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De La Rose matched his nine-point output from 2018-19 in just 50 games last year, compared to 60 the year before. The 25-year-old center also played well physically with 120 hits between the Red Wings and the Blues. Entering 2020-21, De La Rose may be on the outside looking in, as Tyler Bozak and Oskar Sundqvist are expected to control the bottom-six roles down the middle. A shift to wing isn't out of the question -- De La Rose could challenge for Kyle Clifford's job, but the former should be expected to spend most of this season in the press box.
There's hardly any buzz surrounding De La Rose -- a forward who has averaged 0.16 points per game in his five-year career -- but the Swede is driven and has a penchant for delivering hits. Detroit scooped the 6-foot-3, 216-pound grinder off waivers (via Montreal) just weeks into the 2018-19 campaign, with De La Rose posting three goals, six assists and a minus-13 rating though 60 games. A heart issue impeded the center's progress last season, so he underwent minor surgery in April to address the matter. All signs point to the pivot starting his sixth NHL season with the Red Wings rather than AHL Grand Rapids, though he can be safely bypassed in all drafts as a bottom-six skater with a limited offensive toolkit.
The Canadiens signed De La Rose to a two-year. $1.8 million contract during the offseason, an affordable contract for a player profiling as a bottom-six center. For the first time in De La Rose's career, the Swede spent an entire season in the NHL, finishing with a career-high 12 points and four goals in 55 games. He opened on the fourth line, but spent ample minutes with Alex Galchenyuk and Artturi Lehkonen, a contributing factor to his career-high numbers. He won't directly make anyone better offensively, but his defensive conscience allows better-skilled players to focus on what they do best, as was the case at the World Hockey Championships when he joined Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson for Team Sweden. With Paul Byron (shoulder) and Andrew Shaw (knee) hampered by injuries, De La Rose could slot in as a top-six forward to begin the season but will eventually fall back down the depth chart, into a more appropriate bottom-six role.
De La Rose nailed down a spot on Montreal's roster and will open the season, centering the fourth line. He and Torrey Mitchell are "equals" in the words of head coach Claude Julien. Both are responsible, three-zone players, and can play in shorthanded situations, but it's De La Rose who has the edge offensively. He had spent a couple of seasons on the border of the AHL/NHL, but was able to spend a relatively full developmental season in the AHL last year, giving him a chance to develop his offense. He had a career-high 31 points in 62 games.
De La Rose, taken by Montreal in the second round (34th overall) of the 2013 draft, is an 18-year-old forward who has played the last two seasons against older competition in Sweden. He has power forward potential if he can develop some finish offensively. De La Rose plays hard; it's the only way he knows. The Canadiens may have something with De La Rose if his offense matures. He'll play all 200 feet and is considered a good glue guy, the type that will find jobs in NHL rooms.
