The Canadiens wrapped development camp with a scrimmage that gave a better look at several of the organization’s most intriguing prospects, and the pace was hard to miss. Over two 25-minute periods, the young players brought plenty of jump, and the action felt faster and more lively than it did a year ago. Alexander Zharovsky’s presence certainly added to that.
Zharovsky skated with L.J. Mooney, and the two spent a lot of the afternoon connecting all over the ice.
On the other side, Michael Hage lined up with Logan Sawyer, setting up a steady back-and-forth between two duos that repeatedly found themselves matched against one another. Hage showed off his playmaking touch and his patience with the puck, though Thomas Rousseau flattened him with a hit in the first period that sent him to the ice.
Even so, Hage kept feeding teammates into space, and while those chances did not always turn into goals, he finished with two of them, the same total as Sawyer.
Mooney looked every bit like the same nuisance he was last summer, only bigger. Listed at 5-foot-7 and 169 pounds, he said he has added more than 10 pounds without giving up any speed.
He was constantly in motion, using an active stick to pry pucks loose and repeatedly making life miserable for his opponents, including one steal from Hage. The winger’s energy never really dipped, and he made it clear he enjoyed playing with Zharovsky: “It was awesome; didn’t get to see him at camp last year.
Just being around him, seeing how he plays, it’s pretty sick, so it was fun to play with him today.”
After the scrimmage, Mooney carried that same confidence into the shootout and credited Martin St-Louis for some of the inspiration behind his move: “I tried that a couple of times this year, Mooney said, I mean, he’s on every highlight shootout video there is, so just seeing that…I think it gets the goalie a little bit.”
Hayden Paupanekis also stood out. He missed last year’s camp after a bout with mononucleosis, and this time he looked determined to make the most of his opportunity.
At 6-foot-5 and 208 pounds, he was a load to deal with, especially with Canadiens brass watching closely, but he also showed some finishing touch by scoring on Quentin Miller. Paupanekis confirmed he’ll play at St.
Cloud State in the NCAA next season: “There were a lot of factors in that decision, said Paupanekis, I think just playing with older guys, and that’s the next step for me. I want to obviously play in the NHL one day, so I think just leveling up every year will be good for me, so it’s going to be a fun time there”.
He also opened up about missing rookie camp last year: “Oh my gosh, yeah, missing rookie camp was brutal. I was watching on my phone the rookie camp and the Bell Centre was just rocking; I was really jealous, and I missed out, but there’s nothing I could do there.”
With his size, the next step is obvious enough: if he can sharpen his foot speed and skating, he could become a very interesting player. Paupanekis said he admires Josh Anderson’s style and hopes that one day he gets the chance to skate on a line with him, even though they have never met.
Now that development camp is over, the Canadiens can turn their attention to improving for next season through internal growth, free-agent additions, or a trade. Kent Hughes has plenty on his plate, but he has already handled two key items by signing Ivan Demidov and Jakub Dobes to contract extensions.
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