John Sedgwick expects to see Adam Engstrom with the Canadiens sooner rather than later

He doesn’t necessarily place Engstrom above David Reinbacher, even though he said he’s not at all afraid of the latter’s future, but he wanted to take advantage of the moment to give credit to young Adam Engstrom.

And rightly so! Engstrom has been a regular for the Rocket this season, playing 66 games and ranking sixth on the team.

What Sedgwick seems to like most about Engstrom is his ability to adapt to the North American game. He has seen a marked improvement in this aspect of the young defenseman’s game.

Sedgwick expects to see Engstrom get his chance in Montreal sooner rather than later, because he’s simply talented. His 27 points this season make him the second-highest scorer among Rocket defensemen, behind Logan Mailloux. That’s not bad at all.

The only thing that could slow Engstrom’s ascent to the NHL is congestion on the left side of the Habs blue line.

Montreal already has Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson and Kaiden Guhle on the left, not to mention Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble, who have been fighting for a regular spot for quite some time now.

Engstrom will either have to impress in practice or wait for a wave of injuries among the Canadiens’ defensemen.

The good news for him is that the Logan Mailloux trade to the Blues has lightened the competition, but the cards still have to align for him to have a chance this season.

In any case, things are looking good for him. When the Rocket’s Director of Hockey Operations thinks highly of you, it increases your chances of being recalled sooner rather than later.

Overtime

– Time for Slafkovsky to explode.

– That’s a lot of money.

– Funny tactic.

– This is the equivalent of the Arizona Coyotes!