Since Patrik Laine’s long-term injury, Joe Veleno has taken his place in the Montreal Canadiens line-up.
The Montrealer has played nine games so far, but has yet to pick up a single point, in addition to posting a minus-3 differential.
Of course, Veleno plays a fourth-line role, but let’s just say that his presence in the lineup is neither hot nor cold.
Let’s just say that Veleno isn’t doing anything that would force Martin St-Louis to keep him in the lineup, or that would force the Habs head coach to keep playing him.
And that’s where I sincerely believe it’s time to try something else, to reinvigorate the Habs lineup with energy and toughness.
In my opinion, Jared Davidson deserves his chance right now with the Canadiens.
Jared Davidson strikes again…
That’s his 8th goal of the season in 11 games.
I don’t know about anyone else but I’d really enjoy seeing Davidson in MTL’s lineup for a few games instead of a guy who… idk let’s just say his name rhymes with Moe Soprano. #GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/i7G20oiBnT
The Laval Rocket forward has been dominant since the start of the season, and he added to that last night with his 8ᵉ goal of the season in a 4-2 Rocket win over the Hartford Wolf Pack.
That now gives him ten points in 11 games, putting him second on the Rocket scoring list, only behind Laurent Dauphin, who has 13 points.
And in the AHL as a whole, Davidson’s eight goals place him 3rd among the league’s top scorers.
In short, the 23-year-old forward has been excellent since the start of the season, and would certainly earn himself a recall and a first NHL tryout with the Canadiens.
Jared Davidson continues his hot streak. I’d like to see him get a callup and look. He has earned it.
Davidson’s progress has been impressive throughout his development, and he continues to improve and, more importantly, to climb the ranks of the Canadiens.
At practice, Davidson was clearly behind Florian Xhekaj and Owen Beck, but right now, it’s hard to see how the Rocket’s #49 wouldn’t be ahead of the Habs’ other two prospects.
In the event of a recall, I really believe that Davidson is the best option, and above all, that we should try him out right now in place of Joe Veleno.
It costs nothing to try him out, and if it works, the Habs will be a better team.
Anyway, let’s see if it’s a recall and a lineup change we might see soon, or if it’ll take a few more losses before we think about such a roster move.
Kaiden Guhle is pretty much the equivalent of the proverbial apple pie.
Everybody loves apple pie.
Everyone loves Kaiden Guhle.
In some cases, it’s unconditional love. Before the season started, a few voices on sports radio were still referring to him as the “key defender”, the “most important” defender and the “soul” of the Montreal defensive brigade.
So much for the “soul” part.
But as for the rest, it’s time to revise our assessments, gentlemen!
In fact, can we start acknowledging, in all lucidity, that his recurring injuries are beginning to constitute a problem?
A problem?
Well, yes and no, because the Canadiens continue to win in his absence.
A player less “important” than you might think
There are two reasons for this.
The first is that, although he doesn’t play on the power play, Jayden Struble is a very adequate replacement. By protecting his face-offs a little more(match-ups, fewer defensive zone starts), the difference between him and Guhle often seems marginal at five-on-five… The eye can see it, and some advanced statistics also confirm that, properly used, Struble is a positive factor on the ice.
(Screenshot: Puckpedia.com)
Secondly, and most significantly, Guhle’s importance in the organization chart has greatly diminished in recent years and deserves to be reviewed.
We could go on and on about all the players who will be more important to the Habs’ success in the years to come than Kaiden Guhle.
Let’s just list them without even adding the name of David Reinbacher, who could be his eventual replacement alongside Lane Hutson:
1. Ivan Demidov
2. Lane Hutson
3. Nick Suzuki
4. Cole Caufield
5. Noah Dobson
6. Juraj Slafkovsky
7. Mike Matheson
8. Dobes/Montembeault
As you can see, Guhle, the team’s #4 defenseman, would be about the Habs’ 9th most important player when healthy..
But the really good teams are always able to win without their 9th best player or their #4 defenseman..
And that’s exactly what the Habs do when Guhle is absent.
2024-2025
Last season, Guhle was absent for two months following the January 28 game.
During this period, his club collected 22 points in 20 games, good for a projected 90.2 pts over 82 games.
But how many points did the Habs record over 82 games?
91 pts!
Without taking anything away from #21, that’s clearly a negligible impact on his team’s results.
Maybe it’s the atheist in me, but there will always be a limit to how many games an “aura”, a “soul” or a “presence” can win you..
What about 2025-2026?
Of course, it’s too early after his nine-game absence to draw any big conclusions about the impact of his absence on the current season.
But let’s just say that with Guhle in the line-up, the club had 4 wins and just one defeat (0.800) and that in the nine games it played without him, it accumulated 12 points out of a possible 18 (0.666).
Logically, maintaining an average of 0.800 is virtually impossible (131 pts).
However, over 82 games, if the Habs play for 0.666 – a much more realistic target – they’ll have a 109-point season. I don’t think he’d do much more with Guhle in the line-up.
In any case, 109 points would have been enough to finish one point ahead of Toronto at the top of the Atlantic last season…
What to do with Guhle?
If his injury heals normally – he’s already back on skates – and we take it for granted that the Albertan will miss five weeks of play, he could return on November 20 against the Washington Capitals, a 14-game absence.
That would give him a campaign of 67 games played.
If he doesn’t re-injure himself this season, Guhle would have averaged 59 games per year since joining the Canadiens in 2022-2023.
So it’s hard to talk about his 6-year, $5.5 million contract as a bargain – a mantra we hear regularly – when instead of pocketing $67,073 per game played, it costs $93,220!
93,220 per game is what a $7,644,000 player is worth!
Don’t get me wrong, at $5.5 million per season, Guhle would represent a bargain by playing 82 games.
But will he be able to play 82 games – or close to it – even once in the five years remaining on his contract?
Will he be able to play healthy when it counts most in the playoffs?
In any case, I’d be very hesitant to bet $5.5M on it… And if I were in the shoes of Hughes and Gorton, that’s the kind of question I’d seriously ask myself.
With Hutson’s contract extension set to take effect next year ($8.85 million), Matheson’s soon-to-be-signed new deal at nearly $7 million per season, and Demidov’s next deal set to take effect in 2027 ($11 million?), these three will soon be eating up another $20 million on the payroll…
Will the Canadiens be able to afford a4th defenseman at $5.5 million?
Probably not.
But perhaps they’ll also want to spend that money elsewhere.
Especially when Struble, his replacement with similar qualities, costs four times less for a perfectly honest job, not to mention the possible arrival of the right-handed Reinbacher, perhaps the most natural complement to Hutson imaginable…
A bargaining chip for Kadri?
If Hughes and Gorton put 23-year-old Guhle in the shop window, he’s likely to be of interest to many clubs.
The mediocre Flames in Alberta, Kaiden’s home province, come to mind, who might take him in return for a certain Nazem Kadri.
Aside from giant Kevin Bahl, to whom they’ve just agreed to pay $5.35 million for the next six seasons, the Flames have absolutely nothing on the left side of defence, and Guhle would also assume a great deal of leadership during their rebuild…
That would be sound management on the part of both clubs, both hockey-wise and salary-wise.
Note that, as part of a package, the Flames might prefer young forwards. Kirby Dach, another Albertan, or Alex Newhook, or even Kapanen, would be logical targets..
But Montreal might prefer to keep these young, inexpensive forwards who may not yet be at their peak, in order to maintain as much forward depth as possible.
In a world where Dan Muse is working miracles with his gang of 30-somethings in Pittsburgh – led by Crosby and Malkin – there’s little doubt in my mind that Nazem Kadri must be considered a serious contender for the second center spot in Montreal.
Kadri, the Flames’ first pivot, 721 points in 1,000 games, $7 million a year, no missed games and an average of 66 points in his last three seasons in Calgary, would probably be one of the top five second centers in the league until the end of his contract at age 38. He’s that kind of player.
A fine career, almost never injured, in great shape, always productive, Kadri is what you might call a “35-year-old”.
Oh yes, as with Crosby, the Habs are also his childhood club and his father’s!
But beyond these beautiful and touching images, Kadri is above all an excellent left-handed center forward, and the kind that is hard to play against and not at all relaxing to face. He has a tiring side, not always moral-moral, that disturbs his opponents in the playoffs, just like a certain Sam Bennett…
All in all, Kadri has 44 points in 52 playoff games, with a Stanley Cup in Colorado. Not bad clutch, that.
June 22, 2022.
Nazem Kadri wins game four in overtime with a broken thumb, putting Colorado a single victory away from winning the Stanley Cup.pic.twitter.com/hQ2RAlvy8i
The Avalanche have never been the same club in the spring since his departure.
And, in Montreal, we like “spring” players.
Conclusion
Of course, things have time to change a thousand times between now and the trade deadline on March 6.
The Penguins and several other clubs could fall in the standings, and new targets could appear on the radar screen…
In the meantime, Kadri is just one option among many, with the likes of Zacha, O’Reilly, Schenn and Kyrou coming to mind.
At 35, some may find Kadri “too old” and the remainder of his contract a little too long (2029). Perhaps an O’Reilly would do the trick while Hage and/or Zharovsky took over?
But we could also say that if Crosby really wants to finish his career in Pittsburgh, Kadri may be the one with the best chance of winning the Cup at least once over the next four springs…
An experienced, talented, left-handed center with dog. A winner. That’s certainly one missing ingredient in HuGo’s recipe.
A more important ingredient than Kaiden Guhle, in my opinion.
But, who knows, maybe the Habs don’t need to sacrifice Guhle to acquire Kadri?
Maybe Guhle is too much a part of the identity, the fiber, of the Canadiens to part with him?
It all depends on what the Flames want and what vision Hughes and Gorton have in mind for the next few years.
The evaluation of David Reinbacher could be decisive. Perhaps he’ll be the one sacrificed…
– The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) November 7, 2025
Offensively, his production is non-existent. In nine games, he has no points, seven shots and a minus-3 record.
As Pierre McGuire says in The Sick Podcast, Veleno doesn’t seem comfortable playing on the wing right now, and it shows in his overall game.
Martin St-Louis’ strategy of having two centers playing on different sides of the fourth line is understandable, but yesterday Veleno was one-for-four (25%), so nothing convincing for him.
By comparison, Jake Evans was much more effective in the face-off circle, with a 58.3% efficiency (7 in 12) against the Devils.
The problem with the Montreal-born player is that we don’t really have room for him at center right now.
Evans already does what you’d expect Veleno to do, only better, so putting him at the center of the fourth line is out of the question.
In fact, while Veleno’s season-to-date performance in the face-off circle is good at 51.2%, Evans’ is better at 57.4%.
Plus, right now, Olivier Kapanen and Kirby Dach are doing well on their respective lines, so we’re not touching that.
And, need I mention Nick Suzuki?
St-Louis will have to find a solution and possibly reshuffle his third and fourth lines to find the right chair for Veleno.
Shaking things up a bit could also help players like Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson, for whom it’s been more difficult in recent games.
Let’s hope the Habs coach can find a good combination for his forward lines, as Patrik Laine isn’t about to make a comeback.
Overtime
– He really takes the team to heart.
“To see a player get so emotional after a regular-season loss, at this point in the year, it’s disturbing. It doesn’t work.”
On Thursday night, the Canadiens lost in overtime to the New Jersey Devils. Jakub Dobes, who was in front of the net, suffered his first loss of the season… and after the game, he couldn’t hold back his tears in front of the media.
It was a rather surprising reaction for a guy who, in reality, had very little to reproach himself for.
Seeing him react like that made us wonder if he was all right… and this morning, Martin St-Louis confirmed that Dobes is okay. He’ll still have the night off tonight, though.
And Alexandre Carrier, who spoke to the media about all this, was also reassuring about the young goalie: he says the guys have been giving him love over the last few days… and obviously, this morning, he was feeling better.
Because this morning, the guys teased him a bit about it… which they wouldn’t have done if he was still affected, you know.
Carrier did admit, however, that he’s rarely seen a player get so emotional following an early-season game, even away from the cameras. In fact, the few times he’s seen it is when the player is going through a difficult situation in his personal life.
The good news, however, is that all this now seems to be well and truly over. Dobes can now look forward… and he has the support of the rest of the group. He may have suffered his first loss of the year on Thursday (and Carrier suspects that played a part), but he’s still an important part of the club.
And the guys have made sure to let him know it. Good news, then.
– Jordan Kyrou: the Kraken was interested last draft.
Elliotte Friedman: Re Jordan Kyrou trade rumours: I really do believe that Seattle looked at it at the draft; I do think [GM] Armstrong is looking around, I think he really wants to know…what are my options – 32 Thoughts (11/7)
For some time now, the subject of ice time for certain Habs players has been the talk of the town. Zachary Bolduc and Ivan Demidov are two names that come up a lot in this debate.
Seeing them play so little on Thursday night, for example, didn’t exactly please the fans in town.
Habs lowest time on ice among forwards tonight:
– Zack Bolduc: 09:11 mins
– Ivan Demidov: 10:27 mins
– Kirby Dach: 11:37 mins
– Joe Veleno: 12:44 mins
Given that the Habs spent a lot of time on the short-handed Thursday, that’s fair enough… except that, generally speaking, it’s been a trend since the start of the season.
And this morning, Martin St-Louis was asked a question about Bolduc… and after insisting that the forward must find consistency, the coach deviated from the question for a few minutes (the excerpt is already posted below, and it’s worth it) to take some of the blame:
I need to be better at managing certain players’ ice time. – Martin St-Louis
Obviously, the fact that he brought all this up in response to a question about Bolduc suggests that he is one of the players in question. And it’s hard not to think of Demidov too.
The coach explains that he often finds himself caught between having to manage the special units and wanting precise trios to face others 5-on-5, which means he can’t always give certain players as much ice time as he’d like.
And maybe he finds himself giving too much to guys who maybe don’t deserve as much.
Still, it’s interesting to see the coach acknowledge all this in front of the media, and you have to wonder if he’ll eventually want to make changes in this area. He says he wants to improve and try to find solutions, which is a good step forward.
We’ll be watching over the next few games.
Overtime
– In any case, Bolduc takes advantage of practice to show off his skills, hehe.
– The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) November 8, 2025
– A name to watch.
Jeff Marek: I do wonder about Juuse Saros as well, if the Predators are gonna go through a rebuild I think you have that conversation with the goaltender – The Sheet (11/6)
Tonight, the Canadiens take on the Mammoth at the Bell Centre. The club will be looking to get back to winning ways after losing their last two games (in overtime).
The question, however, was who would get the start in front of net tonight. We know it’s a hot topic in town this season, after all.
And now we have the answer: Samuel Montembeault will face the Mammoth tonight.
Montembeault didn’t get off to an easy start Tuesday night at the Bell Centre, but he was absolutely smoking for the rest of the game. And tonight, he’ll have the chance to prove that he has indeed turned the corner.
It’ll be a big test for the Québécois.
One wonders whether the decision to send Montembeault out tonight was planned from the outset… or whether it was slightly influenced by Dobes’ reaction to Thursday’s defeat. Perhaps the club thought it wise, under the circumstances, to give him a game off so the dust could settle.
However, at the same time, the guys in the dressing room this morning insisted that it’s all in the past and that the keeper is doing much better today, to the point where the lads have gone back to teasing him as usual. That’s reassuring.
So it’s Montembeault’s turn to face a good club at home tonight. Let’s see if the Montembeault of Tuesday’s last 45 minutes shows up again.
Overtime
– It’s a sight to behold.
Three different decades represented among the NHL’s top scorers. Age in blue. Who finishes top three at the end of the season? **Can also pick someone not in top 13 today.** pic.twitter.com/vGV1ug73hz
The Canadiens de Montréal posted some very sad news on their social networks this morning.
The Habs announced that Roger Grillo, the Habs’ consulting coach, has been diagnosed with cancer and is currently battling the disease.
This is very sad news.
Over the past few weeks, the Canadiens organization has learned that consulting coach Roger Grillo has been battling cancer. Our thoughts and prayers are with our colleague and friend. Our hearts go out to him and his loved ones in this ordeal. We..
Arber Xhekaj hasn’t exactly been helping the Habs in recent weeks.
He’s doing his best (even if he hardly ever hits anymore) and even so, it’s not enough sometimes, because he’s also capable of getting his team into trouble. The Sheriff doesn’t always make the best decisions on the ice, and he’s not the most disciplined guy either.
As a result, he’s played an average of 11 minutes (10:56) per game so far this season.
After all, Martin St-Louis can’t give him more than that. The coach can’t use a defenseman like Xhekaj on the short-handed because he’s not reliable enough in his own territory.
To help the club in this respect, Jean-François Chaumont told Mario Langlois(98.5 FM) that he sees Mario Ferraro as a target of interest for the Canadiens. It’s not crazy, when you look at the résumé of the main interested party.
Ferraro is a 27-year-old left-handed defenseman who has always played with the San Jose Sharks. He’s played 422 career NHL games since being selected in the 2nd round of the 2017 draft, and is averaging 15 points per season.
But above all, we’re talking about a guy with a defensive style who’s really effective in his zone. He’s experienced and reliable on the ice, and his contract is worth $3.25 million per season.
He’s in the final year of his contract. Ferraro will be eligible to test the free agent market on July 1.
This wouldn’t be a huge risk for the Canadiens, if you look at it another way. It would allow Kent Hughes to add depth to the blue line, which is currently banged up with the absence of Kaiden Guhle… and we also know that you can never have too much defensive depth in a National League club.
All this to say, then, that Jean-François Chaumont’s idea isn’t crazy. Add to that the fact that it wouldn’t cost the moon to get Ferraro out of San Jose… and the matter becomes even more interesting for the Canadiens, too.
Overtime
– Attention all interested parties:
Don’t miss the first Bobblehead Night of the season, presented by @RONAinc! On December 2, you could receive a Lane Hutson figurine!
Despite two recent overtime losses, things are going very well for the Canadiens de Montréal, who are still in first place in the Atlantic Division.
And when you look at the entire Canadiens organization, things are even better, with young prospects not yet in Montreal performing very well.
We’re talking a lot aboutAlexander Zharovsky at the moment, and rightly so, given that he’s dominating the KHL at just 18 years of age, but we mustn’t forget the Habs’ other dominant prospects, including Michael Hage.
The 19-year-old right-handed center has also been impressive this season, producing at a furious pace in the NCAA in his second season with the University of Michigan.
Last night, Hage and Michigan played a very big game, as they took on the University of Wisconsin, where Cole Caufield played during his NCAA stint.
It was a big duel, and that didn’t stop Hage from standing out, on the contrary, he scored two goals, including a very important equalizer midway through the third period.
He fired a superb shot into the net to tie the game at a crucial moment in a hotly contested game.
In the end, the goal proved decisive as the University of Michigan never looked back, winning 7-4.
Hage scored his second goal in an empty net, which you can see in the video below, along with comments from the Habs prospect, his coach and teammate Will Horcoff.
Hear from Michael Hage, Will Horcoff and Coach Brandon Naurato after Friday night’s 7-4 win over Wisconsin pic.twitter.com/if4Tm9ltp4
With his two goals in this game, Hage now has eight goals and nine assists, giving him 17 points in 11 games this season.
That’s an impressive haul that puts Hage in 4th place among the NCAA’s top scorers at the moment.
(Credit: Elite Prospects)
This 17-point haul puts Hage ahead of top prospects such as Gavin McKenna (most likely the first pick in the upcoming draft) and Cole Hutson (Lane’s brother).
In short, Hage is dominant this season, showing the full extent of his talent no matter what the opponent, which is very interesting.
The Habs prospect doesn’t just collect points against small teams, he’s capable of making the difference in big games like last night’s. The Tricolore can really count on Hage.
The Habs can count themselves very lucky to have Hage as a prospect, because if things keep going like this, the 19-year-old could very well join the Habs after his season and come straight in to play an important role.
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