Is the Canadiens using an old "success" model for its prospects?
Kaiden Guhle is impressing many, but Dominique Ducharme is quick to correct the record on his young defenseman. Unlike Victor Mete and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the Habs seem eager to build development brick by brick. They seem to want to give him mileage in the minors, like the Detroit Red Wings back in the day.
While on the set of JiC, Claude Guillet spoke out on the subject and his speech was not at all wrong and it stood up perfectly.
"Ducharme gave us the example of Detroit. In the good years of the Red Wings, the young players had to play 150 games in the American Hockey League. I have the impression that in the Canadiens organization, there is something going on with that intention," said Guillet.
The goal may be more to work like the organization did with Nick Suzuki by sending him back to his junior club when he was 19. The Habs' number one center, like Guhle now, had a great training camp at the same age as the defenseman.
"The Canadiens keeps telling us the new phrase: you can never be too late for the National Hockey League. Ducharme added another layer: he told us about Nick Suzuki, who had been returned to junior at 19," added Guillet.
Cole Caufield, for his part, didn't rush things by opting for a second university campaign to fine-tune certain aspects, and the result was excellent. Upon his arrival in Montreal, he quickly became one of the cornerstones of the club.
That's the right talk for the prospects, unless we're talking about a Nathan MacKinnon or a Connor McDavid, are you following me?
