Canadiens Daily: St. Louis 32nd Habs Coach; ‘Let’s Hear It For New York!’

The Montreal Canadiens officially shed the interim tag off of Martin St. Louis and made him the 32nd head coach in franchise history.

Cue the Alicia Keys and Jay-Z; the New York Rangers rolled the Tampa Bay Lightning.

That, NHL trade rumors, Stanley Cup Playoffs news and more in your MHN Canadiens Daily:

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens finally made it official and named Martin St. Louis the 32nd head coach in franchise history on Wednesday.

St. Louis made it very clear to the media that this is a rebuild and he’s ready to coach whatever prospects start to filter through from the Laval Rocket and eventually from the 2022 NHL Draft.

Did the Montreal Canadiens relinquish the rights to a prospect from 2018 NHL Draft second round pick Wednesday?

There’s plenty of flip-flopping going on between Shane Wright and Juraj Slafkovsky right now but the oddsmakers still like Wright a lot as the favorite to be picked first overall by the Montreal Canadiens at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

National Hockey Now

NYI: How bad did New York Islanders forward Andrew Beauvillier regress this past season?

PGH: Can the Pittsburgh Penguins keep right wing Rickard Rakell? If not, do they hit the UFA market for a replacement?

PHI: The Philadelphia Flyers passed on signing Connor McLennon, a sixth round NHL Draft pick from 2020.

FLA: Florida Panthers center Anton Lindell had an impressive rookie season.

COL: The Colorado Avalanche didn’t play the best Game 1 but they still beat Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.

VGK: Could losing forward Reilly Smith be big mistake for the Vegas Golden Knights?

SJS: The San Jose Sharks have signed defenseman Gannon Laroque to an entry-level contract.

Canada Hockey Now

CAL: Did the Calgary Flames regain respect from their fans despite losing the Battle Of Alberta?

VAN: My main man in VAN, Rob Simpson had a great sit-down with Vancouver Canucks president of hockey operations, Jim Rutherford.

NHL

The New York Rangers rode their momentum from the Game 7 win over the Carolina Hurricanes and took advantage of a flat Tampa Bay Lightning squad in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final with a 6-2 win. The quest for a three-peat by the Bolts may have run into runaway train out of Grand Central.