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.

29th Feb 2024 0

Post Game 19: That’s how you bounce back

The Montreal Canadiens started their California road trip with a solid bounce back effort against a team in similar spot to themselves by beating the Anaheim Ducks by a score of 4-3 on Wednesday night.

Following their miserable effort against the Boston Bruins on Saturday, head coach Martin St Louis had them grind it out with a couple days of tough, skating heavy practices. It seemed to pay off, Montreal had what was possibly their best first period of the season jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead and having an edge on the shot clock. The first period hasn’t exactly been kind to Montreal this season.

It helps that they once again got top tier goaltending from Sam Montembeault.

Pluses:

The quick start! Two first period goals 38- seconds apart from Alex Newhook and Kaiden Guhle… It’s a lot easier to win a game when you’re not chasing it.
Alex Newook is heating up and looked dangerous all night long. That’s three goals in his last two games.
Monteambeault made some ridiculous saves. This was especially the case in the third period when Anaheim played more desperately. His nicest was the glove save on Frank Vantrano taking away what look like a sure goal.
Jake Evans’ game might quietly go under the radar and it shouldn’t. Even though it was a secondary assist on the Guhle goal, he started the play. And then a 2-on-1 pass that was perfectly executed to Newhook for the game winner. Almost 60 per cent in the face off circle and did it all with limited minutes.
Jayden Struble just solid, especially being his NHL debut. It felt like nothing bad happened when he was on the ice. Credit to the coaching staff here as well because they did an excellent job on the road sheltering him and getting him favorable matchups.
A win in regulation! (That’s only the third this year)

Minuses:

That will be a game Johnathan Kovacevic wants to forget. He was fighting it and it was an adventure every time he was on the ice.
Nothing is happening for Cole Caufield. Another five shots on goal but nothing to show for it. One would hope that when he get his next goal, he’ll go on a scoring frenzy. But five goals on the season and just one at 5-on-5 is extremely disappointing.
Josh Anderson will never score again. Another chance in the third period where you’re left wondering.. “How did that NOT go in?!”

The Montreal Canadiens will continue their trip through California with an afternoon match-up against the LA Kings at 3:30pm on Friday.

23rd Nov 2023 0

Post Game 13: He did it again (3)

The Montreal Canadiens snapped their four game losing streak with a near perfect road game, beating the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in overtime Thursday night.

The lines went into a blender, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield were split up and both seemed to respond to the move. They each had goals and even though they came on the powerplay while on the ice together, their play at 5-on-5 apart was solid.

“I didn’t just like Cole (Caufield) on the powerplay or in overtime, he was good 5-on-5 as well,” said head coach Martin St Louis. “He looked engaged and committed defensively.”

Changes on the blueline as well, Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barron were separated, likely in an effort to get a couple other struggling defenseman going, specifically Mike Matheson.

And Cayden Primeau got his second start of the season in his home state of Michigan. With four games this week it was smart to get him some game action.

Pluses:

Great all around team effort and one of the better games start to finish of the season. On a couple of occasions they could have easily let things slip away, but stayed with the game plan. As perfect of a road game as you can play.
Cayden Primeau was solid stopping 27 of 29 shots faced and gave his team a chance to win. Much like in previous games, the goalie needs to play near perfect for them to have a chance at to win. Maybe the JT Compher goal wasn’t great, but was it still a well placed shot.
Mike Matheson, welcome back. Clearly there was an imposter wearing #8, because this looked more like the player we saw to start to year. He contributed a goal and two assists.
Cole Caufield, another overtime winner. How many players are more dangerous to a score a goal in overtime than Montreal’s sniper? The list is a short one (no pun intended).
Nothing on the scoresheet, but a solid showing from Juraj Slafkovksy. Many were pointing at him not getting shifts in the final moments of the game. This had little to do with Slafkovksy performance and more to do with St Louis wanting two players on the ice who can take faceoffs, especially with Suzuki struggling in the circle. Don’t worry, it’s going to be aright.

Minuses:

Another goal taken away from Montreal because of the ability to challenge offsides… I might be on an island by myself on this one but I can’t stand it. Let them call it on the ice and if they get it wrong, too bad!
Josh Anderson might never score again…
Penalties came in bunches, four powerplays given to the Red Wings.

Montreal’s next matchup will be with the rival Boston Bruins on Saturday night back the Bell Centre.

9th Nov 2023 0

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.

5th Nov 2023 0

Post Game 9: Is this for real?

The surprising start to the season continues for the Montreal Canadiens.

They didn’t win Monday night in Las Vegas, but they were the better team, controlled play and deserved better. The defending Stanley Cup Champion Golden Knights won in a shootout 3-2 but the Habs gave them everything they could handle.

There’s always reluctancy to celebrate morale victories but this game is an exception. The Vegas Golden Knights are the standard and Montreal was right there with them.

Montreal’s locker room was in good spirits post game, and head coach Martin St Louis gave the team high praise.

“Since I got the job this is the best game I’ve seen start to finish,” said St Louis after the game. “Even if you don’t get the result, it’s a game where we raised our standards.”

Pluses:

Nick Suzuki is rolling and the chemistry with Cole Caufield is back. Sorry for suggesting a whole week ago that they should be split up…. It’s going to be interesting to see what they do with the first line when Christian Dvorak returns. Monahan? Newhook? There will be a couple more options at least. Oh, and how about another goal in the shootout? Seriously, is he the best shootout player in the league?
The Canadiens continue to get solid goaltending, Sam Montembeault matched what Jake Allen did a couple nights ago. He was particularly great in overtime with a penalty shot save on Jack Eichel (he stopped him again in the shootout) and a right pad save on Alex Pietrangelo.
Kaiden Guhle looks like a stud top-4 defenseman right now. Looks like the game is coming easy to him.
Sean Monahan won 19 of 23 faceoffs… lol. And he scored shorthanded.

Minuses:

Another tough one for Juraj Slafkovsky. It’s just not happening for him.
Two crossbars for Alex Newhook, he deserved better.
Josh Anderson looked like he was flying, but still hasn’t scored.
Brendan Gallagher getting time with Suzuki and Caufield… No.

The Montreal Canadiens have a couple days off before taking on the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.

31st Oct 2023 0

Post Game 8: Habs do it again

The Montreal Canadiens have another team leaving Bell Centre wondering, “what went wrong?”

For consecutive games, the Habs were able to overcome a 3-1 deficit and win a game in which they never had the lead, 4-3 the final over the Winnipeg Jets Saturday at the Bell Centre.

Nick Suzuki had the winner in the shootout, while Justin Barron, Sean Monahan and Joel Armia scored goals in regulation.

“Really bad start for us in the second period but I like how we responded,” said Suzuki following the game. “We didn’t quit, we’re a team that likes to keep pushing when we’re down and I think we showed a lot of character coming back from down 3-1.”

Pluses:

The Canadiens don’t win this one without some heroics from Jake Allen. If there was a competition to get the bulk of work between the pipes, early on it’s not even close. Allen’s 43-saves earned him third star of the game honours, and it he should be been the first star. He currently leads the NHL in goals saved above expected.
Great to see Kaiden Guhle back in the lineup and he picked up right where he left off. The young blueliner was terrific at both ends of the ice, picking up two assists and leading all Montreal skater’s in ice time.
There’s no way it’s been easy for Armia, being sent down to Laval to start the season and then waiting in limbo for a week after a call up to the big club. It seems like he’s popular with his teammates and there was a little extra on the celebration on the bench when he capitalized off a nice pass from Guhle.
The powerplay got another one! That’s five straight games.
For a second straight game the penalty kill came up huge after a late penalty that carried into overtime.

Minuses:

Juraj Slafkovsky struggled mightily. In fact, it may have been the worst game he’s played in the NHL. When he has the puck, it looks like he’s guessing. The play is going to fast and he’s managing the puck extremely poorly. They don’t want to send him to the AHL but if his play continue to be this bad when Christian Dvorak returns, they won’t have a choice. And let’s be clear, it’s not the end of the world if he gets some big reps and minutes on the farm. It doesn’t mean he’s a bust and it won’t shatter his confidence. Let him develop his game away from the spotlight, like most players who are only 19-years-old get to do.
The start to the second period was comical, two goals allowed in 18-seconds on boneheaded plays with the puck.
Mike Matheson left in the third period and is day-to-day with a lower body injury. Good thing it doesn’t appear to be serious, because a long term injury would be devastating.

Montreal heads on the road for their first extended trip of the season. It all begins on Monday night in Las Vegas taking on the Golden Knights at 10pm.

29th Oct 2023 0

Post Game Seven: Habs find a way

The Montreal Canadiens showed their resiliency once again, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in overtime Thursday at the Bell Centre.

“I think we’re a resilient group but if you constantly have to come back from behind it just takes a toll on everybody,” said Montreal Canadiens’ coach Martin St Louis.

Montreal never had a lead and had to overcome 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to force overtime. In the extra frame, a little more Cole Caufield magic was on display when he sniped his second game winner of the week.

“I think that was all Marty, he fired us up and said some things that needed to be said,” said Caufield about the greater urgency showed in the second period. “I love how we responded with the first shift and a goal, it obviously got us going and I thought from there we played a full 45-minutes after that.”

Pluses:

Nick Suzuki scored, finally. It took Montreal’s captain seven games to get his first goal of the year and maybe it will be a spark and more will follow. Suzuki capitalized on an egregious Boone Jenner turnover and made no mistake with time and space to pick his spot. He also picked up two assists in the game.
It might not always be pretty, but it was another two powerplay goals for the Montreal Canadiens. Mike Matheson scored a powerplay goal on a nice fake that froze the four Columbus penalty killers, opening up a shooting lane. And Caufield with a set play, a shot/pass to Monahan who had great positioning in front of the net and tipped the puck in.
Justin Barron had another strong outing logging big minutes. His defensive game is coming along and though he might not play as much when Kaiden Guhle comes back from injury, he’s getting precious reps and experience.
Sam Montembeault made some huge saves, but none bigger than a pair in overtime while killing a penalty. The second save on Zack Werensky looked like a sure goal and robbed Columbus of an extra point in the standings. The balancing act with the three goaltenders will continue to be a big talking point if all three keep playing well.

Minuses:

Terrible start that forced Montreal to chase the game. Last week the issue was how they were finishing games, tonight it’s how they started. They’ll play a full 60-minutes at some point…
Juraj Slafkovksy had his worst game of the season. Couldn’t make a play, couldn’t breakout and was taking too long to make decisions. It’s just one game, but the game seemed to be moving way too fast for him.
Josh Anderson can’t buy a goal while on a breakaway. Twice he was all alone with Elvis Merzlikins and couldn’t finish. Anderson is still searching for his first goal and only has one point on the season. He had a strong game but the production is not there.
It was the worst officiated game of the season. The bad calls went on both sides, Kevin Pollock and Cody Beach… Come on! Be better… Enough with the excuses. It’s a fast game, it’s hard being a referee. Wah, Wah, Wah. Make a mistake or two, fine. But you know you’ve made too many mistakes when it’s a talking point after the game.

The Montreal Canadiens will host the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night. Good timing for the Habs, the Jets have won three straight.

27th Oct 2023 0

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.”

23rd Oct 2023 0

Post Game Four: Allen key

Things aren’t that bad.

The Montreal Canadiens blew a two goal lead in the third period but got a Cole Caufield overtime winner to beat the Washington Capitals by a score of 3-2 Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

The headlines have recently been dominated by the fact that the Canadiens are the most penalized team in the league and have had issues on special teams. But they’ve picked up points in three of the four games, including two wins. At the end of the season, they don’t ask how, they ask how many…

Pluses:

It was one of Jake Allen’s best games in a long time and he was definitely much better than opening night in Toronto. Montreal’s starting goaltender made 31-saves and was named the first star of the game. They don’t win this one without him. Allen made saves of the highlight variety, including a right toe save on a 2-on-1 robbing Anthony Mantha of what looked like a sure goal and an old school double pad stack after Alex Ovechkin took a fake shot and dished it off to Nicklas Backstrom. He had no chance at stopping either of Dylan Strome’s goals.
Brendan Gallagher scored…!? Even though he’s been one of the least used forwards this season, it probably came as a relief when he got his first of the year. It was a great play by Sean Monahan, stalling long enough and putting the puck at the net as Gallagher came crashing in. It was the most Gallagher goal one could imagine, right on the edge of the crease both puck and player going into the net. His contract will always be an issue but maybe a goal gets the fans off his back for at least a couple of days.
Easily Nick Suzuki’s strongest game of the year. He made a beautiful pass to Monahan on a powerplay goal in the first period (that’s right, the PP got one!) He assisted on Caufield’s OT winner, won almost 70 per cent of his faceoffs and was Montreal’s most used forward. Most importantly, Suzuki was much harder to play against than in the previous three games.
Martin St Louis continues to be a quote machine: “I like my team, I care about my team and I feel like there’s so much good going on, the last two days was just focused on the negative,” said St Louis post game. “I was asked a question (about Suzuki) and the easiest thing for me is not to say anything but I’m honest, I try not to lie.”

Minuses:

For the third time this season Montreal let a third period lead evaporate. While they escaped with wins against both Chicago and Washington following third period meltdowns, the lack of killer instinct demonstrates their inexperience and how early they are in their rebuild.
Penalties, penalties, penalties. They gifted Washington five powerplays and even though that’s a slight improvement from the previous two games, if this was the Washington Capitals of old rather than the old Washington Capitals, the outcome would have been different.

The light schedule comes to a screeching halt this week. After playing four games in the first two weeks of the season, Montreal will play four games in six nights. Next up will be the Buffalo Sabres on the road on Monday night.

22nd Oct 2023 0

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?

18th Oct 2023 0