Habs Daily: Hughes’ Magic, Goalie Surplus, Pitlick Trade Request

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

Habs News

• In the latest edition of the Montreal Canadiens Mailbag, we discuss the possibility of trading players like Joel Armia, David Savard, and Christian Dvorak, Jeff Petry’s future with the team, the goaltending situation now that three netminders are in the mix, an underrated prospect, why Nick Suzuki is clearly the Supermarine Spitfire of the team, a potential reason why management has been silent, the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Kent Hughes’ great work in trades, and much more. [Habs Mailbag: Potential Trades, Goalie Situation, Hughes’ Wizardry]
• According to TVA Sports journalist Renaud Lavoie, former Habs forward Rem Pitlick requested a trade, an understandable request given that he was lost in the depth of the Canadiens’ prospect pool.

National Hockey Now Network

• It’s time to revisit the original trade that brought him to the San Jose Sharks and the circumstances that led to it, including the Evander Kane trade and re-signing, and how the pursuit of John Tavares in the summer of 2018 eventually compelled the San Jose Sharks to acquire Karlsson and reward him with a new contract. [San Jose Sharks]
• Monday, Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas said the self-imposed trade deadline was motivation, in clear deference to the Penguins’ willingness to indeed buy out Granlund to clear necessary cap space. [Pittsburgh Penguins]
• Joel L’Esperance had never played many games within driving distance of his hometown of Brighton. [Detroit Red Wings]
• Nathan MacKinnon was obviously going to be among the top centres in the NHL, and anyone who’s not a lunatic would have him in their top 5, but where did the NHL ultimately place him? [Colorado Avalanche]
• After winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in the 1970s, the Philadelphia Flyers haven’t won another. Six more times the Flyers advanced to the finals. Remarkably, six times the Flyers ran into powerhouses. You don’t expect to meet a mediocre team in the finals, of course, but the Flyers always managed to face teams that were dynasties in the making. [Philadelphia Flyers]
• Jack Eichel was full of confidence heading into the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Connor McDavid went first overall to the Edmonton Oilers, but Eichel was telling teams in the scouting combine that he would be better than McDavid. [Vegas Golden Knights]
• The goalie who backstopped the Boston Bruins to their only Stanley Cup since 1972 is ready to become part of the Bruins family again. [Boston Bruins]