There’s no denying that Noah Juulsen’s 2017-18 season got off to a rough start when he broke his foot in the first Canadiens pre-season game. However, despite missing the first six weeks of the year, the rookie didn’t miss a step.
In fact, he was such a steady presence on the blue line that he went from side-lined to top four in a month.
He’s a steady, and generally reliable, defenceman, though not immune to the kinds of mistakes you’d expect in a young blue-liner who prefers to carry the puck. By no means did he set the AHL on fire offensively, but he performed quite well an a terrible team, and just 31 games into his AHL stint, he earned a call-up to the big leagues.
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Noah Juulsen quickly became the Laval Rocket’s top defender
As soon as Juulsen arrived, he was slotted in next to Karl Alzner, where he remained for the majority of the rest of the season. Together, their numbers were decent, even on the tire-fire that was the Canadiens’ second half. Not bad for a rookie playing second pairing on a bad team. In the NHL he showed the same steadiness — as well as the same young-defenseman type mistakes — that he showed in the AHL, impressive, considering the jump from one to the other.
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Taking a closer look at Noah Juulsen’s playing time
Moreover, it cannot be denied that he made a pretty strong case for sticking in the NHL next year. With the return of Shea Weber, it is not impossible that Victor Mete will find himself back on the top pairing, with Alzner, Juulsen, and Jeff Petry rounding out all but one of the remaining spots. With Weber and Mete healthy, Juulsen’s minutes will drop considerably, but there should be opportunity for him to grow his game in the NHL.
That being said, it is also possible that the Canadiens will prefer to send him back to the AHL to play big minutes in all situations on what, after these staffing changes, will hopefully be a much improved Laval team.
In this particular case, there seems to be merit in either option.
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Will it be the NHL or the AHL for Juulsen next season?
Here’s Juulsen’s highlight of the year, as voted on by the community. Don’t miss out. It’s a good one.
It has nothing to do with on-ice performance, but in some ways, this video still encapsulates Juulsen’s season: despite banana peals, oranges, broken feet, and really struggling teams, he came out on top. Not a bad result for his first pro-season.
How do you grade Noah Juulsen’s 2017-18 season?
| A+ | 7 |
| A | 34 |
| A- | 50 |
| B+ | 89 |
| B | 59 |
| B- | 12 |
| C+ | 13 |
| C | 1 |
| C- | 2 |
| D | 0 |
| F | 2 |
