An excerpt from the Habsworld article by T.C. Denault:
Such was the expectations enveloping Valentenko that many outside the team suggested that he should already be a member of the Canadiens. For a team, generally viewed by both their supporters and detractors as lacking in the physical aspects of the game, Valentenko seemed like the ideal choice to fill this void.
“Pavel is a good old country boy,” Trevor Timmins told the Montreal Gazette’s Dave Stubbs on September 18th. “He’s big and strong, he has a passion for the game and he wants to play here. He’s got a heck of a shot. Last year, was a big learning step for him. It’s a different game here than it is in Russia or anywhere in Europe. It takes time to develop your game here, to change your game to play on a smaller rink at a faster pace.”
Timmins predicted that the future would be sooner, rather than later for Valentenko, whose English proficiency was constantly improving, telling Stubbs that “I think he’s ready (for a taste of Montreal this season) … He’s the type of guy whose game should get him to a position where he’s there and available to be recalled if we need him He’s close to being NHL ready,” expressed a confident Trevor Timmins, adding once again, “that’s he close to being NHL ready.”
Unfortunately, for Valentenko, instead of being a coming out party, the Canadiens training camp saw him struggle. Finding himself amongst half-a-dozen defensive prospects in the organization thought to have a professional future, Valentenko’s performance at camp could be termed at best to have been mediocre. Sadly, while Valentenko was having a middling camp, other blue line prospects like Yannick Weber and P.K. Subban shone.
Valentenko’s very ordinary training camp resulted in him being sent down to Hamilton in the Habs first set of cuts, while younger prospects like Weber saw their stock rise.
Six weeks later, Valentenko was on a plane to Russia.
This person makes it sound like Valentenko was “cut” by the Canadiens, and sent back to Russia or something. That is nonsense.
Valentenko is a completely different type of defenseman than Weber or Subban. For one thing, both of those players play on the right side, and are offense first types. They may look more flashy in training camp, but Valentenko is a much more valuable commodity at the NHL level. His combination of size, physicality, team first attitude, and strong point shot are much harder to find than small, puckhandling, types like Weber and Subban.
Montreal already has three virtually identical puck moving right side defensemen in Weber, Subban, and Mathieu Carle, who are seperated by just a year and a half in age. Along with David Fisher and Greg Pateryn, who are both decent puckhandlers with better size.
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