Habs Daily: State Of The Rebuild Series, European Prospects

Here are the Montreal Canadiens news, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Monday.

Montreal Canadiens News

• Now that the Montreal Canadiens have completed their second complete rebuild season, it’s time to take a closer look at where the organization stands in terms of its long-term plans. In our first installment of the ‘State Of The Rebuild’ series, we take a look at the draft capital the team has acquired, as well as the options it gives general manager Kent Hughes this summer. [Canadiens Checklist: State Of The Rebuild – Draft Capital]

• Prospect Oliver Kapanen has always brought good defensive value to the table, but the forward has struggled to reach any sort of encouraging note from an offensive standpoint. Until now. The 2021 second-round pick improved his scoring pace during the regular season, a necessary step toward being considered a legitimate option for the team in the future. But it was his impressive production during the playoffs that will go a long way in convincing management that he can be an important part of the rebuild. As for defenceman Adam Engstrom, he’s enjoying one of the most unlikely runs in recent playoff history, as his team, Rogle, went from participating in a playoff qualifier to beating some of the top teams in Sweden. [ Habs Prospects Canadiens Prospect Report: Kapanen Surge, Engstrom’s Run]

• The Laval Rocket had the biggest increase in attendance last season among all AHL teams. Their year-to-year attendance improved by 21 percent.

La #AHL confirme un record d'assistance pour la saison 23-24 et c'est le @RocketLaval avec 21% d'augmentation qui a le plus forte hausse de toutes les équipes du circuit

— Stephane Leroux (@StephRDSJunior) April 22, 2024

• ICYMI: Jean-Francois Houle’s contract has come to an end, which means the Montreal Canadiens have to decide whether he’s the right man for the head coaching job going forward. [Evaluating Whether J-F Houle Is The Right Coach For Laval Rocket]

• ICYMI: Our article on Monday suggesting Nick Suzuki is justified in his decision not to join Team Canada at the World Championships is generating some very interesting discussion among our loyal readers. As a reminder, passionate discussions are encouraged, but personal insults are not. [Suzuki’s Decision Not To Play At Worlds Is Justified]

National Hockey Now Network

• No team can overcome a .696 save percentage in the playoffs. The Colorado Avalanche tried their best, but you can’t overcome bad goaltending. Yes, the Avalanche made mistakes. Every team makes mistakes, especially in the playoffs when you’re playing a very good team. You can’t be punished for every single mistake you make, though. On Sunday night, in game one, when his team put played really well in a tough environment and scored six goals against the best goaltender in the world, Alexandar Georgiev did the one thing he simply can’t do. He lost his team the game. [Colorado Avalanche]
• New Jersey Devils forward Jesper Bratt turned down an invite to the upcoming IIHF World Championships to play for Sweden. [New Jersey Devils]

• For two-and-a-half periods, it looked like the Nashville Predators finally solved the enigma that is the Vancouver Canucks. Then a disastrous 12-second span in the third period in which Pius Suter and Dakota Johnson scored back-to-back goals served as a stark reminder that the Canucks have had the Predators’ number this season, and Sunday night at the Rogers Center was no different. [Nashville Predators]