The Montreal Canadiens are finally ready to turn practice into something a little more revealing.
After a few days on the ice, the preseason gets going Saturday with split-squad games against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Group A will face Toronto in Montreal, while Group B heads to Toronto, according to Marco D'Amico. And with the regular season now two games longer, the ramp-up is tighter than usual: training camp is shorter, preseason action is reduced, and the game limits are clear - players with fewer than 100 NHL games can appear in at most three preseason contests, while veterans are capped at two.
That makes Saturday more than just an exhibition. For several Canadiens, it’s an early chance to grab attention, force the issue, or at least make the coaching staff think twice before finalizing the Opening Night roster.
In Montreal, one of the first names worth watching is Chris Kreider. Even after a few days to get used to the idea, it still lands as a bit of a surprise to see him in Canadiens colors. The former New York Rangers and Anaheim Ducks forward signed with Montreal this past weekend and has already been slotted onto the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.
For Kreider, the key isn’t some dramatic debut moment. It’s whether that line looks comfortable together. The sample size is tiny, but if they can make an early impression, that would be a strong sign.
Also in Group A, Oliver Kapanen gets an important first look at the second-line center job. Martin St. Louis has handed him the opening opportunity there, and the setup is about as favorable as it gets: Juraj Slafkovsky on one side and Ivan Demidov on the other.
Those three spent a good chunk of last season together as the Kid Line, though that label may not fit quite as neatly anymore after a full season for Demidov and Kapanen and two full seasons for Slafkovsky. Even so, a strong night from Kapanen could go a long way in keeping him in the mix, even if it doesn’t lock down the spot right away.
Over in Group B, Samuel Montembeault is a player worth following closely for a very different reason. There have been plenty of rumors around him, and the sense is that a trade may be coming sooner rather than later. Montreal doesn’t intend to keep three goalies, and the organization likely wants Jacob Fowler in the NHL as soon as possible.
That puts Montembeault in the middle of the picture, and Kent Hughes may be hoping a strong start helps raise his trade value. He’ll have the chance to do that almost immediately in this first preseason game.
Brett Berard is another name that has caught attention in camp. One of the early surprises has been seeing him, rather than Zachary Bolduc, on a line with Alex Newhook and Jake Evans. Bolduc will be on the roster, but he may wind up on the fourth line instead of the third as many expected.
Berard came over from the New York Rangers this offseason, and while he has NHL experience - 48 games over the past two seasons - he has spent most of his time in the AHL, where he played 145 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack. The Canadiens clearly liked something they saw enough to make the move, and he may end up with a larger role than some anticipated.
On the blue line, David Reinbacher is another player with plenty riding on these early games. Kaiden Guhle is expected to miss the start of the regular season, which has changed the shape of the competition. What once looked like a fight for the seventh defenseman spot has become a more crowded battle involving Arber Xhekaj, Adam Engstrom, and Reinbacher.
In practice, Reinbacher and Engstrom have been paired together, and that likely carries over into the game. Of the three, Reinbacher may have the most pressure on him.
He’s a Top 5 pick who still hasn’t established himself in the NHL, and he’ll need to make his case across the preseason. Unlike some others, he should get into all three games, which gives him more chances to prove he belongs.
But he still has work to do, with Xhekaj in front of him and Engstrom close behind in the race for a spot on Opening Night.
In Other News...
Brendan Gallaghers Next Role In Vancouver Already Feels Uncomfortable
Brendan Gallagher is back in a familiar place in a very different setting, opening training camp with the Vancouver Canucks after his move from the Canadiens. The transition alone makes for an odd visual, but the larger backdrop is even stranger for a player whose NHL identity has long been tied to doing the hard work on a competitive team. Vancouver has already framed this season around a rebuild, and Gallagher is now trying to find his place in a room that looks a lot younger than the one he left behind.
There is some small familiarity in the coaching staff, since new head coach Manny Malhotra spent part of his playing career in Montreal. Even so, Gallagher's role in Vancouver is still unsettled, and the early camp alignment suggests the Canucks may be sorting through more than just line combinations. For a veteran winger who has built his career on being in the middle of the action, the next step could say a lot about where he fits on a team that is clearly headed in a different direction. [Read more 🡒]
David Reinbacher Has A Real Chance To Force Montreals Hand
Training camp is underway in Montreal, and David Reinbacher is suddenly one of the more interesting names in the mix on the blue line. The former fifth-overall pick has spent the summer adding weight and confidence after working his way through injuries, and the Canadiens have noticed the progress. With a defense corps that already leans heavily toward offense, Reinbachers case is built on a different kind of value: reliability, structure and the ability to handle hard minutes.
The opening is there for him to make this a real conversation rather than a developmental exercise. Montreal has some early-season uncertainty on defense, and that gives Reinbacher a chance to press for playing time if he keeps standing out in camp. Coaches have seen the offseason work, and the question now is whether he can turn that into enough trust to force the Canadiens to make a tougher decision than they expected. [Read more 🡒]
Arber Xhekaj Deal Puts Canadiens Blue Line Plans Under The Spotlight
Arber Xhekajs new one-year contract with the Canadiens brings at least a temporary end to the extended negotiation, but it also keeps the focus on a defense group that still looks crowded on paper. Montreal had been expected to make moves to sort out the blue line before Xhekajs situation was settled, and the fact that the deal finally came together without any other roster shakeup says plenty about where things stand.
Xhekaj made it clear he wanted more security than a one-year arrangement, but he is also approaching the season with the mindset of earning something bigger down the road. He said the Canadiens had been exploring trades to clear space on defense, though nothing came of those talks, leaving the team to carry its current logjam for now and leaving the next round of decisions hanging over training camp. [Read more 🡒]