Author: Dose

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William Nylander unhappy with his playing time

NEWARK, NJ - APRIL 09: William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs waits for a face off during the third period of the game against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on April 9, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images)

As we all know, the Toronto Maple Leafs have several star players (or even superstars) in their line-up, and this can cause dissatisfaction when it comes to playing time.

Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are seen as the team’s two offensive leaders, but let’s not forget William Nylander, who has frequently filled in on the first line.

And he always did well.

He even scored a personal-high 98 points last year, and his performances earned him an eight-year, $11.5 million per season contract.

However, he recently mentioned that he’s not happy with the playing time Craig Berube is giving him.

That’s what we learn in this episode of Insider Trading, when Chris Johnston mentions the news.

When a star player publicly reveals his dissatisfaction with his playing time, it makes people react.

Honestly, Nylander deserves more playing time.

He came very close to reaching the famous 100-point plateau and is capable of killing penalties too, as he has done in recent years.

Recently, Nylander has been dropped to the second wave on the powerplay, as well as not being used on the powerplay under the new head coach.

He has proven that he belongs among the NHL’s elite, and has benefited greatly from every appearance with Auston Matthews and performing even better.

I understand that the Leafs aren’t going to put all their eggs in one basket, but Nylander deserves his place on the first line just as much, if not more.

At the very least, he MUST be on the first wave of the AN.

Berube will have to find a way to remedy the situation quickly, or else it could affect the chemistry in the dressing room.

If it goes on like this, the Leafs may even be forced to trade him, which could be good for both sides.

Nylander would get more playing time, and the Leafs would “get rid” of a big (and deserved) contract to meet the club’s greater needs.

Interestingly, at the time of writing, Nylander and the Leafs are playing the Seattle Kraken, and the Leafs’ main man has scored two goals in the second period.

Anything to convince his coach to play him more.

Overtime

– Impossible.

– Wow.

– Things aren’t going well for Jeremy Swayman and the Boston Bruins

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Mike Babcock (also) asked his staff to rank the effort of the players in front of them

A coach under pressure

That Mike Babcock.

I have a feeling we’ll be hearing about his antics for years to come.

Recently, on October 15 to be precise, Nazem Kadri released his book “Dreamer: My Life On the Edge”.

The book contains many interesting anecdotes, including the famous incident involving Babcock and Mitch Marner.

For those who don’t remember, Babcock had asked Marner in his first season to rank all the players from hardest-working to laziest.

Nonsense.

This incident is mentioned in Kadri’s book, but the former Toronto Maple Leafs player recounts a similar anecdote.

This time, it involved the coaching staff.

We have the chance to read this excerpt thanks to this guy.

At the end of the tweet, we see the beginning of the new story and we can see the rest in this other post on Twitter/X, below.

To recap, Babcock had asked his coaching staff to rank the effort of all players using a color-coded system.

Green for good, yellow for average and red for poor effort.

Babcock’s stories never cease to impress me (and not in a good way).

Initially, Kadri assumed that this story was not going to be revealed, but the coach decided to talk about each note in front of the whole team.

The main point was to embarrass the players and obviously, this caused some altercations between players and staff.

Definitely, Babcock likes to stir up trouble, and we’ve come to understand this over the years.

Overtime

– Read more.

– Gallagher and Slafkovsky had a great time.

– James Hagens, one of the best prospects in the 2025 crop, always wanted to be like Patrick Kane. [ResponsibleGambler]

– The Montreal Canadiens alumnus gets his Sunday hands out on Thursday.

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What should the Habs do with Oliver Kapanen?

OTTAWA, ON - OCTOBER 05: Montreal Canadiens Center Oliver Kapanen (91) battles Ottawa Senators Center Josh Norris (9) on a face-off during second period National Hockey League preseason action between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators on October 5, 2024, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Tonight, Oliver Kapanen will be used on the 4th line alongside Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak.

He was on the club’s second unit at yesterday’s practice, but Martin St-Louis’ plans have since changed.

Having said that, it looks like the Finn is starting to smell like hot soup…

In fact, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard accompanied the team to Washington and practiced this morning wearing a non-contact shirt.

And when he’s able to play, there’s one guy in the line-up who’ll have to bail out to make room for HP in the official 23-man roster.

And here, it’s easy to think of Kapanen because he’s the most logical candidate.

After all, Emil Heineman seems to have overtaken him in the pecking order because tonight, the big forward will be employed on the first line with Suzuki and Caufield. And the advantage for Heineman is that he can be sent to Laval without having to go through the waivers.

Barring a major surprise, Dvorak, Armia, Anderson and Gallagher won’t be sent back to the AHL… And the same can be said of Pezzetta, because he can be useful in the lineup if need be.

And let’s not forget Patrik Laine, who will be back at some point.

Could the Canadiens decide to send Kapanen back to Europe if he can’t be traded to Laval(for the time being)?

Patrik Bexell floated the idea on Twitter:

There are two ways of looking at this.

On the face of it, if Kapanen isn’t able to play much and ends up on the bridge most of the time, he won’t improve.

He’ll gain experience by traveling and practicing with the guys, which is good… But ultimately, at his age, he has to play to progress.

On the other hand, in Europe, he would have the opportunity to play a huge role in a good hockey league.

He was used as the center of his team’s first line in Timra before he left for the Canadiens’ practice camp, and he’d probably find himself back in that position when he returned to Sweden. That said, does he still have things to learn there? To hear Olli Jokinen, who is the team’s head coach there, the answer is no…

Ultimately, the Canadiens have a big decision to make.

By sending him to Europe, Kent Hughes and his associates won’t have 100% control over his development, unlike if they keep him in North America… But speaking of his development, the Habs also need to put him in a situation where he’ll be able to progress.

It’s a real headache.

Overtime

– I give him a big hug!

– Him, for example… Hehe.

– Sick.

– With good reason.

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We’re quick on the draw to criticize Dach’s performance in the middle.

MONTREAL, CANADA - MARCH 21: Kirby Dach #77 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates after a goal during the first period of the NHL regular season game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre on March 21, 2023 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)

This morning, La Presse published an article by Alexandre Pratt.

In it, the journalist compares the careers of Jonathan Drouin and Kirby Dach. And it’s true that there are similarities between the two players.

Dach and Drouin were selected 3rd overall in their respective drafts, they were dominant in junior, they were traded by their original teams while still very young… But above all, we’re talking about two center players who were moved to the wing for similar reasons: they’re not good in the face-off circle.

Reading Alexandre Pratt’s article, we realize that the journalist has a point. The two cases are very similar, especially in light of the fact that it’s been harder for Dach since the start of the season.

Alexandre Pratt even goes so far as to say this in his article:

Dach is one of the NHL’s worst players in the face-off circle. Not just this season. It’s been that way since his arrival in the league, and in this respect, he shows no signs of progress. – Alexandre Pratt

Again, he’s right, and the comparison with Drouin is a good one, because he too was awful at center when he first arrived in Montreal.

And at the time, it was also said that Drouin wasn’t progressing.

On the other hand, it leads me to say this: we knew it was going to be tough for Kirby Dach after his major injury last season.

We know we have to give him time, because it could be a long time before we see him at 100%.

That said, it seems that since he’s been placed alongside Suzuki and Caufield and is performing better on the ice, we’re already starting to think about the idea of seeing him converted to a winger.

I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves, especially since Dach has only played 70 games since arriving in Montreal (many of them on the wing of the first line).

It’s true that Dach isn’t the best in the face-off circle.

No one can argue with that, because the numbers don’t lie: he’s only won 35.3% of his face-offs since the start of his career, which is (really) not ideal.

But Kirby Dach is also known as a big, skillful player who can create space for his teammates. He’s got great vision, a big reach for his size, excellent puck handling and a good passer.

These are the qualities you want in a center forward.

And here’s the good news: you can work on your face-offs. The rest… a little less so.

In the end – in my humble opinion – you have to give him a chance, because the sample has been too small up to now.

Seeing him perform on the wing is interesting, but the Canadiens’ plan is to play him at center in the future, and that won’t change after just a few games.

Overtime

– He’s having a good time.

– Meh…

– Don Waddell won Halloween!

– Things are starting to move in the MLB.

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Recalling Luke Tuch to create an electroshock?

MONTREAL, QC - SEPTEMBER 14: Look on Montreal Canadiens left wing Luke Tuch (88) during the Toronto Maple Leafs versus the Montreal Canadiens preseason prospect showdown game on September 14, 2024, at Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

After last week’s 7-2 loss to the Rangers, the Canadiens bounced back nicely.

It won both its games last weekend against the Blues and Flyers.

But on Tuesday, two days ago, the club completely collapsed against the Seattle Kraken (8-2). And here’s a phrase that comes up a lot: “the players need to put in more effort on the ice”.

Jake Evans and Brendan Gallagher are the only ones who show up every night. They do well in their respective roles and set an example.

But what does it take to send a message to the rest of the group?

Anthony Marcotte answered that question today on BPM Sports. And his suggestion is simple: the Habs need to recall Luke Tuch to create something.

Anthony Marcotte explains his point by saying that since the start of the season, Luke Tuch has been playing the right way.

He deserves a call-up in his eyes because he has the mold to help the Canadiens right now.

I find this interesting because you don’t necessarily think of Tuch when you think of players who could be recalled by the Habs.

He has no NHL experience, unlike guys like Barré-Boulet, Roy, Gignac or Condotta… But Tuch is a different player than those guys: he hits, he’s (very) physical and he’s also capable of producing offensively.

Still, he’s collected four points in seven games with Laval since the start of the season, which is no mean feat for a player in his first year in the pros.

I like Anthony Marcotte’s idea, especially if we see the Canadiens pulling out all the stops tonight.

You need guys who want to be there, and if you give a young guy like Tuch a chance to shine, the effort will definitely be there because he’ll want to prove himself and because that’s his style of play.

Stay tuned.

Overtime

– Logical.

– Major surgery for Curtis Lazar.

– He’s one of a kind.

– Yeah. It’s flat, but it’s all the same.

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Nick Suzuki in a new Bauer ad in collaboration with Hockey Canada

Nick Suzuki has had a good start to the season.

It took a while to see him get going, but he’s been collecting points at an interesting pace lately.

In particular, he had a seven-game point streak after being blanked in his first two games of the campaign.

The captain absolutely had to get off to an interesting start if he was to be in contention for a place in the Canadiens line-up for the 4 Nations Tournament.

That’s what happened, and it’s logical to wonder whether Hockey Canada officials are keeping an eye on him at the moment.

But what piques our curiosity is when we see Nick Suzuki featured in an ad for Bauer Hockey, which has just launched a clothing collection in collaboration with Hockey Canada.

Is this just a coincidence? Or does it hint at what’s to come?

It’s intriguing, to say the least:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BAUER Hockey (@bauerhockey)

In the photos shared by Bauer Hockey, we see the Canadiens’ captain putting ribbon on his stick while dressed in a handsome black jacket with the Canada logo.

We also see him sporting two different versions of his cap (one black and one red):

I’m going to take a quick moment to say this: the new Bauer clothing collection is really beautiful. It’s simple, it’s “hockey player” and I really like the design of the caps.

But getting back to Nick Suzuki, it just seems like the timing of the announcement is weird.

Things have been going well for Suzuki lately, we’ve learned that McDavid will be out for 2-3 weeks of activities, Hockey Canada officials don’t have much time (early December) to send out their official line-up for the tournament…

It’s hard to see what’s behind it, to put it another way.

Overtime

– Good.

– It goes without saying:

– Cole Caufield loves chocolate.

– Speaking of Cole: will he score tonight?

– Jakub Dobes hurt himself at the end of his game last night.

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Georges Laraque expects Joshua Roy to be traded

MONTREAL, CANADA - MARCH 12: Joshua Roy #89 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates his goal with the bench during the first period of the NHL regular season game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Bell Centre on March 12, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Arianne Bergeron/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Canadiens sent Joshua Roy to the minors to send him a message.

What message? That he needs to play better on the ice? That he needs to take charge off the ice? A mixture of both? Your guess is as good as mine on this one.

But it’s clear that there’s a message in all this.

We’re all wondering whether the Habs will sign Roy in the next few weeks or not. But right now, the club seems to prefer to find solutions by stirring the fruit salad rather than adding an ingredient.

Yesterday, at practice, it looked like this. This morning, what will it be?

But now, concerning Roy, Georges Laraque, earlier this week, said he expected the Québécois forward not to finish the season in the Canadiens organization.

And why? Because guys like him are historically traded by the Habs.

Stéphane Gonzalez has come a long way on this, and he’s right: if the Habs ever decide to look for reinforcements (everyone knows the Habs are looking for reinforcements), they’ll have to give more than “Joel Armia and a deuce” or something like that.

Could Roy, given everything we know about him, be a trade candidate? It’s not impossible.

Do Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton think the young man has a future in town? We know that management recognizes his talent, but we can’t rely on that alone either. #Culture

This will be a case to follow.

Overtime

– Oh yeah?

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Justin Barron felt “normal” the day after Jacob Trouba’s hit

When Jacob Trouba hit Justin Barron, it was the talk of the town.

Trouba, known for his hitting, tackled Justin Barron, who really looked like he’d hit his head. Some blamed the Rangers player, others the Habs player.

Here’s the hit.

What you need to know is that the main man, who spoke to the media for the first time since the hit on the heels of his return to action tonight, believes he misplaced himself to protect himself.

So, in his eyes, he’s in the wrong. Jonathan Bernier reports.

What the main man is saying is that it’s a move he could have prevented. He tried to force the game and therefore put himself in a disadvantageous position to help his club.

It didn’t work… and the Habs, we’ll remember, lost that game by a lot.

What’s crazy is that he says he felt better the very next day. He says the Habs played it safe in his case, which explains his three-game absence from the lineup.

That said, I don’t see him in the habs Halloween photo, which was taken the day after the NY game. Is he one of the astronauts? Spider-Man? Absent for another reason?

Did the Habs try to cover up the fact that he was left out by not bringing him back from injury? It’s not impossible, but I don’t think so.

After all, Logan Mailloux was easy to get out of the lineup.

I can’t wait to see how he reacts tonight. But if he’s back in the game, it’s probably because the club’s doctors feel he’s fit to play and that his injury (concussion?) is behind him.

To be continued.

Overtime

– Logical.

– Makes sense.

– Caps happy with Pierre-Luc Dubois for now.

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Ivan Demidov scores a (truly) magnificent goal

When I saw the video of Ivan Demidov’s goal in his game of the day, I almost choked on my bite of sandwich.

You’ll understand why my reaction was so strong:

Wow, wow and more wow.

To score a goal like that, you need talent. And we know that Ivan Demidov is a very talented player.

He outwitted the defender with a beautiful deke and then completely outwitted the goalkeeper, who almost tore his crotch trying to make the save.

His 6th goal of the season is a fine one.

More details to come…

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Nothing works for Samuel Montembeault right now

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

At the start of the season, Samuel Montembeault was shining. His games against Toronto and Ottawa were excellent, but also encouraging for the future.

After all, we’re still trying to figure out if he’s a #1 goalie in the NHL.

But since then, things have gone downhill. I don’t know if the workload isn’t adequate or if the pressure is too great, but the chain has come off in the case of the Bécancour goaltender.

(Credit: ESPN)

Yes, there was that good start against St. Louis. But the fact remains that four of his last five outings have been difficult. He didn’t complete two of them.

In his last five games, he has one win and 18 goals. Yesterday, he let in one shot out of two.

He has a 3.67 GAA this year and his efficiency rate is .891. Yet he stopped 72 of the first 73 pucks he received in his first two games of the season.

And it’s worth mentioning that he’s only played at home this year. Theoretically, it’s easier than on the road. #LastChange

This isn’t to say that Montembeault isn’t good, because he isn’t. But let’s call a spade a spade: he hasn’t had it at all since the game against the Penguins on October 14.

He’s not in his zone right now. A goalie in his zone doesn’t break his stick after a bad outing.

Because the Habs don’t have any other realistic options (Cayden Primeau isn’t a #1 goalie and Jakub Dobes, as promising as he is, still needs mileage down low), I don’t expect any big changes. And besides, the season is still young.

But the fact remains that Monty, who knows what he has to work on, has to rise to the occasion.

He needs to do it to keep the Canadiens #InTheMix for as long as possible, but also because Team Canada is a few weeks away from finalizing its lineup for the Four Nations Tournament in February.

And right now, the way he’s playing, the Québécois is probably getting out of the race more than anything else.

Obviously, the sample is still small in this month of October, but the fact remains that I wanted to check out the stats of his opponents in the race in question.

Here’s how it looks.

  • Adin Hill, Golden Knights: 4-2, 3.20, .878
  • Jordan Binnington, Blues: 2-4, 3.12, .895
  • Stuart Skinner, Oilers: 2-4-1, 3.51, .872
  • Logan Thompson, Capitals: 4-0, 3.21, .876
  • Darcy Kuemper, Kings: 2-0-2, 3.20, .897
  • Marc-André Fleury, Wild: 2-0-1, 2.93, .899

I put Fleury here because, at this point, he can’t be dismissed too quickly. And when you consider that no goalie is stopping nine out of ten shots, it’s not necessarily too late for Monty (3-4, 3.67, .891) with Team Canada… which says a lot about the state of goaltending in this country.

We’re a long way from the days when Canada (and Quebec) had the best goalies.

Even if the eye test isn’t conclusive at the moment, if he bounces back and management remembers his world championship in 2023, it could work in his favour.

But for that to happen, he has to stand up.