After Tuesday night’s game, the Montreal Canadiens announced that Owen Protz had been assigned to his OHL team, the Brantford Bulldogs. The 19-year-old blueliner was a fourth-round pick at the 2024 draft and had an excellent rookie camp. His play at the Prospect Showdown earned him an invite to the main camp, but he didn’t get to skate in a preseason game.
Clearly, the Canadiens felt he had done well enough to earn a spot in a professional training camp, but as soon as the training groups were rearranged, he was placed in Group C with the players destined for the Laval Rocket.
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Protz never had a chance to make the team, but to get to take part in the pro camp and skate alongside professional players gave him just a little taste of what life in the NHL is like. While they weren’t real games, taking part in the scrimmages also showed him just how quick the game is when there are NHLers on the ice.
What impressed the coaches at rookie camp was the fact that the youngster knew who he was on the ice. He wasn’t trying to do too much; he was drafted because of his rugged style of play and his ability to do a good first pass in transition, and that’s what he put forward. He wasn’t trying to be something he’s not, which is excellent for a player of such a young age.
He returns to the OHL knowing what he needs to work on and having seen exactly what it takes to make the NHL, as well as how the pros conduct themselves. His timing was great to get an invite to the main camp too, since you can feel a real urgency around the team this season, there’s no easing in the players before the regular season starts, Martin St-Louis has told his men from the beginning that he wanted to see real repetitions right away and that’s precisely what he saw, making the experience even more worthy for Protz.
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