Tag: canadiens

Three offseason trade targets for the Habs

The Montreal Canadiens made significant offseason acquisitions during the last two summers. With draft picks and prospect ammunition, they’re expected to do the same this offseason to accelerate the rebuild.

During the 2022 NHL Entry draft, General Manager Kent Hughes shocked many when he traded Alex Romanov to the New York Islanders for a first round pick, which was 13th overall. He then flipped that pick to acquire Kirby Dach from the Chicago Blackhawks. Dach was a former third overall pick but was deemed expandable by Chicago who wanted to overhaul their top six and set up a tank that would lead to the drafting of Connor Bedard. It’s been mixed results for Dach in Montreal mostly due to injury but it did seem like he was on the verge of a breakout season and there’s still plenty of hope he’ll be able to blossom with the Habs.

Prior to the 2023 NHL draft, the Canadiens once again flipped one their extra first round picks (the one acquired in the Ben Chiarot trade to Florida which was 31st overall) and their second round pick which was 37th to pick up Alex Newhook from the Colorado Avalanche. Funny enough, Newhook was part of the same draft class Dach (and Cole Caufield). Newhook has had an up and down season, playing different positions and missed more than six weeks with a high ankle sprain. His ability to fit in the top-6 is debatable but Newhook still provides a ton of speed which is something the Canadiens don’t have an abundance of at the forward position.

So… Who’s going to be the player the target this summer?

Martin Necas, Carolina Hurricanes

Martin Necas is a heck of a player and would check off all the boxes for what the Canadiens are looking for. Larry Brooks of the New York Post has reported that the Carolina Hurricanes are listening to offers. Necas is arbitration eligible and is a free agent this summer.

He’s only 25-years-old and just entering his prime. Last season was a breakout year for Necas who scored 28-goals and 70-points. He should finish this year with comparable numbers. Necas plays with great energy, poise and offensive instincts. He’s an okay defender and he makes up for his shortcomings with his high compete and second efforts. It would be a great fit next to Dach, giving the Canadiens offensive punch on the second line.

Alex Holtz, New Jersey Devils

Alex Holtz isn’t as much of a guarantee as Necas is. There’s still question marks about his defensive game and overall commitment. It appears that he’s on the outs with head coach Lindy Ruff and plays under 12-minutes a game despite being in his third year pro. Even with the limited ice time, Holtz has been able to score 12-goals and 24-points this season. It must be hard to produce much playing with Chris Tierny and Colin Miller on New Jersey’s fourth line. He was a top-10 pick in the 2020 draft and he could be a buy low candidate for Montreal. His shot is by far his best attribute and the Canadiens are starved for goals.

Kent Johnson, Columbus Blue Jackets

Kent Johnson is another player who hasn’t yet lived up to his draft day hype but his skills are undeniable and there’s a reason the Blue Jackets used a top-5 pick to select the Michigan Wolverines standout. Johnson is the biggest project player of the three listed here. He still needs time to round out his defensive game and often tries to do too much rather than make a simple play. It was a bit of shock when the Blues Jackets decided to start Johnson in the American Hockey League to start the season but he was quickly called up after picking 15-points in only 10 games. New management will be coming into Columbus and they will want to bring in their own players. It’s also possible that the team becomes impatient with his development curve…

Just a couple names to add to the list of potential pickups and hopefully we can stop talking the possibility of Trevor Zegras in Montreal.

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Post Game 43: Canadiens spoil Drouin’s return

The Montreal Canadiens are the most unpredictable team in the NHL.

Or maybe they aren’t…

They always seem to save their best performances for the best teams. And with the Colorado Avalanche in town (second in goals per game), this game was no exception.

Montreal was impressive and went toe-to-toe with the Avalanche winning by a score of 4-3 Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

The recipe for the Habs isn’t complicated… Get good goaltending, get contributions on special teams and have the first line involved. They checked all three boxes and were rewarded.

“All those guys, I feel are going through a process to becoming elite and they’re doing it the right way with a team-first approach,” said head coach Martin St Louis about his top line.

Pluses:

  • The top line had a great game. Both Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky scored powerplay goals while Nick Suzuki had a pair of assists. The Canadiens aren’t a deep team and need their top players going if they want any chance to win.
  • Jake Allen held the fort. Sometimes it isn’t about how many saves you make but when you make them. Montreal’s goaltender of the night came up with a pair of huge stops on Nathan Mackinnon with just four minutes remaining. Game changing.
  • Joel Armia with another goal putting him at seven on the season. He’s having a solid year and although the consistency of his effort level is questionable at best, he battle hard for a loose puck in traffic to score the winning goal. “What we want from Army is just that consistency and we’re getting that right now and I hope he keeps going,” said Martin St Louis.
  • Pairing Kaiden Guhle with Mike Matheson for the last two games was a great adjustment. David Savard appears to be lumbering right now and with two great skating teams in town, it was smart to have Guhle log big minutes. And he didn’t disappoint keeping Colorado’s top line in check at 5-on-5.
  • The powerplay has looked good with goals in back-to-back games. Caufield is starting to heat up and find his touch and the movement has been fluid once they settle down and set up.
  • It took 16-games but Rafael Harvey-Pinard finally scored his first goal of the season.
  • Montreal fans showed their great class. When Jonathan Drouin was put on the big screen with the welcome back message, the fans stood up and applauded him. Drouin spent six seasons with the Canadiens and it was a roller coaster ride, he was never ever to live up to the big expectations management placed on his shoulders when they traded a blue chip prospect to bolster their offense. But even after the hard times, the fans showed their appreciation for his time with the team. Of course, when the game got back underway, they booed him every time he touched the puck. Perfect.

Minuses:

  • The Canadiens allowed the first goal of the game… To add salt to the wound, Drouin picked up an assist on the Ross Colton goal.
  • Jake Evans took an embellishment penalty that led to 4-on-4 hockey. Colorado is a dangerous team with extra space and this led to the game tying goal by Devon Toews. It is Emmy season after all.
  • Jesse Ylonen left to concussion protocol, hopefully nothing serious.
  • The bench was cut down in the third period and Joshua Roy played under 10-minutes in his second NHL game. It was an understandable decision based on where the game was at, but disappointing nonetheless.

The Montreal Canadiens will play their next three games on the road starting with a clash against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night.

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Post Game 34: Missed opportunity

The Montreal Canadiens were unable to take advantage of suspect goaltending and a disjointed Carolina Hurricanes team losing 5-3 Thursday night in the first game back after the holiday break.

Jordan Harris returned to the lineup after missing 15 games with a lower-body injury. He played on the right side with Jayden Struble and had a quiet night. Strubble meanwhile, continues to excel and it’s going to be hard to take him out of the line up any time soon. It’s going to be a battle between Johnathan Kovacevic and Harris for playing time.

Pluses:

  • The Canadiens like they usually do, started from behind and battled their way back into the game. After Carolina quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Montreal overcame the deficit to even the game at two. They also came back and tied the game after trailing 3-2, but couldn’t find a way to play with the lead at any point.
  • It was one of those games where Mike Matheson was fumbling the puck and it looked like a grenade on his stick. Naturally, that’s the type of game where he scores a beautiful highlight real goal that should have received a little more attention.
  • A Josh Anderson breakaway goal! In this economy… Anderson continues to streak and it’s true for some players, the goals come in bunches.
  • Mitchell Stephens scored for a second straight game and the goal seemed to go right to his legs. All things considered, the fourth line was effective.
  • Martin St Louis won another coach’s challenge… Obviously credit the video crew upstairs, but it was a gutsy called and it worked out. If it didn’t go their way, it could have been a swing point in the game.
  • Cool story to have the three players who played at North Eastern all in the lineup for the first time.

Minuses:

  • Cayden Primeau was just average… This goes in the minus category because when the Canadiens don’t get stellar goaltending, they rarely win.
  • Terrible start and terrible third period. Carolina was vulnerable in the third period and Antti Raanta looked extremely shaky, but Montreal couldn’t muster up much offensively.
  • Really tough game for Justin Baron who was on the ice for three of the four even strength goals and was directly responsible for two of them. He could be an option to be scratched if Martin St Louis wants to go back to Kovacevic next game.
  • High hit that wasn’t needed by Stephan Noesen on Juraj Slafkovsky. This hit was to the head and should have resulted in a penalty, which it didn’t. Slafkovsky was removed from the game by spotter for a potential concussion. The test came back negative and it appears that he will be fine. But the NHL should look at the play because it wasn’t necessary.
  • This game was a missed opportunity for Montreal to get some points because the brutal schedule increases in difficulty with Tampa Bay, Florida and Dallas coming up. Carolina played the previous night, have been very inconsistent with their play and had a goaltending between the pipes that has near zero confidence…

Next up for the Montreal Canadiens will be a match-up with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night at 7pm.

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Post Game 12: Ticked off Tampa

The Tampa Bay Lightning are always a tough matchup for the Montreal Canadiens. Add in the fact that Tampa Bay blew a 4-1 lead against Toronto the night before playing in Montreal, the outcome Tuesday night at the Bell Centre was predictable.

The Lightning got four first period goals, including one just 22-seconds into the game and beat the Canadiens 5-3 in a game where the final score didn’t tell the whole story… It wasn’t close.

Even with a late third period push by Montreal, the game was over 13-minutes in after Michael Eyssimont scored a terrible goal from behind the goal line on Jake Allen, forcing Montreal to make a goaltender change. Funny enough, Allen was named the Molson Cup winner for October given to the team’s best player.

Although that goal was a bad one to give up, the game was not on Allen. It’s on the team as a collective who didn’t look ready to start the game or match the intensity of the opposition. It doesn’t help that Tampa Bay is more experienced and talented as well.

“We have too many pockets where we let our foot off the gas, miss an assignment, we don’t manage the risk, it’s a combination of many things,” said head coach Martin St Louis after the game. “Teams go through that, you just got to tighten it up.”

Just eight days after St Louis praised his team for playing their best game since his appointment as head coach, they’ve lost three straight in regulation and all to teams who played the night before.

Pluses:

  • Montreal didn’t quit, even though it would have been easy to mail it in for the third period and look ahead to Thursday night in Detroit. Instead, they pushed and made the Lightning sweat just a little bit. They won the final frame and showed the never say die attitude that has been a constant this season.
  • Sam Montembeault wasn’t expecting to play but was solid in relief. Named the third star of the game, things probably get out of hand with a lopsided score if he doesn’t come in and make some big saves, especially in the second period. Also made a highlight reel right pad save on Brayden Point
  • Christian Dvorak scored in just his second game back. The goal was in garbage time, but it’s always good to get that first one out of the way when coming back from a long injury.

Minuses:

  • The slow starts, particularly on the scoreboard. That’s six straight games where Montreal allows the first goal. “We kind of dug the hole too fast and weren’t able to fill it up so it’s something to learn off of for sure,” said Tanner Pearson.
  • The struggles continue for Mike Matheson and Jordan Harris. Even though one of the goals was a powerplay marker, the pair managed to be on the ice for all four first period goals. Matheson is logging too many minutes and the workload is affecting his play.
  • Terrible discipline, best outlined by Arber Xhekaj taking taking two penalties and putting Tampa Bay on the powerplay when Montreal had clear momentum, just because he wanted to settle a score with Tanner Jeannot. “Whatever you do on the ice, the actions you take have them taking care of the team mentality, not necessarily what you want to do at that time; what does the team need you to do at that time,” said St Louis. “I thought we were pretty good at that and to me that slipped away.”
  • When the goalies don’t steal the game, the Canadiens don’t have a shot to win. Allen wasn’t at his best but at some point the team will have to learn to win without the goalie standing on their head.

Montreal’s next opponent is in Detroit on the road taking on the Red Wings.

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Post Game 11: Slafkovsky gets his shot

The Montreal Canadiens wrapped up their three game road trip with a 6-3 loss to the St Louis Blues on Saturday night.

It looked like a prime spot for the Habs to pick up their first win on the trip against a lackluster offense. Instead, many of the things that have plagued them all season, caught up with them again.

Pluses:

  • Juraj Slafkovsky was promoted and got first line minutes. He scored his first goal of the season but it was a powerplay goal after a nice give and go play with Alex Newhook. Good patience in tight and solid finish. The former first all overall pick did look more involved and engaged throughout the game. It’s just one game but encouraging nonetheless.
  • Martin St Louis continues to polish the apple… “He looked comfortable and for me, I thought whenever he was on the ice, I felt like something was happening.”
  • Brendan Gallagher now has four goals in 11-games this season. The line featuring Tanner Pearson, Sean Monahan and Gallagher has been the most consistent for the Canadiens. If one thing is evident, it’s the fact that all three are the healthiest they’ve been in years.
  • Montreal didn’t take any penalties…? Go ahead, double check the box score, it’s true.

Minuses:

  • The road trip was tough one for Mike Matheson, capped off with his worst game as a Montreal Canadien. Not only was he fumbling the puck and trying to do too much, Matheson was directly responsible for three goals against. He needs to quickly regain his form from early in the season when he looked like Montreal’s best offensive defenseman since PK Subban.
  • The game was put away after a blatant missed trip on Justin Barron that led to a shorthanded goal. How the referees can miss something right in front of them, when it isn’t away from the play or puck is beyond me. Or they’re just to scared to make a call putting a team down two men. Brutal.
  • The Canadiens allowed six goals to a team that had only scored 19 going into the game. Nothing good from a team perspective, the compete was disappointing, they managed the puck poorly and were awful defending in their own zone.
  • First time this season Montreal looked like the team we saw most of last season. Not a good sign.
  • After a terrific start to the season, the Canadiens picked up one of a possible six points on the road trip. Things won’t get easier with tough matchups coming in the next couple weeks.

Next up for the Canadiens is a matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

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Post Game Five: Turning back the clock

They won’t be awarded style points, but the Montreal Canadiens found a way to escape Buffalo with two points beating the Sabres 3-2 on Monday night.

The win came at a cost, David Savard will be out indefinitely with an upper body injury. He blocked multiple shots on a penalty kill in the third period and didn’t play the final 8-minutes of the game. The shift itself was making the rounds on social media, it displayed a great example of sheer determination and sacrifice for the betterment of the team.

The Canadiens were outplayed by a Buffalo team that has underperformed this season. With the chaotic upcoming schedule, they’ll take wins any way they can get them.

Pluses:

  • Jake Allen followed up his terrific performance against the Washington Capitals with an even better outing against the Sabres. Tough angle on the Jeff Skinner goal, but he settled in after that and at times stood on his head including in the second period when Montreal was severely outchanced.
  • Brendan Gallagher scored for a second straight game and it was once again a typical Gallagher goal, right on the edge of the crease. The third line is developing chemistry with Sean Monahan and Tanner Pearson also having solid performances. But for Gallagher in particular has to feel good contributing while playing limited minutes.
  • Justin Barron gave the Canadiens something they haven’t gotten so far this season, a goal from a defenseman. It was a nice shot after the puck found him at the top on the right circle.
  • The points haven’t been there but Juraj Slafkovsky continues to stand out for all the right reasons. He was noticeable early, is getting a lot of touches on the puck and eventually the production will come.
  • While the powerplay looks disjointed and unorganized, it’s still back-to-back games with a powerplay goal!

Minuses:

  • Savard is the latest player to head to the injured list. That’s three injuries (two significant ones) in three games. Ouch!
  • Another goal against the Montreal Canadiens for Jeff Skinner… What’s up with that?! He now has 24-goals against the Habs in his career, more than he’s scored against any NHL team.
  • They handed the opposition another five powerplays, this early trend can’t continue.

The Montreal Canadiens gets right back at it tonight taking on Jack Hughes and he New Jersey Devils. Game time is 7:15pm ET with staggered starts around the NHL with the league attempting to pull of their own version of the NFL’s “Red Zone,” with what their calling “Frozen Frenzy.”

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Game Five: A less than ideal situation

Jake Allen will get the call in goal for a second straight game when the Montreal Canadiens take on the Buffalo Sabres tonight.

The start is well deserved, Allen was outstanding in a 3-2 overtime win Saturday against the Washington Capitals. The back-to-back games make it an easy decision for the coaching staff, Sam Montembeault will likely play tomorrow night against the New Jersey Devils.

But Montreal still has three goaltenders on the roster and at some point, something has to give. Three other teams are carrying three goaltenders. It’s more likely they’re afraid of the Lightning striking on the waiver wire than this being an actual plan.

To add to the drama, Tampa Bay general manager Julien Brisebois was in attendance at the Bell Centre watching Allen put on a goaltending clinic on Saturday night. Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period told TSN 690 that he doesn’t see a scenario where the Lightning would be able to fit Allen in under the salary cap.

“Due diligence and wanting to get a handle on things… I don’t suspect given their cap situation that Allen would fall into what their looking at,” said Pagnotta about the Lightning. “But maybe Montembeault with a 1-million dollar cap hit would fit better for them.”

The Habs aren’t pressed to make a move but at some point they have to be fair with Cayden Primeau who might be happy earning an NHL pay cheque but has every right to be ticked off at the fact that he hasn’t seen any game action two weeks into the season. Montreal plays four times in the next six days and if he doesn’t play in at least one of them, you have to wonder what’s the point of having him on the roster? You might be terrified of losing him on waivers, but as a former agent, Kent Hughes has to realize that sometimes it’s okay to give a player an opportunity elsewhere that just wouldn’t have materialized with the current set of circumstances.

Regardless of the way the next week plays out, nobody seems to like the three goalie rotation. Especially goalies.

“There’s no pros to the three goalie system,” said retired NHL goalie Martin Biron during an appearance on TSN 690. “The cons are trying to get them all game action.”

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Post Game Three: Deja Vu

Nothing went right for the Montreal Canadiens in their 5-2 loss Tuesday night against the Minnesota Wild at the Bell Centre.

The Habs had to completely shake things up because of the injury to Kirby Dach and nothing clicked. Granted, most of the game was played on the penalty kill which disrupted any chance at developing chemistry at 5-on-5.

Rafael-Harvey Pinard got a chance to play on the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, Josh Anderson went down to the third line with Sean Monahan and Brendan Gallagher while Alex Newhook centered Juraj Slafkovksy and Tanner Pearson.

None of the combinations worked.

Pluses:

  • The Canadiens outscored the Minnesota Wild at even strength by a score of 2-0.
  • Tanner Pearson scored for a second straight game with a beautiful shot upstairs past Marc-Andre Fleury.
  • Fleury made some old-school saves, including a double pad stack on Johnathan Kovacevic early in the third period. He made 27-saves in the win, was named the first star of the game and got an ovation from the fans that were left in the building in what might be his final game at the Bell Centre.

Minuses:

  • Montreal allowed two shorthanded goals in 25-seconds. The powerplay is so bad that they’ve now been scored on more while up a man than they’ve scored.
  • Discipline issues again, after giving the Chicago Blackhawks 7 powerplays on Saturday night, they followed it up by giving 8 to the Minnesota Wild. And many of them were bad decisions, Slafkovksy’s interference penalty 200-feet from his own net or Arber Xhekaj’s roughing penalty on Marcus Johansson well after the siren went to end the second period.
  • On the same day that Montreal announced that Dach would be out for the remainder of the season, Kaiden Guhle left in the second period with an injury and didn’t return. He has an upper body injury and needs to be evaluated… Great.

Next up for the Montreal Canadiens is the Washington Capitals on Saturday night at home. Washington might have the slowest team in the league, so you’d think the Canadiens don’t take another 13 penalties, but who knows?

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Post game two: Injury concerns already

Connor Bedard’s first game at the Bell Centre, was rather uneventful.

The Montreal Canadiens spoiled the party beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in the home opener.

It took the rookie phenom until late in the third period to register a second assist on a Tyler Johnson goal that pulled the Hawks to within one. He finished with five shots on goal in 23:02 minutes of ice time.

The Habs played an undiscipline game giving Chicago seven powerplays in the game. The Blackhawk’s game plan was a little too predictable, get Bedard the puck. Credit to Montreal who boosted their penalty kill stats by shutting down the one man show at the other end. It’s something to built on, Montreal had one of the worst penalty kills in the league last year.

Pluses:

  • Sam Montembeault was solid. Although not as busy as Petr Mrazek at the other end, Montreal’s starting goaltender made 28-saves in the win. More importantly, no softies got by him. Maybe he should have started in the opener…
  • After scoring in the first game, Jake Evans followed it up by being a key piece on the PK, playing almost six minutes while down a man. He also dominated the faceoff circle winning 11 of 14 draws good for 78.6 per cent.
  • Sean Monahan had a much better second game of the season, scored a short handed goal and went 87.5 per cent in the dot.
  • Martin St Louis’ quote on what a healthy Monahan brings to the club: “Consistency, his bad games are not very bad, his bad is good, you know?”
  • Tanner Pearson scored his first goal as a Montreal Canadien. And it was a beauty, shooting in stride, top shelf on Mrazek.
  • Rafael Harvey Pinard doesn’t care where you put him or what you ask him to do, he stands out. He won’t be on the fourth line much longer.

Minuses:

  • Kirby Dach left the game with a lower body injury and didn’t return. His status will be evaluated on Sunday. It’s impossible to know when the injury happened, he was hit into the Blackhawks bench by Jared Tinordi. An injury to Dach would be catastrophic and significantly disrupt Montreal’s lineup. After all the injuries suffered last year, hopefully not the first of many.
  • The Canadiens play in the third period left something to be desired. Playing a little too comfortable with the lead, they let Chicago make it a game. Back to back games with goals surrendered at 6-on-5 is another unsettling early trend.
  • Brendan Gallagher had another subpar game, and only ended playing 10-minutes.
  • The opening night ceremonies. No torch, no light effects and no special appearances?! The Canadiens are known for always doing it right when it comes to pre game festivities. Saturday night lacked imagination and was more fitting for a place like Ottawa.

Next up is the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

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