The Canadiens Future Is Bright, and it’s starting to show

   It was a season to remember for the Montreal

Canadiens, a team that didn’t have big expectations,

but played with heart and no quit all season long.

Many doubted from the beginning of the season the

Canadiens would be at the bottom of the NHL, but

this team prevailed and proved everyone wrong.

Granted, they didn’t make the playoffs, obviously

would’ve been nice to see if they were in, but it’s

okay, because there is so much to look forward to,

something the team and its fans have not had in a

long time.

 

     Let’s start with the finnish stud, Jesperi Kotkaniemi,

who had a good rookie season, and displayed his talent

for all the fans, finishing with 11 goals and 23 assists for

34 points in his rookie campaign, and with that in mind

the potential of being this team’s future #1 centre is

very nice. Now clearly, it wasn’t all easy for the

18 year old, but he held his own in many ways. He

always did what the coaches told him, never tried to do

too much, and always remained humble with every

opportunity that came to him. With a little more

muscle and experience, he will be a force for many

years to come.

 

  Two words: Ryan Poehling! The young 20 year old

from Lakeville, Minnesota completed his junior year at

St. Cloud State, and signed his entry level deal with 3

games left in the season. He ended up playing the last

game of the season against the rival, Toronto Maple

Leafs, and was unbelievable. He scored his first NHL

goal, and if that wasn’t enough, he scored two more to

complete his first career NHL hat-trick in his first NHL

game. That hasn’t been done since Auston Matthews did

it in 2017. Pretty impressive to say the least, but let’s

not expect that Poehling is going to be a pure

goalscorer, that’s not his game. He plays a 200 foot

game, contributing on both ends of the ice, can play on

the powerplay and penalty kill, and can shut down the

opposition’s best forwards on a nightly basis, hopefully

that is. He has a bright future ahead in the NHL.

 

   Nick Suzuki, the swiss army knife as TSN’s Craig

Button likes to call him, had a terrific season and so

far, a fantastic playoff run with the Guelph Storm in

the Ontario Hockey League. He singlehandedly carried

Guelph back from a 3-0 deficit in the series, and

brought them back and shockingly winning the series 4-

3 against the highly touted London Knights. He scored

11 points in the remaining 4 games to beat the Knights

and move on to meet the Mississauga Steelheads in the

next round. Head Coach George Burnett praised Suzuki

for his unbelievable character and leadership, and

that having a player of Suzuki’s magnitude raised

everyone else’e game to another level. Next year, he’ll

be playing for the Laval Rocket, but does have a chance

to compete for a spot on the Canadiens next season.

 

   Cale Fleury is starting to make some noise, a 3rd

round pick in 2017, who can skate and play amazing

defensively, and on occasion chip in offensively. He’s

also ready physically, at 6’3, 200lbs, he’s borderline

NHL ready, just needs another season in the AHL to

mature the rest of his game. He’s a player to watch.

 

   Bottom line is, this season was a success, regardless of

not making the playoffs. They over-achieved a ton, and

next season will not be the same at all, it will be better,

at least in my opinion. Looking to forward to the

NHL draft, the Canadiens will be drafting 15th. Who

will they draft? Find out in my blog coming within the

week.