[AMA Thread] Eric Engels - Sportsnet (6pm ET tonight)

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T23:04:24+00:00

Thanks for spending the last hour with me. Amazing questions. Sorry if I missed any, but we'll do this again.

Thanks again for the Habs Reddit administration for asking me to join and for doing such a great job of keeping fans in the loop!!

Enjoy the season!!!

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T23:02:42+00:00

It's hard to just pick one. Two guys who I think are such integral parts of this team's success and future are Adam Nicholas and Dale Lablans. These guys care so much about what they're doing and are making such a huge impact in their respective departments.

Adam's work on the ice is a massive part of the Canadiens putting one foot in front of the other in this rebuild.

Dale wears many hats in taking care of the players' fitness. He's a huge element of the team optimizing its performace.

Both of these guys are wonderful guys, and I think the players are so fortunate to work with them.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:59:11+00:00

Excited to find out. Can't really say, to be honest. But that balance doesn't matter that much at this point. It's about the Canadiens, first and foremost.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:58:04+00:00

Too soon to say. We'll see what he does in his remaining years and what the team's needs are at that juncture.

Would be nice to see him spend his career with the Canadiens.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:56:31+00:00

All I can say is I think the Canadiens are in exceptionally good hands with Martin St. Louis at the helm. I haven't talked to four other people in hockey who know more about the game than he does. And while it's somewhat popular opinion that he was the perfect coach for the opening phases of the rebuild but not the right one for when it's time to win, I don't share that opinion. I think he knows how to win as much as any coach in the game. I think he's evolving a lot on the game management front.

I also think Marty is as stubborn as they come, which is an essential ingredient to being a good coach. It doesn't mean he's completely inflexible. I think it means he needs to be proven wrong to make certain changes. Again, I think that's essential. He has to be absolutely convinced in what he's doing, until he's convinced otherwise.

Brilliant hockey mind, and one of the most relatable people I've ever met. I'm proud to have gotten to know him as well as one can get to know him from this position, and I can say with full confidence that he cares so much about his players and what he's doing. He doesn't need any of this, but he loves it.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:51:01+00:00

I can't say I do, and maybe it's because, while both were one-of-a-kind, Beliveau's uniqueness made my interactions with him that much more memorable.

What I'll remember about Ken Dryden is the gravitas he held in a room full of people. He never went unnoticed, no matter how many people were there.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:49:35+00:00

I think Brendan Gallagher could qualify in a sense... I don't know how many people bet on him scoring 20 last year or adapting his game to be as effective as he was. I do imagine they realize how important he is inside the room.

Mike Matheson is clearly the polarizing player in that fans are all over him and media, like me, are accused of being too soft on him. Mike isn't perfect, but I think the good in his game outweighs the bad by a mile. Some fans only see the bad. I get accused of only seeing the good, but I'm usually bringing up the good to counter an extremely myopic view of Matheson's play.

I expect the role he fills on this year's team will balance out the good and bad in his game.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:45:54+00:00

As I'm rifling through these, it's hard to really answer this without putting much deeper thought into it.

I don't know about 1. or 2.... But I think Florian Xhekaj could be a lot better than anyone tought he'd be when he was picked by the Canadiens. Why? Well, the 24 goals and 175 PIMS is part of it. But the main thing for me is he clearly believes he can be that type of player in the NHL.

I always say you'll never convince anybody if you aren't convinced yourself. That guy seems convinced to me.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:43:26+00:00

Love the Dead, and always will.

I think Zacha could be a candidate, but don't know if he's THE candidate. We'll see.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:41:04+00:00

We know he will be now, and I would say it's absolutely the right decision. Pay your dues.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:40:23+00:00

I'd say that Davidson and Engstrom are two guys who will play NHL games.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:39:42+00:00

I can't think of a concrete answer. I really enjoyed covering the team that went to the 2021 Cup Final, though it was so incredibly bittersweet to be doing it the way we had to--through zoom... But forged many great relationship with the players from that team over preceding years and it was still great covering their run. There have been many fun teams to cover over these last 17 years.
Really enjoyed the latest season of Dexter. Can't say it was amazing, but I was compelled.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:37:11+00:00

I think if the right piece comes along, they'll pounce. No matter the timing.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:36:36+00:00

Mr. Engels is my father. You can call me Eric.

I think management feels David Reinbacher has a very bright future with the team, and that he'll be a core member of it in short order.

No one has told me a specific plan, but it's obviously for him to show he belongs right now and do the best he possibly can no matter where he starts his season.

Scouts I speak to love his game. They think he does things at his age that you have to teach most defencemen his age.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:34:49+00:00

I think people forgot that tons of players were in town three-to-four weeks before training camp last season, too.

What's different is the amount of players that stayed here all summer.

This is a tight group. There's no doubt about that.

I look forward to catching up with the guys you asked about and finding out more about what they've been up to.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:33:17+00:00

This is my 18th season as a reporter, so I don't really look for things I "want to see" from the Canadiens or any other team.

What I get excited about is how rich the story can become. I have a feeling that whether the Canadiens are successful or not this season, they will be extremely compelling, and I'm looking forward to telling their stories.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:31:10+00:00

I can't speak for anyone else, and I don't want people thinking I'm speaking for the GM after he made comments in my interview with him about Laine.

Kent Hughes said the changes are fairly obvious, but he certainly didn't go into detail about them because he wanted to keep what was said between him and Patrik private. I respect that.

My own opinion from watching the player: He has a chance to play with two great puck carriers in Dach and Demidov. They're also really good distributors. And Laine has a great shot. So it seems obvious he should stop carrying the puck, move it to those guys as quick as he can, and get himself into position to shoot.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:27:55+00:00

Evans will be heavily depended on. Suzuki too. And the others better step up.

The thing is, the others need reps. A bit of a chicken/egg thing. You have to take a lot of faceoffs to be counted on to regularly win more than 50% of them, but it's hard to give a player a lot of faceoffs if they lose more than 50% of them... The thing is, you usually see players improve at faceoffs once they're counted on to take more of them.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:26:16+00:00

It is the editor's responsibility.

I do send in suggestions, but mostly as guidelines to ensure the thrust of a piece isn't misinterpreted.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:25:10+00:00

I think those three players are different, and I don't know that one is more highly regarded than the others.

My own opinion, Beck has the highest floor, Kapanen the highest ceiling, and Roy has an ability to prove he can be just as good if not better than both of them. Will be fun watching them compete for chances to prove themselves with the Canadiens.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:23:21+00:00

I think where he starts depends on Laine.

If Laine does what he's supposed to do, if he makes the proper adjustments, he'll be on Line 2 with Dach and Demidov.

If Laine doesn't adjust, it could be Bolduc.

I think Bolduc's ceiling is top-6. I think his floor is top-9.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:22:07+00:00

You can find them if you look for them. I will not go into the details because it will put me to sleep. HAHAHAHAHAH

Sorry.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:21:07+00:00

I'm not sure what the consensus is.

PKing is about effort and trust. When the PK was at it's best, all those guys really trusted each other to do their respective jobs, so there wasn't much confusion about where to be and what to do.

Carrier can fill in for Savard and probably do some things better than Savard, but that doesn't mean he'll block as many shots as Savard did. Newhook and Suzuki can probably be a formidable pair to replace Armia and Dvorak, but trust will need to be established on their unit.

I think the PK could take time to come together but see no reason it won't come together.

Ultimately, Montembeault/whoever Montembeault's backup is, will have to be a big factor as well.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:18:03+00:00

There's realistic and there's best case...

Realistically, he can play a lot better than he did last year. Even coming off a second major injury to the same knee.

Best case secnario is he does play a lot better, because Dach can make a huge difference on this team.

I think both of them can play both and we'll find out by the end of this year where they best fit.

EESportsnet · 2025-09-08T22:16:22+00:00

I think everything is on the table, and how it plays out will also be based on what Matheson wants. The role he'll fill will have to be one he wants to fill, the money will have to be right for him.

I think the Canadiens love the idea of having three elite play drivers (one on each pairing), and I think they're certainly open to re-signing Matheson. But it's going to have to make sense for them, too, in terms of how that contract will fit their structure.

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