Canadiens’ Morning Skate Update And Prolonged Auditions

There was good news at the Montreal Canadiens’ morning skate on Tuesday morning: Mike Matheson was on the ice with the group. It doesn’t mean he’ll return right away, but it does show he’s progressing. Josh Anderson, who missed Saturday's game for family reasons, will be back for the duel with the Minnesota Wild.

As for Jake Evans, Martin St-Louis said he may be able to play tonight, but Florian Xhekaj will still warm up just in case. That means that Owen Beck will once again be on the outside looking in through no fault of his own.

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Beck’s doing great work on the ice, but there are just too many bodies in front of him. That situation has to be handled with care. If some pending unrestricted free agents are let go this summer, you need to know what you have in Beck and how much he’s ready to handle. After the morning skate, the coach was asked why Beck hasn’t been given any repetition on the penalty kill, and of course, he simply said there are players ahead of him in those chairs. Jake Evans, Phillip Danault, Anderson (who got a new lease of life when St-Louis added the PK to his responsibilities), and Alex Newhook have been solid shorthanded this season. Still, both Danault and Anderson are in contract years.

They may be re-signed at the end of the season, but what if the Canadiens go big game hunting to land a star player with a huge cap hit? They may have to sacrifice some veterans to have room on the cap for a big name. If that happens, they'll need a new influx of young players; Beck, Florian Xhekaj, and Adam Engstrom are getting a long audition this season thanks to the circumstances, and it’s up to them to make the most of it. So far, so good, but every day is a new fight when trying to establish yourself as a full-time NHLer.

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