Owen Protz puts the NHL on notice with 2 monster hits on Saturday night.

Talk about making a good impression.

On Saturday night fans of the Montreal Canadiens packed the Bell Centre for a rookie showcase and there was one young member of the Canadiens rookie development camp that certainly gave them their money's worth.

No I'm not talking about Ivan Demidov, who looked spectacular against the Winnipeg Jets rookies, instead I'm talking about relatively unknown defenseman Owen Protz. Protz, a former 4th round pick (102nd overall) at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, is just 19 years old but on Saturday night he made it clear that he hopes to be an impact player at the National Hockey League level one day.

Protz delivered a pair of devastating hits during the exhibition game, hits that seemed to catch his opponents off guard. In both cases Protz made a clear attempt to take the body and avoid head contact, which shows that he wasn't merely being reckless or undisciplined in an effort to show off in front of a big crowd.

Here is the first example:

Protz wasn't done there however and delivered another thunderous check with the score tied up at 2-2, once again taking his opponent clean off his feet with the force of the impact.

The young defenseman has spent the last 2 seasons with the Brantford Bulldogs and is likely still a ways away from making his presence felt at the NHL level, but there's no question that he earned the love and respect of the fans in attendance at the Bell Centre tonight. Perhaps more importantly, he definitely put his team and the rest of the NHL on notice.