Habs Daily: Coaching Targets, Rutger McGroarty, Laval Rocket

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

Montreal Canadiens News

• ICYMI: Just a few weeks after signing a three-year contract extension with the organization, Laval Rocket head coach Jean-Francois Houle accepted a job in the NCAA to serve as Clarkson’s head coach. With an important job opening in play, the Montreal Canadiens should have plenty of options moving forward.  [3 Potential Coaching Targets For Canadiens AHL Affiliate]
• Top Winnipeg Jets prospect Rutger McGroarty is reportedly being shopped, as talks between the talented winger and the organization have collapsed. He won’t come with a cheap price tag, but McGroarty is the exact type of player the Habs need in their lineup. [Canadiens Trade Talk: Top NHL Prospect Reportedly Available]
• Houle’s abrupt departure was surprising, but it does come as the team is going through a multitude of changes, signalling a new chapter in the Laval Rocket’s history. Several top Habs prospects will be joining the fold shortly. [Canadiens AHL Outlook: A Fresh Start For Many Key Prospects]

• Just in case anyone thinks top 2024 prospect Ivan Demidov is overrated, take a look at his tracking profile.

Ivan Demidov’s (#2024NHLDraft) tracking profile is now finished, and the results are pretty crazy.

As expected, he becomes the best draft-eligible forward I’ve ever tracked at the junior level (MHL, J20, U20). Insane amounts of offence and advantages created. pic.twitter.com/IcMSMpzfWu

— Lassi Alanen (@lassialanen) April 3, 2024

• Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky is enjoying some well-deserved time off.

Looks like Juraj Slafkovsky was at the F1 Spanish GP in Barcelona 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/1TfJ7eaWky

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) June 23, 2024

National Hockey Now Network

• Per multiple reports on Sunday morning, star prospect Matvei Michkov is indeed leaving his native KHL club SKA St. Petersburg and joining the Philadelphia Flyers this summer. Recall that, in April, SKA chairman Alexander Medvedev explained in an interview how his club was “in contact” with the Flyers regarding Michkov and would not rule out the possibility of the 19-year-old coming to North America this summer. Medvedev was retained as SKA chairman on June 9. [Philadelphia Flyers]
• The Florida Panthers succeeded in one major objective Friday night: They kept Connor McDavid off the scoresheet. No. 97 didn’t even record a shot on goal. And, it did not matter. Aside from shutting down McDavid, the Panthers did little else right in their Game 6 loss. There were missed defensive assignments, a futile power play, and the bad luck of having a goal pulled off the board for an offside. [Florida Panthers]
• We’re still waiting. The NHL buyout window will begin Wednesday at 5 p.m. after the Stanley Cup is finally awarded on Monday, beginning the 48-hour waiting period before teams can buy their way out of bad contracts or sacrifice contracts to create more salary cap space. [Pittsburgh Penguins]