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Deadline: “Kent Hughes is making calls for trades he would make in June”

With the Canadiens struggling for a little while now, the idea of seeing the club as buyers at the deadline is becoming increasingly unrealistic. The team is still in a rebuilding phase, after all… and paying a high price for rental players doesn’t make sense in the current state of affairs.

And this is true even if Kaiden Guhle’s health is very uncertain.

That said, during today’s episode of Radar (BPM Sports), Pierre LeBrun talked a little about the team’s plans leading up to the deadline….

And there is one line that stands out:

Kent Hughes is making calls for trades he would make in June. – Pierre LeBrun.

The excerpt starts HERE if you want to listen to it.

What needs to be understood, however, is that the GM is not calling to lay the groundwork for a trade that would be completed in June. In fact, what LeBrun means is that the Habs, if they move before March 7, would do so with the perspective of helping their team beyond this season.

In short, a bit like with Alexandre Carrier.

Nonetheless, there is a world in which the Habs come to terms with reality and accept to be sellers. This means that guys like Jake Evans, Joel Armia, David Savard, and Christian Dvorak could be traded…

But not at any price.

In fact, according to LeBrun, the Canadiens have still not made a decision on this. However, they are still talking to other teams regarding their players, especially in Evans’ case.

According to Tony Marinaro and Jean-Charles Lajoie, the Devils and the Lightning are two teams that have spoken with the Habs regarding the center player. In the podcast, LeBrun notes that it will take (at least) a second-round pick to get him out of Montreal… and even then, the Habs might decide to pass if that’s all they receive.

However, LeBrun also brings up the idea of seeing the Canadiens approach the deadline with a more human perspective. He notably gave the example of Savard, a respected and appreciated veteran in the city… and he wondered if the Habs could ask him what he prefers to finish the season.

Perhaps, for example, the Canadiens would not want to trade Savard for a fourth-round pick from a contending team… but if the defenseman tells the GM that he would like to win the Cup again and the team honors his request, it would send a nice message to the rest of the league (a bit like the management of Jeff Petry’s second stint in the city).

We know that Hughes is close to his players, and it’s reasonable to think that this is a scenario that makes a lot of sense. It shouldn’t prevent the GM from thinking about the team’s best interest first… but sometimes, taking a small step back today can help you in the long run if you send the message to the rest of the league that you treat your players well.

With the break for the 4 Nations Confrontation coming, the talks about the deadline will accelerate. Let’s see what the plan is in Montreal now.

In brief

– I can’t wait to see him at the Bell Centre next year.

– Very touching.

– Lots of scouts in Chicago tonight.

– Kirby Dach, a country music guy.

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Shane Wright has the same number of points as Slaf (with two more games played)

In 2022, the Canadiens decided to select Juraj Slafkovsky with the first overall pick in the NHL draft.

We know what happened next: Nemec was selected by the Devils, Logan Cooley was the choice of the (former) Coyotes… And Shane Wright had his name called by the Kraken at 4th overall.

We all remember the look he shot at the Canadiens’ table!

It took time before Wright established himself as an NHL player, but he is doing what he needs to do this season in Seattle.

In fact, he is having an even better season than Slaf in terms of goals, and both guys are tied in points.

Wright currently has the upper hand over the Canadiens player:

I’m not saying that the Canadiens made the wrong choice.

Not at all, actually.

Slaf is only 20 years old… And it’s way, way too early to think that the Canadiens made a mistake selecting him with the very first pick.

But in reality, Slaf has only 29 points in 50 games, and that’s not super exceptional production for a guy who was picked first overall.

He is only in his third season in the National Hockey League, and we must not forget that aspect: but it is normal to see some questioning when Wright has the same number of points as him in almost as many games… While Wright is currently playing his first full season in the National Hockey League.

Especially since he is playing on the third line of his team! Slaf, on the other hand, has been playing on the first line since the end of last season…

The development of all players is different, and Wright had to go through the American League before reaching the NHL. We’ll have to wait and see if the Kraken’s plan worked out in a few years… But for now, it’s worth noting that both are almost on the same pace this season.

In Brief

– I like his mindset.

– It’s pretty crazy.

– Good move!

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Cayden Primeau is the goalie of the month for January in the American Hockey League

On December 29, the Canadiens decided they had had enough.

The team sent Cayden Primeau down to the American Hockey League because the goaltender wasn’t performing in Montreal.

From October to the end of December, it was really, really tough for the player involved.

But now, Primeau has been on fire since his return to the American Hockey League.

He has won his first nine games of the season with the Rocket, and his performances are not going unnoticed either.

Primeau has been named Goaltender of the Month in the AHL:

In nine games, Primeau has a record of 9-0-0, a goals-against average of 1.96, and a save percentage of .923.

Things are really going well for him, to put it another way.

Seeing Primeau perform so well down there raises questions about what the Canadiens think of the situation. And it also makes one wonder what the organization’s plan is regarding the goaltender.

Because in Montreal, Jakub Dobes is playing like a guy who doesn’t deserve to be sent back to Laval.

It’s hard to move him out right now… And if Primeau continues to rack up wins, his performance in the American Hockey League is really going to start getting attention.

But ultimately, it’s interesting to see that Primeau has regained his confidence and is winning games again.

It remains to be seen if he will have another chance to prove himself in Montreal… or elsewhere in the National Hockey League.

In Brief

– Makes sense.

– Speaking of Dobes:

– Oh.

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Crosby’s injury: A golden opportunity for Suzuki ahead of the Four Nations Tournament?

Last night, the Penguins faced the Devils at home.

The Pittsburgh team lost by a score of 3-2 in a shootout… But it was not the Penguins’ defeat that caught attention.

During the game, Sidney Crosby got hurt when his arm got stuck between Luke Hughes and Erik Haula:

Crosby had to leave the game temporarily, but he was able to return to finish the match.

That said, today, the Penguins’ captain had to miss his team’s practice because the team’s doctors wanted to examine him.

We don’t know what his health status looks like right now:

Questions need to be raised about his health… Because the Four Nations Tournament is fast approaching.

Canada will play its first game of the tournament in exactly one week. The match (against Sweden) will indeed be held at the Bell Centre.

That said, we know that Crosby is supposed to be the captain of the Canadian team for the tournament. Will he be able to play, though?

This is where things get tricky right now…

Obviously, if Crosby cannot participate, Team Canada’s management will have to find a replacement for him.

At that level, perhaps it would be a golden opportunity for Nick Suzuki because he is having a big season and has interesting qualities for Canada.

Nick Suzuki is not Sidney Crosby, and no one has said that either.

But Suzuki, who is good defensively, responsible in the faceoff circle, and is the 12th highest scorer among centers in the NHL (!), has what it takes to represent Canada on the international stage.

Robert Thomas, Mark Scheifele, Connor Bedard, Zach Hyman, Tom Wilson…

Note that these guys could also prove to be interesting candidates for Canada.

It remains to be seen, and all of this will obviously depend on Crosby’s condition in the coming days. News should come quickly on this matter, though, since there isn’t much time left before the competition begins.

In Brief

– Beautiful goal!

– Well done.

– Reminder: only three games tonight in the NHL. Canadiens fans will once again go to bed late…

– That must be so special.

– Developing story in MLB.

– Good…

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Dylan Cozens is of interest to the Canadiens (according to Kevin Weekes)

Given Kirby Dach’s performance since the start of the season, it is natural to wonder if he really has what it takes to be the 2nd center for the Canadiens in the coming years.

Dach has not been consistent in his performances… And if the Canadiens want to compete with the best teams in the NHL, they need a quality 2nd center who can play a consistent role in the team’s success.

We don’t see that from #77 at the moment.

We know that Kent Hughes is interested in making a trade for Dach/Newhook/Laine to improve his team, and recent information from Kevin Weekes supports this.

The informant tweeted that the Canadiens are in the running for the Dylan Cozens derby in Buffalo:

Cozens is known as a two-way center at 6’3 and 207 pounds.

He shoots right and is good in all three zones of the ice.

He collected 68 points in his third season in the NHL and has slowed down since then. He seems to need a change of scenery… And in Buffalo, nothing is working at the moment: the Sabres are sitting at 29th place in the NHL standings and are struggling to win regularly.

It’s always the same story for the Sabres, after all.

Obviously, to acquire a 23-year-old young center who has already proven himself, Kent Hughes will need to offer an enticing return to the Sabres.

But there are not necessarily issues at that level because the Canadiens have prospects that can be traded… And the team’s pool of picks is well-stocked for the coming years.

The Canadiens have four first-round picks, five second-round picks, and five other third-round picks for the next three drafts:

(Credit: PuckPedia)

Lastly, it’s worth noting that Cozens earns a salary of $7.1 million annually and his contract runs until the summer of 2030.

This would represent a certain risk for Kent Hughes… But we have seen that Cozens is capable of being a good player in the NHL.

Surrounded as he would be in Montreal on the top-6, it could become quite interesting…

Extension

In his tweet, Kevin Weekes also mentions that the Leafs, Flames, and Wings are in the running for Cozens’ services.

Who will come out on top? And can we expect to see a trade involving Cozens happen in the coming weeks, before the trade deadline (March 7) in the NHL?

To be continued…

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The man accused of killing the Gaudreau brothers claims that they were more drunk than he was

Sean Higgins is a name that will, by necessity, mark the history of the NHL. It is the name of the man who is accused of having killed Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau last summer.

He has spent the last few months defending himself, and now he has taken a different approach to try to have his indictment overturned. Basically, without accusing the Gaudreau brothers of anything, Sean Higgins claims that the two brothers were more drunk than he was at the time of the accident.

He does not want to use this to blame the victims. His angle is to seek “clarifications on how the measurements were taken” in the case in order to convince a judge to drop the charges.

This is what is reported in a TVA Sports article, which reports the news.

Of course, it is logical to note that Sean Higgins and his team are taking measures to get by, as one should not expect the man to give up and want to spend the rest of his life in prison.

He could face 60 years in prison.

That said, it is clear that bringing the brothers’ blood alcohol levels into the discussion, knowing that the case is very important in the eyes of many members of the public, is… risky. Let’s put it this way.

Even though Johnny (0.129%) and Matthew (0.134%) had higher alcohol levels than Higgins (0.087%) according to tests performed after the accident, it still remains that the brothers did nothing illegal.

They were not driving a car.

But for the man who drove over the legal limit after drinking, it’s another story. And one might think that the tactics used by Sean Higgins’ team resemble a hail mary: going all out to try to get out of this.

To be continued, therefore.

in brief

– Sidney Crosby evaluated.

– Yesterday, the Sharks player got the upper hand.

– Oh?

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A player on Gary Bettman: “I don’t know what that *guy is doing”

Being a commissioner of a sports league will never please everyone. Big decisions have to be made, and it draws reactions.

Gary Bettman, who has a few work conflicts under his belt, does not always make the players happy. This is normal because, very clearly, it is part of the job.

But despite everything, according to a survey by The Athletic of 77 active NHL players, 45% of the surveyed players (35 players) do not want to see the commissioner retire.

(Credit: The Athletic)

It can’t be that bad… or are these guys the ones who will benefit the most from the salary cap increase?

However, among those who want to see him retire, there are still some guys with strong opinions. Among them, one (who remained anonymous) did say this:

I don’t know what that *guy is doing.

While the majority of players who want a change of commissioner are more nuanced (like: he has done good things, but it’s time to move on), this one clearly has a lot on his mind.

And we don’t really know why. If we knew who it was, it might be easier to speculate.

Let’s remember, much to the delight of several players, that the commissioner, who is well-liked by many owners, is slowly starting to think about retirement in the coming years.

However, nothing is official at this point.

In brief

– To be continued.

– Oh really?

– Interesting.

– Too bad.

– Noted.

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The joy of playing hockey questioned by Patrik Laine

Stanley25 is back for a third season, much to the delight of several listeners… and to the great little detriment of some people. Sorry to those people…

The second episode of our season 3 was posted online just a few minutes ago, and there is no shortage of topics this week.

We are still waiting for Joshua Roy’s autograph session…

The Calder Trophy is slipping away from Lane Hutson…

“Talents” of street rapper Justin Trudeau…

Refusal to pick up a bill from Juraj Slafkovsky…

Spitting on the floor in an NHL arena…

Beef between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson…

Tightness of the seats at the Bell Centre…

Professional projects of Jacob Fowler…

Short-term future in Laval for Jakub Dobes…

Booing during the national anthems…

Joy of playing hockey from Patrik Laine…

No, you won’t be bored listening/watching the podcast. Especially since this week, we condensed the regular episode into 30 minutes. That has been our goal for a while. We did it, Jean!

Does Patrik Laine like playing hockey?
I brought up the topic of Laine’s recent difficulties at around the middle of the podcast, and JT provided an interesting angle. According to Jean, Laine is not an elite player. He’s not even in the top 100 NHL players.

“Patrik Laine, you shouldn’t rank him too high, and you shouldn’t rank him too low. You really have to take him for what he is.” — Jean Trudel

It was then that I reminded Jean that people don’t blame Laine for lacking talent. Rather, it’s his lack of involvement and desire that bothers them. Jean then offered a response that makes us think.

“Laine is not a hockey player. He doesn’t want to play hockey. Sidney Crosby eats hockey. He eats it all the time. Patrik Laine, at first, he wanted to be a goalie. His father forced him to be a forward. He doesn’t want to play hockey. If he had the choice to be a professional gamer or a hockey player, he would rather be a professional gamer.” — Jean Trudel

Patrik Laine remains a designated hitter in baseball… or a super sub in soccer.

Agree or disagree with this statement?

To watch the entire episode, click HERE.

In Brief

– It wasn’t me.

– Tony Marinaro and I shared some information about the salaries of certain players from CF Montreal yesterday on BPM Sports.

– Vrioni and Neal have not joined the group on natural turf.

– Why does Donald Trump have the World Cup trophy behind him?

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More players with at least 10 goals: the CH at the top of the league

During yesterday’s game, Alex Newhook and Joel Armia were two of the four scorers for the Canadiens. Brendan Gallagher (12th goal of the season) and Cole Caufield (26th goal of the season) were the other scorers.

Newhook and Armia both scored their 10th goal of the campaign.

This is significant as it allows the Canadiens to have nine scorers with at least 10 goals this season. It’s interesting because it places the Canadiens at the top of the league (along with the Capitals and the Hurricanes) in that regard.

Seeing that the team has nine scorers with at least 10 goals is noteworthy as it means that in 53 games, many players contribute approximately at least once to the scoring in five games.

This stands out, in my eyes.

It is disappointing to see that the talented Juraj Slafkovsky is not among the nine guys with at least 10 goals this season (he has eight goals, just like Josh Anderson), but well.

That’s another debate, though.

(Credit: Hockey DB)

But it is also interesting because last year, in 82 games, the Canadiens only had eight guys who were able to reach that mark. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Brendan Gallagher, Joel Armia, and Alex Newhook are the only five guys currently on both lists.

Juraj Slafkovsky (8) and Mike Matheson (3) have chances—especially Slaf—to be part of both lists. Sean Monahan, however, is no longer playing in town.

(Credit: Hockey DB)

Patrik Laine, Jake Evans, Emil Heineman, and Kirby Dach are the new additions to the list. Last year, only Evans was a regular on the Canadiens—and in the NHL, to be honest.

In 53 games this season, the Canadiens score an average of 2.92 goals per game. Last year, it was 2.83, just a little less.

In a nutshell

— The Dodgers are making moves.

— Ouch.

— Marc-Édouard Vlasic does not play every game for his team. But the fact that he did not play yesterday (against the Canadiens) after saying that his team was not good stands out.

— Still.

— Ivan Demidov has support.

— Shane Wright is waking up.

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Owen Beck played like a guy who deserves a real shot in the NHL

Since Emil Heineman got injured, the Canadiens are searching a bit.

When he was there, the club’s bottom-6 was much more stable, and the last two lines had an identity on the ice. But without him, things are shaking up much more than before.

When a team is one Emil Heineman away from being affected, it means they are lacking good elements to make the playoffs. And I say this with all respect for Heineman, who was having a great season before being hit by a car.

To replace Heineman, the Canadiens have conducted several tests. And too often, it was the Michael Pezzetta test that was conducted.

Yesterday, Owen Beck was tested. He was brought in a bit by necessity (the Canadiens’ call-up plan revolves around guys already in California for the AHL All-Star Game)… but at the same time, no one forced Martin St-Louis to play him.

And let’s say that in his fourth game in the NHL and his third this year, Beck looked better than in the others. He played excellent hockey in the role he was asked to fill.

Beck was involved (one wonders if Patrik Laine took notes), and for a fourth-line guy, that was the right thing to do.

I expect to see Beck play tonight since I can’t see any logical reason for him not to play. If the team were in Montreal and the Rocket were in action, there would be a debate… but not here.

If he continues to play well, he will earn an audition in Montreal. And that’s all he can control.

After all, even if he should earn games up top by playing the right way, that doesn’t mean that in the short term, he will get a ton. Why? Because the Four Nations Tournament is approaching and because he benefits from playing big minutes with the Rocket.

And when Heineman returns, it will cut an opportunity.

That’s why, if he plays tonight, Beck needs to leave a calling card. We don’t know what the future holds for him in the short term, but he will undoubtedly want to be THE guy the Canadiens think of if they need to call someone up. Even if it’s just to play 10 minutes per game… on the wing.

And to be that guy, there are no 36 solutions: Beck needs to perform when he gets the chance. Being confident from the All-Star Game (three goals) has helped him, and he must build on that.

But still. Owen Beck is not the only player deserving of attention this morning. After all, even if it’s against the worst team in the league, the Canadiens found a way to win their game yesterday against the Sharks by a score of 4-3.

What do I take away from it?

1. Even though it wasn’t a perfect game, the Canadiens found a way to win. The execution wasn’t really perfect at the start of the game, but the team rallied.

In a results-oriented league, that’s what matters.

2. After nearly three years in charge, Martin St-Louis just got his 100th win as the Canadiens’ head coach. He became the 14th coach in the franchise’s history to reach such a milestone.

How many do you think he will get to?

3. If it weren’t for Samuel Montembeault, who had the mission to help his team win, the Canadiens might not have come away with the victory. He wasn’t perfect, but he did his job.

Against Macklin Celebrini (who is quite a player), he was notably impressive.

4. Patrik Laine had 13:45 on the ice yesterday. He wasn’t perfect, but he looked better than in previous games. Playing on a lesser line – and against a lesser opposition – probably helped him.

We’ll see how he responds tonight. After all, we want consistency in his game.

5. It was a special teams game yesterday. Both teams scored twice on the power play (Macklin Celebrini, Tyler Toffoli, Cole Caufield, and Brendan Gallagher) out of four opportunities.

And that doesn’t account for Joel Armia’s goal on a pass from Jake Evans while short-handed.

6. Lane Hutson got an assist on Cole Caufield’s goal. He became the second fastest rookie defender in Canadiens history to record 40 points in a season.

That’s notable.

7. Ahh, a good old 10:30 PM game to watch two bad teams hit the post (where’s Dr. Shot?) and see endless reviews in front of a wild crowd. I stayed awake for this?

The best part? We’re doing it again tonight. Hooray. I’m so happy. I love going to bed so late. I want fewer matchups against Boston and Toronto to have more boring games in the West.

overtime

The Canadiens will not practice this morning. The only thing on the agenda today is the last game of the trip in California, which will be in Los Angeles. The game will take place at 10:30 PM.

The team’s goal? Stay #InTheMix by winning.

We can assume that Michael Pezzetta will not play, that the lines will remain unchanged, and that Jakub Dobes will be in net. But will Logan Mailloux be used? I’m not sure.

If so, will he take Jayden Struble’s spot… or David Savard’s?