Author: Dose

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Beck, Xhekaj and Engstrom cut off from Montreal: Pascal Vincent felt no disappointment on their part

All bets are off, and the Canadiens kick off their season tomorrow against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Florian Xhekaj, Adam Engstrom and Owen Beck didn’t make the big club, which isn’t a surprise in the circumstances, but they left a fine calling card. There just wasn’t room for them with the big club… In any case, despite being cut, the three aren’t disappointed. Rocket head coach Pascal Vincent didn’t sense any disappointment on their part.

If Xhekaj was probably one of the most impressive players at camp, the same can be said of Adam Engstrom. In my opinion, he was one of the best defensemen: mobile, good with the puck, plays well in his territory and doesn’t hesitate to carry the puck. It’s not for nothing that Simon Boisvert likes him and, for the moment, doesn’t dare put him in the “no impact” category, despite his late selection by the Habs in 2022 (92nd) [content-ads] With the departure of Logan Mailloux, in particular, Engstrom will have a lot more offensive responsibilities in Laval, and I can’t wait to see him in action. It wouldn’t surprise me if he finished as the team’s leading scorer among defensemen.Let’s hope David Reinbacher isn’t far behind him.As for Owen Beck, he’s also aware that it would have been difficult to make the camp, but not impossible. He was simply beaten by Oliver Kapanen. Beck knows his future role in the NHL: fourth-line player, who will play at a numerical disadvantage and in more defensive situations. Under Pascal Vincent, he may have a chance to blossom offensively, however, and Rouleau’s article states that Vincent will be experimenting this season. He’s already talked about it with the youngster, but he intends to use him on the wing too. He wants to work on his versatility, an asset that will be very useful if he wants to have a nice, long career in the show.spacer title=’Overtime’] – Listen to

– The Laval Rocket

to

contract

– Ah well.

– Marc Bureau helps the Remparts.

– Vegas reaches agreement with Alexander Holtz.

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The Habs are the youngest team in the NHL

Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, Ivan Demidov, Oliver Kapanen, Zachary Bolduc, Noah Dobson, Kaiden Guhle, Jayden Struble, Arber Xhekaj, Lane Hutson, Jakub Dobes… All these guys have something in common. What am I talking about? The fact that they’re all 25 years old or younger. The Habs have a young club heading into next season, but it goes even further than that. In fact, the Canadiens go into the season as the youngest team in the NHL. The club has an average age of 25.8… which ranks it first in the league at that level. And the Habs are the only team in the league with an average age under 26:

[content-ads] There can be repercussions at this level, especially in terms of club leadership. You need veterans and experienced players to win in the National League – as in all the other major leagues – and that’s no secret. But even if the Canadiens are young, they can also count on players who have that quality. Suzuki, at 26, is a leader. So is Caufield. Slaf is appreciated in the bedroom. Arber Xhekaj is a guy who has an important voice in the dressing room, as is Kaiden Guhle. Add to this group guys like Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson, Jake Evans, Brendan Gallagher… Just because the Canadiens are young doesn’t mean there isn’t leadership within the group. The guys are close-knit, they spend a lot of time together, and that, too, can help off the ice or in more important moments. But the fact remains the same: knowing that the Habs are the youngest team in the National League, that’s interesting.

[spacer title=’Overtime’] – Now that’s funny.

– I’m going with the Stars. You?

– This is going to be expensive.

– Come on!

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The Habs prepare to complete a mid-season transaction

This summer, the Canadiens made two big trades. Kent Hughes acquired Noah Dobson from the Islanders on the first day of the 2025 draft… and a few days later, the Canadiens’ GM made a move and picked up Zachary Bolduc from St. Louis.But that’s all it took, even if the Habs’ plan was to get their hands on a player who could play at the center of the second line. That’s not to say, however, that we can’t expect to see the Canadiens make a trade this past season. We saw proof of this last year, when the Habs brought Alexandre Carrier from Nashville to solidify the right side of their defensive brigade, and everything points to another move between now and Christmas. Marco D’Amico wrote about it(RG Media): The Habs are gearing up to complete a mid-season trade.

According to NHL sources and long-time salary cap observers, Montreal management sees December as the true start of the trade season. And that’s no coincidence.

–

Marco D’Amico

[content-ads] The fact that the Habs kept 22 players to complete the season (instead of 23) translates into several million dollars of effective buying power saved for later in the season.

This will allow Kent Hughes to be more aggressive on the trade market… without necessarily needing to wait until the deadline in order to make a move. And what’s interesting, too, is the fact that Hughes has the elements in place to do something big. The Canadiens have a number of top picks and quality prospects… and that’s enough to help the Canadiens’ GM get really creative with his moves. So you’d expect a lot of movement.

If the Habs feel that Dach, Kapanen, Evans, Veleno and Newhook (all of whom could get reps at center) aren’t delivering the goods, maybe the idea of making a move to improve depth at that level will be on the table. Because, as we know, the Habs wanted another quality center this summer.

– Really!

– Yeah.

– Too bad

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Video : Samuel Blais and Cayden Primeau in their new colors

Samuel Blais and Cayden Primeau are now part of the Leafs organization, having been claimed in the waivers yesterday. And the two former Habs were spotted in their new colors today, as they took part in the day’s practice in Toronto.

Renaud Lavoie posted videos on X:

Seeing Primeau in a Leafs uniform feels weird. We’ve been used to seeing him in a Canadiens jersey for the past few years, and now he’s gone over to the enemy, but I thought it was just as special to see Primeau in his Leafs gear. Remember: even in Carolina, Primeau played games in his old Canadiens helmet, and now, less than 24 hours after being called for waivers by the Leafs, he’s already got his new stock… [content-ads] The Canadiens and Leafs will face off tomorrow night in the first game of the season for both clubs.

We can’t necessarily expect Primeau to be in front of his new club’s net for the game… but I wonder if Blais will be in uniform. And I tend to think that if he is, the Québécois will have a field day making the Canadiens look bad. We know he’s capable of being physical on the ice (we’ve seen it in the Habs’ preseason games), and if he starts shaking down the Habs players, it’s going to make for a funny moment… It’s always special to see former Canadiens players wearing the colors of another NHL team, but it seems even more so when it’s the Leafs we’re talking about. It reminds me of seeing Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty in Leaf blue: it’s just… weird. It’ll take some getting used to, I guess! [spacer title=’En rafale’] – That would be interesting.

– Jonathan Toews is injured again.

– Transaction in the NFL.

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Hutson: The Habs wanted to give him less than $9M per season (with deferred money)

Elliotte Friedman has some new information about Lane Hutson’s upcoming new contract. What is it? Basically, the informer mentions in an article that the Canadiens wanted to give him less than $9M per season with money deferred in the contract (which is no longer possible as of yesterday). The Habs also wanted to take advantage of the fact that Hutson had a tax break to offer him a contract for less than $9 M per year… but the defenseman wasn’t interested in going that route.

Hutson’s representatives were above the $72 M mark (which isn’t ridiculous), but disagreed philosophically on the deferred money and the capital lease.

–

Elliotte Friedman

Friedman, in his text, adds that there is “a lot of disappointment” that there has been no signed agreement yet. And he mentions that, at the moment, the Habs and Hutson are at an impasse “until everyone calms down”, even though there were discussions yesterday.

[content-ads] It’s peculiar to know that the Canadiens wanted to go down this road. But we realize that the Habs management had some interest in deferred money since in The Reconstruction (on Crave), we hear Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes talk about a deferred-money contract for Jake Evans – which didn’t happen in the end.

We’ve never seen a guy in Montreal sign a contract like that, but clearly, the Habs had that option on the table.All this to say, then, that negotiations between Hutson and the Canadiens seem to be a little complicated at the moment, even if both sides have the same idea in mind: Hutson wants to stay and the Habs want to have him in Montreal for several years. But when it comes to salary, that seems to be the stumbling block… and now we have to wonder how the Canadiens and the defenseman are going to reach an agreement. It’s starting to look like it’s time for this file to come to an end, that said…

[

–

– To be continued.

– Hehe.

🤪

– Me neither, Max…

– Interesting.

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Logan Mailloux told to find a place to live in Saint-Louis

Logan Mailloux won his bet: the Blues told him to get a place in St. Louis, which means he made the club and will start the season in the National League. He did well at his team’s camp , collecting four assists in as many games.

I’m not necessarily surprised because since the beginning of the summer, we’ve been hearing from the Blues that Mailloux was going to play in the NHL next season. They gave him every opportunity to prove himself, and he took it.Good for him.On the other side of the coin, Zachary Bolduc will start the season on the first wave of the Canadiens’ powerplay. The Blues paid big to get Mailloux and the Habs paid big to get the Québécois.Both clubs obviously want to put their youngster in a situation where they can succeed quickly [content-ads] Speaking of Mailloux… It’s worth noting that his name has found its way into an NHL article featuring some daring predictions for the upcoming campaign.

The

defenseman, acquired from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for winger Zachary Bolduc, will carve out a place for himself on the second wave of the power play, and will approach the 40-point plateau with more than 10 goals.

–

Hugues Marcil

I’m especially looking forward to seeing how he’ll be used this season in St. Louis. On the DailyFaceoff website, we see him playing on the third pair on defense alongside Tyler Tucker… And Mailloux can also be found at the tip of the second wave of the power play with Justin Faulk, Jordan Kyrou, Dylan Holloway and Jake Neighbours. He’ll be well surrounded, to put it another way. And that can really help him have a big season offensively: we know, after all, that he has great offensive potential. [spacer title=’Overtime’] – Some key dates:

– Yep.

– I like it.

– No surprise there.

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Maple Leafs choose Cayden Primeau over Kaapo Kahkonen

Last summer, the Canadiens turned to Kaapo Kahkonen to bring depth to the organization in front of the net, and from what we understand, the plan was always to send him to Laval to back up Jacob Fowler. But he also wanted to be a better insurance policy in the NHL, should the need arise. And it worked: Kahkonen was not called up for the waivers in the last few days. In the organization chart, he therefore replaces Cayden Primeau, that goaltender too strong for the AHL, but not exactly calibrated for the game of the best league in the world. The Habs gave up on him in the last few months, sending him to Carolina. Primeau, unlike Kahkonen, was claimed. This means that, for the franchise’s #2 goaltender at the start of the season, the Maple Leafs have chosen to put their trust in the Canadiens’ former goaltender.

[content-ads]Is it because Primeau is making less money than Kahkonen ($775,000 VS $1,150,000) this season? That’s probably it, as the club is $150,000 under the salary cap.Do the Maple Leafs like Primeau’s potential and think a change of scenery will do him good? Does the club want a goalie who could easily leave when Joseph Woll returns from his absence?

Maybe that was part of the decision. That said, it’s worth remembering that the Maple Leafs could also have offered James Reimer a contract instead of releasing him from his trial. Instead, Primeau was chosen. content-ads]

Whatever the reason, the fact remains that the Maple Leafs, in an important year, chose Primeau as their #2 goaltender. It says a lot about the way the club is built. The stars don’t take discounts there.In fact, that’s not all. This summer, the Maple Leafs also offered Michael Pezzetta (who never played) a two-year contract – before trading him to the AHL. And they claimed Samuel Blais, who would have been the 14th forward here, at the waivers to play him. The Maple Leafs like players who no longer belong in Montreal. Will Joshua Roy have to look for an apartment in the Queen City soon?[spacer title=’en rafale’]- It smells like the end for him.

– Of course.

– Historic.

– The Rocket is on the right track.[BPM Sports] – À lire.

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Samuel Blais’ toughness and lessons from the series against the Capitals

The Canadiens, unsurprisingly, have decided to go with a 22-man roster. When your feeder club is this close, there’s no point in having too many guys eating salary cap space every day, which will cut into the club’s opportunities at the trade deadline. Without Carey Price’s contract in the way, the Canadiens will be able to give themselves a chance of getting more cap space at the trade deadline, since the salary cap is calculated every day. Right now, the club is over $5.5M under the salary cap.

This means that if the club is looking to get a true second center (with all due respect to Oliver Kapanen, Kirby Dach and all the others) during the season, it will be easier to do it this way.

And the Habs are still on the case…[content-ads]

But the fact remains that, to achieve this result, the Habs were forced to waive Samuel Blais. Both GM Kent Hughes and VP Jeff Gorton have stated that this was not the plan. Blais seemed to have the role of 13th forward stuck in his forehead for months .But in the end, he got the axe, as Joe Veleno and Oliver Kapanen outperformed him at camp for the last two forward positions, for a number of reasons. So it’s Blais who’s been cut… and his claim to the waivers changes plans for the future. [content-ads]I say this because, in effect, the Canadiens are losing a player who wouldn’t have played often, but who would still have brought a different flavor to the lineup.

As François Parenteau says, the Canadiens are depriving themselves of forward strength.

Because Kapanen and Veleno made the club at the expense of Florian Xhekaj (who may be the first player recalled from Laval down the road) and Blais, it’s easy to see why toughness wasn’t the determining factor in the start of the season.

Jayden Struble is expected to start the year in the stands, andin last season’s series against the Capitals, the Habs clearly saw that he was eaten up physically. And yet, Samuel Blais, Florian Xhekaj and Jayden Struble, three tough guys, won’t be playing tomorrow night. Does that bother you? Of course, you have to keep in mind that October hockey isn’t like playoff hockey… and that, in due course, the club will be able to adapt. Less space on the ice… but more on the mass: that’s how the Habs have approached the start of the season. Will it pay off? It’s very possible, but we can’t know yet. [spacer title=’Overtime’]- Read on.

– Right.

– P.K. Subban at ESPN to stay.

– Martin St-Louis, a great point guard.[BPM] – Interesting,

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Connor McDavid contract: Roberto Luongo makes a joke in defense of his Panthers

Yesterday, Connor McDavid agreed to sign a contract at a discount: $12.5 million per year. Like Sidney Crosby always did, he agreed not to take a salary increase afterwards. Of course, this is only a two-year contract. Butthe fact remains that the Oilers’ star has understood something that Kirill Kaprizov hasn’t: to win, you have to make sacrifices. I’m not going to criticize a player for getting his money in a market where the owners are lining their pockets, but you have to wonder what kind of teammate he is. Roberto Luongo (the former Panthers goaltender who now works for the Florida club) had a good laugh to say about McDavid’s contract.

Tax-free states strike again!

–

Roberto Luongo

[content-ads]He said this because many people think the Panthers managed to keep Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand at a discount because of Florida taxes. Clearly, Bobby Lou thinks otherwise. He must believe that it’s the team culture (as is the case with the Oilers’ McDavid) that makes the difference. And that, clearly, must make Kent Hughes happy. Alexandre Pratt, in his piece of the day, claimed that it was the guys from La Presse, after their interview with the Habs GM, who told Kent Hughes the value of McDavid’s contract. He hadn’t seen it because he was giving an interview.

[content-ads]And Hughes, even if he didn’t comment on the Oilers’ contract, surely smiled. Why? Because it shows that what he’s trying to create as head of the Canadiens isn’t about showing off. Did he talk to Lane Hutson’s agent? In the end, Kent Hughes must be banking on the fact that, even if taxes aren’t the same as in Florida, the Montreal market still has its advantages in terms of money. Especially for an American player.

It’s impossible to have the same reality in all 32 NHL markets… and yes, taxes have their part in the equation. What teams can do, though, is create a culture where guys want to stay on at a discount. And Kent Hughes, as Patrice Bergeron’s former agent, is well placed to know that this can work, as a plan. [spacer title=’Overtime’]- Today’s game plan for the Habs: practice and flight to Toronto.

– Magnifique.

– Wow.

– Nice.

– Interested?

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David Reinbacher’s injury: Kent Hughes blames bad luck

For the second year in a row, David Reinbacher was injured during the Canadiens’ camp. After a major knee injury last year, the defenseman fractured a bone in his hand this year while blocking a shot,so for the second year in a row, he’ll be starting the season late.From the point of view that the defenseman needs to play big minutes to develop, this isn’t ideal. The kid has missed a lot of games since being selected by the Canadiens, and he needs to be on the ice to progress. But if Reinbacher’s most recent injury is worrying many people, it’s not really the case for Kent Hughes, who doesn’t seem too worried.

For the GM, the injury is mostly down to bad luck, as he told Renaud Lavoie in an interview for TVA Sports.

[content-ads]Hughes explains that he’s not too worried, given that it’s a “different” injury. If Reinbacher had suffered another injury to the same knee as the one that bothered him last year, the GM might have had a different opinion, but that’s not the case.It’s not a Kirby Dach situation… and that’s why Hughes isn’t too worried about it: any defender would have suffered this injury in the same circumstances, says the GM.Of course, it’s still a shame to see Reinbacher sidelined. That said, Hughes explains that if you look at the bigger picture, none of this will prevent Reinbacher from becoming a solid defender in a few years’ time, which is what the Habs were aiming for in the first place anyway.After all, just because the kid’s injured doesn’t mean he’s a bust… and some even see him playing games in Montreal this year despite it all.

Reinbacher was chosen by the Habs with the aim of making him a big part of their defensive brigade for years to come. And while it’s not ideal to see him injured (again), that doesn’t mean the club has to give up hope of seeing him reach his full potential,although eventually he’ll have to find a way to stay healthy.

[

– Sidney Crosby in Montreal: Eric Engels believes

– According to Luc Gélinas, Kent Hughes is much nicer to the media than Marc Bergevin. [HF] – Martin St-Louis’ contract will expire at the end of the 2026-27 season. Not surprisingly, the club will have to arrange to sign him… probably after doing the same with Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton

– Signature en Utah.