In a famous myth, all misfortunes fell upon humanity due to the curiosity of the beautiful Pandora, who, disobediently, decided to open the cursed box, the only thing that was forbidden to her…
But what had the Gods placed in said box in addition to all the evils that would haunt us for millennia?
Hope!
Thus, after having “disobeyed” during the first 15 matches of the season, hope was about all that remained for the Flanelle to achieve its humble goal set at the beginning of training camp: to be in the %$%$$@#%# mix!
At the lowest point of this hellish descent for the CH, wisdom still asked us to leave some room for hope somewhere in our otherwise very pessimistic analysis of last November 9:
“It would take quite a turnaround for the Tricolore to position itself ‘in the mix’ for a playoff spot or a draft pick outside of the top-10 as many had anticipated, at least before Patrik Laine’s injury.
Of course, if Laine returns in decent shape in December, remains in the lineup until April, and scores about twenty goals in 50 games, the CH could start to play for .500, or around that.”
But now Laine has returned in decent shape at the very beginning of December, Carrier has stabilized the defense, Montembeault is playing like a goalie worthy of the top-10, and St-Louis’s concepts seem to be well integrated by his players who are comfortably seated in their proverbial “good chairs.”
And what about the partial results? The Canadiens are playing for .692 with Laine in the lineup and .714 since Carrier’s arrival!
In short, things are going well, despite the small defeat against the Hawks last night.
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So, on this January 4, three points from the playoffs, the CH is officially in the word starting with “m.” They have now proven that they can beat (very) big teams, and the end of the season looks increasingly exciting for the fan a bit tired of seeing his team lose and play games just for the sake of it.
If the CH continues on this path and keeps playing above .500 until the Four Nations Tournament break, we might even see a legitimate playoff chase!
It seems like it’s been an eternity since we’ve experienced this, you know, both feet in the slush in March and hearts filled with hope in April!
We forget about the top-5, but not the draft!
But that doesn’t mean we should forget about the 2025 draft! Oh no! Especially not with two picks that should normally be in the top-20, especially not in this last year of rebuilding!
If the CH hits two home runs in the middle of the first round, it could be more than enough to complete the foundation of a contending team.
For comparison, imagine if, in 2015, the Bruins, instead of turning to Zboril, Debrusk, and Senyshyn, had selected two players from Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor, and Thomas Chabot when they had the 13th, 14th, and 15th picks!
They would probably have added at least two Stanley Cups…
This year again, good players will be available for the CH’s recruiters if they happen to speak up twice between the 10th and the 20th spots.
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Radim Mrtka : remember this name
I plan to deliver a first top-20 for the draft in February, but today I will rather focus on a player who has intrigued me for several weeks and whom I finally had time to analyze.
I’m talking about Radim Mrtka, a tall right-handed defenseman standing at 6’6, 216 lbs… at just 17 years old!
Quite an interesting profile in the context of the Canadiens, we can agree… A profile that could easily tip the scales at 225, 230 lbs at maturity…
Recently traded to the struggling Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL, Mrtka is not playing for the powerful Czechs at the U18 World Championship (perhaps still too “green” for the coaches? A lot of big bodies, depth, and experience on defense?), but he was there at the Hlinka-Gretzky last summer and, even though he is still relatively far from being a finished product, one could already see a real hockey player!
The #1 defenseman from his country, he played abundantly five-on-five as well as on the PP1 and PK1.
In terms of style, don’t take this literally, but he resembles a mix of Vladimir Malakhov (as a right-handed shot!) and Tyler Myers.
Mrtka has a wrist shot like Malakhov’s; quick, precise, and released effortlessly. Very mobile in all directions, his skating is fluid and compact and also reminds of the shadowy Russian, who loves alpine skiing in his spare time…
And of course, as a tall, mobile right-handed player who takes up space and can impose himself physically, he brings to mind Myers, picked 12th overall in 2008, with over 1000 games played and 380 career points…
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Does he compare to Reinbacher?
At first glance, there seems to be perhaps a bit more offense in Mrtka than in Reinbacher. The Czech seems to have a bit more creativity and initiative, shows greater confidence with the puck, and has a better wrist shot than the Austrian.
Here’s a sample of that shot during the U17 Championship in November 2023:
For a guy at 6’6, Mrtka is very agile on his skates and excels at escaping pressure from opponents in his zone.
He is also an excellent passer capable of delivering a clean, precise, and well-timed first pass, some solid targeted shots, and plenty of well-calculated little distributions.
That said, Reinbacher might be a bit better defensively due to his superior hockey sense, he is also a bit more punishing physically, but at 17 years old, we can’t make any conclusions regarding Mrtka, who still possesses quite an intimidating defensive potential, thanks to his reach and skating…
In short, we do not see a big gap between him and the Austrian, and it would be hard to predict who will have the better career in the NHL.
Two defensemen worthy of the top-4 every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
For those interested, here is a more comprehensive and accurate analysis of Mrtka’s game from the site neutralzone.com.
And Hensler, what about him?
Could Mrtka even be better than American Logan Hensler, often ranked ahead of him on various lists?
I would say his overall potential, his so-called ceiling, is indeed higher. In my opinion, in five years, the Czech will clearly be ahead of Hensler, who is rather limited offensively.
Without doing an extensive analysis of Hensler, the three games I’ve seen him play in the NCAA so far, as well as all the games of the last U18 (where Cole Hutson had stolen the show) and the few minutes he has been given in the ongoing U18 Championship, have not impressed me.
Great skating, some interesting rushes here and there, fairly good defensively, but his hockey sense remains just okay. Very little creativity. A very predictable player. A rather mediocre passer and a very ordinary shot.
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Chasing two hares at once? Why not!
So, if he’s that good, why is Mrtka still available between the 10th and 20th picks?
This “snapshot” was taken in early January, while Mrtka has only played 13 games (and already has 11 points!) in the WHL after having played about twenty games in different leagues in the Czech Republic in the fall.
Often playing over 25 minutes with Seattle, where they seem to give him as much responsibility as Sawyer Mynio, called up to replace Matthew Schaefer on Team Canada junior, Mrtka is likely to be on a very upward trajectory in the coming months.
The picture that recruiters will take next spring after the U18 (Seattle is unlikely to make the playoffs) could very well see him rise into the top-10, as he was 12th on Bob McKenzie’s preseason list.
In short, with how things are going for both Mrtka and our revitalized Tricolore, it’s possible that the Czech “gets picked” too early in June for the Montreal recruiters. After all, if a much less interesting talent like Anton Silayev was drafted 10th overall last year…
But Mrtka remains a name to remember, for in addition to hoping for the playoffs, we also have the right to hope for some… prospects!
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lol 
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Youth defenseman Radim Mrtka shot last night @czehockey U17 to qualify for the semifinals of the World Hockey Challenge!
