For a second day in a row, Laval Rocket coach Pascal Vincent worked the Montreal Canadiens‘ rookies hard. On Thursday, his focus was on defense, but on Friday, the coaching staff had moved on to the offensive side of the game.
Just like the day before, Vincent and his assistant ran various drills that lasted between five and seven minutes and simulated game situations. There were some tow-on-two battles, but also some four-on-twos in which focus was put on net front battles.
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Some work was also done on the team’s transition game, with puck retrieval, first-pass, and quick transition to the other forward. Once again, Oliver Kapanen was centered by Florian Xhekaj on one side and Ivan Demidov on the other; the three should form the Canadiens’ top line this weekend and have already shown signs of chemistry.
While Xhekaj has shown that he is talented since being drafted by the Canadiens, the physical and gritty side of his game may very well be part of the reason why he’ll be skating alongside the Russian wonder this weekend—an insurance policy against an opponent taking liberties with the organization’s most prized prospect.
Judging by the power play drills that took place on Friday morning, the line will stick together with the man-advantage and be joined by Owen Beck and David Reinbacher. As for the second unit, it will feature Adam Engstrom, Vinzenz Rohrer, Alex Tuck, Tyler Thorpe, and Filip Mesar.
Speaking about Mesar, he told the media yesterday that he was asked to play with more grit in his exit meeting last season and added today that he wanted to fight at least once this season. When coach Vincent was asked about that, he said, “Who? Mesar? That’s not what we meant by grit, but if he wants to do it…” This is a reminder that things can sometimes get lost in translation for those kids and that they often have to learn to live and work in a second language, which certainly adds to the challenge of making the NHL.
As practice was winding down, the members of the first power play unit spent some time just circulating the pucks from one another, and their opponents had better thread carefully; they do not want to give that unit too much ice time.
After they were done circulating the puck, Xhekaj parked himself in front of the net and worked on his deflection skills, as we’ve seen Brendan Gallagher do numerous times in practice over the years. With Xhekaj’s improved frame, he should cause a few headaches to both goaltenders and defensemen.
Vincent confirmed that goaltender Jacob Fowler would be getting the start against the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow night in the Prospect Showdown. The Jets will be icing a good roster highlight with Brayden Yager, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first-round pick (14th overall) at the 2023 draft, whom they obtained for disgruntled forward Rutger McGroarty and the Jets’ own first-round pick that year, Colby Barlow.
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