{"id":898148,"date":"2026-09-16T17:20:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T17:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/898148\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T17:20:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T17:20:18","slug":"canadiens-training-camp-preview-pressure-is-on-to-meet-high-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/898148\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadiens training camp preview: Pressure is on to meet high expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"

BROSSARD, Que. \u2014 With Arber Xhekaj<\/a> signing at the 11th\u00a0hour, the band is officially back together, ready to start training camp, seemingly prepared to cruise out of the rebuild and throttle down towards Stanley Cup contention.<\/p>\n

Though the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> may still have a few miles to cover on that journey, general manager Kent Hughes\u2019 masterful salary cap manipulation \u2014 on display once again in inking Xhekaj for just $1.5 million before buying up four prime years of Alex Newhook<\/a>\u2019s career for just $22.2 million \u2014 has set them up to arrive in short order. He\u2019s got the core locked in at a bargain, and with depth overflowing up front, on the back end and in net, he\u2019s still got some wiggle room and plenty of incentive to add.<\/p>\n

So, buckle up, because this ride is about to get much more exciting.<\/p>\n

Of course, there are some teams poised to throw spokes in the wheels, especially in the Atlantic Division, which will be a brutal gauntlet to run this season.<\/p>\n

The Florida Panthers are back after a brief sabbatical from dominating the league, and they might be even better than they ever were through back-to-back championship seasons from 2023-25. The Tampa Bay Lightning have kept their contention window open while the Buffalo Sabres have cracked theirs ajar. And the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins all have what it takes to turn this division upside down.<\/p>\n

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Last year we all discounted the Sabres\u2019 ability to break the NHL\u2019s longest playoff drought and now we\u2019re doing the same to the Detroit Red Wings for obvious reasons (here\u2019s looking at you, Dylan Larkin). But perhaps we shouldn\u2019t forget their coming-of-age roster has had a winning record over each of the last three seasons and knocked on the door in two of them.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d imagine the Canadiens aren\u2019t overlooking them.<\/p>\n

Still, the Red Wings obviously don\u2019t pose the biggest threat to this Canadiens season. The mirror does.<\/p>\n

What if they look in it and realize the bar\u2019s been set too high to clear?<\/p>\n

After all, the Canadiens are coming off a 106-point season and an appearance in the Eastern Conference Final. Their captain, Nick Suzuki<\/a>, posted 101 points and won the Selke Trophy as the league\u2019s top defensive forward. His linemate, Cole Caufield<\/a>, became the first player in the organization to top 50 goals since Stephane Richer did it in 1990. And the pressure for them and their teammates to follow up that impressive act is so palpable that when owner Geoff Molson was asked at the annual golf tournament Monday about his expectations for the season, he sidestepped the question like he was dodging a hip check from Xhekaj.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like using the word expectation, necessarily,\u201d Molson started. \u201cFor me to use the word expectation for the team, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s the right word.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud of them, they did great last year, and I have no doubt that they\u2019re going to come back and try to be even better this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Canadiens president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton came out 10 minutes later and balked at defining what a successful season would look like for the team before saying, \u201cThe guys want to be good, they know we have a good team, they know we\u2019re moving in the right direction, and we try not to add any pressure to that,\u201d it certainly spoke to his concern about the bubbling hype in the market.<\/p>\n

The Canadiens have earned it, no doubt. They\u2019ve put one foot in front of the other through each of the last four seasons of this rebuild.<\/p>\n

But this step out of it is a huge leap, and we\u2019re going to find out over the coming months if the Canadiens are indeed ready to take it without tripping.<\/p>\n

Salary cap space:\u00a0$2,783,924 (according to\u00a0PuckPedia.com)
GM: Kent Hughes
Head coach:\u00a0Martin St. Louis
Assistant coaches:\u00a0Derek Lalonde, Stephane Robidas
Unsigned players: None
Key additions: Chris Kreider<\/a>
Key subtractions: Patrik Laine, Brendan Gallagher, Joe Veleno<\/p>\n

What we’ll learn during the pre-season<\/p>\n

1. Where Arber Xhekaj fits<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be surprised if it\u2019s up front once everyone\u2019s healthy, with five defencemen in Lane Hutson, Mike Matheson, Noah Dobson, Kaiden Guhle and Alex Carrier ahead in the pecking order and Xhekaj and Jayden Struble being pushed by ready-for-primetime players like Adam Engstrom and David Reinbacher.<\/p>\n

Of course, Guhle\u2019s potential short-term absence might obscure that possibility for now. But if the Canadiens intend on giving Xhekaj some runway at forward at one point or another this season, testing it out in camp feels like a good idea.<\/p>\n

Testing it out actually feels necessary, because being able to use Xhekaj and his brother, Florian, on a line together as nuclear deterrents to the Tkachuks when Florida rolls around \u2014 or the Lightning, Sens, Bruins and Leafs, who are all built brawnier than in recent memory \u2014 is something this team needs to be able to do.<\/p>\n

2. How the goaltending shakes out<\/p>\n

Hughes was unequivocal: He\u2019s fine with starting camp with three goalies but has no intention of keeping three around to start the season.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s good news for Jakub Dobes<\/a>, who\u2019s under virtually no threat to lose the starting position in a camp that\u2019ll run less than two weeks and feature only three pre-season games (two of them with split squads).<\/p>\n

What\u2019s less clear is what it means for Jacob Fowler<\/a>, who\u2019s still eligible to return to the American Hockey League without having to clear waivers.<\/p>\n

Not that he should be planning to.<\/p>\n

Fowler\u2019s a big part of the Canadiens future but can also be a big part of their present if given the opportunity. And given his performance over the last year, it wouldn\u2019t surprise us if he jumped up and grabbed it.<\/p>\n

Though again, the 21-year-old\u2019s got limited runway over a short camp to do that.<\/p>\n

Does Samuel Montembeault have enough time to show he\u2019ll be more like the guy who finished top five in the NHL in goals saved above expected two years ago rather than the guy who seemingly couldn\u2019t save most of the shots he was expected to last year? Will another team out there see enough from him over a limited sample to trade for the final year of his $3.15-million contract?<\/p>\n

If not, could Montembeault be waived and parked in the AHL in favour of Fowler?<\/p>\n

Hughes\u2019 response on the issue guarantees these questions will be answered soon.<\/p>\n

3. Who\u2019s left without a chair?<\/p>\n

Remember that overflow I mentioned? The one at forward makes you wonder if all the regulars starting camp will be finishing it with the Canadiens.<\/p>\n

Hey, depth stimulates internal competition, and that\u2019s all well and good.<\/p>\n

But depleting a bit of it to free up more cap space for a GM still looking for a premium piece up front is not only better but also seemingly necessary.<\/p>\n

If Hughes doesn\u2019t make a move or two soon, he certainly will before he eventually adds. And he could end up subtracting more than just one player, especially with some young ones currently pushing for spots and other young ones set to arrive later this season (here\u2019s looking at you, Michael Hage).<\/p>\n

If no other top-six forward is added before camp breaks, Chris Kreider starts the season on a line with Suzuki and Caufield.<\/p>\n

Why? Because Juraj Slafkovsky can drive a line with Ivan Demidov and either one of Oliver Kapanen or Alex Newhook and Kreider proved in riding shotgun with Troy Terry and Leo Carlson with the Anaheim Ducks last season that he\u2019s still got the finishing ability and all-around game to excel in this role.<\/p>\n

It helps that coach Martin St. Louis already knows what he has with Suzuki, Caufield and Slafkovsky. Whenever he wishes to reunite them, he\u2019ll be assured it\u2019ll flow.<\/p>\n

But starting Kreider with Suzuki and Caufield, and Slafkovsky with Demidov and whomever, could offer the Canadiens better balance up front. Think of the trickle-down effect for the other two lines, as well, because they’re loaded with the talent, experience and versatility to feast on weaker matchups.<\/p>\n

Forwards
Cole Caufield \u2014 Nick Suzuki \u2014 Chris Kreider
Juraj Slafkovsky \u2014 Oliver Kapanen \u2014 Ivan Demidov
Zachary Bolduc \u2014 Jake Evans \u2014 Alex Newhook
Alexandre Texier \u2014 Phillip Danault \u2014 Josh Anderson
Kirby Dach, Florian Xhekaj<\/p>\n

Defence
Lane Hutson \u2014 Noah Dobson
Mike Matheson \u2014 Alex Carrier
Jayden Struble \u2014 Arber Xhekaj<\/p>\n

*Kaiden Guhle (assuming he doesn\u2019t start the season on time, one of Adam Engstrom or David Reinbacher would be in this slot)<\/p>\n

Goaltenders
Jakub Dobes
Jacob Fowler<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROSSARD, Que. \u2014 With Arber Xhekaj signing at the 11th\u00a0hour, the band is officially back together, ready to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":898149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-898148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}