HabsWorld.net -- 

Ahead of Monday’s roster deadline, the Habs have taken some more strides toward finalizing their group to start the season.  The team announced on Sunday that they’ve assigned ten players to Laval.  They are as follows:

Goalie: Jacob Fowler

Defence: Luke Mittelstadt, Owen Protz, David Reinbacher

Forwards: Owen Beck, Dillan Bentley*, Laurent Dauphin*, Jared Davidson, Filip Mesar, Tyler Thorpe

*-signed to minor-league contracts

The headliner from this list of cuts is Reinbacher.  The 21-year-old had a solid showing in training camp and it looked like he had the inside track on a spot in the opening night lineup with Kaiden Guhle heading for IR to start the year.  Instead, it appears they’ve elected to go with Adam Engstrom, at least for now.

I note for now as there are some blueliners on waivers while there is likely to be some trade activity around the NHL over the next few days.  Should an opportunity to add a defender come up, it would likely be Engstrom losing his spot.

Fowler was Montreal’s backup goaltender down the stretch and into the playoffs last season.  However, Samuel Montembeault had a bounce-back showing at training camp to stay in the mix.  Meanwhile, from a long-term development standpoint, it’s understandable that management wants Fowler getting as many starts and game reps as possible.  That will come with Laval and if Montembeault falters out of the gate, they can reassess the plan then.

There aren’t many surprises among the forwards with Beck being the most notable.  Honestly, the most notable part here is who isn’t on the list, that being Florian Xhekaj.  He had a solid showing as well in the preseason and may have played his way onto the opening roster as a result.  Whether he’s in the opening lineup on Tuesday, however, remains to be seen.

With Xhekaj being waiver-exempt like Engstrom, his spot isn’t as secure.  Again, if Montreal decides to add a forward via trade or waivers, Xhekaj becomes the one to lose his spot to make room.

With these cuts, today’s waiver placements, and the three players IR-bound (Guhle, Bryce Pickford, and Lucas Condotta), the Habs have a compliant 23-player roster to start the season.  Whether this is the group they go with or if further changes are coming on the transactions front remains to be seen.