Author: Dose

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Second center: Jack Roslovic’s intriguing candidacy

It’s July 22, and to say the Canadiens are quiet is an understatement.

It’s f***ing quiet!

John Shannon may be telling us that he expects a few trades in the near future and a second wave of signings (of unrestricted free agents), but I find that hard to believe.

At the Canadiens, there’s more of a feeling that management has completed its summer work and is already looking ahead to the 2025-26 season, rather than the off-season.

Especially since we’re running out of places (if everyone’s healthy)

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Bolduc – Dach – Demidov
Gallagher – Evans – Anderson
Laine – Veleno – Newhook
Blais – Kapanen

Guhle – Dobson
Hutson – Struble
Matheson – Carrier
Xhekaj

Montembeault
Dobes or Kahkonen

Maybe Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes can find a way to complete a 1 v. 1deal before the season opens..

But as far as the free agent market is concerned, I really think the shopping is over. In any case, it’s not as if there are many interesting options left on the market..

The nine unrestricted free agents still without a contract are as follows:

(Credit: PuckPedia)

Maybe if we stretched the rubber band, we could see Pat Maroon or Jack Roslovic fill unfulfilled needs (toughness and top-nine center), but we’d be talking about D or E options here . Not sure the Habs would want to spend on such options..

But then, Pat Maroon let it be known last winter that the 2024-25 season would be his last in the NHL. He didn’t even make the Blackhawks’ last road trip. I don’t think a one-year offer from the Habs would change his mind. #Retirement

As for Jack Roslovic, his case is intriguing.

He collected 39 points (including 22 goals) in 81 games last year in Carolina, all while playing virtually no powerplay. Roslovic scored only two of his 39 points on the power play in 2024-25.

He also won 54.1% of his face-offs, a career-high.

All this while playing less than 14 minutes per game..

Why is he still free as a bird? Why has he made three teams in two years? The fact that he’s only given away 14 body checks in 81 games probably has something to do with it. Only 16 forwards gave up fewer hits per 60 minutes than Roslovic in the entire NHL in 2024-25!

What’s more, Roslovic is right-handed and the Habs are looking for a left-handed center. We already have Suzuki, Dach and Evans on the right.

Conclusion: the second-center position probably won’t be filled externally this summer. We may once again have to go with Newhook, Dach, Evans and some depth guys to try to survive.

Let’s hope Nick “Iron Man” Suzuki doesn’t get injured..

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The Canadiens’ line-up: five issues to watch out for at forward

There are still a few months to go before the start of the season.

Will there be any game-changing injuries? Will Kent Hughes make further personnel moves? It’s possible, since nothing is set in stone for Martin St-Louis’s team.

But there are still issues to watch out for, especially up front. Here are five of them.

1. Second center (obviously)

Until proven otherwise, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach are the front-runners for the job. But of course, the Canadiens will be considering other players at camp.

Zachary Bolduc, Ivan Demidov (or not), Joe Veleno… and maybe even Oliver Kapanen (I’m not buying it right now, though) will be in the running for the second center spot.

I have a feeling that Kirby Dach is leaving with a head start. He was acquired to be that #2 center for the Canadiens and I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts camp in that chair.

But it will be up to him, if that ever happens, to do something with it.

2. Second line left winger

If we assume that the first line won’t be broken up (I wouldn’t rule out a change at some point… but not at the start of practice camp) and that Ivan Demidov will play on the right of the second line, that leaves a hole on the left wing.

Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Zachary Bolduc and Patrik Laine are the leading candidates.

We know that the Habs want to build around Bolduc (and not Laine, for example) and hope that his work ethic can inspire Ivan Demidov to excel.

I can clearly see a Bolduc – Dach – Demidov line coming to life.

3. Center for the third line

The candidates for the second line (in addition to Jake Evans) will return here. But for me, the key is Joe Veleno. After all, the Canadiens surely didn’t acquire Veleno to put him on the wing of the fourth line, for example.

Eric Engels and Tony Marinaro put in a good word for me on yesterday’s Sick Podcast… and my conclusion is this: if Veleno does play, it will logically be as the center of the third line. And I see him playing in the first game of the season.

The guys were talking about creating a more offensive identity on the third line and a more defensive one on the fourth. Having Patrik Laine (talented) and Alex Newhook (fast) alongside Veleno would add that touch.

And Jake Evans (with Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson) could take on more defensive duties.

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Bolduc – Dach – Demidov
Laine – Veleno – Newhook
Anderson – Evans – Gallagher

4. 13th forward

Samuel Blais is currently a prime candidate for this position. But Alex Belzile, Oliver Kapanen, Florian Xhekaj, Owen Beck, Joshua Roy and company will also want a spot.

They’ll have to fight in camp for that chair, which is tailor-made for a guy like Blais, who’s Québécois, tough and won’t cry if he doesn’t play 82 games.

5. The forwards on the first powerplay

In recent playoff games, defenseman Lane Hutson has led a very young powerplay. He was joined by forwards Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov.

Will Patrik Laine’s healthy return push Demidov (or some other guy) onto the second powerplay?

Personally, I want to see these five guys develop chemistry together, so I wouldn’t touch this unit, which could be in place for several more years.

In the playoffs, these guys averaged… 22 years. #Unbelievable

extension

By necessity, the second wave will be just as strong. Noah Dobson and Mike Matheson are options on defense – and that says a lot about the club’s depth.

Forwards? Patrik Laine, Zachary Bolduc, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Brendan Gallagher and Joe Veleno are also options. Nothing too serious.

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Shea Weber did not attend his induction into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame

Since he stopped playing, Shea Weber has been honored a lot.

Of course, he’s been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, but there’s more to it than that. There’s also the fact that he’s now on the Canadiens’ Ring of Honor and a member of several other Halls of Fame.

For example? The British Columbia Hall of Fame, the Nashville Predators Hall of Fame… and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

The last one is new. It arrived this weekend.

We see him being honored in Nashville more than in Chicago Salt Lake City Tempe Las Vegas Philadelphia Montreal, but it makes sense to see him inducted into the Hall of the state where he spent more than a decade early in his career.

But there’s something that strikes me.

In the Predators’ text on the subject, we see a tweet from the “Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame” account in which Mike Maguire received, on behalf of his good friend Shea Weber, the award that comes with his induction.

Poking around on the account, we don’t see any photos of Weber.

Still looking at what was posted on the Twitter account, we see that there were a lot of new inductees and that, in the vast majority of cases, people were on hand.

We know that Weber doesn’t like cameras and attention. Is that why he wasn’t there? Or was something preventing him from attending the ceremony at the time (July 19)? Who knows. But it’s weird.

If it was P.K. Subban, in my opinion, he would have been there, hehe.

overtime

– Things are going well in Toronto.

– NFL: the season is coming. [BPM Sports]

– Of note.

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The Boys in the Hall of Fame: Chantal Machabée takes her turn

Last night, the Boys were inducted into the Just for Laughs Hall of Fame.

The event took place at Théâtre Maisonneuve, on the heels of the new JPR concept. It’s the first time such a tribute has taken place, but it’s sure to become a habit at Just for Laughs.

And it began in 2025 with the legendary Québécois film franchise.

This new concept, which is set to become a tradition, has ensured that the famous Boys characters have their place in Quebec comedy history more than ever. There were tributes and “roast” moments linked to the universe of the films.

Journalist Marie-Laurence Desgagné has written an article(on the La Presse website) on the subject.

The evening, which will eventually be televised, was a chance for everyone present to fall back into the world of Les Boys. And there were plenty of them.

But one name stood out: Chantal Machabée.

The former sports journalist, who now works for the Montreal Canadiens, took to the stage to chat a bit and pay tribute, in her own way, to the Boys.

RDS published an excerpt, which ends like this:

It’s so moving for me. Wait till I tell Nick, Cole and Ivan about this: they’ll go crazy! – Chantal Machabée

Les Boys, a film that beat Titanic in Quebec in 1997, is a franchise that everyone knows and can quote once in a while. I’m sure a lot of people will be looking forward to the TV broadcast of yesterday’s gala.

I can’t wait to see who will be honoured a year from now.

overtime

– Will he make it?

– NHL: which youngster will explode? [BPM Sports]

– Wow.

– Of note.

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“I wouldn’t be surprised if Jacob Fowler played some games in Montreal this season.”

In 2025-26, Jacob Fowler will play his first professional season. After breaking it down in the NCAA over the last two years, just about everyone expects him to get a big workload with the Laval Rocket.

Whether he’ll be sharing the net with Jakub Dobes or Kaapo Kahkönen is anyone’s guess, but barring a huge surprise, Fowler will be in Laval this year.

After all, the kid needs to play games to develop. He had his ups and downs with the Rocket in the playoffs last year, and he’ll be taking advantage of another year to fine-tune his game in the AHL.

Yet, on The Shaun Starr Show today, Marco D’Amico chatted about Fowler’s case… and he mentioned this:

I wouldn’t be surprised if Jacob Fowler played some games in Montreal this season. – Marco D’Amico

In fact, by “games”, D’Amico is referring to the end of the season, when he wouldn’t be surprised to see Fowler get a start or two in front of the Montreal net at the very end of the campaign in the event that those games no longer mean anything to the Habs, either because they’ve already qualified for the playoffs or because they’ve already been eliminated.

It would be a good way to give the kid a taste of the experience… but also to give Samuel Montembeault a break in the event that the Habs have playoff games coming up.

Of course, there’s also a world in which Fowler is called upon to play in the NHL in the event that the team’s goaltenders are decimated by injury. It’s definitely not the ideal scenario, but it’s still a possibility.

He’d go after Montembeault, Dobes and Kahkönen, of course, but it’s possible that those guys get hurt, after all.

It’ll be interesting to see if Fowler gets a few starts in the NHL this year… but for the man some see as the Habs’ #1 goalie a year from now, it would be a good way to get his feet wet, after all.

A bit like Ivan Demidov did at the end of the season… even if it’s not exactly the same reality, we agree.

In Overtime

– Marco Rossi: the Wild won’t even give him $6 million a year. We’re still talking about a young center who just put up 60 points in one season.

– Kirill Kaprizov should get more money than Leon Draisaitl on his next contract.

– We wish him well.

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Mike Matheson’s next contract: a projected $6.5 million per year

Earlier this summer, Mike Matheson’s future was a big topic in town. The defenseman will be playing out the final year of his contract this season, and with all the young defensemen in town, you have to wonder if there’s still a place for Matheson in Montreal.

That said, the veteran’s case is special because, for the time being, he’s still an extremely important player for the Habs. He’s a rare veteran in town, but more importantly, he’s a guy who can eat up minutes and excel in many game situations.

Jeff Gorton is the first to admit it: Matheson is a very solid player for his team.

So you have to wonder if, by the same token, there’s a world in which Matheson could sign a contract extension… and on that subject, AFP Analytics offers projections for potential contract extensions via the CapWages site.

And when we look at Matheson’s, we see that the site projects a four-year contract that would bring in… $6.5 million a year for the defenseman.

That would be a salary increase for the $4.875 million-per-year defenseman on his current contract, but more importantly, it raises the question of whether this is a contract the Canadiens would be interested in.

In a skyrocketing cap, $6.5 million a year isn’t too bad for a top-4 defenseman… but the four-year term could be problematic.

At $6.5 million a year, Matheson would likely rank 3rd on the Habs blue-line salary scale, behind Noah Dobson and, probably, Lane Hutson. Kaiden Guhle, at $5.55 million a year, would be behind the top line.

It’s also interesting to look at the projections for Zachary Bolduc, who will also need a new contract for the 2026-27 season. In his case, we’re projecting a two-year transition contract at $2.9 million a year… or a longer, six-year contract at $5.3 million a year.

It would be risky to sign him before he’s even played a single game with the Habs, we agree… but it has the potential to be a real bargain.

Obviously, all this is subject to change over the coming months depending on player performance… but it’s interesting to take the pulse of the market right now.

And above all, it’s interesting to wonder whether Kent Hughes should sign these players to such high contracts.

In Overtime

– Goals scored: Nick Suzuki has surpassed expectations for the past three years.

– Bowen Byram should start the year in Buffalo.

– The Dodgers, again and again.

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“He’s incredible”: Matthew Schaefer is delighted to have Patrick Roy as his coach

At the last draft, Matthew Schaefer was the first overall pick. The Islanders, who won the lottery, were able to select him… and they’re hoping that sooner or later, Schaefer will be able to make Noah Dobson forget his time in town.

Because yes, Schaefer has the potential to become a true #1 defenseman in the Bettman circuit within a few years.

On Long Island, Schaefer will play (if he makes the team this season) under Patrick Roy. The Québécois coach survived the change of management at the Islanders, and will be back on the job this season.

And that obviously makes the first overall pick very happy, as he chatted with Dave McCarthy (NHL.com) about it all.

Because what we can understand from reading the young man’s comments is that he really likes his coach.

Schaefer notes that Roy was truly incredible with him, both on and off the ice. He enjoyed working with him at the development camp, where the coach put him in good conditions to help him develop.

He gave him plenty of advice to help him cope with his new life, for which Schaefer is grateful.

The defenseman is now looking forward to the start of camp, where he will prove that he deserves his place in the Isles line-up. Dobson’s departure opens doors in town, after all, but it’s worth remembering that Schaefer barely played last season.

His goal is to make the big club (and understandably so)… but another year in Canadian junior, where he can get a lot of playing time, could help him make up for lost time.

We’ll see if Schaefer can start the year with the Islanders, but he seems to enjoy working with the team’s coach. And that must be nice to hear for the organization that not only drafted him first overall, but also gave a vote of confidence to the coach in question.

Overtime

– Good listening.

– Still.

– Philip Rivers officially announces his retirement.

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David Pagnotta expects Nazem Kadri to be traded soon

Nazem Kadri’s name was linked to that of the Canadiens last week.

And the player, according to Nick Kypreos, would be willing to waive his no-trade clause in order to come and play in Montreal.

The problem?

The problem is this: according to Jimmy Murphy, the Habs’ interest in Kadri is not reciprocated.

And I wonder why, in a way… because the Canadiens are looking for a quality second center, and Kadri has what it takes to fill that role in Montreal.

But now, David Pagnotta(TSN 690) is back at it again regarding the Flames player, saying he expects to see him traded soon.

Just a reminder: Kadri would be willing to waive his clause to join the Canadiens… or the Leafs.

So, should we expect to see a trade between the Flames and Leafs in the near future?

That’s the question.

Kadri, at 34 (35 in September), seems to want to join a talented team with a chance of winning. He’d fit right in in Montreal, with the Canadiens… but we know that the loss of Mitch Marner will hurt Toronto and that the center is well known within the organization.

After all, he played until 2019, after being drafted by the Toronto club in 2009…

That said, it’s special in a way because the Flames still have a good group of forwards and we know that expectations are always high in Calgary.

Do the Flames want to move on?

Do the Flames want to make room for youngsters to develop in the right way?

Are the Flames simply no longer interested in having Kadri on the club’s top line?

You have to ask yourself why the Flames want to get rid of him, and perhaps the reason why is that the Canadiens aren’t keen on the idea.

But clearly, this is an interesting case for several reasons… especially when you consider the Habs’ current needs.

Overtime

– Nice.

– I don’t hate results.

– Trop cute.

– Sad news.

– Good news.

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Broadcast teams: Habs 10th in The Athletic rankings

Every year, The Athletic ranks the broadcast teams in each NHL market.

It’s no different in 2025.

For example, last year, the Canadiens’ broadcast team was ranked 13th in the National League. This year… it’s ranked 10th.

The article states that TSN and RDS broadcast the Canadiens’ regional games in English and French.

But there’s no mention of TVA Sports – or Sportsnet, for that matter.

For RDS, the comments are interesting in the sense that there’s love being poured out for Pierre Houde and Marc Denis.

The Athletic acknowledges that the popularity of the latter is still high among fans:

Canadiens fans adore Houde and Denis, considering them the best in the business. Houde received the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Foster Hewitt Memorial Award last season, a distinction many felt was richly deserved. – Harman Dayal and James Mirtle

The article in question can be found below:

Of course, it’s good to see Pierre Houde and Marc Denis getting some credit (which they deserve).

The duo have been a pair for several years now on RDS… and Canadiens fans love to hear their voices on TV because they do a good job.

But it’s also peculiar that The Athletic only talks about RDS when explaining the position of the Canadiens in the rankings of the best broadcast teams in the National League.

The comments are focused solely on the Sports Network – there are no comments on TSN in The Athletic’s article -… and it shows, in a way, that the work of Pierre Houde and Marc Denis is recognized throughout the NHL.

Which, once again, is well deserved.

Overtime

– He could help Canada.

– Beautiful story.

– Some MLB rumors.

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Oliver Kapanen as 2nd center: Grant McCagg won’t give up

Oliver Kapanen started last season in Montreal.

The Canadiens decided to send him back to Europe in early November, and he returned to finish the season in Montreal in April.

He did well, in fact, during his campaign in Sweden. Kapanen finished the season as his club’s 4th-highest scorer (35 points in 36 games), and we saw an improvement in his game.

Kapanen will be vying for a spot in the Canadiens’ line-up at the next practice camp, and he’s starting off with a bit of a head start, unlike some of the other guys.

He still managed to find a spot after camp last year… and the Habs already know him well, since Kapanen played in the NHL last season.

That said, if he does make the team, it will probably be to play on the bottom-6 because the Habs. And that’s why Grant McCagg’s suggestion that Kapanen play center on the 2nd line has caused a stir in recent hours.

But McCagg isn’t letting up.

For him… Kapanen has what it takes to have such an important role because of his qualities as a two-way player.

McCagg doesn’t think Kapanen can become a player who produces at the famous point-per-game rate… but he does see him becoming a kind of Anthony Cirelli if he’s placed with more offensive players.

It’s the question of the 2nd center that has been the focus of attention for a few weeks now.

We don’t know if Kirby Dach will be able to fill that role…

We don’t know if Zachary Bolduc has the center skills to dominate in a role like this…

We know that the Alex Newhook experiment was never really that great…

That’s why training camp is going to be particularly interesting to watch this year. I get the impression that the coaches are going to give Dach a chance to shine, but that he’ll have to work hard to get his place in the middle of the 2nd line.

But if that doesn’t work… it’s going to get a little complicated for Martin St-Louis.

Overtime

– News from CF Montreal.

– Classic.

– Well deserved.

– A legend of the sport.