Could Filip Mesar Turn his Career Around?

Mesar has 2 assists in 2 preseason games as he’s been able to finally show what he can do at camp for the Habs. Not to mention, he scored a nice goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Rookie Showcase a few weeks ago. He is proving that he can be a sneaky offensive winger and has also added a little bit of physicality to his game heading into this year’s Training Camp. Mesar is flying out there, and because of his spot in the organization, it is sort of going unnoticed.

Pierre McGuire said it best when it comes to Filip Mesar on last night’s Sick Podcat Post-Game show with Tony Marinaro, the problem is that the Canadiens already have so many small players in their lineup that guys like Mesar and Vinzenz Rohrer don’t have a role to really play in the NHL going forward with the organization. This is particularly the case with Mesar, whose game revolves around offense, but unfortunately, there is no way he can beat out a guy like Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov, for a skilled winger position in the top 6.

Then his defensive game isn’t strong enough to play him in the bottom 6 as an undersized 5’10 forward. Therefore, it is likely that Mesar will have to be traded to another team if he is ever going to get a shot at the NHL.

The positives that come out of this camp are that Mesar is building up his value after it has continued to drop significantly over the past 2 years.

Taken 26th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Mesar hasn’t really lived up to the expectations that were set for him, and he has since fallen behind numerous players in the depth chart ever since. It goes back to when he failed to progress during his time in the OHL with the Kitchener Rangers. Despite his first year being a challenge as he got used to North American ice, he managed to put up 51 points in 52 games. It was the 2nd year, where he only managed 52 points in 45 games with the Rangers, which included him going completely cold at the end of the season after a hot start.

Last year with the Laval Rocket, he managed just 4 goals and 18 points in 42 games, playing lower in their lineup and often being a healthy scratch. He also only played in 1 of the Rocket’s 13 playoff games. Therefore, Mesar has been written off as a bust by everyone. That was until this preseason, when he was seen flying around the ice.

Now, there is no way Mesar makes the Habs roster, but this good performance at camp could lead to head coach Pascal Vincent being willing to give him more minutes to show what he can do at the pro level. Being just 21 years old, a good start to the Rocket season could allow Mesar to up his trade value and garner attention from other teams around the league to give him a chance at the NHL level.

It may seem like a long shot still when seeing his consistency issues, but Mesar does have an opportunity to eventually become an NHL player if he can continue to play his game similarly to the way he’s playing right now.

What are your thoughts on Filip Mesar’s camp so far?