Day 3 of Montreal Canadiens Rookie Camp Updates

It is unclear whether Pickford will be out of the lineup for this weekend’s Rookie Showcase, as it doesn’t appear to be anything major. Stay tuned for more news on Pickford throughout the day on whether or not he will be playing against the Jets or not tonight.

For the 2nd straight day, we got to see the line of Oliver Kapanen, Florian Xhekaj, and Ivan Demidov form the likely top line for this weekend’s matchups. It seems like their overall chemistry improved as the trio dominated yet again today. Demidov was once again the standout at the on-ice sessions today. He continues to make every drill look too easy, easy and now it seems like he’s got his linemates on that same level by making them look better by design.

Friday showed us a better glimpse of what each line and defensive pairing should look like for tonight’s game against the Winnipeg Jets Rookies. Along with the Kapanen-Xhekaj-Demidov line, there will also be a 2nd line of Tyler Thorpe, Owen Beck, and Vinzenz Rohrer. This is a line that will combine a big power forward with one of the Laval Rocket’s top forwards and a speedy Austrian forward who can still the puck and outskate almost any prospect in the organization (except maybe Demidov). This line should be fun to watch as all three players could end up being key parts of the Canadiens’ bottom-six in the next 3-4 years. 

This Training Camp will be Beck’s chance to show if he’s ready for the NHL, or if he still needs some time down in the AHL to round out his game before he takes on a defensive forward type of role with the Canadiens. With this being Beck’s 4th Rookie Camp, it will be time for him to show that he can actually be one of the top players when it comes to playing against prospects. The thing is, unlike Demidov, Beck’s version of taking over a game isn’t flashy; his game is about making the right decisions and playing a strong 2-way game. Therefore, a dominant game from Beck this weekend would be a game where he wins 80%+ faceoffs and contributes a couple of gritty points like he often does, shuts down the other team’s top prospects in their own end by cutting off passing lanes and blocking shots. Honestly, with how good a faceoff guy Beck is, that shouldn’t be hard for him to win 80%+ of his draws throughout the weekend. 

Yesterday, it was mentioned that Florian Xhekaj put on 20 LBS throughout the off-season, but there was another big prospect who put on roughly the same amount of weight. Tyler Thorpe claimed that he put on an additional 20 LBS as well and is now standing at 6’5 and 230 LBS. The two big forwards even roughed it up with each other during one of Friday’s drills, both showing their found strength on each other in the corner. 

The idea of Xhekaj and Thorpe possibly being a big part of the Canadiens’ 4th line someday is exciting. At last year’s Rookie Camp, they, along with a 6’4 Luke Tuch, formed an incredible trio that bullied the Toronto Maple Leafs prospects throughout the weekend by being monsters on the puck. Now this year, it seems the three players will be on separate lines, but they should still be huge assets to their linemates this year. 

Are you excited to finally watch tonight’s prospects game against the Jets?