TSN: Darren Dreger on the Montreal Canadiens goalie situation, and first-round picks Juraj Slafkovsky and David Reinbacher.
James Duthie: “Similar situation in Montreal with (Sam) Montembeault, Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau. They can’t send Primeau down without having to put him on waivers.
So, how do they handle that trio?”
Dreger: “Yeah, it’s similarly tricky for the Montreal Canadiens. Who’s the defined starter in Montreal? I guess that’s to be determined. But you’re right that Cayden Primeau does have to clear. And no different than Joe Woll of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the belief in Montreal is that Cayden Primeau is not going to clear waivers.
So, Kent Hughes the general manager will continue to have conversations on that. They moved a goaltender to the Vancouver Canucks as part of the Tanner Pearson trade.
The Canadiens at this stage don’t have a problem carrying three goalies. But history also shows us that is an imperfect scenario for all three men. So there will have to be decisions made on that.
Duthie: “Bright future, and a big part of that is Juraj Slafkovsky, who we talked a little bit on the panel, and David Reinbacker the fifth overall pick last year. Where do they both end up playing this season?”
Dreger: “Well Slafkovsky is notch ahead for obvious reasons, right? So, the hope, the expectation is that he can be an impactful NHL player. But to develop the way they need him to develop, even though as we talked about on the panel, there’s no rush with him. Feels like he’s got to play in that top-six.
Indications are based on how hard he worked in the offseason, the way he’s showing in the preseason, that he’s going to be able to do that.
Reinbacher’s a little unique in that he has the European clause. So he can go back to Europe which isn’t a bad thing for the Montreal Canadiens because he can continue to develop there.
And as we also mentioned earlier, maybe that opens up a spot for Logan Mailloux to go over to Laval because he’s having a terrific preseason as well.
So, one thing we know about Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens, they’re not going to make moves to block the progress of these young players, but these young players have to be able to play at the NHL pace.
