Author: Dose

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The Canadiens have (finally) found their second center

All of sports Montreal spent the summer wondering who would be our second center for the first game of the season. The names thrown into the pond were numerous throughout the off-season. Sidney Crosby? He’s not yet ready to leave Pittsburgh. Mason McTavish? His California adventure isn’t over yet. Pavel Zacha? Is he really a second center? Jack Roslovic? What an enigma that guy is… Kirby Dach? He hasn’t proven beyond any doubt that he has what it takes to be in the Habs’ top six from Day 1 of the season. In fact, the Demidov – Dach – Laine line didn’t even last the whole camp, even though Martin St-Louis had identified it as his second line before the physical and medical tests.

Yes, Martin St-Louis finally found his second center… but no, the identity of the guy who will drive the axis on the second line – and who will have the important task of making Ivan Demidov blossom – isn’t reassuring at all.On Wednesday, in Toronto, the Habs’ second center will be none other than Oliver Kapanen. He’ll have Demidov and Alex Newhook – who isn’t a center in the eyes of Montreal management after all – on his wings. A wicked lack of confidence in Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine, that.

..
(Credit: DailyFaceoff.com)

[content-ads]Yes, Kapanen is a good hockey player and yes, he has some long-term potential, but as of today, he has only 21 games’ experience in the show. Inlast year’s playoffs, he played mostly with the Rocket, managing to pick up six points in eleven games. Kapanen is 6’2, but he doesn’t weigh 200 pounds. Sometimes, when the going gets rough, you don’t see him as much. Personally ,I like Kapanen, but I’d have preferred him to be given a depth position on the bottom six or to be sent to dominate in the American League. Making him the center of our Russian jewel was not on my bingo card (as of) this year. In fact, only one person had this option in mind this summer: Grant McCagg. Many laughed at McCagg this summer when he suggested putting Kapanen at Demidov’s center, but time proved him right.

Second center: Grant McCagg was the only one who believed in Oliver Kapanen’s candidacy (Credit: YouTube/capture d’écran)

[content-ads]Note that all four Montreal center players are right-handed for the time being: Suzuki, Kapanen, Dach and Evans. Of course, Alex Newhook and Zachary Bolduc will be able to take face-offs from time to time, but we’ll agree that this is far from ideal… I think the second line – although Martin St-Louis seemed to love it before last Saturday’s game – will only be temporary. Newhook and Kapanen aren’t the perfect players to complement a guy like Ivan Demidov, but in the meantime, we’ll have to get used to it… and possibly lower our expectations of the Habs as long as we don’t get a real second center to give Demidov the puck.Kapanen may be called a defensive liability, but he still posted a minus-8 rating in 21 games played in North America last year. And he doesn’t win 50% of his face-offs…Will Kirby Dach find his rhythm again this fall? Will Zachary Bolduc be tested at center? Will Kent Hughes be able to convince a team dreaming of Connor McKenna to flip him a good center early in the season? We’ll see.[spacer title=’prolongation’]With 48 hours to go before the Canadiens’ season opener, I’m optimistic about all but one position: second-line center.Until then, let’s hope Nick “Ironman” Suzuki doesn’t get injured..

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Zachary Bolduc has a regular jersey at practice

Good news in Montreal: Zachary Bolduc practiced with his teammates this morning wearing a regular jersey, which means he could receive contact from his teammates.

Obviously, considering that there are only 13 forwards left in town and that everyone was saying his injury was minor, this isn’t news that surprises us. But it’s good news nonetheless. The news came out quickly, as more than 30 minutes before the official start of practice, there was a full house at mass. Many guys were skating and others were practicing with Marc Bureau.The players are motivated, so [content-ads]

Details to come…

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Lane Hutson contract: Noah Dobson shouldn’t be outdone, believes Elliotte Friedman

When will Lane Hutson sign his next contract? Elliotte Friedman, on the heels of his 32 Thoughts Podcast, addressed the question this morning. It’s one of the most important topics in the National League,and according to him, much like last week, the broad outlines have been established. But right now, there’s a bit of a pause.

What does all this mean? It means, according to Friedman, that the player and the Canadiens know that the contract will be around eight years and $9 million a year. Friedman said this morning that, as of last week, it had been established that Lane Hutson would earn no more than Noah Dobson, who earns $9.5 million a year.Of course, the two contracts can hardly be compared on a basic level, since Dobson signed a year away from full autonomy.Elliotte Friedmanthereforedisagrees with Darren Dreger, who said last week that Lane Hutson will be the highest-paid defenseman in Montreal [content-ads]

Basically, according to Friedman, what’s blocking the deal right now is what he calls “philosophical differences” between the club and the agent. What does that mean? It has to do with how Hutson can save money through certain Canadian programs(we talked about this recently) and with the rising cap. The club, which is thinking of taking advantage of the deferred money, says that the player can save money in certain areas, while the agent knows that the cap will be at least $104 million next year. It could go as high as $107 million, according to Friedman.There’s emotion in the air, then. How much will this prevent the club and the player from coming to an agreement in the end? [spacer title=’prolongation’]We still don’t know how much of the Habs’ powerplay is set in stone for next season. Will Dobson and/or Hutson be on the first wave? How closely are negotiations tied to that?

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Carey Price doesn’t expect to play a Marc-André Fleury-style warm-up game

In the last few days, Marc-André Fleury has been the talk of the town. Seeing him play a period of hockey with the Penguins, as part of a preparatory game, has brought about a new way of sending a legend into retirement.It’s a lot hotter than a one-day contract.Of course, when Flower signed his tryout to spend a few days at the Penguins’ camp, it was easy to make the connection with Carey Price, even though Price has never played anywhere but the Habs.I’m sorry, Will Smith, but #31 isn’t under contract in San Jose to try to get back into the NHL...One suspects that Price is no longer healthy enough to do the same… and now the main man has confirmed that he doesn’t expect to play a warm-up game with the Canadiens in the future. Richard Labbé (La Presse) reported the goalie’s comments in an interview for La Presse.[content-ads]

“I think the club will look good this season, and I’m excited about what’s ahead for the team.”🏒🔵⚪🔴 www.lapresse.ca/sports/hocke… via @lp_lapresse

[image or embed]– Jean-Pierre Leboeuf (@sport01.bsky.social) October 6, 2025 at 06:39

It’s also interesting to note that Price, even though he’s under contract with another team, expects to come and do his thing in Montreal at some point this season. It’s safe to assume that during the Andrei Markov tribute in December, Price will show up in town. The former goaltender has also opened the door to working for the Habs one day, when his kids are older. But I’ll believe it when I see it.To be continued. [spacer title=’Overtime’]- His son will play in the NHL this season, I’m sure of it.

– Will he leave?

– Wow.

– Zdeno Chara: his #33 will be retired in Boston.

📰:

– Don’t miss the

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How much better the Canadiens are than last March: that’s beside the point

Yesterday, a number of teams gave up players to the waivers, in order to make sure they could stick to the 23-man roster for the start of the season. The NHL starts playing games tomorrow,and the Canadiens have opted to go with 22 guys instead of 23, as has been the case for the past few years. Which guys?

  • Offensively (13) : Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky, Laine, Dach, Bolduc, Demidov, Newhook, Kapanen, Veleno, Gallagher, Anderson and Evans
  • Defensively speaking (9): Dobson, Matheson, Hutson, Guhle, Carrier, A. Xhekaj, Struble, Montembeault and Dobes

Five Québécois (Joe Veleno, Zachary Bolduc, Mike Matheson, Alexandre Carrier and Samuel Montembeault) will be part of the team at the start of the season. Is this a good team, in your opinion? Obviously, fans were expecting a stronger center line than this, but you know as well as I do that the club hasn’t been able to go out and get a sacrosanct second center. Oliver Kapanen, who has developed chemistry with Ivan Demidov recently, will be his center on Wednesday in Toronto, if nothing changes.

[content-ads]Up front, the Habs had some decisions to make. Kapanen’s good camp undoubtedly forced the Habs to send Samuel Blais to the waivers, even if he had the words “13th forward” written on his forehead for a long time.Joe Veleno, too, forced the Habs to keep him.Blais had a good camp, but the Habs couldn’t keep him just to please him. That’s not the way things work in the National Hockey League, even if Blais looked like he could replace Michael Pezzetta in the stands.

[content-ads]Speaking of good old Pezz, I found a lineup from March 8, just after the trade deadline. Tonight

I know, I know: he was there so as not to break up the Habs’ bottom-6 combinations, and he played for about five minutes. But on the trip out West, he was still in uniform for three games. He played 11 games in the playoff race, between the deadline and the end of the season. Maybe the Habs’ season will go off the rails in 2025-2026. But right now, it’s clear that the club has positioned itself to avoid having a guy like that in its lineup. The Rocket will have a few players who can be recalled if needed (including Florian Xhekaj, who I would have kept in the NHL following his camp) and who are better than Pezzetta. If we look at the club’s last two trios, we see that only three of those six guys remain. Emil Heineman, Christian Dvorak and Joel Armia are gone,and guys like Owen Beck and Michael Pezzetta didn’t have a case for a top-6.Instead, the Canadiens have guys like Ivan Demidov, Kirby Dach (who’s back healthy), Patrik Laine (who sat out the night of March 8), Zachary Bolduc and Oliver Kapanen. Is this better? For Demidov alone, the answer is yes.

Defensively, too, it’s different. Kaiden Guhle is back in uniform, Alexandre Carrier is no longer on the first pair, Noah Dobson replaces David Savard, Jayden Struble is no longer on the top-4, etc.In fact, Struble is even fighting to play, plain and simple.I know this is a random 2024-2025 lineup, but this is how the Habs played following the deadline last March. Maybe in a year’s time, we’ll be saying the same thing… and it’ll mean that the club will continue to take steps in the right direction, towards the Stanley Cup. That’s the goal.[spacer title=’en rafale’]- Sick.

🤣🇫🇷

– He was incredible.

– Martin St-Louis loved his club’s camp. [98.5 FM] – 57 scouts to spy on Gavin McKenna

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Sidney Crosby: “He’s running out of opportunities”

Even the great ones eventually run out of time, and that’s not lost on Sidney Crosby. According to Darren Dreger, the Penguins captain knows this all too well: as a guest on the Barn Burner podcast, the TSNinsider caused quite a stir with a thought that quickly made the rounds in the hockey world, and it has to do with Crosby’s future. There’s

no doubt that Sid has had this conversation with his family and agent Pat Brisson several times over the summer. The reality is setting in: he’s running out of opportunities.”

–

Darren Dreger

No trade rumors here. Darren Dreger isn’t saying that Crosby wants out, but simply that time is running out, and that even a great player like him must eventually face reality.

He’s focused on having a good season, on the Penguins, on the Olympics… but the reality is that he’s running out of chances.”

–

Darren Dreger

Here’s the Barn Burner episode in question. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rDsACJ-hvY&list=PLj_bcGtvvo-cZkpiW_hYwuLWQqEIjApXc&index=1 For the past several seasons, Pittsburgh has been trying to stay in the race, but just can’t. Kyle Dubas was trying to renovate without tearing everything down, but the core is aging, and the results aren’t keeping up like they used to. And that’s where it gets interesting: what would Crosby do if the Penguins collapsed again on the heels of the big rebuild coming to town? Dreger isn’t talking about a concrete departure, but he admits that, in theory, several teams would do everything possible to get him.

We were talking about the Canadiens. They would do anything to get Sidney Crosby.”

–

Darren Dreger

Simple mention, but it speaks volumes. Crosby has always spoken respectfully of the Habs and his admiration for the team since childhood. The link between Pat Brisson, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton exists. And we know that Montreal fans wouldn’t say no to a player of this calibre to support Nick Suzuki on the center line. But for now, Crosby remains focused on Pittsburgh and the quest for a great season. At 38 next summer, he knows that every opportunity counts. And that’s precisely what Darren Dreger wanted to remind us: the end is approaching, slowly but surely, for one of the greatest careers of his generation. spacer title=’en rafale’]- A possible relocation for the Stars.

– Don’t miss the

– A future for Connor McDavid in Dallas?

– Two goalies in NHL top-10.

– Wow.

– Coming up.

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The Senators (finally) go French: a new page opens in Ottawa

The Ottawa Senators have finally decided to speak the language of their French-speaking fans. The organization has announced the official launch of a French-language team account on social networks. For a long time, many hockey fans in the Outaouais, Gatineau and even Eastern Ontario have criticized the team for neglecting its French-speaking community. And yet, just a few kilometers from Quebec, the language barrier was quite noticeable. Posts, news and post-game videos were mainly in English, as if Ottawa’s bilingual reality stopped at the gates of the Canadian Tire Centre. But that was before. By launching this new French-language account, the Senators now want to offer “unique and in-depth coverage of all things Senators,” according to their press release.

In other words, French-speaking fans will finally be entitled to content tailored to them: summaries, interviews, videos and news published directly in their language. This gesture is more symbolic than it seems. In a market where media competition with the Canadiens is fierce, the Senators have a vested interest in strengthening their ties with Québécois fans, who represent a significant part of their fan base. We’re talking about thousands of fans who follow the team closely, but who have long felt left out of the digital conversation [content-ads] And let’s face it: it’s a smart move. Ottawa has been trying for years to build a real identity, to connect with its fans and extend its reach beyond the capital region. By giving an official voice to its French-speaking fans, the organization is showing that it wants to be part of Quebec’s hockey scene, not just the “other team” in the neighboring province. In short, it’s about time. The Senators have finally understood that in Quebec and the Outaouais, hockey is lived and told in French too. A simple translation? No. It’s a way of recognizing all those who have proudly worn their colors for years, and in both official languages. It remains to be seen whether this initiative will be just a nice gesture of communication, or whether it will be part of a real long-term strategy to bring the team closer to its French-speaking base. [spacer title=’Overtime’]- Ivan Demidov on the first powerplay?

– The salary cap skyrocketing within two years.

– Big win for Jays;

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Florian Xhekaj at Laval: Just what he needs

Florian Xhekaj showed us some great things at the most recent practice camp. Earlier today, the Montreal Canadiens waived Samuel Blais and Kaapo Kahkonen, while sending Florian Xhekaj, Owen Beck and Adam Engstrom to Laval.

Even if he has gained points with the recent preparatory schedule, Arber’s little brother will be much more successful playing in Laval, than as an extra player up top. We know that he knows how to use his fists and that he’s not afraid of the cold, but he confirmed this against the Flyers in the preparatory game by throwing down the gloves against Nicolas Deslauriers. It takes guts to do that, andeven though he got roughed up, it speaks volumes about his courage, and we saw him throw down the gloves again in the game against the Senators in Quebec City. Jan Jenik didn’t have it easy.

[content-ads]And if his professional rookie season of 24 goals and 175 penalty minutes is any indication, he brings a lot to a club.

He can put it in, he can hit it hard (especially as he’s put on a lot of muscle mass since last year) and he can certainly defend his teammates. A bit like Tom Wilson, basically.Xhekaj will therefore have the chance with the Rocket to play big minutes, in a “pacted” club and thus give the Rocket the chance to be a Calder Cup contender, once again. Last year, he had a mainly defensive role with bottom-6 minutes and power play. This season, he could get the chance to shine on the massive attack and play a good 18-20 minutes a game with good players, and with a full season in an important role in Laval, it will be far more beneficial for his development, rather than him being in Montreal as a 14th forward. There wasn’t room for him this season anyway, and he’s not a Michael Pezzetta, but rather an interesting project[spacer title=’Overtime’] – For those who want a good laugh:

– An interesting comparison.

– Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk finally signs a contract, one of two players still free as a bird along with Jack Roslovic. Grzelcyk still collected 40 points last year.

– To read.

– Trey Yesavage is already up to 11 strikeouts batting in the 5th inning in his first career playoff game. The

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Sharks: $34.4 M in players who will not play this season

Although the majority of NHL teams do everything in their power to stay below the salary cap, there will always be a small number of clubs who must reach the salary floor, such as the San Jose Sharks, who acquired Carey Price’s contract for this reason (and also to give them more leeway).

Earlier today, the Sharks acquired Flyers defenseman Ryan Ellis and his $6.25 M per season contract for the next two campaigns.

–

Ellis hasn’t played since the 2021-22 season (he played just four short games) and his career should be over, even if his contract is still active.

His name joins a very long list of players who will not play for the Sharks this season, and in total, the Sharks will pay no less than $34.4 M in inactive or traded players.

[content-ads]Knowing that the salary floor for the 2025-26 NHL season is $70.6M, the eight players on this list make up almost half of the salary floor…It’s incredible all the same.However, if we look at the PuckPedia site, the San Jose Sharks are only $2.9M under the cap. They’ll still be able to add players to the long-term injured list, which will lower their payroll. Understandably, the Sharks are expecting to sell between now and the trade deadline. Still, $34.4 million in inactive/trade players is (really) big, and doesn’t necessarily give them much leeway to negotiate with teams close to the cap.

San Jose will certainly be able to help some contending teams with good veterans. [spacer title=’En rafale’] – Good news for French-speaking Ottawa Senators fans.

– That’s quite a line-up, that.

– Very good point. The Habs have the advantage of having their club school very close by. The players need to play, and

– At just 22, a first playoff start for Trey Yesavage.

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4 points in as many games: Mailloux has earned his place in Saint-Louis

Logan Mailloux, who was traded for Zachary Bolduc this summer, has been one of the Blues’ most consistent performers so far this season. He’s collected four points (four assists) in as many games, and he’s also handed out three checks in each of those games. He’s off to a good start, at least.

Everything points to Mailloux having earned his place in the Blues’ line-up, moreover, because he’s still one of the players present at his club’s camp.

He was – along with 22 other players – at the Blues’ practice today… and that’s an interesting clue as to what’s in store for him next.So much the better, if he was able to impress management in St. Louis:

[content-ads] Everyone knew Logan Mailloux had good potential. The Blues had a lot of faith in him, and the defenseman was given every opportunity to prove himself at practice in St. Louis. But meanwhile, in Montreal… David Reinbacher is injured (he’ll miss the start of the season) and Noah Dobson has been on fire since the start of camp. It’s too early to worry at this level, but the question remains: will the Habs regret sending him to St. Louis?Especially in the context of Bolduc not having the biggest camp either…

I have a feeling we’ll see Logan Mailloux start the season in the NHL… but you also have to wonder if the defenseman will be able to keep up the momentum. One thing’s for sure, though: he’s been doing well since arriving in St. Louis and he’s managing to earn points in the eyes of Blues management. Overtime] – Interesting

– The Red Wings’ future is certainly bright.

– It may be worth it sooner rather than later.