tournament to say the least.
ON TOPIC: Canadiens Mythbusting – Nick Suzuki Is Clearly A No.1 Centre
Dobson has some international experience, including an appearance with Team Canada at the World Championship, as well as the World Junior Championship in 2018-19.
Click here to see the full NHL roster heading to the Team Canada 2025 Orientation Camp.
I would have selected Guhle to go as well.
Love Guhle. He’s nowhere near the caliber of player that could make team Canada. When Evan Bouchard, or drew doughty might not make the team, Guhle has no shot. Team Canada is just way too talented. Guhle isn’t even a first pairing guy on his nhl team. You need to be truly elite to make team canada
I think Suzuki is going to come out of the gate playing like his pants are on fire (similar to how he did after the 4 Nations break). He was the 4th highest scoring C in the entire NHL behind McDavid, Draisaitl and McKinnon from the 4 Nations to the end of the season. He opened a lot of eyes. I predict our top line is going to be lighting it up early on with the hopes of everyone making their respective Olympic teams (Slafkovsky already being a slam dunk). Suzuki is going to be Mr. Everything and Mr. Clutch. Caufield is going to be in the top echelon of goal scorers in the NHL. Slafkovsky will hopefully be playing like Brady Tkachuk on a consistent basis. Add in Demidov and Hutson/Dobson and our PP should be absolutely killer too. Demidov will be gunning for the Calder. Hutson will be trying to prove to everyone that last year was not a fluke (and maybe even open his Olympic opportunity too). Dobson will be trying to make the Olympic team (highly unlikely) and also get off to a great start with his new team. It’s gonna be an awesome sight to see!
Wow Tyrone, you’re starting to sound a little like me, and I really enjoy the echo chamber!!
Hard to disagree as it very well good play out as you suggest, but the wildcard in all of this is how Marty deploys the guys, so many options! What if Laine or Bolduc or Dach or Demidov lights it up out of the gate- does that force a shakeup in the top 6 and or top line? Who gets the point on the first pp unit- if Dobson then he should be a top 4 point producing Canadian defensemen at Olympic roster decision time. His 70 points 2 seasons ago was only surpassed by makar (2) and Bouchard once in that timeframe- that makes him elite. Maybe he’s our version of werenski- great and tireless skater with a knack for creating. But that might negatively impact hutsons stats and reduce his chances of getting selected by the US?
With our team speed and skill, we will have the puck a lot and I suspect we will be top 7 in drawing penalties- so it will materially impact the stat line of those on unit 1. Does he use both D on pp1 and MM on unit2? Does Nick get both units like he did the last 20 games or so of last season? We have a lot of weapons so I suspect he comes off with the rest of unit 1. However I don’t see that hindering his overall production. He will be hard to keep off the roster based on his high production and complete skill set. He now kills penalties which is highly desirable.
I think Montembault will have great numbers and will make the team and see action.
Great minds… 😉
funny you mention Suzuki. you use to rag on this kid alot. its nice to see you finally acknowledge his skills as a 1st line C and captain for the habs.
Absolutely false. Not even remotely correct. I’ve never spoken poorly about the guy. Once again, you are confusing me with somebody else.
Yeah, as far as I can remember Tyrone has always been a Suzuki supporter.