Luke Mittelstadt was a seventh-round flier for the Canadiens. This morning, he's sitting on top of the entire AHL scoring race.
The Laval Rocket defenceman has 13 points, more than any forward or defenceman in the American Hockey League.
He's scored 4 of them himself, the most by any AHL blueliner. The other 9 are assists.
And then there's the workload. Per InStat, he's averaging 23:45 of ice time per game, the kind of minutes coaches hand to guys they trust in every situation.
So how long does a defenceman have to lead a league before Montreal starts dialing Laval?
Seventh-rounders usually end up like a gym membership bought in January. Plenty of hope at signing, then nobody remembers they exist by March.
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The Canadiens keep giving up goals while Laval's top scorer waits
The timing makes this louder. Montreal sits at 4-3-1 heading into tonight's home date with the San Jose Sharks, but the goal differential is already minus-3.
The Canadiens are surrendering 3.8 goals a night. That works in the occasional shootout, not over 82 games.
Michael Matheson is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Noah Dobson, carrying a $9.5 million cap hit, has gone minus-4.
Kaiden Guhle and Adam Engstrom have each dressed for 4 games, while David Reinbacher has played once. That's a blue line still looking for a settled identity.
Lane Hutson carries the offence from the back end with 8 points. Behind him, nobody on the Montreal defence has more than 4.
Here's the blunt part. If the AHL's leading scorer keeps riding buses while the big club leaks goals, Kent Hughes will have some explaining to do.
October numbers in the AHL have fooled smarter people than me. Hot starts cool off, and the NHL game shrinks the time a defenceman gets to make a play.
Martin St-Louis also has to manage a four-game road trip after tonight, with stops in Chicago, Winnipeg, St. Louis and Dallas.
Matheson's status could force the issue before anyone upstairs is ready. Or the Canadiens tighten up, and a seventh-round gem keeps piling up points just down the highway.
Should the Canadiens call up Luke Mittelstadt before their four-game road trip?
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