As expected, the Montreal Canadiens announced a significant wave of cuts on Saturday night following their win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The move was expected as the Laval Rocket training camp opens on September 30, and the Habs will be heading to Quebec City for a few days.

Fifteen forwards, six defensemen, and four goaltenders were cut; everyone was sent to the Rocket, except for Vinzenz Rohrer, who still has a valid contract with the Zurich Lions in the Swiss National League. The Austrian made an excellent impression, and once his season is over in Switzerland, he will no doubt be joining the Rocket.

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In net, Jacob Fowler, Benjamin Gaudreau, Hunter Jones, and Kevin Mandolese will be with the Rocket when its training camp opens. With only two preseason games remaining, it would be logical for the Canadiens to give complete games to Samuel Montembeault and Jacob Dobes, while Kaapo Kakko acts as backup. Fowler had a perfect first camp, and so far, he does look like the real deal. As for Mondolese, he is on PTO, so it will be interesting to see what happens to him.

On the blueline, Josh Jacobs, Charles Martin, Tobie Brisson, Darick Louis-Jean, Ryan O’Rourke, and Wyatte Wylie were sent down. The list would have been longer if David Reinbacher, Kaiden Guhle, and Noah Dobson weren’t nursing injuries. Their absence allows Marc Del Gaizo, Nathan Clurman, and Adam Engstrom to get a longer look; mind you, the latter did well enough to earn a couple of more games.

Up front, there are no real surprises, although Joshua Roy will no doubt be disappointed, but as I wrote a few days ago, he didn’t make the most of his opportunities. Vincent Arseneau, Laurent Dauphin, Jared Davidson, Will Dineen, Joe Dunlap, Mark Estapa, Egor Goriunov, Riley Kidney, Filip Mesar, Israel Mianscum, Xavier Simoneau, Tyler Thorpe, and Luke Tuch will all report to Pascal Vincent in Laval.

Of the lot, Filip Mesar and Jared Davidson were the two standouts for me. I didn’t think they had a chance to make the roster, but they showed progress, and there is no doubt the organization will have taken notes of their performance.

In other words, Owen Beck, Alex Belzile, Samuel Blais, Lucas Condotta, Sean Farrell, Oliver Kapanen, Joe Veleno, and Florian Xhekaj remain with the team, and it’s still a possibility for them to get the 12th and 13th forward roles. Belzile, Farrell, and Condotta are the least likely to make it, in my opinion. Beck, Kapanen, and F. Xhekaj are still waiver-exempt, which could play against them. Blais, Veleno, Belzile, Farrell, and Condotta will all have to go through waivers to be sent to Laval.

Slowly but surely, the real season is approaching, and Martin St-Louis will need to make up his mind on a few issues. Can he stick the second line as it currently is? He did say, after the 7-2 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs, that it had to be doubted, but Kirby Dach, Patrik Laine, and Ivan Demidov were practicing together yesterday. Who would be the best choice to complete Alex Newhook and Zack Bolduc? Who’s best suited for the 13th forward role? The Mike Pezzetta assignment is to stick around without playing very often. As for who should be the sixth and seventh defenseman, that question has already been answered. Arber Xhekaj has got the inside lane, and he has had it all camp long.

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