Some quick thoughts about our young defencemen:
1) Jarred Tinordi and Nathan Beaulieu get more press, more love because they're first-rounders, sexier picks. They're also nice contrasts, one the huge, tough stay-at-home prospect, the other the smooth-skating Guy Lapointe-clone.
2) Greg Pateryn is a jack of all trades, a lower draft pick, so he's not as flashy, and doesn't get the attention the other two get.
3) There is also an open spot on the left side on the third pair, there for the taking, so we're watching that race more, there's a clear finish line. Greg Pateryn will have to displace Mike Weaver, which would be surprising this early on, or latch on as the seventh defenceman, which is like getting Miss Congeniality in a beauty pageant, no one cares about that.
4) Magnus Nygren, unlike last season, doesn't have a contract with a SHL team, so he doesn't have a fallback position. I'm not sure how easy or hard it would be for him to go back there if he doesn't nab a spot with the Canadiens out of camp, and is asked to report to Hamilton. Do SHL teams have a cap, import quotas, time limits on when they can sign players?
5) When interviewed by Dave Morissette, Marc Bergevin was asked if he had a favourite out the three Bulldogs defencemen, which one should the host wager on to make the team. Of course the GM refused to answer that, and in fact insisted that Magnus Nygren be included in this discussion, and said that most probably by the end of camp, one of them would snag a roster spot. I kind of hope he misspoke and wanted to say "at least one".
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