Habs Daily: Leafs Interest In Former Captain, Prospect Pool Rank

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

Montreal Canadiens News

Top prospect Ivan Demidov scored the game-tying and game-winning goal for Russia’s Under-23 team as they faced his KHL club, SKA Saint Petersburg. It’s getting rather difficult to slow down the hype train in his case, especially since the Habs have not had a forward prospect of his calibre in a very, very long time.  [Top Canadiens Prospect Ivan Demidov Scores Great Goals]

Former Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty is rumoured to be courted by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Pacioretty,35, has been slowed significantly by recent injuries to his Achilles tendon, which has mitigated much of his scoring prowess. That being said, he did earn 23 points in 45 games for the Washington Capitals last season, which means he could end up being a decent depth option for the Leafs if he manages to stay healthy.

Break from vacation..

Sources confirm the Maple Leafs are among the teams firmly in the mix to sign veteran UFA forward Max Pacioretty.

— Nick Alberga (@thegoldenmuzzy) August 29, 2024

According to Nicolas Cloutier, forward Juraj Slafkovsky has been hard at work this summer, and should arrive at camp in a little better shape than he did in previous seasons.

Habs reporter Nicolas Cloutier was on Tony Marinaro’s new show yesterday on BPM Sports, he said that Juraj Slafkovsky has shed some weight this summer & he’s now down to about 220 pounds. pic.twitter.com/ZQLZRHkH5x

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) August 29, 2024

The Canadiens’ prospect pool continues to be among the best in the league. The last time we checked-in on these rankings, the Habs were third in the NHL. This time around, they jumped to second overall. Either way, it’s encouraging to know that it’s not just Canadiens fans who think the best is yet to come in Montreal.

NHL TEAM PROSPECT POOL STRENGTH RANKINGS (AUG 2024)!!

With the Savoie, McGroarty, Holloway and Broberg movements I’ve updated the team prospect pool rankings one more time before the start of the season.

The addition of Savoie to Edmonton’s prospect pool increased their… pic.twitter.com/m2vufz65h5

— Byron Bader (@ByronMBader) August 29, 2024

National Hockey Now Network

With lots of uncertainty surrounding the availability of Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin next season, the Colorado Avalanche could really use a healthy Artturi Lehkonen. After off-season shoulder surgery, there’s been some question as to whether or not Lehkonen will be ready when training camp opens in three weeks. [Colorado Avalanche]

The Philadelphia Flyers have signed former San Jose Sharks goaltender Eetu Makiniemi to a professional tryout offer, his agency, WD Sports & Entertainment, announced Thursday evening. [Philadelphia Flyers]

With it being NHL Goalie Week in the hockey world, it is the perfect time to talk about the contributions of Braden Holtby for the Washington Capitals. The 2018 Capitals roster had a lot of stellar talent on it. Leading the way was captain and superstar winger Alex Ovechkin, who scored 49 goals and registered 38 assists for 87 points in 82 games in the regular season. He also had 15 goals and 12 assists for 27 points in 24 games during the 2018 postseason. [Washington Capitals]