Dominique Ducharme stretches the elastic to the max with a young defenseman
The Montreal Canadiens have only two more prep games left, before they begin the 2021-2022 season on October 13 in Toronto. Dominique Ducharme is currently making his final evaluations, to determine who will play with the team.
Some of the organization's youngsters have had several auditions during this training camp, including defenseman Gianni Fairbrother. The 21-year-old will be playing in his fourth pre-season game tonight. It's not often talked about, but Fairbrother is having a pretty good training camp.
He didn't get a point, but he played some solid hockey in his own zone, which impressed me. The Habs' 2019 third round pick has looked really good in his first three games in prep play. If you look closely at his stats, you can see that despite a 7-2 loss to the Senators and a 4-1 loss to the Maple Leafs, Fairbrother now has a differential of 0.
He has made some nice, effective zone exits. Fairbrother isn't the style of defenseman that will be flamboyant, but he can shine with his effectiveness in making the simple plays. That's why he's still in Habs camp.
Fairbrother is a pretty intriguing prospect for the Habs, although he's not talked about much. The future on the left side of the Habs blue line is pretty well stocked with Norlinder, Romanov, Guhle, Harris and Struble, but Fairbrother should not be overlooked.
He played some solid hockey last year with the Everett Silvertips in the WHL where he had 17 points in 23 games. He finished the season with the Laval Rocket where he had one assist in three games. The Montreal organization seems to hold him in high regard, so it would not be surprising to see him play for the Montreal Canadiens one day.
