Canadiens' Prospect Tyler Thorpe Ready For Laval

Thorpe is a heavy shooter, who possesses a deadly one-timer, thanks to its pure speed and accuracy. But he is also a capable shooter who thrives shooting on his off-wing, firing lasers past goalies with a quick, accurate wrist shot that complements his heavy half-clapper.

With Thorpe, it goes beyond scoring goals and making plays because though he is capable of doing that, he is also capable of mixing it up physically and developing into a nice middle-six to bottom-nine forward that elevates the club's depth, and provides an impactful player to complement the club's top line players.

Thorpe feels like a natural fit on Florian Xhekaj's wing, and who better to take Thorpe under his wing than a center who had a brilliant debut season with the Rocket in 2024-2025, scoring goals, mixing it up physically and growing a promising two-way game?

Rocket head coach Pascal Vincent will want Thorpe to play the game the right way because this is the method that provides him the best chance of an NHL future. Again, Xhekaj came in as a big, physical guy who was still rather raw, and Thorpe could become a sneaky good option should he put forward a season that shows any semblance to Xhekaj's rookie season.

These are of course lofty expectations, but Thorpe has certainly been busy with offseason homework assigned to him from Kent Hughes' and Jeff Gorton's staff, to put him in the best position to make an impact with Laval in year one of his professional hockey playing career.

Because Thorpe is projected more as a bottom-six winger, the importance of him playing a responsible two-way game is fathomably high, and given what he can do with space on odd-man rushes, could be a nice eventual replacement for what Joel Armia provided on the Canadiens penalty kill, with a much better offensive approach, fuelled by a quick release on his wrist and snapshots.

Thorpe, just like Xhekaj and even Hayden Paupanekis, is a player the Canadiens drafted to get bigger, but also to be harder to play against, and physically able to wear down the opposition's best players.

It's no secret that playing a heavy-hitting, physically-punishing brand of hockey is the way to win on the biggest stage, and Hughes and Gorton have been studious, which appears to be ever paying off, each time one of their late-round, big-bodied forwards hits the ice and shows the potential that got them drafted.