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Jets: a destination to watch for David Savard and Joel Armia

Last year, the Winnipeg Jets picked up a rental player in Montreal: Sean Monahan. Will history repeat itself in 2025?

Obviously, following the signing of Jake Evans, it’s not a given that Kent Hughes will want to trade his rental players. Especially if the right price isn’t available on the market…

But as Darren Dreger mentioned this morning on TSN 690, if Joel Armia and David Savard were to become available, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Jets at the center of the discussion.

Obviously, the price would have to be really high. Because for an ordinary pick, the Canadiens won’t let Armia (who has already played in Winnipeg) or Savard go.

Not with Jake Evans signed and the Canadiens being one of the hottest teams in the NHL… even without Kaiden Guhle and Kirby Dach.

Note that the Canadiens are also open, at the right price, to making a hockey trade as such to bring in not a rental player, but an element for the future in the city.

Darren Dreger also discussed the topic on the radio.

When the Canadiens went after Alexandre Carrier, it was with this same mindset. And since it helped the team a lot, it’s logical to believe that doing the same thing is in the plans of the GM.

Because a rental player, in the circumstances, wouldn’t be the most… logical thing for the plan.

If Kent Hughes were to go after a piece for the future after keeping Jake Evans, it would be an excellent week for the Canadiens’ management. Will it happen?

To be continued.

in a hurry

– Will he leave the Islanders?

– Context is important… but yes, it’s a horrible trade.

– What a great player.

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Jake Evans: Joël Bouchard was already looking for a new tenant for his apartment

Twenty-four hours ago, we were wondering if Kent Hughes was going to trade or risk losing for nothing Jake Evans next July.

Very few people were still talking about the possibility of seeing Evans sign a contract extension. It’s essential to understand that Evans’ agent and Kent Hughes hadn’t spoken in several weeks, and in their last communication, Evans wanted between $17 and $20 million over five years, but the Canadiens were only offering between $10 and $12 million over four years.

Before the 4 Nations tournament, Jake Evans was talking about his adventure in Montreal in the past…

But before packing his bags for Western Canada, Jake Evans let his agent know that he didn’t want to leave Montreal and was willing to accept the Canadiens’ offer… even if it was several million dollars less than his initial demands.

And that he could have gotten those extra millions on the free agent market.

That’s why since yesterday, fans and media members have been praising Evans’ decision: he wanted to stay in Montreal, even if it meant earning less money than elsewhere. When everything is working for you in hockey AND personally, it’s always a risk to try to go elsewhere. Just ask Mikko Rantanen…

Except that I told Stanley25 yesterday that last weekend, Joël Bouchard was offering one of the apartments he owns in his real estate portfolio, but doesn’t live in, to some people who chatted with me. We’re talking about Jake Evans’ apartment here.

Evans and his girlfriend have been renting an apartment owned by Joël Bouchard for some time now. There were so few negotiations between the Canadiens and Evans’ camp that Joël Bouchard was in “renting his apartment to someone else” mode.

And Evans was already preparing (reluctantly) for his potential move…

This shows how much of a surprise Evans’ signing was for many people yesterday. And how much Kent Hughes comes out on top in his negotiations with Evans’ camp.

He stayed firm on his positions and managed to sign Jake Evans to a salary that doesn’t take into account the significant and expected increases in the salary cap.

Jake Evans and his partner were ready to leave Montreal.
(Credit: Getty Images)

Does this mean Jake Evans won’t be leaving the apartment he’s currently occupying?

Let’s just say he’ll be staying there for at least a few more months than if he had left the team this week.

Except that not all millionaires necessarily want to be owners, you know. Having responsibilities, paying the welcome tax, having to resell in a few years because you don’t plan on staying here in retirement…

Sometimes, accepting a $2,500 per month rent – that’s it – has its charm and advantages.

Extension

– We have to give credit to Renaud Lavoie, who never stopped believing in a new contract for Jake Evans in Montreal.

– Evans may have left money on the table, but he’ll still earn over $11 million in the next four years. Not bad for a seventh-round pick…

He’s not to be pitied.

– Jake Evans won’t have a no-trade clause in his new contract. The real master of the art of the deal isn’t Donald Trump, it’s Kent Hughes.

– After consistently filling the net, Jake Evans has only scored two goals in his last 25 games, including one into an empty net. The Law of Numbers always catches up with mathematical irregularities in the long run. Evans was hitting the target on about three out of ten shots. It was impossible to maintain.

– If Kent Hughes had traded Evans, it would have looked like he was abandoning his players. If he had kept him without offering a new contract, it would have been said that the Canadiens lost an important asset (a second-round pick or an unacquired prospect in return). No one is saying anything negative now.

– Cole Caufield will have at least one of his good friends in Montreal for the next few seasons. Remains to be seen what the Canadiens will decide to do with Christian Dvorak…

I don’t see what chair they could give to Dvorak, though. Evans and Dvorak were both candidates for the fourth-center spot in 2025-26.

– Looking forward to seeing what the Canadiens will do with Joel Armia…

– It’s always an advantage to be paid in USD but live in CAD…

– I invite you to watch episode 26 of Stanley25 to hear things about Amazon, RDS, TSN, Kirby Dach, David Reinbacher, Joshua Roy, Logan Mailloux, Lane Hutson, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, TVA Sports, Ivan Demidov, Alex Ovechkin, and Wayne Gretzky. Enjoy the show!

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Mathieu Olivier signs a six-year contract in Columbus

We knew that a contract extension was imminent for Mathieu Olivier and the Blue Jackets.

But did you think that the Blue Jackets’ depth player was going to sign a six-year contract with the Ohio formation? Clearly, he is really appreciated in his current environment.

We’re talking about an $18 million contract in total, or $3 million per year.

To play comparison games, he will earn more money than Jake Evans per year and he has two more years on his contract. What is your preferred agreement between the two?

Olivier is having an excellent season, he can score and fight. He brings grit to a team.

More details to come…

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Retaining salary in a three-team transaction: a good option for the Canadian

Jake Evans is officially in Montreal to stay. He chose, as you know, to leave money on the table in order to continue his career with the Canadiens.

Not everyone would have done that.

Naturally, this makes it even more unlikely that Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak, and/or David Savard will be traded by Friday.

I don’t think the Canadiens’ GM is only influenced by the team’s last five wins (recency bias), since the other three players mentioned above have less value… and the plan to sign Evans was not related to the standings.

But it’s still the case that right now, signing a fourth-line player is making a lot of noise. Welcome to Montreal!

The biggest issue for Kent Hughes is now resolved. The rest of the events are uncertain, as a big move could happen (such as acquiring a top center, for example) this week. But otherwise, it could be pretty quiet.

But as I mentioned yesterday and as Marc-Olivier Beaudoin mentioned on X, it’s still the case that an extremely important aspect to watch is how Kent Hughes will handle the third salary retention issue.

Right now, the Canadiens are retaining salary on the contracts of Jake Allen and Jeff Petry. So, there is one salary retention left until July 1st, and we can think that Kent Hughes will want to use it.

In the past, Kent Hughes has already played in these waters by being the third team in a transaction, in order to retain salary to “buy” a draft pick in the process. Nick Bonino is a good example.

Salary retention is an asset with value, and using it allows the organization to maximize its assets. In my opinion, if possible, Kent Hughes will take advantage of it.

After all, there’s a nuance between going after a fourth-round pick for David Savard (while retaining salary) or keeping the Quebecer to get roughly the same type of pick by retaining salary in another transaction.

The first option hurts the Canadiens, but not the second. A pick obtained without giving up a player is not the same as a pick obtained by trading a veteran player.

So, we’ll see.

extension

Note that by Friday, we won’t just be watching the Canadiens’ playoff run, but also that of the Rocket.

Kent Hughes should send reinforcements to Laval through trades, but also by “paper transactions” for players like Owen Beck and Jakub Dobes to make them eligible for the playoffs.

The players will visibly stay with the Canadiens in the short term, but they will become eligible for the playoffs in the process.

Since the Rocket is in a good position to go far in the playoffs, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Canadiens’ management work on this on the market.

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Top-5 : A nearly perfect evening for CH even though it didn’t play

There was plenty of action in the NHL last night.

And that, even though the Canadiens didn’t have a game on the schedule.

Let’s see what happened around the league:

1: A nearly perfect evening for the Canadiens even though they didn’t play

Naturally, we’re keeping a close eye on the playoff race in the East right now.

That’s normal.

That being said, even though the Canadiens didn’t play last night, they still had an interesting evening. Why?

Because…

  • The Bruins lost 6-3 to the Preds
  • The Wings lost 2-1 to the Canes
  • The Flyers lost 6-3 to the Flames
  • The Blue Jackets lost 6-2 to the Lightning

Noting that these games all ended in regulation time.

And noting also that only the Islanders were able to win last night among the teams currently fighting for a spot.

So that means this morning, the Canadiens are still just one point away from the Wings and a playoff spot.

It’s still very tight…

(Credit: )

2: A beautiful gesture by the Avalanche

The Humboldt Broncos tragedy struck the hockey world in 2018.

Last night, the Avalanche made a gesture to celebrate the lives of the young people who lost their lives by inviting Layne Matechuk, who survived the events.

The former defenseman had the opportunity to drop the puck for the ceremonial face-off, between his two favorite hockey players, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby.

Really a nice thought from the Avalanche:

Note that the game was completely in favor of the Avalanche, who ultimately won 4-1.

Artturi Lehkonen stood out in the game, scoring his 25th and 26th goals of the season.

He’s still having a good season in Colorado:

3: Thomas Harley plays the hero

We’re transported to the end of the third period in the game between the Devils and the Stars.

The score is 3-2 in favor of the Stars with just under five minutes left… And that’s when Prett Pesce stood up.

The Devils’ defenseman created the tie and well chose the moment to score his 2nd goal of the season:

Everything suggested that the fans in attendance would have the opportunity to see 3-on-3 hockey in overtime… But Thomas Harley, apparently, didn’t want to go to bed too late.

He played the hero with… 4.8 seconds left in the third period.

The defenseman gave the win (4-3) to his team with the help of a good shot. And we can see that Jacob Markström was not happy:

4: Stamkos finally breaks through

Before facing the Bruins last night in Boston, Steven Stamkos had been shut out in his last 13 games.

But he took matters into his own hands in his team’s 6-3 win.

The former Lightning captain collected three points, including this beautiful goal:

Stamkos, who seems to be slowing down since the start of the season, also collected two assists in his team’s win.

He was able to record his 600th career assist in the NHL.

A night that must have done him some good, then:

5: The Oilers are unrecognizable

The Oilers seemed ready to face the Ducks last night.

Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring with his 45th goal of the season… And he can thank his captain, who did all the work on the sequence:

But ultimately, the Oilers may not have been as ready as they thought.

After all, they saw the Ducks score four goals without a response in the first period alone…

At one point, the Ducks were leading 6-1.

This is not supposed to be normal against a good team like Edmonton.

But to put a smile back on their fans’ faces, Connor McDavid scored a goal… like Connor McDavid.

The damage was already done, however, since the Ducks won 6-2:

This is the Oilers’ sixth loss in their last seven games.

It comes in handy because the Canadiens will be in Edmonton tomorrow…

Will Martin St-Louis’ men be able to take advantage of it?

Overtime

— Michkov and Celebrini both scored last night:

— Big win for the Wild.

— Nice play!

— The Flames are really surprising.

— It’s heating up!

— Well done.

— The top scorers of the night:

(Credit: QuantHockey)

— Five games tonight in the NHL:

(Credit: Google)
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I see Mavrik Bourque as a target of the Canadiens

The NHL trade deadline is approaching quickly.

Several teams may have a different look by next Friday at 3 pm.

Will the Canadiens be sellers, buyers, or stick with the status quo?

It’s hard to say. On one hand, the Canadiens have just signed their most interesting player for a trade, Jake Evans, and the team is currently just one point away from a playoff spot.

Giving up players for picks would send a bad message to those who are working hard to get the Canadiens into the spring tournament.

However, we risk losing players like Joel Armia or David Savard (or Christian Dvorak, but that one bothers me less) for nothing at all, since they will all be unrestricted free agents at the end of the season.

On the other hand, the Canadiens could go out and get reinforcements to boost their chances of making the playoffs, but I don’t think the organization will want to deviate from its rebuilding plan by giving up prospects or picks for a short-term rental player.

If the Canadiens decide to make a move by Friday afternoon, journalist Grant McCagg, who has worked as a scout for the club, sees the Dallas Stars as a good trading partner.

In this scenario, Montreal would be the sellers. The Stars would be looking for reinforcements and depth for the playoffs and could be interested in acquiring one or two veteran players from the Canadiens.

According to McCagg, in such a trade, the Canadiens should aim for Quebec center Mavrik Bourque, who, in his first NHL season, has 20 points, including 9 goals, in 54 games.

The 23-year-old forward, who was drafted 30th overall by the Texas club in 2020, could help our center line, especially with Kirby Dach’s injury.

So even if the Canadiens would be sellers in this scenario, they would get a regular player ready to help the team immediately and in the future.

And as a bonus, a Quebecer too.

In a hurry

– It’s finally unlocking for Stamkos!

– Big save!

– No big hit for the Tigers.

– Celine at ESPN!

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American anthem booed in Ottawa: Brady Tkachuk could request a trade

This famous saga of the American national anthem being booed all over Canada continues to make headlines.

Personally, I find it more redundant than anything else. I understand the principle, but come on, at some point, we’ve made our point, right?

There’s another one who’s getting really tired of hearing the American national anthem being booed by Canadian fans.

It’s Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators.

We’ll say it, he who plays in Ottawa, he must be fed up. When you think about it, even if he plays at home, he feels the deep hatred of the Sens fans who boo at every game…

Last night, former NHL defenseman Ryan Whitney (who is American, by the way) posted a tweet with a video of the national anthem being booed in Ottawa and the camera pointed at Brady Tkachuk.

As Whitney said in his tweet, if the Senators fans continue like this, they might have to say goodbye to their captain soon.

On this subject, Kevin Dubé from the Journal de Montréal published an article about the unease felt by Tkachuk.

We know that the Tkachuk brothers don’t hide their pride for their native country (and it’s quite right to be proud of one’s country).

We remember that Matthew Tkachuk had commented after the game between the United States and Finland (where the American anthem had been booed) and he really didn’t like it.

And I understand them, because after all, it’s your fans who keep showing their discontent.

By the way, speaking of not stopping, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned the Americans in his latest speech:

“We’ll probably continue to boo your national anthem.” – Justin Trudeau

He also specified that Canadians are not booing Americans, but rather a policy:

“We’re not booing you. We’re not booing your teams. We’re not booing your players. We’re booing a policy that’s meant to hurt us. We’re insulted and angry, but we’re Canadians, which means we’ll stick together, and we’ll fight.” – Justin Trudeau

In short, all this doesn’t seem to be heading towards the end of this saga anytime soon.

We’ll probably hear more boos for a while longer…

In quick succession

– Not to be missed:

– Vlasic is now the player with the most blocked shots in NHL history.

– It seems like a trade is coming for the Oilers.

– The Jets will be worth watching as the trade deadline approaches.

– Worth reading.

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Guhle has more of a captain’s attitude than Suzuki – Luc Gélinas

Ahhh, how much we love our captain.

Especially in his last five games (where he collected no less than 13 points), Nick Suzuki is undoubtedly a crowd favorite.

A hard worker who can feed his teammates to perfection as well as thread the needle, while being more than responsible defensively: there’s not much to reproach him for.

Although he prefers to preach by example rather than push his troops to another level, it must be said that he doesn’t necessarily have the perfect profile of a captain.

He is very quiet and is not necessarily the one who will do everything (verbally) to motivate his troops.

Luc Gélinas and Louis Morissette discussed this topic on the “Entre la poire et le fromage” podcast and they share the same opinion: Kaiden Guhle would make a better captain than Suzuki.

After being asked if Guhle was the Canadiens’ captain in his eyes, Morissette said yes, and to that, Gélinas specified that he shares the same opinion.

“I think he has more of a captain’s attitude than Suzuki. It doesn’t take anything away from Nick, but I really see Kaiden as an ultimate captain.” – Luc Gélinas

In response, Louis Morissette said he simply doesn’t get the impression that the captain title suits Suzuki. He’s there to play hockey.

“He looks like a hockey geek, really. Don’t think about what you have to say to your teammates and journalists, focus on your game. That’s what you’re paid for and that’s fine.” – Louis Morissette

It’s hard not to agree with them, because clearly, Suz doesn’t have the ideal profile of a captain.

And before you stone me, I’m not saying Suzuki is a bad captain, I’m just saying that when we think of a captain, #14 isn’t the first one who comes to mind.

Of course, there are several types of captains, but let’s say Suzuki doesn’t have the makings of a Jonathan Toews, Patrice Bergeron, or Sidney Crosby.

As I mentioned earlier, Suzuki prefers to convey his message on the ice by showing an example to others.

Even if Guhle has barely more than 150 games of experience in the NHL, we can immediately see what kind of player (and teammate) he is.

A bit like Shea Weber, I think. There are differences in their game, but there are many similarities, including the captain’s attitude.

The two guys had really good arguments on the subject, but they discussed several other interesting topics.

I invite you to listen to the full episode, available on YouTube:

Rapid Fire

– Interesting.

– For those who are a little less familiar with the type of player Michael Hage is, this observation text is for you.

– Worth reading.

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Jake Evans and the CH would not have spoken for several weeks

The big news for the Montreal Canadiens today is the signing of Jake Evans.

Finally, this case is settled!

Almost everyone is a little surprised (positively) by Evans’ annual salary in this 4-year contract: I’m the first.

We know that Evans accepted less money to stay in Montreal and we also know that negotiations resumed on Sunday, which had been put on pause.

However, during the last Insider Trading, Pierre LeBrun added very interesting information regarding the interrupted negotiations.

Evans and the Tricolore had not spoken for several weeks.

« Montreal took the phone on Sunday after the two sides had not spoken for several weeks. It all comes from the player who wanted to stay. » – Pierre LeBrun

Wow! Several weeks without saying a single word? We understand why it didn’t seem to be progressing.

With LeBrun’s statement, we also understand why Evans had the impression that it was going nowhere.

He seemed to have resigned himself to the idea that he would leave with several weeks without any discussion.

Especially when considering that there was a lot of interest in the right-handed center across the NHL before the trade deadline.

Obviously, a profile like Jake Evans, especially as a rental player, attracts many teams, but it seems that the CH was even more interested in keeping his services.

In short, a good case settled.

Now that Jake Evans is staying in Montreal, will Kent Hughes want to trade one or more veterans from his formation, or will he want to make a push for the playoffs?

In a hurry

– We found the little boy who received Cole Caufield’s stick in Thursday’s game.

– Very interesting.

– Now the skates need to follow the talk.

– Vitek Vanecek could very well change addresses soon.

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“I’m really very impressed” : Pascal Vincent loves Reinbacher’s work

David Reinbacher has only played four games since his return to the game.

But that’s enough for his coach, Pascal Vincent, to praise him.

The Rocket’s manager likes his defenseman’s performance and isn’t afraid to talk about it in the media either.

In a recent interview published on the Rocket’s website, Vincent says he is “really very” impressed by Reinbacher lately.

And he didn’t say that by chance.

He chose his words carefully to explain how well Reinbacher is playing:

I’m really very impressed. It’s pretty rare that I say that about a young defenseman. – Pascal Vincent

That’s good, honestly.

We knew Reinbacher would take time to fully recover – and that hasn’t happened yet – but seeing that he doesn’t seem like a tourist on the ice to his coach is good news in itself.

Because obviously, we also know that the drafted defenseman, picked 5th overall in 2023, has great potential.

We know that with his size and style, he’ll be able to help the Canadiens in Montreal in a few years… But we also know that for that to happen, he must be able to progress as needed.

That being said, I really think the CH has handled his injury well.

The organization decided to keep him with the team so he could still be involved, and that’s definitely helping him right now in Laval, because the Rocket and the Canadiens have a very similar system on the ice.

Again, we should be happy for the kid. It was really complicated in Kloten last year, and he was disappointed not to be able to prove himself at the last camp due to his serious injury, but he seems to be on the right track now.

That’s what’s important, in the end.

In a hurry

– Jake Evans is happy.

– Ivan Demidov got an assist today (with 16:57 of ice time).

–

– To be continued.