Habs Daily: Canadiens Trade Partners, Former Hab Retires, Koivu

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

Montreal Canadiens News

Former Montreal Canadiens goaltender Michael McNiven has retired from professional hockey. He will join the BCHL’s Powell River Kings to serve as part of their coaching staff.  [Coaching Addition To Powell River Kings]

The Montreal Canadiens are in a prime position to take advantage of their cap-strapped rivals thanks to their substantial salary cap space and strategic use of Carey Price’s contract. With all their free agents signed, the Canadiens have over $5.5 million in cap space, providing them with significant flexibility. This financial room is crucial because several teams are right up against the salary cap and may need to offload some contracts to become cap-compliant. [Canadiens’ Best Trade Partners For Cap-Dump Summer Deals]

Aatos Koivu is enjoying life as a newly drafted member of the Montreal Canadiens organization. [TSN]

“I’ve heard only good things. He (Saku Koivu) has been talking about Canada…the fans, the rink, he loved it there….I’ve been talking to the (Habs) team a little bit…some fans from MTL msged me on Instagram, saying welcome & that they’re happy I got drafted.”

– Aatos Koivu pic.twitter.com/kYMUni6tp0

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) August 1, 2024

Top prospect Ivan Demidov is yet to hit the ice in Russia due to a lower-body injury, but the talented forward is not showing any signs of long-term issues with his knee/leg. [Habs Reddit]

National Hockey Now Network

At 52 years old, the world belongs to Jaromir Jagr. He is the second leading scorer in NHL history, had his number retired last February by the Pittsburgh Penguins, for whom he played his first 12 seasons, and owns a team in Czechia. Yet he will not let his playing days go gentle into that goodnight. [Pittsburgh Penguins]

Former Philadelphia Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher has now embarked on his next venture in the NHL, joining Metropolitan Division rival New Jersey Devils as a Senior Advisor to the President, Hockey Operations, and General Manager. [Philadelphia Flyers]

There are a lot of good coaches in the NHL that happen to be from Canada, and when you are forced to just pick a few for your super team coaching staff, it must be awfully difficult to narrow down the choices. [Colorado Avalanche]