Habs Daily: Canadiens Bank on Future, Guhle Extension, Demidov

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

Montreal Canadiens News

General manager Kent Hughes finished up his internal summer business by signing defenceman Kaiden Guhle to a six-year contract extension. There are no guarantees Guhle will end up becoming a top pairing defenceman, but there are definitely several benefits to signing him to a long-term deal, as it lines up with the rest of the contracts offered to core players on the team. It also allows Hughes and Co. to focus on the future, rather than worrying about the present. [Guhle Extension: Canadiens Pro-Active Approach Offers Benefits]

Guhle met with the media to discuss his extension on Wednesday afternoon. Like most Habs fans, he’s excited to see what the group of young, talented Canadiens players can do in the near future. [Kaiden Guhle Media Availability]

“The (Habs management) have done a great job. Like I said, I believe in this group & the guys in this room…the management does too…It’s exciting to get to see what we can do.”

– Kaiden Guhle pic.twitter.com/2cQyO0tvQr

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) July 31, 2024

TVA Sports spoke to Allain Roy, Guhle’s agent, and it turns out the Habs were not interested in signing an eight-year-deal. It was a non-starter in the contract extension negotiations. [Nicolas Cloutier]

SKA Saint Petersburg, Ivan Demidov’s KHL team, signed forward Evgeny Kuznetsov to a four-year contract extension. The organization recently stated Demidov would be given every opportunity possible to earn a roster spot, which means it’s much too early to start worrying about his usage next year. [Kuznetsov Signs Four-Year Deal]

Trying to find the best #KHLPreseason look for Ivan Demidov. pic.twitter.com/ZPodJIGWCI

— KHL (@khl_eng) July 30, 2024

National Hockey Now Network

If professional sports teams were a direct democracy, Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry probably would have been traded for a seventh-round pick or less this summer. However, fans don’t yet get to run their favourite teams with American Idol-style voting. So, as goalies dominated NHL trade rumours, Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas acted appropriately and stood down. [Pittsburgh Penguins]

During his two seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, Murray Costello set a unique and forgettable standard. The right-shot centre wore the winged wheel for 31 NHL games – 24 regular-season games in 1955-56 and three more in 1956-57, as well as four playoff games in the spring of 1956 – and never collected a single point. [Detroit Red Wings]

On Monday, the Minnesota Wild and rookie defenceman, Brock Faber, agreed to an eight-year contract worth $68 million, which carries an average annual value (AAV) of $8.5 million. The Maple Grove, Minnesota native had a stellar rookie campaign that showed Wild general manager Bill Guerin enough to lock the soon 22-year-old down through his age-30 season. Certainly, Faber’s new contract with the Wild will have an impact on Luke Hughes who — despite the online disagreement — is certainly a comparable player to Faber. [New Jersey Devils]