Whether due to anticipated free-agent departures or unanticipated injuries, the Montreal Canadiens are going to have roster spots available in 2024-25. So, some American Hockey League (AHL) call-ups from this past season will get a chance to make a further impression with the Habs sooner or later. It’s a question of when exactly… and who?
If history is any indication, plenty of Laval Rocket regulars will get promoted at some point next season. However, looking just at the prospects who didn’t start 2023-24 with the Canadiens (so pure call-ups for all intents and purposes), but could out of training camp next fall, here are the top five:
5. Emil Heineman
One thing the Canadiens have a surplus of is bottom-six forwards. So, take forward Emil Heineman’s inclusion here with a grain of salt. He’s No. 5 for a reason. His skillset simply screams two-way winger, even though he has some offensive talent. While he’s someone who could conceivably work his way up the line-up, that implies starting at the bottom.
As a result, it’s a stretch to pencil him into the top six. The first line is already spoken for and the hope is Kirby Dach will be healthy enough to centre the second line, presumably between some combination of Alex Newhook, Joshua Roy (for some foreshadowing), Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson and Joel Armia.
Three of those wingers will drop down the lineup. Barring a significant offseason shake-up, they’ll join the likes of Michael Pezzetta, Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Jesse Ylonen in a dogfight for ice time. So, despite the fact some thought Heineman had an outside shot of making the roster out of training camp last season, there just won’t be room for him (or fellow bottom-six call-ups Lucas Condotta and pending unrestricted-free-agent Mitchell Stephens, each of whom obviously didn’t make the list).
4. Logan Mailloux
To address the elephant in the room, defenseman Lane Hutson didn’t make this list for two reasons. Firstly, he never played in the AHL last season. He started with the Canadiens upon signing his contract at the end of the season. So, he’s not a call-up. Secondly, as a left-handed defenseman, it’s inherently unlikely there will be room for the 20-year-old, even if he has a great training camp. There are simply too many lefties above him on the depth chart right now.
That’s less of an issue for right-handed defenseman Logan Mailloux. He obviously saw end-of-season action with the Canadiens himself after having gotten called up, seemingly as a reward for an all-star season in the minors, during which he scored 14 goals and 33 assists in 72 games.
On the right, the Canadiens have veterans David Savard and Johnathan Kovacevic. Then it comes down to prospects Mailloux, Justin Barron and David Reinbacher. The latter two didn’t make this list on relative technicalities. Reinbacher never saw NHL action, starting his North American professional career with the Rocket late in the season, as if he were the anti-Hutson or something. Barron meanwhile started 2023-24 on the NHL opening-night roster, despite eventually getting sent down.
While Barron has arguably dropped down the depth chart somewhat, he’s still a former first-round pick who scored seven goals in 48 games, the second-highest total among Canadiens defensemen. He’s also just 22, which is obviously still young, but not so young that he’s still exempt from waivers. Mailloux doesn’t have to go through them yet, making it a fairly easy decision for management if it comes down to the two of them.
3. Jayden Struble
The primary reason it should come down to Barron and Mailloux is, as alluded to earlier, there are simply too many left-handed defensemen. So, if the Canadiens choose to go with even eight defensemen, chances are good five will be lefties: Mike Matheson, Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj, Jordan Harris and Jayden Struble.
Struble got called up last November following an injury to Xhekaj. He soon jumped up the depth chart by leaps and bounds, only returning to the Laval Rocket once the NHL season had ended. In playing 56 games, he came out of nowhere to effectively establish himself in the team’s long-term plans.
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So, Struble definitely has a chance to make the Canadiens next season. It’s just hard to see him leapfrog even Xhekaj, who got demoted following his injury, Struble staying up seemingly at his expense. Not only is Xhekaj no longer waiver-exempt, but he also returned from his AHL stint a more complete defenseman.
Assuming Struble is fifth down the depth chart on the left side (and everyone stays healthy), it begs the question: Is it worth keeping him up when he can safely go through waivers and get more ice time in the AHL? As it’s far from a guarantee the Canadiens use the extra roster spot on a defenseman despite the logjam, the answer should be a resounding “No.”
2. Joshua Roy
Last season, the Canadiens obviously devoted three roster spots to goalies. That shouldn’t be an issue any longer. While there’s a case to be made that 23rd spot should go to a defenseman instead (see No. 3 above), forward Joshua Roy has complicated the issue.
To be clear, Roy wouldn’t be the extra forward himself. Having gotten called up on several occasions to play 23 total games (four goals, nine points), he’s arguably done enough to solidify his spot as a top-12 forward (maybe even a top-six one). So, Roy would push someone like Pezzetta or Ylonen out of the lineup.
Being exempt from waivers, Roy can obviously be sent down easily. That would in one way solve many headaches for general manager Kent Hughes. However, as expectations will be heightened further in 2024-25, you’d expect him in turn to ice the best possible lineup. It would include Roy who far from seemed out of place on his line with Alex Newhook and Joel Armia down the stretch, or Armia and Sean Monahan when he initially joined the Canadiens.
1. Joel Armia
That brings us to something of a surprise No. 1 entry in Armia. Now, officially speaking, he made the opening-night roster, while Xhekaj didn’t. However, the former nevertheless started his season with the Rocket (and the latter with the Canadiens) for salary-cap-management purposes.
Armia made the most of being called up, re-establishing himself as an NHL forward. Not only did he become the Canadiens’ Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy candidate, but he set a new career-high 17 goals in just 66 games.
Armia also ended the season rather impressively, on a significant high. In his last 12 games, he scored six goals and three assists. It stands to reason that strong finish especially will be fresh in Hughes’ mind (barring an incredibly underwhelming training camp on his part).
As an unrestricted free agent in 2025, Armia is obviously a trade candidate. And his rebound season might make it more likely Hughes trades him this offseason to get his $3.4 million hit off the books and open up a spot for a player like Heineman. However, again, Hughes is entering his third full season. The Canadiens haven’t made the playoffs in four. It may realistically end up five, but fans won’t stay patient for much longer.
The Canadiens will have to make significant progress in the standings once again for the rebuild to be seen as on track. And, as crazy as it would have sounded at this point last year, Armia helps give them that chance. If he can put together a similar season to the one he just did, Hughes should have no problem parlaying that into something significant at the trade deadline, and, at the end of the day, Armia’s 25 points shouldn’t be that hard to replicate.
It’s ultimately not the points that make the difference, but the overall effort level. And, if Armia is indeed a new player, it’s far from a stretch to say his days as a call-up are over… all the while staying with the Canadiens for a relatively long while still.