Canadiens notebook: Norlinder's balance of poise, competitiveness could land him NHL job

BROSSARD, Que. — Mattias Norlinder is at the centre of a deep scrum following the Canadiens’ annual red-white scrimmage at the Bell Centre. He’s grinning ear-to-ear as he casually discusses how he feels the last year spent developing in Laval has been hugely beneficial and he’s calmly deflecting questions about how people reacted to his underwhelming training camp in September of 2022.

Norlinder says he doesn’t pay any mind to the noise around his game, no matter how muted or audible it can be, and watching how he’s handling all the attention he’s getting in this moment makes that believable. He appears as unflappable off the ice as he does on it, and that’s been a trademark of his since before he was drafted 64^th overall by the Canadiens in 2019.

That poise and confidence shone through in dominating performances Norlinder offered with Modo and Frolunda of the Swedish League over the last couple of years, just as it has since 2023 Canadiens camp opened in Brossard two weeks ago.

But coach Martin St. Louis pointed to another key factor for why the 23-year-old is heading up to Tremblant, Que., with a trimmed down roster as camp nears its conclusion.

“His compete level is just higher than it was last year at camp,” said St. Louis.

You get the sense that if Norlinder continues to exhibit that, on top of the poise, the elite skating ability and offensive wherewithal he’s displayed, the bus ride to Tremblant — and the ones to and from Ottawa where the Canadiens will complete their last pre-season game Saturday — will be one of the last ones he takes for some time. This kid is in the process of earning himself a first-class ticket to Toronto, where he can be part of the Canadiens’ opening-night lineup against the Maple Leafs if he doesn’t let his foot off the gas.

There is reason to like Norlinder’s chances, especially after watching him play a central role in Montreal’s 5-4 win in Monday’s pre-season game at Scotiabank Arena.

But it’s clear that what could turn him into a full-time player in the NHL, versus just being a player who starts the season in the world’s best league, is going to be his ability to continue finding the best balance between calmness and urgency.

Mike Matheson, a 29-year-old defenceman whose heart rate never seems to rise above resting frequency, knows how difficult that balance can be to strike as an emerging player.

“I think the calmness is great to have in your decision making,” he says, “but you kind of have to have an alarm bell that will go off when things get dangerous, or things get risky and that sort of thing.”

It didn’t appear Norlinder heard the ringing last year, when he frequently fumbled offensively and got caught letting players and the puck fly by him the other way.

But that’s changed since then and, as another poised playmaker put it Wednesday, Norlinder’s challenge to continue adapting in that way isn’t as cumbersome as another type of challenge would be.

“The thing is, that’s easy to teach,” said forward Cole Caufield. “Having patience and poise and the confidence to make plays is hard to teach. He’s ahead of the game having all that already.”

It’s a big part of what’s put Norlinder ahead of Logan Mailloux for the time being, and it could have him leapfrog Justin Barron in the battle for the final spot on the Canadiens’ blue line.

The competitiveness he’s shown in his own end in battles for the puck and for positioning in front of the net is just as important.

When you combine all of it, you get a player who can make an impact.

Alex Newhook believes Norlinder can do exactly that in short order.

“He plays hard, has a lot of skill, he skates really well, and he clearly trusts himself,” said the versatile forward, who was traded to the Canadiens this past summer. “I think that confidence shows off the ice and, when he gets on the ice, it comes through and he’s confident enough and willing to make plays and show his skills.”

If Norlinder continues to exhibit that, it will bode well for him.

“We’re really evaluating (Norlinder) all the way to the end here,” said St. Louis, “and we’ve been happy with what we’ve seen so far.”

Bet on Mailloux playing at least one game with the Canadiens this season

St. Louis also liked what he saw from the team’s 2021 first-round pick, and he made that clear on Wednesday.

“It takes more than 20 players to get through a good season in the NHL,” the coach said. “I know Logan was sent down (Tuesday), but including Logan, those guys who are still here are going to be a part of our success this season, as far as I’m concerned, because it takes more than 20. To have those guys like him here as long as he was helps because we know we’re going to need more than 20 players.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if (Mailloux) comes up this season. We’ll see, but I don’t think anybody would put a lot of money against Logan playing a game in the NHL this year. Who wants to bet against that? I wouldn’t bet against that because injuries happen, and the kid showed he’s able to play…”

Quick hits

• Hard to pin down exactly what the Canadiens will be doing in Tremblant, aside from practising at a local arena, but golf is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. That’s good news for them, as it’ll be what seems like the 30^th-consecutive beautiful day we’ve experienced in this area.

Good thing it wasn’t planned for Friday, which is expected to bring buckets of rain.

Also scheduled: A card tournament.

• Not sure how widely known this is, or if anyone really cares that much, but I was surprised to learn that Caufield is actually a lefty. I saw a Bauer Hockey promotion of him throwing a football lefthanded, and then a video surfaced of him playing ping-pong with his left hand.

When I asked him about it Wednesday, he agreed it’s peculiar to see a left-handed person shooting right in hockey as we typically see much more with right-handed people shooting left.

“When I was a young kid, my dad always put a ball in my left hand. I think that’s why I ended up as a lefty,” Caufield said.

I’m not sure it works like that, but who am I to argue?

• The Canadiens were offered Blue Jays hats in the room after Wednesday’s practice and Nick Suzuki pulled his on and said, “I’m a huge fan.”

Then he mentioned the Blue Jays reached out to him over the summer to throw out the first pitch at a game at Rogers Centre, but said he wasn’t in Toronto at the time and couldn’t do it.

Asked the Canadiens captain if he thought he’d get cheered or booed, and he said he wasn’t sure because the building is usually still filling up at that point and fans aren’t too focused on the first pitch when it happens.

Asked Suzuki if he’d have been nervous about doing it and he made it clear that, while he isn’t a baseball player, he’d have no reservations about throwing a ball.

Wish I could say the same, but I’d be trembling over the thought of unintentionally grounding one. It’s been 27 years since I played inter-city, and I haven’t picked up a baseball more than five times since.