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Led in series by the young players: the Canadiens will progress without good sense thanks to the next few days

Making the playoffs in 2025 for the Habs, that changes everything.

I’m not saying that because I think the Canadiens are going to win the Stanley Cup. I’m saying that because it will make the Canadiens more credible this summer when they want to convince players to join the team. It can’t hurt, at least.

I’m also saying that because it’s possible to see a team use a playoff appearance to take it to the next level 12 months later. The Capitals of 2024 and 2025 are a good example.

But I’m saying it mostly for the experience the young players will get. It will be worth its weight in gold.

It would have been one thing if Kent Hughes had taken shortcuts (like the Red Wings… with the results we see) by signing veterans to bring the young players to the playoffs.

But that’s not the case. The young players brought the Habs to the playoffs and made the difference this season. They will live the playoff experience to the fullest – like Nick Suzuki (2020, 2021) and Cole Caufield (2021) in the past.

When you look at the Habs lineup, you can see that without Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle, and even Juraj Slafkovsky, the Habs wouldn’t be in this position.

Alex Newhook, who has a ring in 2022, will also learn not to just rely on the veterans. Ivan Demidov is getting his feet wet in the NHL. Samuel Montembeault has progressed beautifully this year. Jayden Struble will go get some experience.

And I have a hard time believing that Arber Xhekaj won’t play at all, you know. If it gets crazy, he’ll come into play.

Even if the Habs were to get swept in four, the next few days will be formative. It will be an important foundation for when the Habs will enter the playoffs through the front door one day.

And in the meantime, other guys will go get some experience in Laval in the playoffs. It could be worse, right?

Speaking of the Rocket, let’s note that Brandon Gignac was at practice with a non-contact jersey, that Rafaël Harvey-Pinard should be there for the playoffs, and that Joshua Roy will play tonight with Florian Xhekaj and Owen Beck.

The team can ensure, as early as tonight, that they will finish at the top of the AHL.

Overtime

– To read.

– With reason.

– Yes.

– To note.

– Hockey is healthy.

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We do not talk enough about Nick Suzuki’s excellent differential

The differential is a statistic that is worth… um…

In fact, it’s hard to determine what the true value of the differential is, or the famous plus or minus on the stat sheet. After all, many factors come into play.

In my eyes, here’s how I see it: it doesn’t mean much… unless it’s extreme. Like a win-loss record for a relief pitcher in baseball, for example.

And when you look at it, in Montreal, Nick Suzuki has a differential that stands out. With a plus-19, he’s the only one on his team above plus-10 and he’s in the top 50 in the league.

And especially, he did it for one of the only two playoff teams that have allowed more goals than they’ve scored. The other team: the Wild.

For the first time in his career, Suzuki is in the positive at the end of a season. It’s more proof that the captain, who has only eight minutes of penalties this season and is the sixth-best center in the NHL in terms of points this season, has taken it to another level.

Without him, the Habs aren’t in the playoffs.

Of course, we must also remember that he’s one of the best scorers in the NHL since the Confrontation of the four nations, or when he asked Kent Hughes to keep the guys in the locker room and when he made the Habs’ chances of qualifying go from 2% to 100%.

In my eyes, when you add all that up, you see the true value of Suzuki, who should continue to progress over the next few seasons.

Suzuki is a veteran on this team, which is still very young. He’s one of the six active players on the team to have participated in the 2021 playoff run. He’s one of the four remaining players from the 2020 bubble era.

He’s probably learned a lot from those years – and from what it took to get back to the playoffs.

But now, it’s his team. It’ll be up to him to step up in the playoffs… and I don’t know about you, but I don’t see why Captain Stability wouldn’t be able to do that in the next few days.

If we want the Canadiens to win against Washington, it’ll have to go through him.

Overtime

– News from CF Montreal.

– Stress is rising in Toronto.

– The Habs will need him.

– Wow.

– Tonight, the Rocket could ensure they finish first in the AHL.

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Canadiens : $1.7M in bonuses to their young players (on the ceiling of next season)

The fact that Carey Price’s contract is on the long-term injured list hurts the habs at several levels. Luckily, the contract is one year away from ending.

One of the levels is that when a player earns performance bonuses, they cannot be calculated on the current season’s cap (if the team is at the cap maximum, of course): they go on the next season’s cap.

Bonuses are given to players on their entry-level contract and to veterans 35 and over who have these clauses in their agreement. And since the habs have Price’s contract and good young players pushing, it’s the perfect mix to have big bonuses to report.

We need to know that on this year’s cap, the habs have a little over a million dollars ($1.022 million) due to the 2023-2024 season. But in 2025-2026, the bonuses from 2024-2025 will hurt even more.

In fact, the amount in 2025-2026 for the performances of 2024-2025 will be (for now) $1,727,500. Luckily, the salary cap will go up and some contracts will be off the habs’ books…

Aside from the St. Louis Blues, whose amount will be over two million dollars, it’s a peak in the league. Note that 11 teams (12 if Ryan Leonard wins the Conn Smythe) will have to report bonuses across the nhl.

Here is the complete picture for the habs.

  • Lane Hutson: $750,000 (you won’t be surprised to learn that he maxed out his bonuses)
  • Juraj Slafkovsky: $500,000
  • Kaiden Guhle: $420,000
  • Jayden Struble: $57,500

Last year, Slaf made headlines by scoring his 20th goal of the season in game #82, which allowed him to get an extra $250,000 – an amount that counts on the 2024-2025 total.

That made headlines.

This year, his 18 goals and 33 assists mean that he is two goals and two assists away from having an extra $500,000 ($250,000 for 20 goals and the same amount for 35 assists) in his account.

It’s not as bad, though: last year, at the same time, he hadn’t signed long-term yet… and he wasn’t in the playoffs.

Also note that the $1.7275 million amount could increase if the habs were to make a run in the playoffs. Why? Because Ivan Demidov has bonuses linked to the playoffs in his contract.

If the Russian plays five playoff games, he’ll get $25,000. If he plays 10 playoff games, he’ll get $30,000. And if he wins the Conn Smythe, he’ll get $525,000 in bonuses.

in overtime

– Wow.

– To note.

– He’s doing well.

– To watch.

– Stanley Cup: the habs are heavily underdogs. [98.5 Sports]

– Reminder: the most likely scenario for the habs is to pick 16th and 17th. #FlamesPicks

(Credit: Tankathon)
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Top-5 : Ovi can thank Crosby and Malkin for his new Rolex

It was the last day of the NHL regular season yesterday.

And on the occasion, seven games were presented in all corners of the league.

Let’s see what happened:

1: A new Rolex for Ovi

The Capitals were visiting Pittsburgh to face Sidney Crosby and his team.

The Penguins’ captain helped his team win 5-2 by scoring a goal and an assist… but that’s not what caught attention in the game.

Rather, it’s Alex Ovechkin’s 897th career goal:

After the game, Crosby and Evgeni Malkin met with Ovi to give him a gift.

They wanted to congratulate him on breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record: Malkin and Crosby gave the Capitals’ captain a new Rolex.

It’s well-deserved:

At 39, Ovi finishes the season with an impressive 44 goals and 73 points in 65 games.

That’s not bad at all. And the Caps will need him if they want to beat the Habs in the first round…

2: A chance the Habs won on Wednesday

The Canadiens got their ticket to the playoffs on Wednesday by beating the Hurricanes.

They did well to win the game… because behind, the Blue Jackets were breathing down the Habs’ necks.

And the Jackets finished their season in style last night by demolishing the Islanders 6-1.

Lucky the Habs won on Wednesday…

Of course, we can’t say for sure that the Canadiens would have missed the playoffs if they hadn’t beaten the Hurricanes.

But… with the Jackets on fire, the team did what it had to do.

And that means the Habs are heading to the playoffs… and the Blue Jackets are heading to play golf.

3: Matvei Michkov dominates in his last game of the season

Lane Hutson finished the season in first place among rookies with 66 points. #Calder

Behind him are Macklin Celebrini and Matvei Michkov… who both had 63 points this season.

Michkov was able to finish the campaign in second place among rookie point getters (tied with Celebrini) with a three-point performance last night.

The Flyers player notably scored his 25th and 26th goals of the season:

Despite everything, Michkov’s brilliance wasn’t enough… because the Flyers lost 5-4 to the poor Sabres.

It was time for the season to end in Philadelphia.

4: Tim Stutzle reminds us of his talent

In the beginning of the 3rd period of the Senators vs Hurricanes game, the Senators were losing 5-3.

But the Senators scored four unanswered goals in the third period to win 7-5.

Note that Brady Tkachuk was unable to finish the game for the Senators. But he will be in his position for the first playoff game:

It was Tim Stutzle who finished the evening in style and pleased the fans at the end of the game.

There was a little over a minute left to play… and the young Senators player scored a beautiful goal:

His season has been quiet, but Tim Stutzle still had 79 points in 24-25.

He is one of the main reasons for the team’s success and their first playoff participation since 2017.

5: When Philippe Myers thinks he’s Bobby Orr

We don’t often hear the name Philippe Myers.

The Leafs’ defenseman has found his niche in Toronto after tougher years… and he can still have an impact on the ice.

For example?

Myers gave himself airs of Bobby Orr last night against the Red Wings. This goal deserves attention:

The Leafs won the game 4-3 and Auston Matthews scored his 33rd goal of the season in the win.

The Leafs are heading to the playoffs… and will face the Senators in the first round.

It’s going to be a great show.

Overtime

– Wow.

– Well done.

– He’s too strong.

– Wow!

– The top scorers of the evening:

(Credit: LNH.com)

– No games tonight in the NHL. The playoffs start tomorrow:

(Credit: Google)
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Series in Montreal: let’s stop forgetting Samuel Montembeault

The Canadiens enter the playoffs with a 7-1-2 record in their last 10 games.

The end of the season seemed much more tumultuous and complicated than that, but the numbers don’t lie. In this good end to the season, Samuel Montembeault had his say despite more difficult starts. Since the Four Nations Tournament, he has only had three losses in regulation time. And the three losses in 60 minutes, he had them against teams that will be in the playoffs.

Anthony Martineau published a very interesting statistic tonight and it shows how underrated Monty is. We talk a lot about Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson (with reason), but we must stop forgetting Samuel Montembeault.

The statistic in question says that the Habs were 30th in the entire NHL for expected goals allowed since the break with 91.46. But for the goals that were actually counted, Montreal finished eighth.

In hockey, there are statistics that are not reported, or at least, that have less importance. If there is a statistic that does not lie about a goalie’s dominance, it’s this one.

Note that Jakub Dobes had his say on these numbers in Nashville and Toronto, but apart from these games, he hasn’t necessarily been a brick wall in front of the net…

The Quebecer, who also received praise from Renaud Lavoie earlier in the evening, finished the season with a goals-allowed average of 2.80 and a save percentage of .902. That’s good, but he also finished fifth among all NHL goalies for the number of goals saved above expectations (24.6).

A certain Logan Thompson comes in third in this category.

Even if the Capitals’ goalie had a good season (31 wins in 43 games), Monty has nothing to envy him.

When the Habs’ goalie was selected to represent the Canadiens at the Four Nations Tournament, many wanted to see the Capitals’ left-hander in his place. Starting Monday, two of the top five Canadian goalies in the world and two of the most underrated will face off in an intense seven-game series.

I’m looking forward to seeing the masked man from Washington, who hasn’t played since April 2. Will he be a bit rusty at the start of the series? We hope so.

I’ll put his numbers right here:

(Credit: Hockeydb )

Overtime

– A 897th point for Alexander Ovechkin.

– He’s still excellent.

– Only two points for Emil Heineman in 2025. [NHL.com]

– A small glimpse of what Juraj Slafkovsky will look like.

– Wow.

– No question of rebuilding in Boston.

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It’s time to see Juraj Slafkovsky with blonde hair

The Canadiens are in the playoffs.

Martin St-Louis’ team will start their series on Monday, in Washington.

Will we see Juraj Slafkovsky with blond hair? In the past, he told Anthony Martineau that if his team made the playoffs, he would dye his hair blond and have the same haircut as in the photo below.

Martineau reminded him of his promise yesterday and Slaf said we’ll see.

Cole Caufield had a good laugh and said he has to do it. Nothing is official, but the Slovak will have to keep his promises. Maybe the organization doesn’t want that kind of thing either… We know the organization is very conservative.

The 21-year-old will be playing in his first playoffs in the NHL.

He’s coming off a 51-point season, his best in his career. He has two fewer goals than last year, but three more assists. It’s great playing with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.

In the playoffs, the power forward will be an extremely important player. He’ll have to find a way to play like he did yesterday consistently. Yesterday, he was involved offensively, defensively, and on the penalty kill.

Let’s hope the blond hair gives him a boost.

Overtime

– Good thing the Habs won yesterday.

– A whole jersey.

– Well done.

– Yes.

– A 25th for Matvei Michkov.

– It was about time.

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Lucky tie of Martin St-Louis: Brad Richards wants it back

Brad Richards and Martin St-Louis were teammates in Tampa Bay for several years.

When they played together, St-Louis borrowed a tie from him and never gave it back.

Since the break in the Confrontation of the four nations, the coach of the Canadiens, who is superstitious, has been wearing the tie regularly because it brings him good luck. Result: Montreal is in the playoffs, thanks to the tie.

However, these may be the last moments St-Louis has to wear it, as the real owner of the object would like to have it back this summer.

Richards shared a post by Eric Engels on the subject and said he would like to get the tie back this summer.

Now, imagine if the Habs had to win the Stanley Cup and St-Louis never changed the tie.

I don’t think Richards would see it again anytime soon.

When a player is traded and wants a number that is already taken, usually, he pays in Rolex. Will St-Louis follow the tradition and pay with a nice watch?

Let’s recall that the coach, who is superstitious, has been rotating between two ties since the break: when his team doesn’t get a point, he changes the tie. I said he was superstitious, didn’t I?

Talking about the Quebecer, let’s recall that at the beginning of the season, he said he was fueled by the pressure and the doubts of others.

Usually, he is very good at overcoming obstacles. In 2025, that’s what he did.

At one point in the season, people wanted him to be fired when his team was doing poorly.

Overtime

– Anyway.

– It’s been a while indeed.

– To note.

– Oh no?

– It’s nice to see.

– Wow.

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Imminent retirement: the guys will want to play for David Savard in the playoffs

David Savard gave some hints about his future last night.

We saw his children and wife join him on the bench during the warm-up of the game between the Habs and the Hurricanes… and we also know that Savard had a hat made for his wife to highlight his career.

Ultimately, it is (more than) logical to believe that this is his last moment in the NHL.

The guys in the room know that Savard will probably retire at the end of the season and at that level, it’s sure that they will want to play for him in the playoffs.

They will want to give him the chance to play as many games as possible… and they will want to give him the chance to lift the Stanley Cup one last time.

This reminds me of Shea Weber during the 2021 playoffs. Everyone knew that the former captain was injured… and that he was probably spending the last moments of his career as a player in the NHL.

The players gave it their all for him:

David Savard may not wear the C on his jersey like Shea Weber did, but he has a similar impact within the group.

He is one of the big leaders of the club in the dressing room, he plays the role of big brother to the younger players… and he doesn’t hesitate to sacrifice for his teammates on the ice by blocking shots.

He has slowed down and it’s no secret, but still: the Quebecer is an important player for the Canadiens and the players know it too.

They are aware that Savard gives a lot… and that it’s not new.

This is why, in my opinion, they will do everything to make sure he can finish his career beautifully, because Savard is a well-liked guy in the room.

I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen, at the very least.

Overtime

– Wow.

– No, I don’t like it! Hehe.

– To follow.

– It’s just as crazy.

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Watch party : The Canadiens will also broadcast its playoff games outside the Bell Centre

The Habs are officially in the playoffs.

And to mark the occasion, the Canadiens organization is going to do things in a big way.

Why do I say that? Because the Habs have announced that playoff games will also be broadcast outside the Bell Centre. It’s a good idea.

Here’s what you need to know:

The viewing parties will take place at Espace 1909 on av. des Canadiens-de-Montréal.

Interested fans will have to buy a $53 ticket to “participate in the event” and on site, there will be several different offers.

Among other things, there will be:

  • tailgate-style food
  • drawn seats inside for the public
  • live animation
  • appearances by special guests (former Habs players)

It’s going to be pleasant for those interested in experiencing the atmosphere of a playoff game and who don’t necessarily have the means to buy tickets.

Because let’s face it: tickets for the playoff games won’t be cheap. Attending a game outside is a good alternative:

In 2021, during the team’s run to the finals, fans also showed up in large numbers during games to support the Habs.

There was notably some trouble in the streets of Montreal after the team’s win against the Golden Knights on June 24… and let’s hope that doesn’t happen again:

As long as everything is done with respect, it will yield good results.

But because the Habs fans are passionate and want to see their team win, we can expect the atmosphere to be really electric even outside the Bell Centre… especially when the Habs score.

The excitement will be at its peak and it will create beautiful memories.

Like in 2021, for example…

Overtime

The Habs’ playoff run in the summer of 2021 was truly magical.

Remains to be seen if we can say the same thing about the team’s playoff run this year. But regardless: seeing this team get its ticket to the dance… it’s already an exploit in itself.

And we must not forget it.

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Record in one day: The Habs sold for over $250,000 in Demidov jerseys on Monday

Ivan Demidov made his NHL debut on Monday night.

He collected two points (one goal) and the fans at the Centre Bell were quite spoiled.

The fans showed their love by cheering on the young player… and also by buying his jersey.

And sold jerseys #93, there were many: according to Peter Alper (HockeyDB), the Habs had their biggest single-day sales in franchise history (for one day) during Ivan Demidov’s first game.

The Canadiens sold $250,000 worth of Demidov jerseys only… which is quite impressive, thank you.

We love our Ivan:

In Montreal, we do things differently.

The fans are always there to support the players and those who arrive like Demidov feel appreciated from the start.

And the fans were very excited last night after the team’s win against the Hurricanes.

Images like these… are quite extraordinary:

Demidov arriving in town and the Canadiens getting their playoff ticket, it’s a perfect marriage.

Good for the fans because it’s been a long time since the team was really good on the ice.

They will be there for the first round of the playoffs against the Washington Capitals… and if you have the chance to go to the Centre Bell, try to count the number of Ivan Demidov jerseys you will see.

Because with all the jerseys sold on Monday alone, there may be a lot of them. Hehe.

Overtime

– We’ll get back to style, Max…

– Beautiful goal.

– I like that.

– It’s quite clear.