The Montreal Canadiens have sent eight players back to their respective junior teams ahead of the start of main camp on Thursday. The players are: Aleksi Anttalainen (Blainville-Boisbriand, LHJMQ), Stephen Dhillon (Niagara, OHL), Cole Fonstad (Prince Albert, WHL), Brandon Hagel (Red Deer, WHL), Cameron Hillis (Guelph, OHL), Samuel Houde (Chicoutimi, LHJMQ), Alexander Katerinakis (Blainville-Boisbriand, LHJMQ), Allan McShane (Oshawa, OHL).
That means that all the players from this year’s draft except Jesperi Kotkaniemi are returning to their junior teams. This does not mean that the Habs had a bad draft, but simply that they did not see the benefit of keeping these players from their junior teams for a few extra days of practice. The Habs’ second-round picks, Jesse Ylonen and Alexander Romanov, and Jacob Olofsson are in Europe.
Notably, this means that try-outs Joel Teasdale and Samuel Harvey remain at camp, as do Cale Fleury and Josh Brook who also have Junior eligibility.
Rookie camp ends with a practice on Wednesday before NHL camp starts on-ice on Friday.
