The Montreal Canadiens announced the 23 invites to their rookie camp over the weekend and it included a very interesting name -- 22-year-old forward Martin Reway.
Reway, a fourth-round pick by the team in 2013, was sidelined for the entire 2016-17 season due an inflammation of the heart that very nearly ended his playing career.
He resumed skating in March and will now have a chance to continue to chase his NHL dreams.
Reway was a productive, highly skilled player in the QMJHL but slid in the draft presumably due to his lack of size. After being selected by the Canadiens he ended up playing two years in Europe, including for Sparta Praha in the Czech league and Fribourg-Gotteron HC in Switzerland. He averaged better than a point-per-game for both teams over those two seasons.
When the Canadiens signed him to his entry level contract in May of 2016 general manager Marc Bergevin called him “a player with tremendous offensive skills.”
At this point he would seem to be a real long-shot to make the Canadiens’ roster this season but the fact he is even able to participate in the prospect camp and be back on the ice is pretty significant given where he was just one year ago.
The Canadiens’ rookie camp begins on Thursday before the prospects travel to Toronto to take part in a tournament with rookies from the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs.