Montreal Canadiens Rookie Camp Roster Announced

The most notable of all the players at camp is Russian forward Ivan Demidov, who has been spending the summer in Montreal, wowing fans daily at the practice facility. With real hockey games on the horizon, we as fans will finally see how Demidov competes against his peers this upcoming weekend. Unlike the majority of players that we will get to watch this weekend, Demidov is actually expected to play a big role on the Canadiens this upcoming 2025-26 campaign. While he will be the most spectacular player at this weekend’s Rookie Showcase, there are many other notable players to watch at this camp.

Starting with the 5th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, David Reinbacher. Now that Reinbacher is 100% healthy and has had a full summer of training, after knee surgery in the 2024-25 pre-season. He did come back in late February last season, but it definitely took time before his skating was finally at full strength late in the playoffs with the Laval Rocket. Once he was fully healthy, Reinbacher was one of the best players on the ice for the Rocket. 

He should be one of the best players on the ice again this upcoming weekend, using his elite defensive awareness to cut off his opponents, mixed with a great skating stride and a physical edge that was shown often during the Laval Rocket’s playoff run. Not to mention, Reinbacher can join the offense when given the opportunity.

Another interesting defenseman to watch this weekend is Adam Engstrom, who was arguably the most improved defenseman in the organization last year. Engstrom went from a player who rotated in and out of the Rocket’s lineup to a defenseman who was relied on to play the biggest minutes for his team by the playoffs alongside his partner Reinbacher. While Engstrom was the more offensive player of the two, Reinbacher played the shutdown guy, which helped the Rocket make the 3rd Round of the playoffs.

It should be interesting to see how much they have improved compared to last year. 

Speaking of the first Rookie Showcases, we have goaltender Jacob Fowler, who will be making his NHL training camp debut this year. Last season, he was named the best goaltender in all of the NCAA and eventually joined the Rocket for their playoff run. It will be fun to watch how he plays on Saturday and Sunday in front of NHL rookies.  

Of the four teams at this year’s Rookie Showcase at the Bell Centre, the Montreal Canadiens have arguably the most star power to watch. Habs fans can buy tickets for Saturday and Sunday’s games for as little as $10 by clicking this link. Habs Hockey is almost back, in only 4 days we get to see the Canadiens’ rookies play the Winnipeg Jets’ rookies.

How excited are you that Canadiens hockey is just around the corner?