Canadiens: Emil Heineman Believes He Will Crack Habs Roster

The Montreal Canadiens traded away a couple of veteran wingers this offseason when they shipped Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick to the San Jose Sharks.

That will open up a couple of roster spots for younger guys up front, especially when you factor in Jonathan Drouin and Denis Gurianov left as a free agent as well. There are certainly some opportunities for young wingers to force their way onto the opening night roster now.

Emil Heineman believes he will be one of them. The 21 year old winger was interviewed by Anthony Martineau of TVA Sports and he essentially said “Yes, you’ll see it in October” when asked if he thought he could make the Canadiens roster to begin the season.

That is a pretty confident answer from a young forward who has not yet played an NHL game. In fact, he has only played 11 AHL games so far in his career. Of course, the Leksand, Sweden native scored seven goals and nine points to really impress in his time with the Laval Rocket, but it was a short appearance.

Heineman was acquired from the Calgary Flames in a trade that sent Tyler Toffoli out west. He has played three full seasons in Sweden’s top pro league, so he has plenty of pro experience and is not a prospect that has only played against teenagers until recently. That should give him a chance to show his best stuff immediately at training camp and give him the inside edge over other prospects the same age.

Even with a handful of veterans wingers leaving, the Canadiens still have plenty of options to choose from as NHL wingers. Heineman could play either side, but will have to battle to earn a spot. Cole Caufield, Josh Anderson, Alex Newhook, Juraj Slafkovsky, Brendan Gallagher, Joel Armia, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Jesse Ylonen, Michael Pezzetta and possibly Sean Monahan will be looking for full-time NHL roles as wingers and there are only eight spots to fill.

Heineman is going to have to have a fantastic training camp to earn an NHL role right away, but it isn’t impossible to see him beat out Pezzetta and Armia for a spot.

Even if the odds are long, it is a great sign to see a young winger so confident heading into training camp and we should see him at his best as soon as the players arrive in the middle of September.