Lost amid the fact that Chris Kreider spent his first practice with the Montreal Canadiens on the first line and that Oliver Kapanen was back on the second line was the fact that Team B’s players face a lot of uncertainty. Martin St-Louis could have gone for all-veteran lines for that squad as well, but he chose not to, and that might be for a couple of different reasons.
He may want to give a real audition to a player like Florian Xhekaj, who finds himself skating on a line with Josh Anderson and Phillip Danault, who will be on the opening-night roster, no questions asked. Jake Evans and Alex Newhook have their spot guaranteed as well, but it would be rather surprising to see their linemate Brett Berard make it; at this stage, he looks like a placeholder.
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St-Louis might also have wanted to send a message to the players who are, for now at least, likely to be the fringe players. That’s hardly likely to be Zach Bolduc, who’s fresh off signing a 4-year, $4.2 million cap-hit contract. The ones who will really have to fight for their NHL spots are likely to be Alexandre Texier and Kirby Dach. The former is under contract for two years at $2.5 million per year, while the latter could only get a one-year deal at $3.6 million from the Canadiens.
The Habs’ unwillingness to sign Dach to a $4 million qualifying offer should have already sent a clear message to the Albertan. They did tender him the qualifying offer, but by making it a two-way contract, they essentially forced him not to accept it, and the message was clear: so far, you haven’t shown us you are worth $4 million a year.
In the first round of the playoffs last season, Dach faced some serious backlash after one of his mistakes cost the Canadiens a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. St- Louis came to his rescue, refused to give in to the pressure to scratch him, and even publicly said he wouldn’t give up on a player who hasn’t given up on himself. The big winger repaid him with a tremendous performance in the next game, but then faded away, and by the end of the playoffs, he was on the fourth line.
At this stage, Dach shouldn’t take anything for granted; he needs to show the coach and the team that he hasn’t given up on himself. It would be rather surprising if GM Kent Hughes didn’t try to find a new home for the winger this past summer; it feels like he did but couldn’t find a trading partner, and if that’s the case, the Habs may be tempted to send an even louder message to Dach by sending him down to Laval, much like they did with Joel Armia when his performances weren’t up to scratch. Armia was 30 years old then, though; Dach is only 25 and was picked third overall in the 2019 draft, which may ultimately save him. Hughes may not be willing to roll the dice on losing a player he acquired at high cost, sacrificing Alexander Romanov to do so.
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As for Texier, he didn’t cost anything to acquire, and when he signed with the Habs after agreeing to terminate his contract with the St. Louis Blues, he had to go through waivers. His debut with the Canadiens was impressive, and he spent time on the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, while Juraj Slafkovsky skated alongside Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen; now Kreider is there.
The Canadiens have a legitimate top six, and the only spot that could open up is the second-line center role if a better option than Kapanen emerges, but Texier cannot play center. Where does that leave him? He doesn’t exactly play with the grit you’d want from a bottom-six player, and he’s not an energy guy either. At this stage, it very much feels like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, but we’ll see what he can show in this express training camp.
Of course, Montreal can always just stick to the 13 forwards that have an NHL contract, but if the younger Xhekaj shows that he’s ready to take the next step and that he could bring some of that grit, that sandpaper that was missing in the playoffs, the team may be forced to make a tough decision.
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