Habs Daily: Lane Hutson, Prospect Rankings, Demidov

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

Montreal Canadiens News

We continue our deep dive into the top Montreal Canadiens prospects by featuring a handful of players who have a family member that made it to the NHL ahead of them, including Aatos Koivu. While there’s some logic to drafting players who have pedigree, we must remember Koivu is not his father, and the expectations should be reasonable in his case. As for the more encouraging aspect of his development, it’s worth pointing out his production has improved by leaps and bounds recently, a fairly good indication that he’s in the midst of a healthy upward trajectory.  [Canadiens Prospect Rankings – Family Trees & Pedigrees]

Top prospect Ivan Demidov is yet to return to the ice, as he’s still nursing a lower-body injury, but he was spotted working hard at the gym, an encouraging sign for the 18-year-old forward.

It’s #KHLPreseason mode for Ivan Demidov. pic.twitter.com/ri70qFHa0c

— KHL (@khl_eng) July 25, 2024

Like many Habs fans, I own a rather extensive library of Canadiens-related books. This means it’s quite rare to find a picture that was not published in one of the many books covering the team’s impressive history. On that note, full marks to Andrew Zadarnowski for finding this interesting picture of former Canadiens owner Leo Dandurand.

September 1929- Léo Dandurand, co-owner of the Montreal Canadiens, was made an honourary member of the Caughnawaga (nowadays said Kahnawake) tribe. The ceremony took place on l’ile Ste-Hélène. pic.twitter.com/F2kQdk1Goj

— Andrew Zadarnowski (@AZadarski) July 25, 2024

Francis Bouillon joined the Poche Bleue podcast, hosted by former Habs Max Laperriere and Guy Latendresse. One of the topics that surfaced was blue-chip prospect Lane Hutson. It’s a French podcast, but suffice it to say he’s very excited about Hutson’s potential, not to mention his jaw-dropping skill set.

« Chaque fois que je vais le voir, il fait des moves que je n’ai jamais vus! » – Francis Bouillon sur Lane Hutson 🤩🔵⚪️🔴
Quelles sont vos attentes envers le jeune défenseur la saison prochaine? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/FRcVJntt9F

— La Poche Bleue (@lapochebleue) July 25, 2024

National Hockey Now Network

The outcome was never in doubt, but the Pittsburgh Penguins took their time, 13 months to be exact, to sign 2023 first-round pick Brayden Yager to his entry-level contract. Yager and the Penguins put pen to paper Thursday afternoon on Yager’s three-year entry-level contract. [Pittsburgh Penguins]

The Philadelphia Flyers locked up star right-winger Travis Konecny on Thursday, signing him to an eight-year, $70-million extension that carries an annual cap hit of $8.75 million. GM Danny Briere called the fiery Konecny “an integral part of the fabric of our team, and we are thrilled to have him under contract for the long term.” [Philadelphia Flyers]

Patrik Laine was supposed to be had in a hockey trade at one point. Now that has changed. So of course, with that hefty contract with a pair of years hanging out there, the Columbus Blue Jackets may shifted their asking price to picks and prospects for the one time 44-goal scorer. [Chicago Blackhawks]