The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre over the weekend for a pair of games dubbed the ‘Prospect Showdown’.
As expected, Habs fans packed the Bell Centre on both Saturday and Sunday, nearly selling out the arena for a prospects game – that shows how much Montreal loves their team. Canadiens fans were in for a treat with the roster for the weekend, which was led by Lane Hutson, 2023 fifth-overall pick David Reinbacher and 2021 first-round pick Logan Mailloux.
Both games were close, but Toronto’s rookie squad, led by Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten, took the two contests – Saturday’s in a shootout and Sunday’s by a score of 5-3 thanks to a late powerplay marker from the aforementioned Cowan.
While Montreal may have lost both games, there are plenty of positives to take from the weekend and a number of players that stood out to me, but I’ve decided to narrow it down to three.
Lane Hutson
Coming into rookie camp and the Prospect Showdown, Lane Hutson didn’t need to do a whole lot. Everyone knows the level of talent he has and what he’s capable of based on what he was able to do with Boston University last season and at the World Juniors with the United States. Hutson even got into a pair of games with Montreal at the end of the year, tallying two assists. As expected at the Prospect Showdown, Hutson shined. He showed his flashiness by walking the blueline on several occasions, his slick hands, and was able to make seam passes with ease. His vision and overall awareness were on display and Habs fans will get to see plenty more of Lane Hutson in the coming weeks and it’s almost certain that he’ll be on the NHL roster to start the season in Montreal.
Logan Mailloux
Logan Mailloux got his first taste of the National Hockey League in Montreal’s final game of the 2023-24 season after having a strong rookie campaign with Laval (47 points in 72 games). Mailloux was another player, like Lane Hutson, who we knew what he’s capable of and didn’t necessarily need to wow anyone over the weekend, but he did. To me, Mailloux looked very confident in nearly every shift and his skating has definitely improved since the start of the 2023-24 campaign. The former London Knight wasn’t afraid to throw around the body and even chipped in with a beautiful shot at the bottom of the circle to tie Sunday’s game up at 4-4. If Mailloux is able to continue that play in the preseason, I could see him being on Montreal’s roster to start the year, likely on the third pairing with Arber Xhekaj.
Tyler Thorpe
While there were a handful of others I could have mentioned, Tyler Thorpe caught my attention almost instantly during Saturday’s game. Thorpe was selected in the fifth round by the Canadiens back in June and over the weekend, was a force to be reckoned with. The Richmond, B.C. native was in the middle of every scrum with his line, which featured Florian Xhekaj and Luke Tuch, brother of Buffalo Sabres forward Alex Tuch. Thorpe used his size to his advantage, throwing hits and forcing the Maple Leafs to turn over the puck. He took a big step forward during his second season with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, registering 23 goals, and on Sunday, found the back of the net at a crucial time for the Canadiens. The 19-year-old was not named to Montreal’s training camp roster, which was a little surprising, but not the end of the world as he now heads back to the Giants to focus on his 2024-25 season there.
With Rookie Camp coming to a close on Tuesday, the Canadiens will open their main training camp tomorrow with medicals and physical testing. Their first on-ice session at CN Sports Complex in Brossard is set for Thursday morning at 10 am ET.
Montreal is set to open their preseason schedule on Monday night at the Bell Center as they take on the Philadelphia Flyers. Puck drop is set for 7 pm ET and can be viewed on RDS.