Habs Daily: Roy Is On Fire, Gallagher, Allen, & Caufield Shine

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

Habs News

• The Montreal Canadiens decided to send prospect Filip Mesar to the OHL. He will report to the Kitchener Rangers. [Canadiens Send First-Round Pick To The OHL]
• The team also decided to recall Joel Armia from the AHL. Some fans wanted Joshua Roy to receive the call, but it’s probably wise to err on the side of caution when it comes to important prospects such as Roy. Development is a marathon, not a sprint. [Canadiens Taking Wise Approach With Joshua Roy’s Development]
• It was probably a little too close for comfort, but the Canadiens did manage to beat Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. Veterans like Jake Allen and Brendan Gallagher played a starring role.  [Canadiens: Allen, Caufield, Gallagher Standout In Win Vs Capitals]
• Joshua Roy currently leads the AHL in scoring, with an impressive 11 points in five games. [Habs Prospect Report: Roy, Farrell, Mailloux, Beck]

National Hockey Now Network

• Three-time Stanley Cup champion Phil Kessel is still unemployed 10 days into the 2023-24 NHL regular season. The mercurial winger hoisted the Stanley Cup last June as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights but was a healthy scratch for most of the playoff run. After participating in captain’s practices with the Golden Knights before training camp, he has been skating on his own, awaiting a contract offer. Kessel has reportedly turned down PTO offers. [National Hockey Now]
• The Colorado Avalanche hoped that Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon would refuel some of their Junior hockey chemistry, but the experiment has been put on hold for now. [Colorado Avalanche]
• Robby Fabbri‘s history of bad luck with injuries added a new chapter when Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde announced Friday that Fabbri will be out a month with his lower-body injury. [Detroit Red Wings]
• Are the Philadelphia Flyers, a team I predicted would finish with 83 points, better than most of us thought? Or is their 3-1 start, including an impressive 4-1 win Thursday over Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, just a tease like early last season? A year ago the Flyers started the season 7-3-2, then lost 10 straight and their season fell off a cliff. They finished with just 75 points (31-38-13). There is a major difference, however, in the Flyers’ lineup this season. [Philadelphia Flyers]