Author: Dose

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Roman Rotenberg loses SKA coaching job (according to media reports)

Recently, we learned that things were in turmoil at SKA, Ivan Demidov’s former KHL club.

Firstly, all the members of the Russian club’s board of directors lost their places on the board – including Roman Rotenberg. The coach’s work had also been deemed unsatisfactory in 2024-2025.

In short, everything was going well for him.

Given these circumstances, would you be completely surprised if SKA didn’t bring Rotenberg back next season? The answer is no, you wouldn’t be surprised.

And that’s exactly what happened.

According to several media reports, Rotenberg will not be back at the SKA helm in 2025-2026. The Board of Directors will therefore be bringing in their man for the future, which makes sense.

I wonder what Ivan Demidov thinks of all this…

From the way Rotenberg handled his club in 2024-2025 (particularly in relation to Ivan Demidov’s playing time, the club’s best player, and because of the club’s failure in the playoffs), I’m not exactly surprised at how it ended.

Probably getting a REAL career coach will be the right thing to do for the Russian club. No?

I wonder if Rotenberg, who wasn’t bent on letting Demidov go before the end of his KHL contract (which expired yesterday, by the way), smelled the hot soup when his club was eliminated… and was therefore more inclined to let the Canadiens’ NHL playoff hopeful go.

But hey. Demidov is in Montreal, and he won’t have to work with Rotenberg anymore. And that’s the most important thing.

gusty news

– For those who are interested in this kind of content, I’ll pass on the news.

– Of note.

– Read on.

– Good question.

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“NHL scouts are really starting to take an interest in Adam Engström”

Adam Engström has been a member of the Canadiens organization for several years now. The defenseman, drafted in the third round in 2022 (the same year as Juraj Slafkovský and Lane Hutson), spent two years in Sweden following his selection… and this year, he’s playing his first season in America.

And what we’ve noticed so far is that he’s a very interesting player. We’ve seen him improve steadily over the course of the season, and it’s easy to see in him a mobile defenseman who could eventually carve out a place for himself in the National League.

We’re not talking about a Norris contender, but he’s an interesting prospect… and other teams are taking notice too.

According to Marco D’Amico, who spoke to The Shaun Starr Podcast, Engström is starting to be seen more and more as a promising player who’s flying under the radar… and that’s attracting attention:

There’s one player NHL scouts are starting to keep a close eye on: Adam Engström. – Marco D’Amico

D’Amico notes that the Habs prospect has the makings of a defenseman who, at worst, will be a solid third-pair NHL defenseman, but also has the potential to be more than that. Inevitably, all this is interesting for the Habs… but the club already has a surplus of left-handed defensemen.

Lane Hutson and Kaiden Guhle are here to stay, Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble are already fighting for a long-term position, and Mike Matheson could sign a contract extension with the Habs: as promising as he is, Engström plays a position where the Habs already have plenty of depth.

This makes using him as a bargaining chip all the more attractive, especially in light of teams’ possible interest in his services. After all, if scouts are watching him closely, it’s because he’s on some teams’ radar.

And Engström isn’t the only one in that boat: according to D’Amico, in the event that the Habs are ready to part with Joshua Roy, there are teams across the NHL with an interest in the Québécois, who has the appeal of having played for ÉCJ and enjoyed some good times in the NHL.

And, of course, there’ s also interest in David Reinbacher… but in his case, the Habs probably won’t want anything to do with him, we agree.

overtime

– Read on.

– Interesting.

– Indeed.

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Claude Giroux file: the Senators are afraid of the Canadiens

Claude Giroux has been playing in Ottawa for three years.

As far as I know, no one twisted the Ontarian’s arm to make him choose the Sens in 2022. He chose himself to sign for a Canadian club that was rebuilding, as a way of coming home.

The Sens weren’t going to complain.

So, with the Senators just back in the playoffs, it’s logical to think that he’d still like to sign his next contract in Ottawa.

But you know as well as I do that the NHL is a business. Anything can happen.

That’s why Senators management would like to settle the matter as quickly as possible, to prevent Giroux from approaching autonomy in a month’s time.

Negotiations have begun between the Giroux clan and Steve Staios, but a common ground will have to be found.

From what we can read, there is work to be done in terms of contract years. As reported in the Ottawa Sun, the player could potentially have two years on the market, but the Sens would prefer to give a single year, due to his age.

It’s possible, however, that the club will go to two years to avoid letting him test his autonomy.

Because yes, it’s very possible to believe that if he becomes a free agent, Giroux will have two-year offers that will entice him to leave the Senators after three years in town.

And on that subject, the Sens are afraid of the Canadiens.

Some executives believe that the Canadiens would be among the teams to submit a sales pitch to Giroux.

Giroux would love to play for the Canadiens if the opportunity ever arose. After all, the club is heading in the right direction, he’d have a good role at center… and he speaks French.

But even so, I think I can see him staying in Ottawa – unless things go really badly in negotiations with the Senators. After all, he’s settled there with his family…

overtime

– Who will be the next Bruins coach? And the Penguins?

– Read on.

– What to watch for.

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Carter Bear: the Habs were (very) often at his games this season

That’s it: it’s June.

June is the month of the NHL combine (which starts today in Buffalo), but it’s also the month of the amateur draft, which takes place on June 27 and 28.

Of course, it’s also the month of the Stanley Cup Final, but I’m talking about prospects this morning.

For the Canadiens, watching the draft is a different experience in 2025. After all, the club has no top-5 picks and it’s harder to predict which prospects will be selected 16th and 17th.

Note that I don’t necessarily expect to see the Habs drafted twice, but until proven otherwise, the club has two choices.

One name that’s coming up more and more is Carter Bear. I wrote recently about his candidacy (and the fact that the Habs are indeed considering him) for the draft.

And now Nicolas Cloutier of TVA Sports has written a good piece (which I recommend you read) on the subject. Clearly, the Habs are interested in the young man with a view to the future.

What the journalist reports is that Silvertips GM Mike Fraser has noticed that the Habs have attended Bear’s games a lot this year.

How often? According to the club’s GM, the Canadiens have seen a good dozen of Bear’s games.

Since the Habs are looking for a bit of a dog (we saw in the playoffs how important this was) for the future, Bear could well be a prime candidate on the draft board.

I don’t know if we can say that anymore with the decentralized draft… but we understand each other.

In his text, Cloutier also reports that, according to the GM of the Everett Silvertips, Bear isn’t afraid to be corrected when he makes mistakes, and he doesn’t take it personally.

He’s old-school about it.

The more time passes, the more we realize that the player, who scored 40 goals in 56 games this season, is a logical target for the Habs. If his serious Achilles tendon injury doesn’t affect him in the long term, he should be high on the Habs’ list.

Because the more time passes, the more we understand that Bear, who would love to be drafted by the Canadiens, is a player who takes his organization to the next level in the playoffs. And that’s just what the Habs need.

overtime

– Who will lead the Bruins?

– Speaking of the draft.

– Well done, Scott.

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“I’d bet the Habs chatted to Pat Brisson about Jonathan Toews”

The Canadiens are looking for help at center. And by necessity, several names are being bandied about.

And because Kirby Dach didn’t prove anything this season, Alex Newhook isn’t necessarily a long-term solution and Christian Dvorak, until proven otherwise, doesn’t have a contract for next season, all targets are realistic.

For the moment, only Nick Suzuki and Jake Evans are certainties at center in 2025-2026.

On that subject, it’s not entirely surprising to see that Jonathan Toews, who speaks French thanks to his mother, is in the public discussion ahead of the club’s off-season.

After all, he’s a polarizing name, and if he’s available, he deserves to be considered.

The man attempting a return to the National League after two seasons away was a topic of discussion on Arpon Basu and Marc Antoine Godin’s podcast recently.

You can listen to it at the following link:

What Arpon Basu says at the 39th minute is that he really wouldn’t be surprised to know that Pat Brisson (the former Hawks captain’s agent) has spoken to either Kent Hughes or Jeff Gorton about his client.

Basu doesn’t often talk for nothing, by the way.

Having Jonathan Toews in town would have its advantages. He would bring experience and depth to the center line. He could guide Nick Suzuki as captain of an original team.

He could reunite with Kirby Dach, an important teammate for him in Chicago. From what we’ve seen, Dach performs better when he has a Toews or a Sean Monahan to back him up.

But why would he sign in Montreal if clubs closer to the Stanley Cup were calling? Would the Habs want him if they had to go out and get a true top-6 center and had to give the third-center job to Alex Newhook?

I don’t think the Habs have any choice but to call up Toews, just to see what happens. But the more we look at it, the more I see him elsewhere.

extension

It’s also worth noting that there are links to Gabriel Landeskog, who missed nearly 36 months of activity before finally being able to return to action during the current series in Colorado.

But the guys from the “Basu and Godin Notebook” podcast are right: Landeskog is younger. Don’t expect Toews to have a similar impact, should he ever return to action.

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Jacob Fowler in front of the net on Tuesday

The Laval Rocket’s season comes to an end next Tuesday, when they draw 3-0 in their series against the Charlotte Checkers.

Coach Pascal Vincent didn’t wait long before announcing the identity of his starting goaltender for the final game: it will be Jacob Fowler who will defend the Laval net.

So it’s up to a rookie goalie with just ten games of AHL experience to save the Rocket’s season.

No pressure for the youngster!

However, I still think it’s an interesting context for Fowler, as it’ll be a good opportunity to see how the goalie behaves under pressure.

This is important, especially in a position like goaltending for a team like the Canadiens, which comes with a lot of pressure on a regular basis, and even more so when it really counts, as in the playoffs.

So this will be a good test for Fowler.

So far, the young goalie hasn’t done badly in the series, with a 2.38 goals-against average, a 0.906 save percentage and a shutout.

However, his last start had been more difficult, allowing four goals on just fourteen shots before being replaced by Cayden Primeau.

Fowler’s mission is to turn things around for his team on Tuesday night.

But will it be too little too late for the Rocket?

Pascal Vincent surprised many by sending goaltender Primeau back into the fray for Game 3 after pulling him in the previous game.

This decision is questionable, given that Primeau had to be pulled for the second game in a row when the game was already out of reach for Laval.

Here, Fowler will have to be nothing short of perfect if the Rocket are to extend their season.

Incidentally, this begs the question of whether Primeau has played his last game with the Habs organization, as I’d be very surprised if Vincent puts him back in goal as long as Fowler is winning.

And even if Fowler managed to turn things around against the Checkers and take his team to the final, I can’t see the coach giving Primeau the net again afterwards.

Overtime

– Change is needed.

– The Tigers finally open the scoring!

– Victory on a bullet!

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Rocket forwards have just two goals so far in series against Checkers

Things aren’t going well for the Laval Rocket.

Following today’s 5-1 loss, the team is trailing 3-0 in its series against the Charlotte Checkers.

In three games, the Rocket allowed fifteen goals and scored only four for a minus-11 differential.

The Lavallois have been unrecognizable since the start of the series and, as we say in good Québécois, they’ve really been varloped by the Checkers….

In fact, Pascal Vincent had to withdraw his starting goaltender, Cayden Primeau, for a second consecutive game.

And yes, we’re talking about the best regular-season team in the AHL.

However, if the defense and goaltending aren’t getting the job done (remember that the Rocket finished first in the AHL with 185 goals allowed), the offense is also in disarray.

In three games, Laval has scored just four goals. Of those four goals, only two were scored by forwards.

The two scorers were Oliver Kapanen in the first game and Jared Davidson in the third.

The other two goals, scored in the second match, came from defensemen Noel Hoefenmayer and David Reinbacher.

Let’s just say that 1.3 goals per game doesn’t leave the goalies much room for manoeuvre.

With the exception of Davidson, the team’s other five 20+ goal scorers have all been held in check so far.

How can we explain this general breakdown in the forwards?

It’s hard to understand, because without being an offensive powerhouse, the Rocket still finished 11th in the AHL in goals scored with 229.

Yet Checkers goaltender Kaapo Kähkönen wasn’t exceptional. He does the job and makes the key saves when it counts.

It’s just that the Rocket players aren’t doing much to make life difficult for him and disturb his work.

We need to create more traffic in front of him.

What’s more, the Lavallois have tested Kähkönen less and less: after getting 31 shots in the first game of the series, they only got 25 and 23 shots in the next two games, which isn’t good enough.

In short, the Rocket will have to wake up and play better, both offensively and defensively, if they don’t want to be outplayed by the Checkers in the next game and avoid the insult of a sweep.

Overtime

– London in control.

– What a goal!

– Interesting statistic.

– Solid slam!

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Once again battered today, the Rocket faces elimination Tuesday night

This afternoon, the Laval Rocket were back in action in the LAH Eastern finals. Trailing 0-2 in the series, the Habs’ club-school needed a win against the Checkers.

And despite two rough starts to the series, Cayden Primeau was in front of the Rocket net.

Also absent was Laurent Dauphin, who didn’t make the trip. Luke Tuch took his place in the line-up.

And quickly, the story of that game was Cayden Primeau… for all the wrong reasons. The Rocket didn’t have a bad first period, but they still went back to the locker room trailing by a goal.

Hard to blame Primeau for that one, though.

But at the start of the second period, the chain came completely off the ice. And even though his defense didn’t always help him, the goalie seriously struggled.

He was kicked out of the game after allowing three quick goals early in the second period.

Trailing by four goals, the Rocket were already well out of the game.

Jared Davidson gave his club some life on the powerplay following the goalie change… but it was (way) too little and (way) too late.

The Checkers added a fifth goal late in the second period… and in the third period, there was very little action to speak of.

Once again, the Rocket suffered a (heavy) defeat, losing 5-1.

Game #4 will take place on Tuesday night, and the Rocket will face elimination. And we agree that it would be quite surprising if Jacob Fowler, who didn’t do too badly in relief this afternoon, wasn’t in front of the Rocket net for the occasion.

Extension

Since the start of the series, Primeau has allowed 12 goals on 53 shots, good for an efficiency rate of 0.774.

This is a far cry from his performance in the Eastern Final in 2022, when he allowed just 18 goals on 277 shots, an efficiency rate of 0.935.

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Four goals allowed: Cayden Primeau out of the game (again)

Trailing 0-2 in their series, the Laval Rocket needed a win this afternoon against the Checkers. And for the occasion, Cayden Primeau was sent into the fray.

It was a peculiar decision considering his first two tough starts, but once again, he was preferred to Fowler.

And in the first period, Primeau was decent. He allowed one goal, but that was it.

The problem was that early in the second period, the Rocket and their goaltender went on a rampage.

The Checkers scored three quick goals… and for the second game in a row, Primeau was thrown out of the game in the second after allowing four goals.

Jacob Fowler took his place in front of the net.

More details to come…

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Cayden Primeau in front of the Rocket net (again) today

This afternoon, the Laval Rocket play the third game of their series against the Charlotte Checkers. And after losing the first two games, the habs’ club-school will have to turn things around today.

And this time, it’s Charlotte’s turn.

We wondered who would be in front of the net. Cayden Primeau got the first two starts, but he struggled… and Jacob Fowler wasn ‘t as bad when he replaced Primeau in net in the second game.

Now, Pascal Vincent has clearly decided to trust his veteran once again: it’s Primeau who will be in front of the net this afternoon.

This will be the veteran’s fourth consecutive start.

More details to come…