The Laval Rocket came crashing down on Tuesday night, putting an end to what was supposed to be a lengthy run in the AHL playoffs for several key Montreal Canadiens prospects.

It would be easy to focus on the negatives, but all things considered it was an important learning process for a very young lineup, providing crucial experience that should eventually help a few players ascend to the NHL.

We’ll start our review of the AHL playoffs by focusing on the head coach, as well as defensive prospects.

Pascal Vincent – Head Coach

Before we get going on the players, we have to discuss the decisions made by head coach Pascal Vincent, including how he opted to run with Cayden Primeau in the first three games of the Eastern Conference Final versus the Charlotte Checkers.

Considering that Jacob Fowler finished the playoffs with a .902 save percentage, while Primeau’s stats crumbled all the way down to an .878 save percentage, you can argue he showed a little too much loyalty toward his regular-season starter, crippling the team’s chances of earning a berth into the Calder Cup Final.

That being said, coaching in the AHL is a very difficult proposal.

You have to keep your locker room in a healthy state of mind while also focusing on walking the line between development and ensuring the lineup can win. If you do a good job, you will probably lose a few of your best players to the NHL, not to mention the inevitable call-ups due to injuries. Veterans want as much ice time as possible so they can negotiate another contract in the summer, whereas management tends to push for more ice time for drafted prospects.

It’s impossible to plan ahead, or to avoid the chaos that comes hand-in-hand with coaching in a development league.

In that vein, what Vincent did in Laval this season was impressive.

He didn’t just coach the team to the best regular-season record in franchise history in his first season behind the bench, he was also the obvious candidate to take home the AHL Coach of the Year award. His decisions led to an uptick in scoring from prospects such as Sean Farrell, Joshua Roy, and Jared Davidson. He also did a good job introducing rookies such as Owen Beck and Florian Xhekaj to the icy waters of professional hockey.

Florian Xhekaj scores a beautiful goal to give the Laval Rocket a 2-1 lead.

Backhand goals are always great. #LavalRocket pic.twitter.com/aYTLPRfDyh

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) May 22, 2025

With that in mind, don’t be surprised if Vincent’s lone season in the AHL as the coach of the Rocket leads to a few head coaching opportunities in the NHL.

Yes, the goaltending decisions were a little strange, but given how poorly the entire lineup played against Charlotte, I’m not convinced Fowler would have made much of a difference in the long run. There’s a chance he could have extended the series a little, but multiple injuries led to a Rocket blue line that was completely fractured.

Once the Rocket lost Tyler Wotherspoon and William Trudeau, they simply did not have the horses available run the Eastern Conference derby.

On that note, I’d argue he panicked a little down the stretch. Wholesale changes took place in the playoffs, with brand-new forward lines being a common theme whenever the team failed to put together a dominant effort.

Truth be told, if he hadn’t made those changes he would have faced criticism about his lack of  adaptability, but such is life in the AHL as a head coach. The absence of chemistry was quite apparent, though we do have to give credit to Charlotte, as they played a frustrating brand of hockey that gave Laval very few openings.

Despite the mistakes, Vincent is easily the best head coach the Rocket have had in place since the franchise moved to Laval, and if you asked his players, I’m sure they would agree.

Montreal Canadiens Defencemen Prospects In The AHL Playoffs

When Trudeau and Wotherspoon were healthy enough to play, David Reinbacher, Logan Mailloux, and Adam Engstrom were dealing with an ideal quality of competition, not to mention a reasonable workload. This led to some very encouraging games from the trio, with Mailloux, in particular, standing out in the third-round versus the Rochester Americans.

However, once Laval lost their veteran defenceman, both Mailloux and Reinbacher wilted, with Engstrom emerging as the defensive prospect who arguably did the best job seizing the moment. There were injuries in play, and if Laval had a healthy lineup Mailloux would have likely missed some games while nursing a few issues, but such is life in the playoffs.

Mailloux’s defensive woes are impossible to ignore, and Reinbacher’s lack of intensity, not to mention his lack of speed when executing plays, connotes that a little more time in the AHL is probably the wisest decision when it comes to their long-term development.

As a reminder, very few defencemen have spent too much time honing their play in the AHL, whereas there’s a laundry-list of players who were rushed through the process only to predictably struggle with playing an 82-game schedule in the NHL.

The goal here is not to be harsh toward the young players in the organization, but rather, to ensure they are capable of helping the Canadiens once they’re ready for the biggest uptick in competition they’ll face in their hockey careers.

If Reinbacher can be more decisive, and if Mailloux can simplify his game while reducing the number of unforced errors, the path to the NHL will open up, but for now, if we’re projecting prospects that will have the best chance of earning a roster spot at training camp, based on the playoffs the only logical choice is Engstrom. For the record, Engstrom can play on both sides, giving him an inside track due to his versatility.

It should also be noted that Engstrom’s skating is already elite, a very important factor for any defensive prospects hoping to establish themselves as regularly-used puck-moving defencemen with the Canadiens.

Oliver Kapanen scores his second goal of the playoffs, now 5-0 Laval.

Great work by Adam Engstrom at the point. Joshua Roy’s third point of the game. #LavalRocket pic.twitter.com/dIcdB9Y1Sb

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) May 25, 2025

I wouldn’t go as far as saying Reinbacher and Mailloux played poorly.

That would be a complete misread, because there was a lot of good to speak of, especially when both prospects were in the offensive zone.

David Reinbacher scores during the late-game 5-on-3. #LavalRocket pic.twitter.com/PMPkMNeMua

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) May 30, 2025

More than anything, the series against the Charlotte Checkers served as a barometer to judge their readiness to jump into the Canadiens lineup. If you only caught a game or two during the season and perhaps a handful of games in the playoffs, you may disagree with my assessment, but in this case, we must keep an eye on the big picture.

Both players are coming along, but I’m not convinced either could handle an entire season on the Canadiens blue line, a perfectly normal situation when discussing young defensive prospects.