Author: Dose

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David Savard in Edmonton: “Definitely, it could happen.”

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

There has been a lot of talk about the future of Jake Evans lately – and rightly so.

But we must not forget that the Canadiens, who are currently in a playoff position, will have decisions to make regarding other players who may attract other clubs.

Among them? David Savard.

Compared to Evans, Savard has less of a future in Montreal. He is likely to be seen playing elsewhere in 2025-2026… especially since Alexandre Carrier has been traded to the Canadiens.

But even though Carrier is there, that does not mean that the Canadiens, in the midst of a playoff race, want to trade Savard.

It also doesn’t mean that with his injury history and his salary, teams will be rushing to give Kent Hughes a call, as he won’t trade his veteran simply to send him elsewhere.

In short, the situation is complex.

However, that won’t stop teams from calling the 514 to see if Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton are open to letting the veteran go, who is really enjoying his time at home.

And on that note, Pierre LeBrun brought up a name that often comes up in conversations about Savard: the Oilers.

In conjunction with a segment on TSN Early Trading, LeBrun mentioned that the Oilers were not specifically looking for any particular type of defenseman to improve their roster.

But he did say that if the club wanted a right-handed defensive defenseman, Savard was an option… without naming anyone else.

Certainly, in my eyes, David Savard is on the Oilers’ list. – Pierre LeBrun

This is not the first time Savard has been linked to the Oilers, a team that needs help on the blue line. But under the current circumstances, I’m not sure he will actually be traded. It’s too early to say.

We’ll see what the situation dictates in due time.

In Brief

– A name to watch.

– The top Canadian scorers since December 2 are not all at the 4 Nations. Ouch.

– Interesting.

– A situation to monitor.

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Patrik Laine unfortunately revived the Blue Jackets’ season two weeks ago.

None of the three games played last night in the NHL impacted the playoff race in the East; the Canadiens still sit in 11th place in the East, just one point away from a playoff spot.

However, the Senators, Bruins, Lightning, Rangers, Flyers, Penguins, Islanders, and Blue Jackets will all be in action tonight. The Canadiens, who won’t play again until tomorrow night in Washington, could thus drop a bit further in the standings.

Not enough to ease buddy Gonzo’s concerns, but hey…

(Credit: NHL.com)

We know this: Richard Labbé loves to tweet about climate and American politics The Canadiens have not been the same since Patrik Laine returned to play.

Before December 3, the date of Laine’s first game, the CH had a record of 8-13-3.

Since then? 11-5.

And if we exclude the three games Laine missed due to flu/gastro, as well as the one game where he only played a short period (in Columbus), the CH has won nine games and lost only three.

But it’s not just the Habs season that Laine has reignited. No!

On December 23, Patrik Laine threw some of his former teammates under the bus by stating—just hours before the game between the CH and the Blue Jackets in Ohio—that some Blue Jackets players didn’t hate losing enough and quit too early in the season.

His former teammates didn’t hesitate to hit him (notably on the shoulder he had surgery on less than a year ago) during the first period of the December 23 game. You know the story: Laine did not finish the game.

The Blue Jackets won the game and then reignited their season.

Proof?

Before December 23: record of 13-15-6, which is the eighth-worst in the entire NHL. The team had only won two of its 11 games before the Canadiens came to town.

From December 23 to today: record of 5-2-0, which is the seventh-best in the whole Bettman circuit.

Unintentionally, Patrik Laine managed to bond the team he criticized. It’s not just the Habs season he reignited. A real little magician, that Laine…

Unfortunately, the Blue Jackets currently occupy one of the playoff spots coveted by the Canadiens. However, Laine did not wake up the right “horse” with his comment…

It is worth noting that the Canadiens and Blue Jackets have already played their three scheduled games against each other this season. We will have to wait until next year (or the playoffs, who knows) for Laine to have the chance to face his former team again.

I wonder if they will re-use the tribute video that was prepared for Laine—but never used—next season. #Not

Since we’re discussing the Blue Jackets, my colleague Charles-Alexis Brisebois wrote this morning about the chances of seeing Mathieu Olivier come to Montreal. Spoiler alert: they are shrinking.

Olivier will still be able to hit Laine next year.

Overtime

Several players have stepped up this season—in light of Johnny Gaudreau’s passing—and taken charge with the Blue Jackets.

Zach Werenski (46 points in 41 games), Kirill Marchenko (45 points in 41 games)… and Sean Monahan (41 points in as many games).

Unfortunately, Monahan injured his wrist in the Blue Jackets’ last game on Tuesday night.

The Blue Jackets just announced that Monahan’s name has been placed on the injured reserve list. We do not yet know the expected length of Monahan’s absence, but the fact that he was not placed on long-term injured reserve, along with the emergency recall of Owen Sillinger to replace him, gives Blue Jackets fans some hope. Let’s recall that Monahan underwent a wrist scan yesterday; let’s wish him to avoid the operating table.

Some things will never change.

Injuries for Sean Monahan…

Snow in winter in Quebec…

Insults on social media…

The BlueSky posts climate-anxiety-anti-Trump tweets from a certain sports journalist from La P(a)resse…

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Patrik Laine training with his teammates

Good news for the Canadiens.

Patrik Laine, on the sidelines of the team’s practice this morning, was seen on the ice at the Brossard Training Complex. This is better than yesterday, when he was skating solo, before the others.

Colleague Marc-Olivier Cook reported the whole thing – not forgetting to mention, of course, that he had changed the color of his tape. It’s a very important detail in the story.

We already knew he had a good chance of playing tomorrow, but seeing him with the others before practice starts is a very good sign for what’s to come.

We’ll see in due time, but I expect to see him replace Michael Pezzetta tomorrow in Washington.

Details to come…

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Mathieu Olivier in Montreal: the dream is slipping away

MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 16: Kaiden Guhle (21) of the Montreal Canadiens fights for position with Mathieu Olivier (24) of the Columbus Blue Jackets during the second period of the NHL game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Montreal Canadiens on Nov 16, 2024, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

In recent months, Mathieu Olivier has made a name for himself. That’s the least one can say.

Of course, we knew who Olivier was. However, with the way he is playing this season, he has chosen the right moment to step up, just a few months away from complete autonomy.

There are connections to be made with Jake Evans, deep down.

Not only is Olivier playing well in Columbus, but he is also playing a lot. He is capable of logging minutes, scoring goals, and helping his teammates grow a few inches with his robust play.

In short, he is appreciated.

And his importance in the city is noted. After all, Don Waddell, the hockey boss in Ohio, mentioned to Jeff Marek that he had started negotiating with the Olivier camp to keep him in Columbus.

Unlike Kent Hughes, he is openly discussing negotiations.

It’s interesting to note this as recently, negotiations had not yet taken off. And now, clearly, the time is right to try to keep him for a few more years.

The Canadiens will likely have interest in him if he becomes available. But at the moment, that is not the case.

I don’t know if he would like to go play in Montreal (and with Patrik Laine), but for now, it makes sense to believe that his future for the next few years is in Columbus.

He is currently earning $1.1 million. Expect to see him more than double his salary.

in brief

– The CH will practice at 11am this morning.

– Indeed.

– He is good.

– Victory of Victory.

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Jake Evans and a first-round pick: Pierre LeBrun doesn’t believe it.

Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images

The Jake Evans file is quite exciting right now. Is “exciting” the right term? To some extent, yes.

Obviously, there are questions about whether the Canadiens will be able to retain his services in the long term. After all, the way he plays greatly contributes to the success of the Habs.

And since David Savard, Joel Armia, and he are key elements on the penalty kill, it would be interesting not to lose the core that makes the team strong short-handed this year.

The first aspect to watch for is whether Evans will be traded by the deadline. Several teams, including the Devils, will be in the running if the Habs put him on the market.

Of course, if he signs a contract before March 7 (like Samuel Montembeault did last season), he won’t be going anywhere. But if he doesn’t sign, he could very well be on the trading block.

According to what Pierre LeBrun reported in the latest episode of the Radar podcast, don’t expect a first-round pick to be on the Habs’ table in relation to Evans’s services at the trade deadline.

That’s his opinion for now.

Considering that the Habs wouldn’t exactly benefit from trading him for another ordinary pick and that the team is currently #InTheMix, it’s safe to think a trade is unlikely.

Unless parity in the league – especially in the East, in fact – drives up prices to acquire Jake Evans due to the scarcity of available players on the market?

(Credit: NHL.com)

The second aspect to monitor regarding whether the Habs will keep him long-term is, of course, what contract he might sign with the Canadiens in the coming months.

Whether that’s by March 7, before July 1, or once the market opens, it will be interesting to see how much he wants to stay in Montreal.

Why do I say this? Because according to LeBrun, still in the context of his podcast with Anthony Desaulniers, if he wants to hit the jackpot, it won’t happen in Montreal.

He says the Habs have a specific framework for signing Evans and they won’t deviate from it.

Note: LeBrun didn’t say Evans wanted to hit the jackpot. He said that if he did want to hit the jackpot, it would have to happen in the free-agent market.

But I have a feeling he genuinely wants to sign in Montreal at the right price… and that the Habs want to keep him.

 

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Top-3: Pierre-Luc Dubois scores both goals for the Caps in an overtime win.

Here, on this Wednesday evening, only six teams were in action.

A fourth matchup was supposed to take place, but due to the fires in California, the Flames-Kings game was postponed.

Here are the results and highlights:

1. PLD plays the hero

In Washington, few goals were scored, but the action was plentiful.

From the opening moments, almost all players on the ice were involved in a brawl.

Even though three goals were scored in a 2-1 overtime victory for the Caps, Pierre-Luc Dubois stole the show, scoring both goals for his team.

He first scored the opening goal of the game.

Then, this goal in overtime, which made headlines.

That marks two consecutive overtime losses for Vancouver, which, I remind you, lost in the same way in Montreal on Monday.

2. A high-intensity match in Salt Lake City

If you like to stay up late, you were treated to the game between the Panthers and the Utah club that took place out west.

Indeed, the two teams do not like each other much. In the third period, the home team didn’t like a check on their player.

And after the match, while everyone was celebrating, Liam O’Brien and AJ Greer dropped the gloves.

In a 4-1 victory for the Panthers, Sam Reinhart scored the first goal of the match.

This was already his 23rd of the season.

Logan Cooley deprived Sergei Bobrovsky of the shutout.

But Jesper Boqvist sealed the outcome of the game into an empty net.

3. Connor Bedard steals the spotlight

In Chicago, the Avalanche opened the scoring thanks to Juuso Parssinen.

This was his first goal with Colorado.

However, it was Chicago that won the match, with Connor Bedard stealing the show.

He recorded a goal and an assist, extending his point streak to eight games.

He scored the insurance goal.

Other young players also made an impact in the victory. Frank Nazar and Colton Dach each recorded a point on Nazar’s goal.

In the case of Kirby’s brother, it was his first point in the NHL.

Final score: 3-1.

Overtime

– The Quebecer, who is also on a five-game streak with at least one point, is also a goon.

– Four players with two points.

(Credit: NHL.com)

– 20 teams in action tonight.

(Credit: Google)
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Elias Pettersson: the Bruins and the Islanders have spoken to the Canucks

It’s been a little while since things have been stirring quite a bit in Vancouver. There seems to be a fair amount of tension between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson, the two big names in town’s offense, and there are questions about whether their relationship can be repaired.

This is the question the Canucks will need to get an answer to shortly… because if it can’t be repaired, they will need to consider trading one of the two.

If the Canucks do decide to trade one of them, it’s likely that there will definitely be interest. The Rangers have already shown interest in Miller, and the Hurricanes have done the same for Pettersson.

That said, we can think that other teams will also be in the mix… and according to Marco D’Amico (Responsible Gambler), there is another team interested in both forwards: the Boston Bruins.

And there may have already been talks in this regard.

On the Boston side, we can feel that the recent failures of the club are starting to put a bit of pressure on the management. The Bruins are still in a position to make the playoffs, but they have lost their last five games and it feels like the club is struggling.

Seeing fans call for Don Sweeney’s firing yesterday at TD Garden probably didn’t help calm things down.

We might wonder what a package put together by the Bruins would look like to snag one of the Canucks’ centres. We could think that Matt Poitras and Pavel Zacha, for example, would be part of it… but considering there will be more than one interested team, it could quickly escalate into a bidding war.

Especially since the Islanders have also spoken to the Canucks about Pettersson. They are having a tough season as well, but they could reunite Pettersson with Bo Horvat.

For the CH, we might think that the team hopes the Canucks’ centres won’t end up in the Atlantic in Boston. We can also wonder if the Tricolore is among those teams that have chatted with the Canucks… but for now, there is no indication that this is the case.

We’ll see how the situation evolves, but right now, there is interest in both top centre players from the Canucks. And if they decide to trade one, it could change the landscape in the Bettman circuit.

In Brief

– Speaking of the Canucks.

– Don Waddell wants to extend Mathieu Olivier’s contract.

– He is a special talent.

 

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For Dany Dubé, Cayden Primeau is an NHL goalie (but not in Montreal)

Photo by Rich Gagnon/Getty Images

Cayden Primeau has struggled in the Canadiens uniform this season. The player who was sent back to Laval to rebuild his confidence has not found much success as Samuel Montembeault’s backup since the start of the season… which has cost him his position.

Since then, Jakub Dobes plays like a guy who doesn’t want to know anything about returning to Laval… which doesn’t help Primeau’s case.

It increasingly appears that Primeau is on the trading block, and even if nothing is imminent in his case (no team claimed him on waivers, after all), one can think his future is far from Montreal.

That said, if the Canadiens want to trade him, they will need to find a team that sees a future in the NHL for Primeau… and Dany Dubé believes it’s possible, as he explained on the air at 98.5 FM.

In fact, he sees Primeau as an NHL goalie, but he doesn’t think he will succeed in Montreal.

In fact, he explains his reasoning with one simple factor: the reality of the Montreal market. We know that it is intense, which means not everyone can perform in the city.

This brings out the best in some players (Samuel Montembeault, for example), but other guys can’t cope with the reality of the environment.

Thus, Primeau may have better chances of establishing himself in the NHL with a team where the market is a bit less intense. A bit like in Ottawa, for example, where his name is mentioned in relation to the team’s situation in goal.

In Primeau’s case, no one questions his talent. We’ve seen him dominate in Laval for years, and he even experienced some success last season with the Canadiens. That said, we feel that mentally, it can quickly become more difficult for him when he struggles and the pressure on his shoulders increases.

We will see if he can eventually revive his career, and especially, if he will need a change of scenery to do so. Let’s remember that he will become a restricted free agent at the end of the current season.

In Brief

– He’s having a great season, isn’t he?

– Oh really?

– For Michel Therrien, Patrik Laine changed everything in Montreal.

– Let’s see if it happens.

– Noteworthy.

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No, the Sharks would not trade Macklin Celebrini for Lane Hutson, but…

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Lane Hutson is having a first (full) season in the NHL that exceeds expectations. The defenseman, who has 30 points in 40 games, is already among the elite offensive defensemen in the Bettman circuit.

Only six defensemen have more points than him this season… and most importantly, he is the top scorer among rookies, ahead of Matvei Michkov and Macklin Celebrini.

In Montreal, all of this makes us love the kid, and rightfully so. However, it also leads to interesting debates… including one that was raised on On jase today.

In fact, Martin Lemay, Yanick Lévesque, and André Roy asked the following question: if the Sharks called the Habs to finalize a Celebrini/Hutson trade, what would you do in Kent Hughes’s place?

Here is the complete excerpt:

I will answer the question: I don’t see a world where the Sharks would accept such an offer. Celebrini has 28 points in 31 games this season, he is already a quality #1 center, and everything suggests that he has the potential to become one of the best players in the NHL shortly.

But…

I’m not ready to say the question is ridiculous, because with Hutson, the Habs also have a high-quality player. A defenseman leading rookies in points at the halfway mark of the season is not something we see often.

Before Hutson, there were Nicklas Lidstrom and Bobby Orr… and that’s it.

Between a premier offensive defenseman or an elite first center, the center is often seen as the most important piece. Think of the Avalanche, for example: Cale Makar may be the best offensive defenseman in the NHL, but Nathan MacKinnon is still seen as the best player on that team.

Hutson and Celebrini are not Makar and MacKinnon (at least not for now), but you get the point.

However, the mere fact that this is a debate demonstrates one thing: in 2022, the Habs drafted a prospect late in the second round who, two and a half years later, threatens to disrupt their salary scale and is being placed in the same vein as the first overall pick from the last draft… who is not exactly a slouch.

The Canadiens have a good one in Hutson, and even if the Sharks wouldn’t give Celebrini to acquire him, it doesn’t change the fact that both clubs can be satisfied with their young player. It’s great to see them dominate in the NHL after they did the same as teammates in the NCAA last year.

In Brief

– Sean Monahan is having a great season in Columbus.

– Speaking of offensive defensemen.

– A name to remember.

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The future of Martin St-Louis could have been called into question in December, according to Alexandre Pratt.

Since the winning streak during the holiday season, Martin St-Louis has received positive mentions. However, before this streak, many fans wanted nothing to do with him at the helm of the Canadiens.

In December, the Canadiens suffered a humiliating 9-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was probably the most humiliating match of the season for the Tricolore and a turning point for the team.

Martin St-Louis’s future could have been called into question at that moment. In fact, Alexandre Pratt from La Presse believes there were serious discussions about the coach‘s future with Montreal if the team suffered another crushing defeat in the days that followed.

This was revealed by him during the latest episode of the podcastSortie de zone from 98.5 Sports and La Presse.

Pratt also explained that people were very critical of the Canadiens at that time, including himself. They had every right to be!

After that 9-2 loss, the Canadiens occupied the very last place in the Eastern Conference. It’s crazy to see that the Canadiens are currently fighting for a playoff spot.

However, Kent Hughes never wavered in this situation. He continues to state that he wants to stick to his plan and that St-Louis is part of it. For him, there’s no question of firing his coach while the rebuilding process is still ongoing.

During his mid-season review, Hughes once again reiterated that he trusts St-Louis. He appreciates that his coach is able to face challenges and is always improving.

Returning to Pratt, he seriously believes that the key to success has been tightening the defense, especially with the addition of Alexandre Carrier and the arrival of Jakub Dobes in place of Cayden Primeau.

The Canadiens have allowed less than three goals in six of their last ten games. The issue seems to have been resolved on defense, and Martin St-Louis can receive his due praise after being criticized so much.

Kent Hughes specifically praised him during his mid-season review. He appreciated that St-Louis found a way to communicate with his players so they understood what he expected of them.

In Brief

– Huge trade in the WHL.

– Caufield is in seventh place in this ranking.

– Interesting!