Canadiens Notes: Kahkonen, Xhekaj, Right Wing

When the Montreal Canadiens signed veteran netminder Kaapo Kahkonen to a one-year, $1.15MM contract this summer, it was speculated by some that he could be viewed as a leading contender for the role of backup goalie behind entrenched starter Sam Montembeault. Today, The Athletic’s Arpon Basu reported that the competition for the job of No. 2 netminder is 2024-25 backup Jakub Dobes’ “job to lose instead of a real battle,” and that the Canadiens’ plan all along “was to have Kahkonen help mentor Jacob Fowler in Laval.”

Fowler, of course, is the Canadiens’ top goaltending prospect and a player widely seen as one of, if not the, top goalie prospects in the entire sport. Although Kahkonen is subject to waivers, Basu noted that the player’s $1.15MM cap hit, the maximum allowable value that a team can “bury” in the AHL without any residual cap hit applied to its NHL books, was likely signed to dissuade teams from claiming Kahkonen. The 29-year-old has played in 140 career NHL games and has an .898 save percentage. The Canadiens’ likely backup per today’s report, Dobes, broke into the NHL last season and ended up posting a .909 save percentage across 16 games played.

Some other notes from training camp in Montreal:

• One of the emerging storylines in Canadiens camp has been the apparent growth of defenseman Arber Xhekaj, as was reported by Katherine Harvey-Pinard of La Presse. Basu echoed that sentiment in his own reporting, calling Xhekaj “outstanding” so far in camp, a performance that has given him a leg up to win a spot in the club’s opening-night lineup. With the way the Canadiens’ defense is constructed at this early stage of the preseason, it appears Xhekaj is competing against Jayden Struble, a fellow young bruising defenseman, to be the partner of Alexandre Carrier on the club’s third pairing. While there’s still a ways to go until these decisions get finalized, it appears Xhekaj has taken a strong early lead in the race for an opening-night lineup spot.
• Basu identified the competition to be the third winger on a line with Alex Newhook and Zachary Bolduc as the “primary battle” to watch at this stage of training camp. 2021 fifth-rounder Joshua Roy skated on that line Sunday, while Owen Beck began camp in that spot. Both players are competing against veterans Sammy Blais and Joe Veleno for that lineup spot, while Basu also named 2022 third-rounder Vinzenz Rohrer as a dark-horse option. Rohrer has reportedly made a strong impression in training camp, but ultimately would need to be loaned back to Switzerland’s ZSC Lions should he fail to earn a job on Montreal’s season-opening roster.