Habs Daily: St-Louis Personal Leave, Caufield Scoring Analysis

Here are the latest Montreal Canadiens news, highlights, and stories you may have missed during the weekend.

• There was some unfortunate news on Saturday afternoon, as Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis had to leave the team for family reasons. We wish him nothing but the best as he deals with the difficult situation. [ Canadiens Daily Montreal Canadiens Coach Martin St-Louis Taking Personal Leave]

• Assistant coach Trevor Letowski will take over coaching duties while St-Louis is away. As expected, the team has rallied around their head coach to offer him support during these trying times.

“There's a lot of care in that room, we talked about how our culture is growing, as a staff we're proud of our team & how much they care about each other…how much they care about Marty & everybody." – Habs assistant coach Trevor Letowski post-game yesterday pic.twitter.com/3gr3ypqRhr

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) March 17, 2024

• Cole Caufield may not be scoring as many goals as he usually does for the Montreal Canadiens, but there’s no need to worry about his long-term value. Caufield is taking a lot of shots from high-danger scoring areas. While we wait for his scoring to normalize, we can also appreciate the other important aspects Caufield has added to his game since joining the NHL. [Reasons Why Canadiens Fans Shouldn’t Worry About Caufield]

• Captain Nick Suzuki explains the team is missing their head coach and is offering him their full support.

“It’s obviously different with Marty not being here. We have a good group in here, lot of good coaches. It was business as usual. But obviously we’re missing him and wishing for the best for him.” – Nick Suzuki on coach Marty pic.twitter.com/SktuqX9bK3

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) March 17, 2024

• Caufield also touched on St-Louis’ difficult situation.

“Obviously it’s tough, he’s our rock, our leader & our head coach so it’s tough when he’s not around…” – Cole Caufield on coach Marty pic.twitter.com/c1KWzZ1Kem

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) March 17, 2024

• Cayden Primeau started versus the Calgary Flames, while Jayden Struble returned to the lineup, leaving Johnathan Kovacevic as the odd man out on defence. [Canadiens Game 67: Primeau Starts, Struble Returns, Dvorak Info]

• The Habs controlled the shots and scoring chances against the Flames, but they were let down by the play of their top pairing. Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson have struggled in recent weeks, giving credence to the idea that the pairing should be dismantled. [Canadiens Top Pairing Struggles In Frustrating Loss to Flames]

National Hockey Now Network

• Since being acquired by the Philadelphia Flyers ahead of the NHL trade deadline on March 6, former Colorado Avalanche forward Ryan Johansen has not appeared in a game for the Flyers organization. Johansen was placed on waivers that same day to be assigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL and officially cleared waivers on March 7. The AHL transactions page shows that Johansen was registered as a Phantoms player on March 7, but has since resurfaced on the Flyers roster and has been listed as a scratch for recent games. So, what is actually going on with Johansen? [Philadelphia Flyers]

• Things have been good for Daniil Miromanov since being acquired by the Calgary Flames in the Noah Hanifin deal on March 6. Immediately slotted as the quarterback of the first power play, deployed in the top four next to MacKenzie Weegar, and, of course, a two-year extension ensuring a bit of job security. [Calgary Flames]

• Jake Allen update! The Devils’ new goaltender was superb in his start against the Vegas Golden Knights and unlike his first start, it was for the full 60 minutes. However, it’s a tall order to keep the defending Stanley Cup champions off the board, and they found a way to beat Allen twice. Lacking goal support, the Devils left another two points on the table.[New Jersey Devils]