Habs Daily: Xhekaj’s Surprising Season, Burying Contracts In AHL

Published

9 months ago

July 25, 2023

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

Introducing a new series: What I Got Wrong About The Montreal Canadiens. The first article tackles the biggest mistake of the season, underestimating Arber Xhekaj. [What I Got Wrong About The Montreal Canadiens: Arber Xhekaj]
If the Canadiens manage to clear up more cap space, they will start to accrue funds throughout the season, but it won’t be an easy task. One option would be placing a veteran such as Joel Armia in the minors. This means it’s the perfect time to take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of burying cap hits in the minors. [How Buried AHL Salary Could Impact the Montreal Canadiens]
Defenceman Kaiden Guhle has added an adorable fluffball to the mix.

Looks like Kaiden Guhle has a new lil pup named Gus 🐶 pic.twitter.com/DEwVciBjaa

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) July 24, 2023

Murphy’s Hockey Law is back, and Episode 6 is out now! In the latest Murphy’s Law Podcast, host Jimmy Murphy and producer Blake Thorne welcomed Vegas Golden Knights Head Coach Bruce Cassidy to talk about winning the Stanley Cup and the journey to get there. [Boston Bruins]
The Pittsburgh Penguins roster looks to be fairly settled, although management is going to have to find ways to pare a few million dollars from the payroll to become compliant with the NHL’s salary-cap ceiling of $83.5 million. [Pittsburgh Penguins]
Even if you didn’t like every one of GM Steve Yzerman’s offseason moves, it’s hard not to see the Detroit Red Wings as an improved team. [Detroit Red Wings]
There’s still a lot that can happen between now and the start of the season for the Colorado Avalanche, but we have a pretty good idea of what the forward group will look like. [Colorado Avalanche]
Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov was awarded a one-year, $3.55 million deal by an arbitrator on Sunday. Is there an impact on the Philadelphia Flyers? [Philadelphia Flyers]
President of hockey operations George McPhee and general manager Kelly McCrimmon have made a number of big decisions in their six years of running hockey operations for the Vegas Golden Knights. [Vegas Golden Knights]