Author: Dose

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LJ Mooney recognized by his trainer: he stood up at the summer showcase

LJ Mooney is an increasingly popular name in Montreal. After all, fans may love big players… but small, talented players still have their place in the hearts of Montreal fans. # Caufield #HutsonAnd Mooney, with the talent coming out of his ears, currently falls into that category. Petit Jean, who isn’t a high draft pick, has done well wherever he goes since becoming a Habs prospect. Whether at the development camp or the summer showcase (a tournament to prepare for the World Junior Championship), he stands out from the crowd. And he’s getting a lot of praise. The Americans’ coach, Bob Motzko, had a chance to see what Mooney looked like, and let’s just say he liked what he saw of the player he’ll also be coaching this year at the University of Minnesota.

We say that because Little John, who doesn ‘t mind his size, was named by his coach as one of the guys who stood out in the last few days.

[content-ads]It may have been his future college player, but Motzko couldn’t name him if he didn’t deserve it.

Remember that in his first game in the Summer Showcase, Mooney came out on top with two points, including a goal, for the Americans. The way I look at it, I think it’s great to see that in an event like the Summer Showcase, Mooney is able to come out on top. It’s a competitive environment, even in the middle of summer.

After all, it’s one thing at the development camp in Montreal, but it’s quite another when guys are fighting to represent their country at the WJC.It’s a good start… although it doesn’t mean everything, obviously.[spacer title=’Overtime’]- How are you, Ivan?

– Leylah Fernandez’s father confided in Meeker Guerrier.[98.5 FM] – Well done.

– True.

– Ouch.

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Draft: why it pays to select Russian players

Several NHL teams seemed reluctant to draft Russian players in recent NHL auctions, with the war with Ukraine, the shenanigans involved in keeping a player in Russia and the lack of opportunities to play hockey against good national teams weighing heavily in the balance.

Ivan Demidov’s agent, Dan Milstein, however, explained to the Russian program, Our Hockey (Наш хоккей), why it’s advantageous to select players from Russia.

NHL executives’ biggest fear is wasting a good draft pick by selecting a Russian player who ultimately decides to stay in the KHL.

The Hurricanes had a bit of a scare with Nikita Nikishin’s contract situation, even though everything worked out for them in the end. In his interview, Dan Milstein revealed that he explained to the Hurricanes why it was an advantage to draft Russian players. Carolina listened well, drafting no fewer than 13 players from Russian teams in the last three auctions. Milstein explains the advantage by the fact that players from Russia can develop at the professional level, while the teams that drafted them can retain their rights until the age of 27. This allows players to arrive in the NHL with experience at the professional level and a level of play on a par with the best. Meanwhile, a Canadian Hockey League player must be signed within two seasons of being selected in the draft. In the NCAA and USHL in the U.S., it’s four seasons. This forces teams to sign interesting prospects early, so most will play in the AHL, and it takes up space on the total number of contracts [content-ads] Milstein’s logic is that many North American prospects with NHL entry-level contracts are ultimately ready to play in the NHL towards the end of that contract, forcing the team to give them a little more money up front. As for the Russian player, he’ll be able to use up all the years of his NHL entry-level contract,which saves the Bettman teams money.It’s a philosophy the Canadiens seem to have adopted in recent years with Nick Bobrov. Guys like Alexander Zharovsky and Bogdan Konyushkov can take the time to develop in Russia without taking a spot on the total number of contracts, leaving more room for North American prospects to come and develop within the organization or simply accept a contract to continue playing in the CHL.

Milstein has a good point, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see more and more NHL executives adopting such a strategy [spacer title=’Overtime’] – We hope to see him make the team.

– It’s not over for Eugenie.

– Wow.

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“In San Jose, Jayden Struble would have signed for four million dollars and more”

Earlier this morning, Jayden Struble finally signed his contract and will thus avoid arbitration. He was the last Habs player without a contract, so there will be no salary distraction at camp. The young defenseman signed a two-year contract that will pay him $1.4125 million per season. That’s $2.86 million less than he’d get playing for a team like the San Jose Sharks, for example. According to Grant McCagg, the left-hander could well have earned $4 million or more, perhaps even $5 million in the long term, with another team.

McCagg likes the young defenseman a lot, and in his opinion, he’s a victim of the depth on the left side of the Montreal blue line.

According to him, last year would have been a good season for him to establish himself as one of the pillars on the left of the Canadiens’ blue line, but he wasn’t going to dislodge this year’s rookie Lane Hutson [content-ads] It’s true that in Montreal, Struble isn’t the most used. Now, imagine if David Reinbacher were to join the club sooner rather than later…

If the 47 can demonstrate, on a third pairing, that he’s capable of staying in the lineup and being indispensable to the team, his salary would become a bargain.

A guy worth $5 million who signed for less than $1.5 million doesn’t come cheap [spacer title=’Overtime’] – Super!

– He’s off to Milwaukee.

– One

– The Terry McLaurin situation certainly isn’t helping.

– Good news.

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In four years, the Habs’ big names will cost on average as much as Josh Anderson did last year

After a few years of stagnant salary caps in the NHL, we’re now seeing some major increases. The first came this summer, but over the next few years, it will continue to soar, withincreases of nearly $10 million a year. Thatsaid, for the Habs, all this is quite advantageous for one simple reason: the club has already signed a number of its core players on a long-term basis. These contracts were signed in an environment where the cap wasn’t really going up (except for Noah Dobson, who just signed), so over time, they’ll quickly become much more affordable. And to illustrate this, the JFresh account (on X) did an interesting exercise, looking at the impact of the contracts signed by the Habs on the payroll in a few years’ time.

And when we look ahead to 2029-30 (i.e., four years from now), we see that the five guys signed long-term in town (Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovský, Noah Dobson and Kaiden Guhle) will have an impact on the payroll similar to that of Josh Anderson ($5.5M) last year.

[content-ads]This projection takes into account a salary cap that will hover around $124M, a realistic projection when you look at the evolution of the next few years. The five players will earn a total of $38,375,000, representing roughly 31% of the salary cap.Anderson’s $5.5 million represented roughly 6% of the salary cap last year… and 6 x 5 is 30. Play with the percentage points and we’re close to 31%. Of course, all this could be subject to change when Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov sign their next contracts. That said, the fact that the Habs already have five big core players signed to such reasonable contracts means that they’ll be able to afford guys like Hutson and Demidov without being restricted like the Maple Leafs were with the famous Core Four, for example. In a world where the two guys make about $30M between them (which is a very high projection), that would still leave close to $55M to pay for the supporting cast (or other big names, since the club should be able to afford one or two more).The price of supporting players will also go up over time, we agree…. but if the CH pays most of its top players in 2029-30 what it’s paying Josh Anderson right now, that’ll give Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton (or their successors, if they lose their jobs by then) plenty of room to surround the Habs’ core.

You have to give credit to the management (but also to Marc Bergevin, who signed the Suzuki contract around which the salary scale was built) in this regard, because by thinking long-term like this, they’ve bought themselves a lot of room to manoeuvre in the long term.They’re in a much better position than if they’d given transition contracts to all these youngsters, let’s say.[spacer title=’Overtime’]- Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHp2qhugg4M&feature=youtu.be – Speaking of players signed long-term,

– Indeed.

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WJSS: Aatos Koivu continues to impress with Finland

Right now, the best young players in the world of hockey are taking part in the World Junior Summer Showcase, a summer camp that allows kids to leave a good impression in preparation for this winter’s World Junior Championship.Michael Hage is playing an important role in Team Canadiens’ camp, andFinland’s Aatos Koivu is one of the players in attendance. Yesterday, Saku’s son had a good game, even if he didn’t get on the score sheet, and today, Koivu was back in action against one of the U.S. teams (in which LJ Mooney plays)… and this time, he got on the scoresheet with a beautiful goal.

[content-ads]And clearly, Koivu had no intention of stopping there. A little later in the game, the Finn added a second, again on the powerplay.He’s got a good shot, the youngster.

So we’ll see if Koivu can continue to impress over the next few days, but it’s great to see him finding a flair for the net. And above all, it should help him earn points toward a possible selection for the next WJC.And that would be cool for the kid… but now it’ll be up to him to keep the pedal to the floor.[spacer title=’Overtime’]- Love it.

– Carlos Handel enjoyed his experience at the CH development camp.

– Cool!

– Really?

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Michael Hage: there’s reason to believe he’ll play a big role with ÉCJ

Michael Hage is one of the Canadiens’ elite prospects. In the eyes of many, he’s behind the top line (Demidov, Fowler and Reinbacher, in order or out of order), but he’s still seen as a kid who could be part of the solution at second center.I feel it’s too early to assume he will become one, but there’s no doubt he has the potential to become a big deal in Montreal.That said, Hage still needs to continue his development. He’ll be back in the NCAA this season, but right now, he’s at Team Canada’s summer camp, trying to impress the officials so he can earn a spot on the CMJ squad. And according to Martin Thérriault, who talked about all this on BPM Sports, there’s good reason to believe that ÉCJ officials see him playing a big role with the club this winter.The reason?

[content-ads]Thérriault explains that seeing Hage play alongside Cole Reschny and Benjamin Kindel, two guys who were drafted in the first round at the last draft, shows that management sees Hage as a player who could shine in a big role.

The competition will be strong, though: guys like Berkly Catton, Michael Misa, Cayden Lindstrom and Jake O’Brien (all of whom play center) will also be getting a good audition. Catton was in front of Hage at practice yesterday, while the other three are in the other group.

–

That said, we saw Hage shine in the NCAA last year when he wasn’t very well surrounded. We know that ÉCJ managers sometimes tend to turn up their noses at guys who play in the American college circuit, but when these guys have a track record like Hage’s, they can hope to carve out a position.

Let’s see if the Habs prospect can make himself indispensable.[spacer title=’Overtime’]- The guys keep working hard.

– That’s tomorrow.

¡Listos

– Wow.

– Great news.

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Ivan Demidov with Patrik Laine: An idea the Habs will have to explore at some point

The Canadiens’ practice camp will be an interesting one to watch, with a number of guys fighting for positions in the bottom-6 and a good battle for places on the blue line.Veleno, Blais, Kapanen, F., Xhekaj, Roy, Condotta, Belzile, Beck, Engström, Reinbacher, Xhekaj, Struble… these names will also be worth keeping an eye on.Xhekaj, Roy, Condotta, Belzile, Beck, Engström, Reinbacher, Xhekaj, Struble… these names will be ones to watch. But the camp will also be interesting to follow for one particular reason: Martin St-Louis has some pieces to place in his chessboard… on both forward and defense.

We don’t know who will play center, but we can assume it will be Kirby Dach or Alex Newhook… We don’t know who will play left, but we can assume it will be Zachary Bolduc or Patrik Laine.what we do know, however, is that Ivan Demidov will most likely be inserted on the right side of the second unit, and the important thing will be to find players who can complement him well.Grant McCagg (Recrutes Draftcast) isn‘t opposed to the idea… especially since Demidov is a playmaker who can serve Laine and also help the Canadiens defensively.

[content-ads] On paper, it’s an interesting idea. Laine has a great shot and Demidov has vision that needs to be exploited. That said, I’d also like the option of seeing a guy who’s good at forechecking alongside Demidov, and that’s why I see Zachary Bolduc starting the season on the 2nd line. Bolduc is more physical than Laine, he’s more involved on the ice… and it takes a guy to create space for Demidov.Laine may not have what it takes to fill a role like that either.All in all, Martin St-Louis will be able to have fun with his trios. We agree that the first line may not change (at least, not until Demidov explodes) and it’s the second line in particular that may complicate the coach’s job [spacer title=’Overtime’] – I like it.

– They have a nice club, on paper.

– Good.

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Jayden Struble signs two-year contract with the Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens have avoided arbitration (scheduled for August 3, if necessary) with Jayden Struble. The defenseman has signed a two-season, one-way contract that will pay him an average of $1.4125 million per year, the club announced.

Struble, currently in the Maritimes, was the last player in the organization in need of a deal. All other Habs (and Rocket) players who were RFA by July 1 had signed, so Kent Hughes won’t have to deal with contractual bickering at camp. Infact, it’s a formality, since the salary he’ll be receiving is not surprising. It’s within the price range for a defenseman of his calibre who is RFA for the first time. And next summer, he won’t be bickering with his club either. content-ads]

Details to come…[spacer title=’Overtime’]- Interesting.

– Wow.

– Worth reading.

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2026 Olympics: “If Oliver Kapanen has a good start to the season, I think he’ll represent Finland”

Since the beginning of the summer, Grant McCagg has been giving Oliver Kapanen a lot of love. We know that the former scout has always liked the young Finn, but in recent weeks, he’s insisted that he sees him as a real candidate to play center for Ivan Demidov.I understand that he’s responsible defensively… but I highly doubt that he’ll be able to keep pace offensively.But clearly, in McCagg’s eyes, Kapanen is a guy who could surprise this season. And on today’s edition of Recrutes DraftCast, he gave Kapanen some more love… in a different way. at the end of the show, McCagg and Rick Springhetti discussed which habs players they think have a chance of playing in the next Olympics… and McCagg had this to say:

If [Oliver] Kapanen has a good start to the season, I think he’ll play for Finland.

–

Grant McCagg

https://youtu.be/JhbEW2qQCj8?si=XNbf2AmZqM3t78Rt&t=2838 [content-ads]McCagg explains that Kapanen has been held in very high esteem in Finland for some years now. Infact, he is one of only three Finnish players to have scored six goals in a single tournament at Worlds, a group that also includes Patrik Laine.

And in a world where Finland has to choose between him and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, for example, going with a player who’s had some big moments on the international scene in recent years would make sense for Finland, says McCagg.Because, after all, it’s true that Kapanen does well when he represents his country… but we’re talking about a guy who’s going to have to fight for a spot with the Canadiens at camp. Just as there’s a world in which Kapanen is going to the Olympics, there’s also a world in which he’s starting the year in Laval, you know.So we’ll be keeping a close eye on that, but I have a feeling it’s a bit early to see him that close to a spot with Finland at the Olympics. He may be on the radar because of his good performances with Finland…[spacer title=’Overtime’] –Nice photo.

– I like it.

– Leylah Fernandez champion in Washington.

– Please note:

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Maxime Talbot: “Nick Suzuki is a quiet leader like Sidney Crosby”

When it comes to leadership, Maxime Talbot has seen the best of the best. A former teammate of Sidney Crosby, the Penguins’ captain is the best of the best when it comes to leadership. Talbot always has good things to say about his former captain, putting Crosby in the same category as Michael Jordan. The Québécois doesn’t mince his words when it comes to liking a particular player. Back in March, Talbot included Lane Hutson in his top-5 list of the best defensemen in the league. Duringa recent appearance on BPM Sports, the Le Moyne native made an interesting comparison between the Pens’ captain and Nick Suzuki. According to him, Suzuki is a quiet leader like Crosby, as also reported by HabsolumentFan. You can watch the excerpt below:

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[content-ads]Now that’s quite a comparison.

Even if he wasn’t comparing the talent of the two players, putting a player in the same category as Crosby for leadership speaks volumes. And there are certainly comparisons to be made between the two players:

“Suzuki, he’s not a guy who kicks down doors, who hugs sticks. He’s a guy who’s calm, who presents himself well in front of the media.”

–

Maxime Talbot

Talbot added that he sees Suzuki as a leader in the same way as Patrice Bergeron (Talbot called him the Québécois Crosby). Suzuki isn’t necessarily the most flamboyant player (although he can show his Sunday hands, especially in shootouts). He always works hard every time he takes to the ice and, as Talbot mentioned, Suzuki is a hockey fanatic. When a guy loves hockey so much, it always sets an excellent example, a bit like Lane Hutson who is already gaining in popularity among young American hockey players. Definitely, the Habs have an excellent captain on hand and the years to come look very good for the Montreal club.

[spacer title=’Overtime’] – They will represent the Habs, as will Aatos Koivu and L.J. Mooney.

– Some important names for Canada won’t be at the World Junior Summer Showcase.

– Jordan Spence could be a nice surprise for the Senators

– Read on.

– Stroll disappoints again.