If you ever want to become a recruiter for the NHL draft, I wouldn’t recommend going to Tampa Bay to do so. And that’s even if being Quebecer can help you get in touch with Julien BriseBois, who has always trusted people from here.
Why am I saying this?
Because the Tampa Bay Lightning has been drafting very little for years. And this year, aside from the multitude of seventh-round picks, we see that history is repeating itself.
(Credit: Cap Wages)
In fact, Julien BriseBois has never been afraid to trade high draft picks to improve on the ice. This has sometimes worked and sometimes given… Tanner Jeannot.
He has two Stanley Cup rings to show that his method works more often than not.
Yesterday, we saw another proof of his mindset when he gave up no less than two first-round picks (among other things) to get Yanni Gourde (rental player) and Oliver Bjorkstrand.
The Tampa Bay GM, asked about his intentions, said he preferred to have good players rather than picks.
Of course, Kent Hughes can’t say that right now… but I wonder if that will be his mindset when he’s in the same position as BriseBois one day.
BriseBois has drafted very little in the early rounds in recent years, and we know that one day, the fall of Tampa Bay will be brutal. There are many big contracts and few hopes in town.
But for now, the window is still open.
Unlike the Hurricanes (I’m talking about the Mikko Rantanen file, which could be traded tomorrow), BriseBois is not thinking about this summer: he’s thinking about spring hockey. And that’s why he has Stanley Cup rings at home and the Hurricanes never move on to the next level.
In brief
– Yes, the Canadiens are open to making a hockey trade.
Rantanen trade talk heats up, plus updates on Nelson, Ferraro, Canadiens and more in my latest Rumblings for @TheAthletic https://t.co/r3v1X8Bb5w
Just because Jake Evans signed doesn’t mean the Canadiens won’t be sellers.
The nuance is there: Joel Armia’s best value, one of the most likely pieces to leave, just took a hit because pairing him with Evans would have been available.
But now that we know Evans isn’t going anywhere, it changes things.
However, it remains that right now, David Savard and Joel Armia (the two biggest trade pieces on the table… with Christian Dvorak) are in limbo.
If Kent Hughes gets his price (he’s the type to only move if he gets his price) on the market, it could change everything. After all, according to Chris Johnston of The Athletic, not only is Armia available, but it should cost a second-round pick to get him out of Montreal.
From what we can understand, if the Canadiens don’t have a second-round pick on the table, Armia will finish the season with the Canadiens — and all the guys in the locker room will be happy.
A second-round pick was the price for Evans. Does Armia’s case involve salary retention? Who knows.
Note that unlike Evans, it seems there really is a world where Armia stays in town even if he’ll be a free agent at the end of the season. These are different situations for Kent Hughes, apparently.
Clark and Campbell with the group. Clark is no longer sick, Piette and Synchuk without a ball, Neal and Vrioni with a ball, but apart, Sirois, Breza and Gazdov are there The plane to Vancouver will leave this afternoon, Only…
San Jose Sharks are listening on LHD Mario Ferraro, 26, who has one more year on his deal next season at $3.25M cap hit.
It doesn’t mean they’ll move him. Happy to keep him. But given the small number of D on the trade market, Sharks are seeing what comes their way.
The 2024-25 season is coming to an end; there are only about twenty games left (significant ones for the Canadiens) before the start of the playoffs. And golf for half of the NHL teams!
After this 2024-25 season, there will be only one season left on the enormous Canadian national broadcast contract for NHL games. On July 1, 2026, a new contract will dictate who has the right to broadcast national games in Canada.
The contract for broadcasting the Canadiens’ regional games in French (RDS) will also expire on June 30, 2026.
Currently, the French-language broadcast of the Montreal Canadiens breaks down as follows:
– 22 regular national games on TVA Sports, – 60 regular regional games on RDS, – Playoff series (of the CH and other teams), as well as several national games on TVA Sports.
However, I was told earlier this week that the next contract could be very different.
Firstly, a new collective agreement should be signed in the near future… an agreement that should have the effect of adding two games to the regular season of the 32 teams in the Bettman circuit.
Where will these games come from? They would be taken from the pre-season, which would now be four games, and not six, seven, or eight.
Secondly, the possibility of removing 10 regional games to transfer them to national games would be seriously considered. In short, what this means is that there would now be 50 regional games, and 34 national games (in French).
According to what I’m told, the package for French national broadcast rights will be VERY expensive, and no traditional Quebec media would think they could obtain it on their own. So, we may see a split. A split between Amazon and a local media outlet…
Could TVA Sports keep 15, 17, 20, or even 24 Canadiens games, in addition to having a package of regular and/or playoff games? It’s a possibility, according to people close to Pierre-Karl Péladeau.
As for regional games, someone at RDS confessed to me off the record that they are VERY confident that the 60 50 games will remain on RDS. Discussions have already begun in earnest…
Note that a few games could be broadcast exclusively on Noovo, Crave, or an application owned by Bell Media (Canadiens?). To better understand:
I summarize.
Starting from 2026-27, we could therefore have 50 games on RDS or one of Bell Media’s platforms, 17 on TVA Sports, and 17 on Amazon, like…
And the playoffs, between Amazon and TVA Sports. Since the CH is likely to finally make the playoffs regularly, it could be profitable to have playoff games in Montreal…
No, TVA Sports is not yet dead and buried.
But be careful! RDS could also win a part of the national pot…
Gary Bettman is aware of the major mistake made by the MLS: locking themselves into a single streaming network (Apple). This is why in a perfect world, he would like to be able to count on RDS, TVA Sports, and Amazon Prime to broadcast the Montreal Canadiens. This would ensure perfect (or almost perfect) coverage.
If 17 Canadiens games are exclusively broadcast on Amazon, will people who canceled their subscription as a boycott re-subscribe to the American giant?
From January 1 to March 1, only Rogers could negotiate with the NHL regarding national broadcast rights, but for the past five days, all media outlets have been able to discuss with the league.
According to what I’m told, the rights to a single game could cost double what they currently cost… which is already triple what they cost before 2014.
I’m eager to see what’s next…
Extension
A week ago, Réjean Tremblay wrote at the end of his column (on PunchingGrace) that the Amazon giant was trying to acquire RDS and TSN.
Except that when I dug a little deeper, I was quickly told that the CRTC prevents a Canadian traditional media outlet from being owned by foreigners.
Even if Amazon creates a Amazon Canada shell and adds 12 layers of opaque ownership, it is VERY unlikely that the CRTC will approve the purchase of Canadian stations by Amazon.
At best, Amazon could hold minority shares, I’m told.
I continued to dig…
And I came across someone who told me that yes, Amazon and Bell Media had indeed discussed a potential sale of assets.
Bell Media is exiting the content business (MLSE, radio, and eventually TV media, etc.) to specialize in the container (Internet, TV provider, etc.). And Amazon is entering the scene…
Will the CRTC bend? I doubt it.
Will Amazon want to be a minority owner? Not sure…
But if it happens, we’ll have to consider the option of seeing the Amazon – RDS duo broadcast the Canadiens’ 82 84 games starting in 2026…
And TVA Sports might have to close up shop.
It’s going to be an interesting few months. And I’m not talking about American politics…
I invite you to listen to my segment on Amazon, RDS, TVA Sports, and the NHL, which was broadcast on Stanley25 this week. If some things seem unclear in writing, it might be clearer in video/audio.
A team that has a window of opportunity must take advantage of it, even if it means losing players on the free agent market afterwards. The team started doing that by going after Mikko Rantanen.
Even if he will be a free agent this summer (until proven otherwise), he helps the Hurricanes, who must win the Stanley Cup soon to take advantage of their window, to give themselves a chance to win.
So why think about trading him if he doesn’t have a long-term contract by tomorrow?
The Hurricanes, if they trade, will never get back the price they paid to get him out of Denver. A player like Martin Necas will not be on the table if Rantanen were to be traded by tomorrow afternoon.
So why trade him? It may not be going well right now, but in the playoffs, Rantanen has proven himself. Keep him!
But because the Hurricanes are trying to reinvent hockey, Rantanen could potentially be traded by tomorrow. Instead of aiming for the short term, the Hurricanes want to think about the long term while the Stanley Cup is potentially within their reach. #Ridicule
Chris Johnston on Insider Trading talking Mikko Rantanen: «We can’t say with 100% certainty that he will be moved, but certainly what we can say now is that the Hurricanes appear to be upping their efforts at least to see what that market looks like for Mikko Rantanen»
All this to say that more than ever, we need to monitor the Canes player on the market.
And on that subject, the Florida Panthers are a team to keep an eye on. According to David Pagnotta, Florida could be a welcoming land for Rantanen as the Panthers are among the teams with a «serious interest» in the top player.
As the Hurricanes continue to engage in Rantanen trade discussions, I’m told by multiple sources that the Panthers are one of the teams that have expressed serious interest.
Because the Canes can retain salary and because it wouldn’t cost too much, Rantanen could very well be an option. After all, Matthew Tkachuk’s injury, if he doesn’t return in the regular season, will allow the Panthers to (perhaps) transform into the Golden Knights. #LTIR #MarkStone
If Florida goes after Rantanen at a good price, the Hurricanes will have only themselves to blame.
I believe the Winnipeg Jets are willing to present a significant offer that includes a 1st (if they haven’t formally already) for Nelson. https://t.co/el7dXexFV3
The game between the Caps and the Rangers had to go to overtime to determine a winner between the two teams, and in overtime, it was the world’s favorite hockey player who gave the victory to his team (3-2).
You’ll understand that I’m talking here about Tom Wilson (hehe):
The Kings, who are in the running for a playoff spot, have now lost their last five games.
This is not a good time for the team to collapse… And it will be interesting to see if this will have an impact on the team’s decisions tomorrow, for the NHL trade deadline.
For the first time in a few years, the Canadians find themselves in a position to play meaningful hockey in March. The club is in the midst of a playoff push, and they are fully invested.
And clearly, the fans in the city won’t complain about it after tougher years.
That being said, it also means that the intensity is high… and that the guys have a shorter fuse. And today, during practice, TVA Sports cameras captured images that show things got heated between Patrik Laine and Juraj Slafkovský.
In short, Slaf and Laine took part in a puck retrieval exercise… and the Slovak gave it his all, so much so that Laine fell and saw his skate blade get damaged.
Of course, we shouldn’t blow it out of proportion: the two guys were caught up in the intensity of the moment and it led to a small skirmish. No, they’re not at war: it’s an isolated incident that happens when the intensity and emotions are raised a notch within a team.
That being said, it does show one thing: seeing the guys give it their all and being emotionally invested is a clear sign that they’re fully committed to the project of making the playoffs. We can think that Jake Evans’ contract extension yesterday showed the group that the managers believe in them… and they want to give them reason to.
The important thing now will be to control these emotions. And that’s also part of the learning process: that’s why it’s good to see the Canadiens playing important games in March.
But clearly, intensity is not lacking in practice. And that’s a good thing.
Kirby Dach will no longer play this season. But with what we’ve seen from him in 2024-2025… It’s normal to ask one particular question.
Does Dach really, really have what it takes to be the Montreal Canadiens’ 2nd center one day?
We know he has great potential, but we also know that his health often works against him. And now, after two fairly significant injuries, maybe he’ll never come back as the player we saw during the 22-23 season…
Right now, it’s Owen Beck who’s replacing him at the center of the second unit. But clearly, this is not the Canadiens’ long-term plan… And ultimately, Kent Hughes will have to find a way this summer to have a good second center in place for next season.
Why?
Because it’s important for the Canadiens to be able to progress… But mostly, because Ivan Demidov needs to be surrounded the right way.
The one who was selected to the KHL’s All-Rookie Team in January needs to play with talented players, as Stéphane Leroux reminded us last night on the radio (98.5 FM):
Congrats to Ivan Demidov on being named to the KHL All-Rookie Team for February pic.twitter.com/YpYvkb89MA
The Canadiens must not take the same path as the Blackhawks.
In Chicago, Connor Bedard is in his second season in the NHL… And it’s been two consecutive seasons that his team has been bad.
It’s been two seasons in a row that he’s had to play with many different teammates because his team lacks depth and has never surrounded him the right way.
What’s happening now is that Bedard seems to be getting frustrated.
The Canadiens can’t afford to “mess up” with Demidov, who has the potential to become one of the best players in the National League:
Kent Hughes will have to be aggressive in his efforts.
There are some interesting players right now: Ryan O’Reilly, Dylan Cozens, Sidney Crosby (?)…
The important thing for the Canadiens’ GM will be to find a complement so Demidov can progress the right way. And with the creativity he has… it seems like I’m not too worried about that.
Over the next week, the Canadiens will be in the West. The guys are currently in Edmonton for their game tomorrow night, then they will face Calgary on Saturday before facing Vancouver and Seattle on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The deadline, for the Canadiens, it’s in the West that it will happen… except for the managers.
The Canadiens’ staff did not follow the team to Western Canada.
However, when we look at the group that is currently in the West, there is something interesting: the club only made the trip with six defensemen. Usually, a team likes to have some depth for a trip… but in the case of the Canadiens, there are only six healthy defensemen who made the trip. We’re talking about Mike Matheson, Alexandre Carrier, David Savard, Lane Hutson, Arber Xhekaj, and Jayden Struble.
And that becomes particularly interesting when we consider that among these six defensemen, there is Savard… who is at the heart of trade rumors.
This raises the following question: did the Canadiens voluntarily make the trip to the West with six defensemen knowing that they might trade one?
I’m not saying it’s impossible… but the CH is not acting like a team that will trade Savard in the next 48 hours. Really not, even.
It’s never say never, but all this gives me the impression that Savard can sleep easy.
This brings us back to Pierre LeBrun’s comments earlier tonight, which stated that if the CH sells, it will be either Savard or Armia who will leave, but not both. In fact, therefore, we can think that it “increases” the chances that it will be Armia who will be involved in a potential trade…
But again, Renaud Lavoie stated on TVA Sports tonight that he doesn’t expect to see Armia leave. He would be even more surprised if Savard or Dvorak left, in fact.
What we need to take away from all this is that the most likely scenario currently is that the CH will not sell before Friday. That doesn’t mean they will necessarily be buyers, but if the team travels with six defensemen (including Savard) and we don’t expect to see Armia leave, that doesn’t leave much to sell.
It could be a very quiet day for the Canadiens (as a seller, at least) on Friday, therefore.
The Blue Jackets have taken D Ivan Provorov off the market. GM Don Waddell told Provorov’s camp he isn’t trading him, even though an extension isn’t close. https://t.co/lvmgqJ5mxl
Here, by announcing that it has agreed to a long-term deal with Jake Evans, the Canadiens have lost a trade chip ahead of the trade deadline. I say “lost” because they won’t be trading Evans, but it’s understood that in reality, they’re not losing out on anything.
So, in terms of trade chips in town, the name that keeps coming up is Joel Armia. There’s also David Savard, who’s generating some buzz… but beyond that, it’s pretty quiet.
Theoretically, Christian Dvorak is also part of this list, but will the Canadiens, who already have a fragile center line, want to let Dvorak go, who probably doesn’t have immense value?
So, it’s mainly Armia and Savard who will need to be watched until Friday… and last night, on RDS, Pierre LeBrun discussed these two guys:
It’s not the Canadiens’ intention to trade both of them. It’s possible they’ll trade one or the other […] but I don’t think they’ll trade both. – Pierre LeBrun
The Canadiens are still taking calls for David Savard and Joel Armia, but don’t intend to trade both at all costs, according to @PierreVLeBrunpic.twitter.com/xcFsOunznb
What we understand, then, is that if the Canadiens do make a move by Friday, the chances are very, very good that either Savard or Armia will still be in town on Saturday morning. It’s still possible that an unreal offer could change things, but the Canadiens, who are in the midst of a playoff push, don’t want to gut their team either.
That being said, there’s a world in which one of the two guys actually ends up leaving. LeBrun notes that the Canadiens are still on the phone about their two rental players and aren’t closed off to trading one of them.
The market is very favorable to sellers right now, and if we take Savard’s case, players with his profile are rare on the market. If the Canadiens have a chance to capitalize on that, they’ll at least listen.
We’ll see how everything evolves by Friday, but clearly, the Canadiens don’t seem to be aggressive sellers right now. And in the current circumstances, that’s a defensible decision.
Extension
It’s been a while since the idea of the Canadiens being both sellers (for their rental players) and buyers (for longer-term help) has been making the rounds, and LeBrun’s comments fit into that. The Canadiens don’t want to gut their team, because apparently, they want to give their group a chance to make the playoffs.
But they’re still being cautious and discussing their rental players with other teams. It’s interesting to see that right now, there’s a lot of talk about the Jets for Armia, but also for Savard.
But we also know that before Evans signed, there was talk of him being traded… Like with Savard, Armia, and Dvorak.
Seeing one of these guys leave is still possible, but it’s logical to believe that the chances are smaller – especially given the Canadiens’ position in the standings.
However, it would have been interesting to see what value these players would have had on the market. Because in recent days, teams haven’t been afraid to pay a high price to improve themselves…
I agree with Jake Evans’ contract extension, but I’m still curious to know what he could have brought back to the #CH.
— Marc-Olivier Beaudoin (@MOBeaudoin1) March 5, 2025
The trade market is starting to heat up, and seeing how it’s going, Kent Hughes probably would have been able to get some interesting pieces for his players.
The Predators got a second-round pick for Gustav Nyquist, who is 35 years old…
The Sharks got a first-round pick and a third-round pick for Mikael Granlund…
The Kraken collected two first-round picks, a second-round pick, and Michael Eyssimont for Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand…
The Bruins got a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick for the services of Trent Frederic and Max Jones…
All this to say that teams aren’t afraid to pay right now.
And in the context where we’re talking about the possibility of the Flyers getting a first-round pick for Scott Laughton, a depth player, we have to wonder what the value of a guy like Joel Armia (who has a similar style to Laughton) would be:
https://t.co/r3v1X8Bb5w
pic.twitter.com/wdL9nnE5fC
Clark and Campbell with the group. Clark is no longer sick,
Piette and Synchuk without a ball,
Neal and Vrioni with a ball, but apart,
Sirois, Breza and Gazdov are there
The plane to Vancouver will leave this afternoon,
Only…
board.
