Habs Daily: Slafkovsky Has Arrived, Hutson’s NCAA Excellence

Check out the latest Montreal Canadiens news, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Tuesday.

Habs News

• Don’t look now, but phenom Lane Hutson is currently eclipsing his record-setting results from last season. And he’s also improved his defensive play by leaps and bounds.  [Canadiens Prospect Report: Hutson And Beck Increased Scoring]

• Cayden Primeau was given the start against the Anaheim Ducks, just his first game since mid-January. [Canadiens Game 53: Cayden Primeau Given Start Versus Ducks]

• Ladies and gentlemen, it appears that Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky has arrived. The 19-year-old winger put together one of the best games of his young career against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. He scored a goal and added two assists, but more importantly, he drove the play with confidence. [Canadiens Juraj Slafkovsky Dominant In Exciting Win Over Ducks]

• Slafkovsky’s recent uptick in results is particularly impressive given that he’s developing in the NHL as a teenager, never an easy task.

Juraj Slafkovsky stretched his point streak to six games and tied the longest by a teenager in @CanadiensMTL history, a mark set by Doug Wickenheiser (6 GP in 1980-81).#NHLStats: https://t.co/pfmYWeZ9ws https://t.co/IYewnay02l

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 14, 2024

• It was lost in all the excitement, but Primeau played very well considering he was rusty. Sure, it wasn’t the most difficult game in which to pitch a shutout, but Primeau rarely receives run support when he starts games for the Canadiens. The relatively easy first-career shutout was well-deserved.

Big ups to Cayden Primeau (@cpreems29) on picking up the first shutout of his career! 🛑 pic.twitter.com/iLErU8gUqr

— NHL (@NHL) February 14, 2024

• The game also featured Brandon Gignac’s first career NHL goal, a fitting reward for a player who worked incredibly hard every night in the AHL to make it back to the big leagues.

Brandon Gignac se souviendra toute sa vie du 13 février 2024! 👏👏
– 1er point dans la LNH ✅
– 1er but dans la LNH ✅ pic.twitter.com/OTP3Pl57iS

— RDS (@RDSca) February 14, 2024

National Hockey Now Network

• Seven months ago, it looked as though Cal Petersen’s time in the NHL was close to running out, having been sent to the Philadelphia Flyers as a salary cap dump in the Ivan Provorov trade. Instead, unforeseen circumstances vaulted the 29-year-old from the AHL back to the NHL. [Philadelphia Flyers]

• The New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames were in serious talks about a potential trade involving goaltender Jacob Markstrom. However, he also reported that the trade has since died. So what halted the potential Flames-Devils trade? [New Jersey Devils]

• When Vancouver Canucks 6-foot-5, 220-pound player Nikita Zadorov delivered a blow to the head of Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond Saturday it wasn’t the first time that he angered Detroit fans. [Detroit Red Wings]