Habs Daily: Mesar’s Excellence At WJC, Struble and Xhekaj

Here’s all the latest Montreal Canadiens news, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Friday.

Habs News

• Jayden Struble continues to play excellent hockey for the Montreal Canadiens. But that doesn’t mean Arber Xhekaj should be eternally relegated to the AHL. The NHL roster has a place for both players, as they both bring something important to the table for the Habs.  [Habs Stats Pack – Updated Jayden Struble Analysis, Xhekaj’s Role]
• Montreal Canadiens prospect Filip Mesar continues to set up his teammates with prime scoring chances at the 2024 World Junior Championship, which is taking place in Gothenburg, Sweden. The 19-year-old forward earned another multi-point game with a three-point effort versus Norway on Friday. The outing pushed his tournament totals to six points in three games.[Canadiens Prospect Mesar’s Excellent World Juniors Playmaking]
• Lane Hutson enjoyed his best game of the 2024 World Juniors on Friday night. The dynamic defenceman struggled to create momentum in the first two games but was named the USA’s player of the game against Czechia.

Lane Hutson (MTL) finished today's game with 26:16, playing a lot more than normal with Seamus Casey (NJD) out sick. He'll often be USA's top minutes guy, but today was particularly busy for him. Was not on the ice for any of the three goals against.

— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) December 29, 2023

National Hockey Now Network

• Maybe it seems like a long time ago or just yesterday that Mike Sullivan took over as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. It’s been just a little more than eight years. He recounted Thursday what it felt like in December 2015 to take the reins of a club that had future Hall of Famers and a ton of potential.[Pittsburgh Penguins]
• The goal has always been the same for New Jersey Devils goaltender, Nico Daws. Claim the job in New Jersey’s crease. Feeling the best he’s ever felt, he now has the opportunity to do so. [New Jersey Devils]
• Any similarity between today’s Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit squad we saw 24 days ago in Buffalo is purely coincidental. The team that downed the Sabres 5-3 to raise its record to 14-7-3 has disappeared. [Detroit Red Wings]