Author: Dose

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Dans les coulisses

David Reinbacher attends morning meetings with coaches

MONTREAL, QC - SEPTEMBER 24: Montreal Canadiens defenseman David Reinbacher (64) tracks the play during the New Jersey Devils versus the Montreal Canadiens preseason game on September 24, 2024, at Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

David Reinbacher was injured in a nasty fall after being checked by Marshall Rifai during a preparatory game.

The defenseman had to undergo surgery to repair an injury to his left knee, and in early October, the Canadiens announced that the rehabilitation period in his case was estimated at between five and six months.

At the time, we all thought it was a shame for the youngster, because he needs to play in order to progress.

But even if Reinbacher can’t jump on the ice, the Canadiens are doing everything they can to keep him involved.

Much as was the case with Dach last year, Reinbacher participates in the coaches’ morning meetings.

It’s a great way for him to gain experience even if he’s injured, and at the same time, it makes him feel more comfortable within the group.

He’s also able to learn more about the team system:

When they take part in these meetings, they know where we’re at and where we’re directing our attention. – Martin St-Louis

In addition to taking part in the coaches’ meetings, Reinbacher is also often present on the catwalk when the Canadiens are playing at home.

He watches the games from above… And even though he can’t play, he’s able to see how things are going in the National League.

That’s a good thing: players always say that it’s easier to follow the games from above, because that’s when they understand how “slower” the game is.

That said, I have the impression that the Canadiens are managing this issue perfectly.

A solution had to be found to keep Reinbacher involved in the team’s activities, because he shouldn’t feel alone in getting back into shape.

He’s just arrived in North America, he’s only 20 years old, he had a terrible season in Kloten last year because the club was so rotten… It would have been easy for him to find himself in an emotionally difficult situation, in other words.

And the Canadiens are doing everything in their power not to let that happen.

Overtime

– I doubt it.

– 1-1-1. How about you?

– Happy reading.

– Good.

– Too bad.

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There are no injured players on the Canadiens at the moment.

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

In recent years, the Canadiens have been hit hard by injuries.

Several important players have had to miss games… And Nick Suzuki, who has never had to miss a game since the start of his NHL career, is the only one to have avoided the infirmary.

But things are different this year, and even if the club finds itself in the lower echelons of the National League’s overall standings, the Canadiens don’t have the excuse of injuries this season.

After all, when you take a closer look… you realize that there are no injured players on the Canadiens right now.

That’s almost a miracle!

Of course, Carey Price is still part of the organization, but we know he can’t play anymore.

David Reinbacher and Filip Mesar are sidelined in Laval, but these two guys wouldn’t have made the club after training camp.

Patrik Laine and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard missed the start of the season through injury, but the Finn returns tonight and the Québécois has already played a few games for the Laval Rocket.

So, for the first time in a long time, we can say that the big club is healthy.

(Credit: CapWages screenshot)

Technically, in the eyes of management, the Canadiens now have what it takes to be more successful.

Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton talked about being in the mix before the season started, taking into account that all the players would help in their own way. Now, the guys are all healthy… And this is the moment when we’ll be able to evaluate the team in the best possible way since the start of the season.

Sure, Laine has missed a few games (he’ll be rusty) and Kirby Dach is still finding his feet, but hey. You know what I mean.

Let’s hope it stays that way for at least a few weeks, because the Canadiens have been hit by the injury curse in droves in recent years.

With the team healthy, it makes management’s job easier when it comes to evaluating players, and it also allows Martin St-Louis to have a full line-up with his best players every night.

It’s great, because it’s been a long time since we’ve seen that in Montreal.

Overtime

– Yes, it is.

– He’s got style!

– Andrei Kuzmenko will be left out tonight against the Blue Jackets.

– Makes sense.

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Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson: “they’ll be valuable to a playoff club”.

Brendan Gallagher is still under contract for three seasons... and he's untradeable.

How financially troubled is the Canadiens?

According to The Athletic, which has decided to rank the payroll of the 32 NHL teams, the Canadiens are in 22nd place. According to the site, only a dozen teams are worse off than the Habs.

Here is the text in question.

In the text, we get the feeling that if the Canadiens manage to make good use of the surplus that will be created when many contracts are off the club’s books, they’ll be fine.

Remember that Michael Pezzetta, David Savard, Joel Armia, Jake Evans and Christian Dvorak will all have the chance to leave the Habs, if they want, as early as the summer of 2025. They will be free agents.

But Kent Hughes can make trades, too.

And on that subject, there’s one sentence in the text that stood out for me. It’s the one in which the future of Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson was discussed, in connection with their big contracts.

Players like Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher make more money than they should, but they’ll be valuable to a playoff club, especially if Montreal withholds salary.

Gally ($6.5 M per year until 2027) and Andy ($5.5 M per year until 2027) are rather, in my eyes, impossible to trade. And I’m not the only one who says that. #Stanley25

Even if Gallagher has a good season, that doesn’t mean it’s going to continue forever.

And in Anderson’s case, he’s having a hard time playing up to his talent and like he’s capable of. I can’t see any club taking on one of these contracts right now: the risk is too great.

To be continued, but…

Overtime

– Really?

– Patience.

– NHL adds an assist to Lane Hutson.

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Dans les coulisses

Patrik Laine officially back: a “Christmas present” for Kirby Dach

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

At practice this morning , Patrik Laine trained with Juraj Slafkovsky and Kirby Dach.

By all rights, this was an indication of what we thought was possible: Laine had signed on to play tonight. And now, the Habs have confirmed that he will play tonight.

No more conditionals.

After today’s practice, Kirby Dach was asked to comment on the news. And the center, who will benefit from the marker’s return, seemed very happy to see him back.

In front of the media, he said it was like an early Christmas present.

The holiday comparison is interesting because when he was injured, I didn’t expect to see him playing in December. And even when the Habs gave a timetable, I didn’t expect to see him play before Christmas.

But in the end, he will. And in fact, the main interested party said he could have played last week, in November. It’s not prudent for the Habs to wait, which is fine.

Details to come…

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Patrik Laine with Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky in practice

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

This is it.

We knew that Patrik Laine’s return would logically take place tonight. But now, at today’s practice, just a few hours before facing the Islanders at home, he’s been training with the regulars.

Specifically, with Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky.

Details to come…

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Nick Suzuki didn’t break into Canada’s lineup at the Four Nations Tournament, says Marco D’Amico

Bad news for the Canadiens.

Although it was to be expected, Nick Suzuki failed to convince the Canadiens bosses that he deserved his place at the Four Nations Tournament, to be held in February at the Bell Centre and in Boston.

Marco D’Amico reports.

Obviously, the situation could change if there are injuries and Canada decides to call up the Canadiens’ captain, but for the moment, that’s not the case.

So he’ll have a few days off in February, if nothing changes.

Of course, it says a lot about the Canadiens that the club’s captain and #1 goaltender (let me assume Samuel Montembeault won’t make the Canadian team) aren’t chosen.

But that shouldn’t surprise anyone… even if #14 did win the Molson Cup in November.

Unless the U.S. decides to go with Cole Caufield, or the Finns go with Joel Armia (I don’t believe it), the Montreal Canadiens could be more than poorly represented.

The fact is, the guys aren’t good enough for the top-6, and they don’t fit the profile of a bottom-6 guy. Canada’s could be quite surprising.

I wonder how far this will cut into Montreal fans’ interest in the tournament. I’m not talking about attendance at the Bell Centre, I’m talking about people in front of their TVs.

We’ll see in due course.

Overtime

– Interesting stuff.

– Good news.

– Well done.

– Chris Drury has lost his dressing room.

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The Canadiens scrapped Cayden Primeau’s development, says Stéphane Waite

BUFFALO, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 11: Cayden Primeau #30 of the Montreal Canadiens looks to push the puck up the ice in the second period against the Buffalo Sabres during an NHL game on November 11, 2024 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Ben Ludeman/NHLI via Getty Images)

Clearly, over the years, the Canadiens haven’t exactly managed Cayden Primeau well.

How is it that in his four seasons in Laval, the goaltender wasn’t able to play more than 41 regular-season games? Why didn’t he get much playing time?

123 regular-season games (and 16 in the playoffs) plus 54 games in Montreal: in his sixth full-time year in the pros, Primeau has remained healthy, but still hasn’t surpassed the 200-game threshold.

(Credit: Hockey DB)

Not enough, of course.

But when you look at it, it’s clear that there are times when Primeau wasn’t able to play because he was in Montreal when he wasn’t fully trusted.

It often happened, during his years in Laval, that he was recalled simply to warm up the second goalie’s seat in Montreal because of an injury upstairs. In those days, he didn’t play much.

And his development was taking a hit.

Of course, there’s also the matter of the ménage à trois, which has meant that he hasn’t played much for the past two years. These are all aspects that are causing the goalkeeper to develop poorly.

And in the eyes of Stéphane Waite, who was his first NHL goaltending coach, Primeau’s development has been scuppered by the Canadiens. That’s what he said on the podcast Sortie de zone, and whatAlexandre Pratt (La Presse) reported in an article on the subject.

Waite points out that this was not voluntary, but that these aspects are taken into account. The same goes for COVID-19, by the way.

I don’t sense that Waite is criticizing the way he was coached (he won’t target himself), but more the circumstances. Perhaps he’s more targeting Marc Bergevin, who had to recall Primeau if he didn’t have other options on the table.

Of course, no one is saying that Primeau isn’t a good goalie just because of the circumstances, because to be one of the worst goalies of the last 25 years, it has to be the goalie’s fault too.

But Pratt raises a good point: will we end up seeing Primeau for what he is, instead of thinking he could be that Samuel Montembeault-type goalie who has what it takes to take a big step forward?

Overtime

– Patrick Kane is injured.

– Really?

– Of note.

– Cole Caufield, poorly surrounded. [TVAS]

– Cayden Primeau is an American goalkeeper.

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Top-3: Auston Matthews marks his comeback with a goal

It was a very quiet night in the NHL last night, with only six teams in action.

The Devils took on the Rangers, the Blackhawks were in Toronto and, at the end of the night, the Stars visited Utah.

Here are the results and highlights:

1. Welcome back, Auston Matthews!

After a long absence, Auston Matthews was finally back in action for the Maple Leafs.

What could be better than scoring the game’s first goal?

What a pass from William Nylander on the sequence!

Mitchell Marner also played a strong game. He picked up two assists in his 600th NHL game.

Toronto made short work of Chicago, 4-1.

2. Jack Hughes accused of trying to embarrass Igor Shesterkin

Things aren’t going too well for the Rangers.

They’ve just lost to the Devils. They have now lost six of their last seven games.

Their win during that stretch came against the Habs….

Yesterday, the Devils made short work of New York by a score of 5-1.

Jack Hughes was even accused of trying to embarrass Igor Shesterkin after the game. His reaction was very funny.

Here’s the footage of him trying to “embarrass” the opposing goalie:

The New Jersey star finished the game with two goals and an assist.

3. Already a 500th game for Mikhail Sergachev

Former Canadiens and Lightning star Mikhail Sergachev reached a milestone last night.

He played in his 500th NHL game.

Unfortunately, the Stars came out on top, winning 2-1.

Another Habs alumnus, Evgenii Dadonov, opened the scoring in the second period.

And at the end of the period, Jamie Benn doubled his team’s lead.

It was the winning goal.

At the end of the match, tempers flared.

Extension

– He’s having a great season, the former captain.

– Jesper Bratt leads the charge.

(Credit: NHL.com)

– An action-packed Tuesday.

(Credit: Google )
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Alex Newhook has no assists this season

MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 23: dAlex Newhook (15) of the Montreal Canadiens tracks the play uring the first period of the NHL game between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Montreal Canadiens on Nov 23 2024, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC(Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

No one will be surprised to hear that Alex Newhook has had a poor start to the season.

He’s managed to score five goals, which isn’t bad, but there’s clearly something missing from his game. This is most obvious when you look at the assists column on his scorecard.

He’s collected none this season. Zero.

(Credit: HockeyDB)

He’s already played 24 games and simply can’t muster a single one.

And it’s not as if Martin St-Louis isn’t giving him a chance to shine. He plays on the first line with the third-highest scorer in the NHL in Cole Caufield!

He’s also spent most of his time on the second line, where he should be getting the playing time he needs to collect at least one assist!

Worst of all, he’s the only regular Canadiens forward not to have picked up an assist this season. The only other forwards who have played at least one game with Montreal this season without collecting one are Lucas Condotta (seven games), Joshua Roy (four games), Michael Pezzetta (three games) and Alex Barré-Boulet (two games).

Even worse: every regular defenseman picked up at least one assist, with the exception of Justin Barron, who is often overlooked and has played just 12 games this season.

The Canadiens are far from the NHL masters in total assists. They rank 20th in the NHL with 120.

Except that among those 120 assists, Newhook should have at least one!

With the eventual return of Patrik Laine to the line-up, we should expect Newhook to receive some punishment for his lack of offensive contribution.

Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky had to play a game on the fourth line. It would be nice to see Martin St-Louis cut Newhook’s playing time or even send him to the stands for a game.

Overtime

– This is awful.

– A true warrior.

– This is going to be excellent.

– They need to make changes.

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The Canadiens could help the Devils with Christian Dvorak

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

There are still a few months to go before the trade deadline, but some teams have already started making their wish lists. With a remarkable start to the season, the Devils probably won’t need to pick up another impact player, but there’s always room for improvement.

In conversation with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald explained that he’s very happy with New Jersey’s latest acquisitions, but would like to add a depth player to his roster.

This is what LeBrun revealed in a text published Monday evening on The Athletic website.

Fitzgerald is said to be looking for a center to support the team’s fourth line. He would like this player to be able to win important face-offs and play well shorthanded.

The Canadiens may have the solution to the Devils’ problem. Montreal could trade Christian Dvorak to New Jersey to get something out of him before his contract expires.

Some people will say that Dvorak wouldn’t fit in because he’s been on the fourth line of a bad team like the Canadiens for so long, but his game has improved in recent weeks.

It’s also important to understand that Dvorak ticks every box in Fitzgerald’s search.

Dvorak is capable of playing shorthanded, and he does it extremely well. He is currently the center of Montreal’s second wave of shorthanded play.

The Canadiens have an 81.9% shorthanded efficiency rating this season, which ranks seventh in the entire NHL.

Dvorak is also the only Canadiens center to win more than 50% of his face-offs this season. He has won 54.4% of his duels in the circle so far.

With a $4.45 million payroll impact from Dvorak’s contract, the Canadiens should retain a good portion of the center’s salary.

If he continues on this path, Dvorak could catch the eye of several teams looking for a center who can help on defense or in depth.

Overtime

– Ovechkin isn’t human.

– Maple Leafs fans are happy.

– A little practice help for Calgary.

– He’s doing very well in the faceoff circle.