For the second straight year, much of the focus will be on defenceman David Reinbacher when the Canadiens open their rookie camp.
The rookies will report on Wednesday for physical and medical testing and will be on the ice Thursday and Friday at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard. The camp will wrap up with two Prospect Showdown games against Toronto Maple Leafs rookies to be played next Saturday and Sunday at the Bell Centre. Both games start at 1 p.m. and some tickets are still available on the Canadiens’ website for $10 each.
The main Canadiens’ training camp will open the following Wednesday.
Reinbacher was selected with the fifth overall pick at last year’s NHL Draft, which disappointed many Canadiens fans who were hoping the team would take an offensive-minded forward like Russian Matvei Michkov, who ended up going to the Philadelphia Flyers with the seventh pick.
The two players the Canadiens selected in the first round of this year’s NHL Draft won’t be at the rookie camp. Right-winger Ivan Demidov, selected fifth overall, is playing with St. Petersburg SKA in the KHL and picked up an assist in his first game Thursday. Centre Michael Hage, selected 21st overall, will play this season at the University of Michigan and NCAA eligibility rules make it difficult to attend an NHL rookie camp or training camp. Michigan will open its season on Oct. 4.
While Michkov will start this season with the Flyers, Reinbacher is expected to play for the AHL’s Laval Rocket since the Canadiens are loaded with young defencemen. A year playing in the AHL also seems like the best thing for the 19-year-old Reinbacher’s development as he continues to adjust to the smaller North American rink following a tough season with Kloten HC in the Swiss-A League. Reinbacher suffered two injuries — one to his knee and another to his hand — and Kloten HC went through three head coaches while finishing in 13th place in the 14-team league with a 17-29-6 record. Reinbacher had 1-10-11 totals in 35 games, along with a minus-15 differential.
Michkov had 19-22-41 totals in 47 games last season with Sochi HC in the KHL.
The Canadiens were happy Reinbacher was able to finish last season by playing 11 games with the Rocket, posting 2-3-5 totals and a plus-6 differential.
“That’s going to help him this year when he comes to camp,” Rob Ramage, the Canadiens’ director of player development, said about Reinbacher’s stint in Laval. “Those were critical games. We were fighting for a playoff spot and he did well.”
Defenceman Logan Mailloux also did well last season in Laval, posting 14-33-47 totals in 72 games to go along with 91 penalty minutes. The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder — taken in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft (31st overall) — will be at the rookie camp after making his NHL debut in the Canadiens’ final game last season and picking up an assist.
Defenceman Lane Hutson, selected in the second round (62nd overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft, will also be at the rookie camp after posting 15-34-49 totals in 38 games last season at Boston University before making his NHL debut with the Canadiens, picking up two assists over the last two games of the season.
There’s a good chance both Mailloux and Hutson will start the season with the Canadiens, highlighted by the fact they were among the 35 players invited to the NHLPA Rookie Showcase this week at the Washington Capitals’ practice facility in Arlington, Va. Michkov was also at the event, which is used by Upper Deck — the official trading card partner of the NHL and NHLPA — to shoot photos and video of the players in their NHL jerseys to be used for their first official rookie cards as well as additional promotional materials.
Canadiens GM Kent Hughes opened two spots on the blue line during the off-season by trading Jordan Harris to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Patrik Laine and a second-round pick at the 2026 NHL Draft and sending Johnathan Kovacevic to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2026.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Canadiens start the season with Mike Matheson and Kaiden Guhle as the top defence pairing, followed by David Savard with Hutson and Arber Xhekaj with Mailloux. Xhekaj and Mailloux played together last season in Laval after Xhekaj was sent down for a 17-game stint. That would leave Justin Barron and Jayden Struble battling for the extra defence spot. Barron would have to clear waivers if the Canadiens want to send him to Laval.
Two forwards to keep an eye on at the rookie camp — with the on-ice sessions in Brossard open to the public — are Owen Beck and Florian Xhekaj, Arber’s brother. Expect both of them to start the season in Laval.
“He’s a beast, too, man,” Arber said recently about his younger brother on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. “He’ll surprise a lot of people. I mean, he had to fight me growing up his whole life. It will be interesting to see what he does.”