With the Montreal Canadiens struggling much more often than not once again this season, the enthusiasm and excitement of CH fans quickly turned back to the Laval Rocket.
Indeed, Pascal Vincent’s squad quickly became the center of attention, especially with the team’s incredible start to the season.
And even if the team has slowed down and is currently experiencing a more difficult streak with three defeats in its last four games, CH fans continue to have a lot of hope in this team.
Indeed, we all have our favorite prospects in Laval, while several young players have real potential to reach the NHL one day and establish themselves there.
Some fans are very optimistic and see several Rocket players becoming NHL players, while others are perhaps less optimistic, like Tony Marinaro, who sees three current Rocket players playing in the NHL.
Indeed, during his visit to La Poche Bleue, Marinaro revealed a top-3 players from the Rocket that he sees going to the NHL with the Habs, and it’s a fairly surprising list, especially when we note the players who are not there.
A defender and two attackers are included in Marinaro’s list.
On defense, there are no surprises, as Logan Mailloux is the player Tony sees establishing himself in the NHL as a top-4 defenseman for the Habs.
Besides Adam Engstrom, there aren’t really any other defensemen currently playing with the Rocket who can be seen as future NHL players.
It is in attack that there is therefore more surprise, while Marinaro’s two attackers are Luke Tuch and Florian Xhekaj.
Indeed, Marinaro considers that with their size (6 feet 2 for Tuch and 6 feet 4 for Xhekaj) and their work ethic, these two attackers will find themselves on the CH’s fourth trio within two years.
Honestly, it’s not really a crazy prediction given that Tuch and Xhekaj are exactly what it takes on a fourth line.
However, it’s not Marinaro’s choices that are surprising, rather it’s the players he didn’t name.
Talking about Tuch and Xhekaj before talking about Owen Beck and Joshua Roy is quite surprising, especially in Beck’s case.
We know about Roy’s difficulties in terms of his work ethic and his off-ice skills, which may explain the doubts about him, but in Beck’s case, he is currently the Rocket’s top scorer as a rookie.
He is playing excellent hockey and will most likely fight very seriously for a position in Montreal next season.
It is therefore surprising that Tony Marinaro does not slip in a few words before talking about Tuch and Xhekaj.
In short, everyone has their favorites, and in the case of Marinaro, it seems to be the stronger and more physical players who will improve the depth of the CH.
Note that Jared Davidson and especially Jakub Dobes are two other players who could have been nominated by Tony.
With the potential end of the Cayden Primeau project, Dobes could very well find himself in the NHL as an auxiliary to Samuel Montembeault next season.
In Burst
– They were very good this year.
– Interesting.
– Very strong.
