Canadiens Notebook: Matheson's return, Slafkovsky's video work, Pezzetta's edge

BROSSARD, Que. — It was a welcome sight for the Canadiens at practice Wednesday: Mike Matheson in a regular jersey, taking regular reps and welcoming contact in preparation for a return to play.

There’s a chance his return won’t be Thursday in Columbus. The Canadiens are bringing Matheson with them ahead of their game with the Blue Jackets and, if no one else is hurt or sick before puck drop, activating Matheson would put the Canadiens over the 23-man roster limit.

Jake Evans left practice early and needed assistance from the medical staff, but he’s taking the trip and will likely play.

Even if Matheson doesn’t, he’s coming back soon, and that’s good news for the Canadiens for multiple reasons.

“He’s obviously a tremendous skater, first off. We saw that at camp,” said Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen. “And after that, he’s a great person and a good guy in our locker room. Should bring a lot of depth to our team. He’s able to play in every situation. And that experience, which is obviously something that we’re very short on on the back end – the guys are playing well, but we’ve been anxious to get him back.”

We already went over what that might mean for a player like Arber Xhekaj, who has quickly become a fan favourite and impressed in his first NHL games with the Canadiens.

But we haven’t mentioned what Matheson’s return might mean for a guy like David Savard, who’s played with heart and soul every night but has been forced to punch above his weight since the beginning of the season.

Savard, the 32-year-old in his 12th NHL season, has certainly become accustomed to playing against top competition. But he’s averaging 22:18 per game, which is more than he’s played at any point over the last six years, and he’s doing it almost exclusively against the best players on the opposing team.

On Tuesday, in a 5-1 loss against the New Jersey Devils, that really appeared to catch up to Savard – and not just because he and the Canadiens were outmatched against a team firing on all cylinders and winning games at an unrivalled clip, but also because he plays the game so hard that maintaining the required energy for what he’s been tasked with is unsustainable.

When Matheson returns, he can take on some of the burden. He can give Savard’s partner, Kaiden Guhle, a bit more opportunity to play against lesser competition. He can likely complement Joel Edmundson’s rugged game with his speed and offensive ability, and he can bump Jordan Harris and Johnathan Kovacevic down to what will be a very strong third defence pairing.

The 28-year-old, who was acquired in the trade that sent Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling to Pittsburgh over the summer, was brought to the Canadiens to be their No. 1 defenceman.

It’ll take time for him to jump into that role after missing close to seven weeks with an abdominal strain suffered in training camp. But even in the interim, Matheson will do a lot to help a defence core that has already played much better than anyone could’ve imagined it would before the season started.

His return is finally imminent.

Slafkovsky evolving on the ice, and in the video room

Steady progress is being made by 18-year-old Juraj Slafkovsky, and that’s not just the byproduct of gaining experience in games and practising hard.

The first-overall pick in this past draft is doing a lot of work studying the game, picking up things from certain players around the NHL that he likes to watch – and picking up things from certain players the Canadiens want him to watch.

“I watch Mikko Rantanen probably most,” Slafkovsky said after Wednesday’s practice, and Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said he thought the Colorado Avalanche winger was a good choice.

“He’s really strong on the puck,” said Slafkovksy of the six-foot-four, 215-pounder who’s produced 25 points in 14 games, and had 92 in 75 last season. “He doesn’t give it away easy, and he can score and make points and is a great player all over the ice.”

Studying tape of players you identify with – it’s not hard to understand why the six-foot-four, 230-pound Slafkovsky would identify with Rantanen – is standard operating procedure for any NHL player who yearns to get better.

But as St. Louis pointed out, they aren’t the only players you should be watching.

“Like (Detroit Red Wings legend Pavel) Datsyuk was not a similar player to me, but there were so many things in his game that I loved and I tried to implement,” the Hall-of-Fame-player-turned coach said. “There’s so many ways to learn, and if you’re open-minded and just absorbing what you see, you can learn so much from watching.”

St. Louis said he’d have to comb through rosters for other players Slafkovsky can learn from but pointed to Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk as an example.

“He probably doesn’t have the speed that Slaf has, but he plays a big-boy game and protects puck and is heavy and annoying to play against,” St. Louis said, recognizing that the profile between both players is similar, but the styles are different.

Thirty-year-old Charlie Coyle, who’s topped out in the NHL at 56 points in a season and is now playing for the Boston Bruins, doesn’t immediately come to mind as a player you’d think the Canadiens would want Slafkovsky to watch, but as St. Louis said, it’s about what you’re looking at.

Coyle, who worked with Canadiens director of hockey development Adam Nicholas for six years, may not be an offensive juggernaut like Rantanen, but he is an expert at shielding the puck and maintaining possession.

“I hadn’t really watched him before,” said Slafkovsky, “but that’s what Adam sent me over the last week.

“What I take is more like, throw players on my back and keep them on my back and protect the puck like that.”

Earlier this season, there were times Slafkovsky would get behind the goal line in the offensive zone and instead of using the backside of his big body and his reach to keep players at a distance, he’d turn and face them and try to beat them with his hand skills to get back to the front of the net and get a scoring chance.

It wasn’t working.

So, watching Rantanen helps break the pattern. Watching Coyle helps.

Nicholas said watching Brady and brother Matthew Tkachuk, Jordan Greenway and superstars Sidney Crosby and Brad Marchand provides the best examples for Slafkovsky to learn from to gain the best understanding of how he can best use his frame to extend offensive-zone time and earn offensive chances.

You can see that work paying off for Slafkovsky.

On Tuesday, he played one of his best games, recorded four shots for the first time and had quality chances to score his fourth goal of the season.

“Their goalie was very good,” Slafkovsky said. “But I was happy with how I played.”

There’s progress being made every day, both on and off the ice, for the big Slovak.

Pezzetta’s dedication admirable

St. Louis qualified Michael Pezzetta as a “warrior” and a “true professional” on Tuesday, and those are fitting words to describe him.

It’s easy to see how the first part applies, seeing Pezzetta’s willingness to skate through a wall for his teammates. He’ll jump in front of every puck, bring a physical dimension to every game, and play all-out for every shift.

Pezzetta’s professionalism is exhibited in his practice habits and his attitude never dipping despite being a healthy scratch for all but three of Montreal’s 16 games this season.

Everyone knows. And it’s not just the Canadiens.

That’s why when the roster crunch hit and management had to decide who to waive of the 15 forwards to make room for Edmundson’s return a couple of weeks ago, they went with Rem Pitlick instead of Pezzetta.

According to sources, at least two teams wouldn’t have hesitated to claim Pezzetta had he hits waivers and the Canadiens didn’t – and still don’t – want to lose him.

That’s the obvious stuff.

Less obvious is how Pezzetta has approached his own development since he was drafted 160th overall in 2016.

He has always been a tireless worker. Pezzetta worked out five times a week throughout the summer, often spending more than two hours per day in the gym. And, whereas most players wait a while to get back on the ice with any type of frequency, he skated four or five times a week.

Pezzetta said some of his colleagues have suggested he might be overdoing it at times, but he explained, “I just have anxiety if I’m not doing something or if I think someone’s doing more than me.”

That’s the mentality that’s driven the 24-year-old to constantly look for any edge he can get.

Pezzetta found one last summer that he believes has had a big influence on his ability to do more than just forecheck and make big hits.

Through agent Paul Capizzano, Pezzetta gained access to notorious hockey trainer Andy O’Brien, which also meant gaining access to better quality players to skate with in the off-season, such as Andrew Mangiapane, Sam Bennett, Jeff Skinner, Jamie Oleksiak and Barrett Hayton.

“It’s what I wanted, and what I needed,” Pezzetta said. “Without even realizing, you’re getting better playing with higher-caliber players. Getting with NHL players all summer and doing 1-on-1 reps and working on skills was essential.”

Pezzetta spent what he estimated was another four or five hours a week using a shooting pad in his back yard – practicing his hand skills, shooting pucks and working on many more aspects of the game than his role would typically demand.

That jibes well with what’s been asked of Pezzetta by St. Louis, who wants him to read the game and have the ability to make the plays the situation calls for.

“I know Pez is geared to keep things simpler than many other players, and that’s fine,” said St. Louis on Tuesday morning. “But I don’t want him to be scared of playing the game. Sometimes, it’s time to make a play. Sometimes, when you’re in space, it’s not time to dump the puck. You have to read the play. I know he wants to get the puck in deep and go throw a hit, and that’s a big part of his game.

“But is it 100 per cent of the time that he should do that? No, he has to read the play. If he’s on a 2-on-1, he has to be able to make those plays. Not at the cost of turning the puck over, but I want him to make decisions and encourage him to make decisions on the ice to increase his value.”

Pezzetta had a good chance on a 2-on-1 against the Devils on Tuesday and got a quality shot off that Vitek Vanecek snuffed out, and if he keeps going the same way, it won’t be long before he adds to the five goals and 11 points he recorded in 51 games last season.