Most likely to be the strange man in 2025 – 26 years – Hockey writer – Montreal Canadian

A lot of changes may occur in two seasons. One season of rebuilding, you’re looking at names like Rem Pitlick and Jesse Ylonen, fighting it against the roster. After a few seasons, neither is completely out of the organization and the backbone of the American Hockey League.

After the Canadian successfully entered the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, things were different on the way to speculating that the final battle was. Often, you’ll look more at the names of legitimate claims on the roster, trying to get the next wave of potential customers in a pipeline considered to be the top pool of the NHL.

Related: NHL’s Best Farm System Ranking – 2024-25 Season Update

Is there any line to wrestle in training camp? If so, who is the fee? This is the most likely weird guy for Canadians in every position before 2025-26:

3. OwenBeck vs. Sammy Blais vs. Oliver Kapanen

Another sign that Canadians are on the way? In the front, assuming the newly signed Joe Veleno’s purpose is to give him a deep position, you actually have 12 players who have valid locks to make the team. It cannot be guaranteed in any way, as Sammy Blais may not have room for space, and Sammy Blais general manager Kent Hughes also signed a one-way contract for a year in the offseason. The difference is that Veleno spent last season in the NHL, but is still only 25 years old, the remaining benefits of being a former first-round draft pick.

Despite Blais’ skills, he scored 20 points in 31 games against the St. Louis Blues in 2022-23, it’s clear what his role would be if he was to form a team. He stood 6-foot-2 at 206 pounds, replacing outgoing Michael Pezzetta as the 13th forward and may only see ice on rare occasions, especially given his 2024-25 in the AHL.

But you also put the center Owen Beck and Oliver Kapanen together (with wingers Joshua Roy and Florian Xhekaj). Assuming the Canadiens have 14 forwards, two spots are left between five. Assuming Kirby Dach started the season’s health and got another shot as the team’s second-tier center, it makes sense that Baker could win the third-tier victory in the midfield. You have to believe that Habs believes that Kapanen has an internal track because they can theoretically replace Dach with the latter’s staggering pace, although it is a record of people who have no proven ability to produce.

If the Canadians were to inject more physics into the roster, it seemed like the young Xhekaj fraternity would offer more, as his 24 goals successful on Laval Rocket would offer more in the first professional season. Even so, any suggestions that HAB needs to go have been exaggerated, especially given the fact that Arber (and Josh Anderson) would make the team ban any radical unforeseeable development.

2. Jayden Struble

Arber’s playoff debut against the Washington Capitals in Game 3 was seen as a turning point in the series (even if the Canadians ended up losing). So it’s hard to imagine him except for the team’s regular third-placed defensive player, especially as he played 70 games last season.

Of course, Xhekaj is often scratched. But, more logically, Habs will be able to rely on a 24-year-old defensive player in the organization, rather than a 29-year-old winger at Blais to increase the resilience they seem to need. This has left Jayden Struble playing 56 games last season, an obvious choice to be the team’s seventh time defender.

The only real competition for Struble is the prospect David Reinbacher. Although Reinbacher is highly touted, the overall consensus seems to be that he is not ready yet. This may change throughout the season, but Canadians should rarely rush to graduate from the NHL because he will only be eligible for waivers in 2027.

The Canadiens may have only two right-hand shots, opening the door for Reinbach, but head coach Martin St. Louis did turn to left-handers like Struble, Xhekaj, Xhekaj, Mike Matheson and Lane Hutson to make up for the difference on the right. Find this trend to continue.

1.

This is probably the easiest battle to call. Or at least it should be. As long as everyone operates under the assumption of relatively safe, Jacob Fowler stays in the AHL next season, which will be a game for two.

Kaapo Kahkonen has extensive NHL experience. But after Canadians took a berth behind Jakub Dobes’s work to support Sam Montembeault’s job, they will provide him with every opportunity to keep the roster he received.

The partnership with Dobes is that the Canadians signed a one-way, $1.15 million deal for Kahkonen, just like with Blais and Veleno, which really demonstrates the intention to keep him in the NHL. However, there is a huge situation here. Since earlier this year, Kahkonen’s star has gradually become potential No. 1 with the potential No. 1 in Minnesota Wild. Ironically, effectively getting a half-start in several seasons with the San Jose Sharks, who lived in the basement, seemed to do more harm than good to his stock, to the point where he was going to eliminate a season, where he played a game in the AHL. So it’s hard to believe Hughes signed Karconen because of anything other than Fowler’s mentor, insurance policy should struggle with more seasoning.

That is absolutely possible. Next season, Dobbs will certainly find himself struggling in some places. However, the job was obviously his failure to lose training camp. And, with two-thirds of the system, Canadians implemented a stunning failure in 2023-24, under Hughes’ watch, there is no way to repeat the same mistake in hell. Habs obviously went this path because they didn’t want to risk losing Cayden Primeau on the save. While technically this is a risk to Kahkonen (Dobes exemption), at least one thing has remained the same over the past few years: the development of its prospects needs to be handled with caution.

Canadians (time and time) failed with Primeau. Relegation to Dobbs would be a questionable decision when he proves himself capable of facing the NHL-Caliber game. It is also an uncompulsory mistake to keep the future of the organization in the network without working with him with some form of senior leaders to help him. Maybe they lost Kahoning on the exemption. However, they had to sign someone into four goalkeepers. Regardless of the goalkeeper, they may face a similar situation. It happens that their goalkeeper in the ink is someone who can contribute at the NHL level, which makes it a part of Hughes. However, this did not change all signs that he was sent to the NHL’s AHL and Dobes.