Filip Mesar denies being a bad team-mate with youngsters

When the Canadiens selected Filip Mesar with their second first-round pick in 2022, they immediately sent him to play in the OHL with the Kitchener Rangers.

His first season was a good one, with 51 points in 52 games. He increased his output in 2023-24 with 52 points in 45 games, but it wasn’t a convincing improvement.

In June, he had explained in aninterview with a Slovak media outlet that he felt his teammates were sometimes behind his game and that this could explain his difficult season.

As a result, he came across as a player who thinks only of himself and doesn’t hesitate to blame his team-mates for his own work.

However, the Slovakian tried to make amends recently in an interview with Slovakian journalist Tomas Prokop of Dennik Sports.

People and players who know me understand that I’m not like that. I was the first to help if younger teammates were struggling. You shouldn’t believe everything on the internet. I experienced what it was like to play with older players when I joined the A-team in Poprad as a…

– Tomáš Prokop (@Lewysko) July 16, 2024

In this interview, he explained that people who know him know that he’s not a hypocritical player. He even defended himself by saying that he’s one of the first to help his younger teammates when they need help.

Mesar says he understands what it’s like to play with older players, having experienced it first-hand during his time in Slovakia.

We sincerely hope that this is the kind of player who will show up at the Habs’ next training camp. He’ll obviously be one of the youngest, but he needs to be able to respect his teammates, whether they’re young or old.

Speaking of this camp, he also confessed in this interview that he was disappointed not to have been able to break into the Laval Rocket line-up during his last two camps with the Habs.

This season, he should get his first chance with Laval, as it would be surprising if the Habs sent him back to the OHL at age 20.

The Habs’ development team didn’t ask him to come to development camp this season, so he could concentrate on his training over the summer.

We can’t wait to see what Mesar looks like at this year’s Habs training camp.