But defenceman Lane Hutson certainly looks like he’s ready to make the jump from Boston University to the NHL.
Do you think the Habs can successfully integrate three new players into their lineup next year (Owen Beck, Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov) or should they look at maybe having one of the two available players make the roster now so you don’t have that situation next year?
Gilles Hebert
I believe it will be best for the development of Beck to spend this season with the AHL’s Laval Rocket and for Kapanen to play for Timra IK in the Swedish Hockey League rather than play limited minutes with the Canadiens. Four Canadiens forwards are heading into the final season of their contracts — Jake Evans, Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia and Michael Pezzetta — so there will be room for the three young players in 2025-26 and I don’t see their integration being a problem. In fact, I think they can feed off each other.
“Oliver’s game took off post-Christmas last year and that’s why we signed him,” Ramage said. “There’s a lot to like about this guy. Just very, very responsible. So we’ll see how it plays out. He didn’t come here just to get a T-shirt for camp. He came here to make the team. So if it works out, he sticks around, that’s perfect. If not, he’s in a great place with a very good coach, good organization in Timra.”
When do we get to see Jacob Fowler?
Rick Hollister
Primeau won the Mike Richter Award as the top goalie in NCAA for the 2018-19 season after posting a 25-10-1 record during his sophomore season with Northeastern University, along with a 2.09 GAA and a .933 save percentage. At age 25, Primeau is still finding his footing in the NHL and will start this season as Samuel Montembeault’s backup.
Primeau turned pro after winning the Richter Award and his Northeastern coach, Jim Madigan, thought that was a mistake.
At least one more season at Boston College, followed by another one with the Rocket, can only help Fowler if he is to become the Canadiens’ goalie of the future. By the way, Montembeault is entering the first season of a three-year, US$9.45-million contract, so there could be a spot for Fowler to start the 2027-28 season.
Though optimistic about Lane Hutson, there’s part of me that’s still not sold. I hope to be proven wrong. No doubt he’s slippery, but his size in an 82-game schedule may be problematic. What are your thoughts on his game translating to the NHL?
Retired Hulkamaniac on X (@WholesalerCynic)
I have also wondered about the 5-foot-10, 162-pound Hutson holding up through an NHL season after playing only 77 games over the last two seasons at Boston University. But the more I have watched Hutson at training camp and in pre-season games, the less I am worried. He is able to avoid big hits — like he showed in Thursday’s 2-1 loss in Toronto when the Maple Leafs’ Ryan Reaves tried to hammer him.
The Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes, who is 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds and only played 69 games over two seasons at the University of Michigan, led all NHL defencemen in scoring last season with 17-75-92 totals while playing in all 82 games.
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