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The end of August is upon us and there are still some questions surrounding the Habs with training camp now just a couple of weeks away. Here are some thoughts on those questions plus other notes around the organization.
1) Before training camp gets underway, it will be rookie camp in the near future. And for all the promising prospects that the Habs have in their system, it certainly feels like this is going to be an underwhelming roster. Last year’s edition had Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov, two players that went on to have an impact on Montreal’s roster. This group won’t have that. Several of their top prospects are either in Russia or the NCAA or have played enough that they might be able to skip this camp (someone like Adam Engstrom doesn’t need to be playing in this event, for example).
With that in mind, watch for a large list of tryouts on the roster. We already know Alexey Vlasov and Mavrick Rousseau-Hamel are among the invitees with the latter being someone hoping to land a deal with Laval or Trois-Rivieres. I’ve heard Thomas Rousseau and Braidy Wassilyn, who were at Development Camp in July, were likely to be invited as well although they could try their hands with another team. There will be quite a few more to come, too. Basically, while following the tournament will still be nice, this will not be a roster full of compelling prospects to keep an eye on. There will be some, yes, but it wouldn’t shock me if there are more fillers than usual.
2) Now, let’s get to the RFAs, starting with Zach Bolduc. This is the time of year when people should actually start to notice and care a bit that a player remains unsigned but I’m not too worried about Bolduc. By all accounts, progress has been made on a new agreement.
I still think some of this is out of his hands. If the Habs are still trying to add to their roster, they need the cap space to do so. One way to free up money is to bridge Bolduc. But if a move doesn’t happen, do both sides pivot to a longer-term agreement? They need to know if they can add someone before answering that question so it wouldn’t shock me if they’re just playing the waiting game to see which direction they can go. I think this gets done before camp starts.
3) I remain puzzled that Arber Xhekaj’s contract isn’t done yet. Neither side will want a long-term agreement, no matter the lip service being paid publicly. Montreal won’t want to sign a player who is barely cracking their lineup to a long-term pact, nor will Xhekaj want to commit to a long-term deal that pays him at the level of being a player who can barely crack their lineup. It’s going to be a short-term deal.
There shouldn’t be a big financial gap to bridge here. He’s worth a modest raise from the $1.3 million he made the last two years. If we use his cap percentage from his last deal, it’s just under $1.54 million. Give him a bit more than that and it should be done. Clearly, Xhekaj’s camp is seeking more than that so how much higher are the Habs willing to go? This could be one that drags on a bit unless one side really changes its stance. And if it’s a playing time issue, the Canadiens clearly aren’t going to be committing to anything more than a year ago until they get him into camp. Find a one-year number that works and kick the can down the road to next summer.
4) Meanwhile, September in the NHL is also known to some as PTO season. Veterans without a guaranteed contract for the upcoming season find themselves settling for a pro tryout deal to allow them to get into camp and the preseason in an effort to secure a guaranteed contract. The Habs generally don’t go this route but given their current situation up front, should they?
There’s a case to make that they should, in that depth is something they’re lacking a little bit but I’m not sure they will do so. GM Kent Hughes has spoken about not wanting to block the pathway of some younger players so that they have a spot or two to battle for. Perhaps the 13th forward slot is the one that’s up for grabs. While having waiver-exempt players in that role (Owen Beck or Florian Xhekaj, for example) isn’t ideal, a younger player could also be Brett Berard, Sasha Pastujov, or Samuel Poulin, all newcomers. They’re all waiver-eligible which could give them an outside shot at breaking camp in a reserve role. Bringing in a veteran PTO player to compete with them seems to go against the idea of giving the youngsters a chance to battle for a spot.
Now, all of this could be for naught if they add another forward higher in the lineup, either by trade or free agency. At that point, the top 13 up front is set and the best-case scenario for one of the waiver-eligibles is to play well enough to stick as a 14th forward if they choose to carry one. But for now, with really one spot open up front to battle for, I doubt they’ll bring a PTO player in to battle with the numerous options that already exist.
5) Over the weekend, there quietly was some news of note on the prospect front. Yevgeni Volokhin ripped up his current two-year deal with KHL Spartak to sign a new three-year pact, keeping him under contract overseas through 2028-29. Considering he’s in an organization that seems intent on holding him in a number three role when he’s clearly too good for the VHL, extending for even longer with them feels a little odd at first glance.
That makes me curious if some sort of promise has been made about when he might get a more full-time look at the KHL level, be it with Spartak or by them loaning him elsewhere. Unless he’s getting a big raise (and on a two-way deal, that seems unlikely), I don’t know otherwise what incentive there was to sign that early.
Considering that Russian goalies don’t typically come to North America to play in the minors for a couple of years, it’s not the end of the world that Volokhin is extending his KHL stay. Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler are the near-term duo between the pipes; we’ll see if expansion in 2029 busts that plan up. And if it does, that’s when Volokhin could make the jump to North America with an NHL spot potentially there for him. But boy, here’s hoping that he gets a real extended chance with Spartak by then.
