Habster’s take:
Unless Kyle Chipchura falls completely on his face and makes some huge mistakes tomorrow night against the Ottawa Senators, he will make the Canadiens roster as the fourth line center or a reserve forward. He has been steady at both ends of the ice and has also shown some offensive abilities when he crashes the net. Carbonneau has been impressed and has stated as much to the press. Chipchura is a Carbonneau/Gainey type of player who works hard and is a very strong positional player like his bosses were in their playing days.
Mikhail Grabovski on the other hand, has to keep skating hard and either set up some teammates or show that he has the scoring touch around the net. He has shown a great set of wheels and a wonderful skill set but has yet to register a point in five preseason games. It would be fun to see Grabovski center the second line with Kostitsyn and Kovalev while Plekanec would be a solid third line center with Latendresse and Smolinski. This would give the Canadiens three decent offensive lines to throw onto the ice. If Grabovski doesn’t make the roster, then expect him to get the call up if there are injuries or Carbonneau’s team has difficulties scoring in the coming months.
I would like to see Carbonneau think outside the box for a change and keep both players while at the same time placing Garth Murray on waivers for the second time in a year. I hear some eBay subscribers might be interested in his services.