\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
![\"Kevin](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/677865.webp\" "\\"Kevin")
<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
<\/p>\n
Photo credit: Screenshot<\/p>\n
Kevin Mandolese entered Martin St-Louis’ Canadiens picture with his first summer skate in Brossard.<\/p>\n
The newly signed goaltender joined a small group of Montreal players on the ice, giving the organization an early look at one of its newest depth options.<\/p>\n
That individual attention stood out. Rather than taking part in a casual skate, Mandolese immediately received focused technical work as he began settling into his new surroundings.<\/p>\n
Zachary Bolduc<\/a>, Joe Veleno and Brendan Gallagher<\/a> were also part of the group, mixing established NHL players with roster hopefuls preparing for training camp.<\/p>\n Mandolese moved through drills beside Dobes while Marciano watched their positioning, footwork and movement around the crease.<\/p>\n Kevin Mandolese faces early test in Laval goalie battle<\/p>\n The session doesn’t determine where Mandolese will begin the season, but it gives him an early chance to become comfortable with the organization’s expectations.<\/p>\n He recently signed a one-year contract with the Laval Rocket, placing him directly into a competition for playing time with Montreal’s AHL affiliate.<\/p>\n That battle will become clearer during training camp. For now, every appearance in Brossard gives Mandolese another chance to make an impression before the formal evaluations begin.<\/p>\n The 25-year-old arrives with experience in the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators organizations. That background gives Laval another option in net, but it doesn’t guarantee a fixed role.<\/p>\n Dobes’ presence also added weight to the session. Mandolese wasn’t working alone with a development coach; he was sharing drills with a goalie already pushing for a larger place in Montreal’s plans.<\/p>\n That creates an immediate measuring stick. Mandolese can compare his pace, technique and preparation with someone competing closer to the NHL level.<\/p>\n Summer sessions rarely settle a depth chart, but they can shape first impressions. Mandolese used his first skate to begin that process with Marciano watching every detail.<\/p>\n His real opportunity arrives at camp, where the workload rises and the competition becomes direct. Until then, these Brossard sessions are his first chance to show where he fits.<\/p>\n Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Photo credit: Screenshot Kevin Mandolese entered Martin St-Louis’ Canadiens picture with his first summer skate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4284,5,909,4536,1527,48209,4,1484],"class_list":["post-633001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-goalie","tag-hockey","tag-jakub-dobes","tag-kevin-mandolese","tag-laval-rocket","tag-marco-marciano","tag-nhl","tag-zachary-bolduc"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/117001342643895041","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}