Habs Daily: Lottery Odds, Hoffman Calls out DoPS, Farrell’s Future

All the latest Habs news, recent Montreal Canadiens stories, as well as information from around the National Hockey League.

Habs News

• Every game the Canadiens lose improves their odds of drafting among the first five teams at the upcoming Draft lottery. But it will be difficult for the Habs to crack the top four. Or rather, the bottom four. [Canadiens Trending Toward Good Draft Pick]
• We asked a few Habs prospect experts to give us their opinions on three players that may make their professional debuts relatively soon: Riley Kidney, Joshua Roy, and Sean Farrell. [Draft Experts Discuss NHL Readiness]
• Speaking of Farrell, his team, the Harvard Crimson, was embarrassed by Jakub Dobes’ Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday, losing 8-1. Now that Harvard is eliminated from the NCAA tournament, Farrell is free to sign his entry-level contract with the Canadiens. [Farrell Eliminated From Tournament, ELC Looms]
• Mike Hoffman called out the NHL’s Department of Player Safety following the ruling A.J. Greer’s blatant cross-check to the face was only worthy of a one-game suspension. [Hoffman Calls Out DoPS]

National Hockey Now News

•  There has been plenty of recent chatter about the juice being close to nonexistent in the storied Boston Bruins/Montreal Canadiens rivalry in recent years. But Thursday night’s matchup was a nice change of pace. [Boston Bruins]
• A lot of what Pittsburgh Penguins captain and top player Sidney Crosby says publicly can come across as fairly dry and cliché, especially when he takes a little time to offer his philosophy on various hockey topics. It’s been that way for at least nearly 18 years since he arrived in the NHL. [Pittsburgh Penguins]
• When the Philadelphia Flyers signed goaltender Nolan Maier to a one-year, two-way contract, nobody expected him to play with the big club. But at 22 years old, he’s been valuable to the organization, and there’s still some possible upside there. [Philadelphia Flyers]
•  The story on Thursday night should have been about the Florida Panthers, a team in a playoff chase, playing host to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Had Eric and Marc Staal slipped on the team’s special Pride Night jerseys and warmed up with their team, the game would have been the story. [Florida Panthers]
• Ville Husso’s injury has created an opportunity for Alex Nedeljkovic to start for the Detroit Red Wings Saturday on the road against the Philadelphia Flyers. [Detroit Red Wings]
• Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy announced that a trio of players will be unavailable to the team in their final game of a three-game trip to Western Canada. [Vegas Golden Knights]