Adam Engstrom has done just about everything he can in the AHL. Now the Montreal Canadiens have to decide whether he belongs in their NHL picture for good.
The 22-year-old defenseman has climbed quickly since coming over from Sweden in 2024, and his production with the Laval Rocket has made the next step impossible to ignore. He put up five goals and 22 assists in 66 games as a rookie, good for sixth among rookie defensemen in points. This past season, he took another jump, scoring 10 goals and adding 24 assists in just 45 games.
One game in particular pushed him into the spotlight. Against the Belleville Senators, Engstrom tied a franchise record with five points in the Rocket’s 7-2 win. Four days later, he was in the Canadiens’ lineup for his NHL debut, a 4-3 win against the Utah Mammoth.
The problem for Engstrom is that his game didn’t carry over the same way in the NHL. He finished his 15 games with Montreal with one assist while averaging just over 13 minutes a night. The limited ice time - and the absence of power-play minutes - clearly worked against him, but the bigger point remains: if he wants a real job in Montreal, he has to produce even when the opportunities are thin.
That’s why this training camp matters so much. Engstrom has already been named to the AHL’s Top Prospects Team, and at this stage he looks like a player who may be too advanced for the minors, but not yet fully established at the NHL level. The Canadiens need him to close that gap now.
The opening is there. Montreal’s top four on defense is set with Lane Hutson, Noah Dobson, Mike Matheson, and Kaiden Guhle.
Alexandre Carrier was part of the regular rotation last season, but his uneven second half leaves him vulnerable. Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj were the other two defenders who saw regular action, and neither is locked into the job.
Xhekaj does not have a contract extension, and there is a real chance he is not back. Struble, meanwhile, has not shown much progression since making his debut in 2023-24. That gives Engstrom a clear path if he can outplay them.
He is not the only young defenseman trying to force the issue. David Reinbacher, Montreal’s 2023 fifth-overall pick, also made his NHL debut last season, and the Canadiens have plenty invested in him. The two prospects play different sides of the blue line, so it is possible both could end up on the bottom pair if camp goes their way.
That is the equation for Montreal now: if Engstrom and Reinbacher prove they can offer more than Carrier, Struble, and Xhekaj, they should be in the lineup. If they do not, the Canadiens may have to keep looking for answers elsewhere.
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Now the next step is starting to look broader than North America. A move back to Europe is being discussed as a real possibility, which would echo Jeff Skinners recent one-year deal with EHC Biel-Bienne in Switzerland, and it adds a layer of uncertainty for anyone wondering whether Laines path still leads back to the NHL. No final decision has been made, but the longer this drags on, the tougher the question becomes for a Canadiens side that knows exactly what kind of player he can be when he is in the league. [Read more 🡒]
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What makes the discussion especially interesting is how divided the reaction has been, not just in Montreal but among Oilers fans too. For Canadiens followers, the question is less about whether McDavid would transform the franchise and more about how much of the present and future theyd be willing to part with for a shot at him. It is the kind of conversation that reveals just how high the ceiling would be, and how steep the price might have to be if the unthinkable ever became real. [Read more 🡒]
Suzuki And Caufield Are Giving Montreal A Real Shot At History
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The bigger picture is what makes their partnership so intriguing for Canadiens fans: if both keep trending the way they have, Montreal could be looking at a run at history in 2026-27. The clubs single-season goals and assists records have been in place for years, but this duo has put itself in position to challenge them, which says plenty about how far the Canadiens core has come and how much more dangerous it could become if the pair keeps driving the offense together. [Read more 🡒]