With Victor Mete not playing regularly for the Montreal Canadiens, the team has decided to allow him to attend Team Canada’s World Junior selection camp. Mete has played 27 games for the Canadiens this season, but has recently been a healthy scratch and hasn’t seen the ice time he had earlier in the year.
Though nothing is guaranteed just yet, it would be surprising to see the team not take Mete with them to Buffalo and the tournament. His versatility and experience in the NHL makes him a perfect compliment to an already healthy blue line group, and he should play a big role in the tournament. The Canadiens will have another decision afterwards, as Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports they still don’t know what they’ll do with Mete for the rest of the season.
They could bring him back to the NHL or send him to the junior ranks, where the young defender would rejoin the London Knights in their pursuit of a Memorial Cup. Mete has burned the first year of his entry-level contract already, but is no closer to unrestricted free agency. He’d need to remain on the active roster for an additional nine games for this season to count towards his UFA status, something that the Canadiens will have to factor into their decision post-tournament.
As for Tyson Jost, who was expected to be sent to Team Canada last week, Michael Traikos of Postmedia has bleaker news. Traikos reports that Jost, Samuel Girard and Nolan Patrick are all likely off the table for Canada, though there is always an outside shot until the roster is actually named.
Good call. Despite the struggles, the Habs blueline is full and healthy right now and Mete is better off playing regularly than playing then sitting.
Adding Mete makes the Canadian defence even more STACKED. My best guess they’ll feature Mete, Dante Fabbro, Jake Bean, Kale Clague, Nic Hague and Logan Stanley with some rotation of Dennis Cholowski, Cale Makar or Cal Foote as the 7th D.
Also Gavin, can you get some confirmation for me on Mete’s UFA status? I’ve seen numerous conflicting reports from several outlets about whether the 40 game rule is 40 games on the roster or 40 games actually played. Because if it’s the former, Mete is 9 games away(27 played, 4 healthy scratches) where as if it’s the latter, he’s 13 away. Thanks.
You made me check Doc, and it’s actually 40 on the active roster. I’d thought–probably because of those same reports you’ve read–that it was games played. I’ve updated it above with the nine game number, which certainly makes it much more interesting for the Canadiens after he returns.
Awesome, thanks. I tried checking myself but kept getting different accounts. To boot, NHL.com ran a story about last year’s crop of rookies and said the UFA cut off was 40 games on the roster and ran another story this year saying it was 40 played.
Also, just as a note on your World Junior projections–Nic Hague was not actually named to the selection camp. He could be added, but Mete, Fabbro, Bean, Clague, Stanley, Cholowski, Makar, Foote, Mahura, Timmins, and Ferraro are the only ones heading to camp right now.
Crap I must have been looking at the summer camp roster on Hockey Canada’s site. Thanks for the clarification.