The Canadian | Decisions on the horizon

The Colorado Avalanche concluded their 2021 preseason schedule with a 2-4 record… before winning the Stanley Cup nine months later.

Richard Labbe
The Press

It is undoubtedly to this kind of somewhat eccentric statistic that the Canadian and his most ardent supporters can cling, after having concluded the present preseason schedule without a single victory in eight games. It all ended Saturday night in New Brunswick with another loss to the Ottawa Senators, who chose to go without a few big names, including Claude Giroux, Alex DeBrincat, Thomas Chabot, Tim Stützle and Brady Tkachuk. .

The most optimistic will point the finger at the Avalanche and its preparatory record from a year ago to underline that nothing matters when it doesn’t matter. The most realistic will simply remember that the Canadian has no Nathan MacKinnon or Cale Makar or Mikko Rantanen in his ranks to allow him to consider a spring, any.

Defender Jordan Harris wanted to reassure the world, in general.

“Guys remain optimistic in the locker room,” he said Saturday night. I think we’ll be able to put that record behind us when the time comes to start the season. »

It will have to be, but that all the same adds to the heaviness of a very recent past, that of the 2021-2022 season, where the Montreal club had concluded 82 games with a very modest harvest of 55 points, the worst in the entire NHL.

Expectations are therefore very low, we will tell each other, and while waiting for it to start for real, Wednesday night at the Bell Center against the Toronto Maple Leafs, there are players who will have to wait until Monday to find out what he returns.

For now, the Canadian has 33 players in his roster (including goalkeeper Carey Price), which is obviously too many players. On Monday, the club will make the final cuts to comply with the maximum of 23 players before the 5 p.m. deadline, excluding the injured.

On Sunday, the club has already confirmed that two defensemen, Madison Bowey and Corey Schueneman, have been placed on waivers in order to give them to the Laval Rocket, in the American League. Thus, the other NHL teams have until Monday, 2 p.m., to claim them.

This suggests that another defender, Otto Leskinen, could find a place on the Montreal blue line, he who is exempt from waivers according to the specialized site CapFriendly. Bowey was probably going to play in Laval, and the surprise is a little bigger for Schueneman who still took part in 24 games with the Canadiens last season.

But we should not expect any bangs by Monday. On offense anyway, surprises were pretty much ruled out even before camp got underway, due to the 14 players who all have one-way contracts in their pocket.

In the short term, injuries to Paul Byron, Joel Armia and Mike Hoffman could mean that some will be able to stretch out their stay in bucolic Brossard. It is this reality that could also allow Juraj Slafkovsky to start the season at the Bell Centre. Captain Nick Suzuki, also recently injured, should be ready to start the season as planned.

In defense, Kaiden Guhle, by far the most convincing prospect in the Canadiens’ camp, can probably start shopping for a parking space around the Bell Centre. Johnathan Kovacevic, acquired by the club on waivers on Saturday, will come to help immediately, and one must wonder if the Jordan Harris, Justin Barron and other Arber Xhekaj have done enough to deserve a place at the Bell Center.

With a leading team, or only a team that would have a chance of participating in the playoffs, these young people would have no place in the training. But the Canadiens, obviously, won’t be a top team… and probably not a team that’s going to fight for a spot in the spring either.

Despite everything, after the last defeat, Saturday night in Bouctouche, New Brunswick, Martin St-Louis did not seem too worried about what was to come. “I don’t know if I have any concerns to be quite honest,” he replied, without adding anything.

In the meantime, fans can prepare for a season that will be tough at best.