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Canadiens Wrap

Habs Wrap: Demidov’s Great goal, Youth Movement, Hage

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4 months ago

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MONTREAL — There’s always Montreal Canadiens content to absorb, but there are only so many hours in a day. On Sundays, we recap the most exciting and relevant NHL news stories that you may have missed throughout the week so that you can stay in the Canadiens loop.

Monday

Cole Caufield scored twice, while phenom Lane Hutson set up two goals, as the Habs beat the Ottawa Senators for the first time since Jean Drapeau was the mayor of Montreal. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but let’s just say the Canadiens haven’t enjoyed much success against their younger Ontarian brother. It must also be said that Samuel Montembeault has been borderline perfect since starting the year. [Canadiens Instant Recap: Caufield And Hutson Remain Red Hot]

With six points in five games, Hutson is off to an excellent start to his NHL career. We’re not dealing with a gigantic sample size yet, but we have just enough information available to get an early look at the impact Hutson can make in the lineup.  [Top 5 Things We’ve Learned From Lane Hutson’s NHL Start]

Laval Rocket forward Filip Mesar has hit the ground running in the AHL. The 20-year-old has one goal and three assists in two games. Speaking of hot starts, defenceman Logan Mailloux leads the team in scoring with two goals and two assists.

As for Filip Mesar, the 20-year-old began his professional career in earnest on Friday, and he did it in style, scoring a goal and two assists.

The Habs placed forward Alex Barre-Boulet on waivers, with the end goal being an AHL reassignment. It’s purely speculative, but I assume the decision was made to open a roster spot for Jayden Struble, who has been dealing with a lingering injury since the start of the year. [Montreal Canadiens Place Depth Forward On Waivers]

Tuesday

Take a closer look at which Montreal Canadiens players improved their stock value since the start of the season, including an impressive rookie and a hard-working veteran. [Canadiens Stocks: Gallagher, Hutson, and Special Teams Value]

The Habs are one of the youngest teams in the league, whereas the Penguins are one of the oldest, but it was Pittsburgh’s wisdom that emerged over Montreal’s youthful exuberance on Monday night. The good news is that Juraj Slafkovsky scored his first goal of the year, while Emil Heineman continues to produce impressive results.  [Canadiens Highlights: Heineman, Slafkovsky Score In Loss]

Goaltending prospect Jacob Fowler was named the Hockey East goaltender of the week. Fowler started his NCAA sophomore campaign with a 24-save shutout versus Michigan State. [Canadiens Prospect Rankings – Jacob Fowler: The Next Great Hope]

Wednesday

Top prospect Ivan Demidov was promoted to the third line on Tuesday as SKA Saint-Petersburg faced Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk. The decision to stop sandbagging their young star paid off, as Demidov scored a very nice goal early in the first period. [Habs Prospect Report: Ivan Demidov Scores Beautiful Goal]

Jeff Gorton was a guest on L’AntiChambre, where Demidov’s ice time was discussed. Despite the unfortunate situation, there’s no chance the Habs will get involved. The most obvious reason being that the team does not have the 18-year-old player under contract.


It’s very early in the season, but so far, Samuel Montembeault has stood out as one of the few players who is performing above expectations for the Habs. If the goaltender can maintain his solid level of play an invitation to play for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Tournament isn’t out of the question. [Daily Faceoff]

Former Hab Sean Monahan scored his first goal at home for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and quickly pointed to the sky, in recognition of the late Johnny Gaudreau. It was a touching moment, as they were very close friends.

Thursday

While most of the attention at camp centred on the play of Joshua Roy and Oliver Kapanen, it was Emil Heineman who quietly had the best underlying numbers in preseason action. He’s also hit the ground running after earning his roster spot, with two goals in three games. His parents are understandably excited about his recent play.

Prospect Aatos Koivu registered his fifth point of the season for TPS Turku, the very same team his father played with before arriving in Canada. As it stands, he’s been limited to a depth role on the team, but that’s par for the course when discussing an 18-year-old who was picked in the third round playing in a professional hockey league.

Even though prospect David Reinbacher sustained a long-term injury in preseason action he still managed to make himself available for the team’s annual blood drive at the Bell Centre. Brendan Gallagher and Cole Caufield were also present to spend time with Habs fans who donated their blood.


The Canadiens once again find themselves as one of the youngest teams in the NHL, and those come with growing pains. As the club navigates a season where they’d like to be in the playoff mix, having some key youngsters establish themselves in bigger roles could help the Canadiens kill two birds with one stone down the line. [Performance Of Canadiens Youth To Simplify Next Steps For Club]

Friday

Ivan Demidov played his 17th game of the season in the KHL, lining up on SKA Saint Petersburg’s third line, alongside Evgeny Kuznetsov and Sergei Plotnikov. One of the most important factor when it comes to producing good results is the strength of your teammates, and it’s only fair to say he was put in a pretty healthy situation on Thursday.

On that note, Demidov was used sparingly when the game was close, which limited his usage in the third period. That’s not ideal, but it’s also not abnormal. Martin St-Louis did the same during Juraj Slafkovsky’s first season in the NHL.

In total, Demidov was given 15 shifts in a little over nine minutes of ice time. He also assisted on Plotnikov’s goal in the first period, pushing his season totals to five goals and five assists in 17 games.

Lane Hutson stole the show on Thursday for the Habs, especially once Mike Matheson had to leave the game. Hutson ended up with over 30 minutes of ice time, and though he was far from perfect, it would be unreasonable to expect a rookie to avoid any manner of mistake. Samuel Montembeault also had a strong outing, despite the loss against the Los Angeles Kings. Overall, the Habs played better than in previous games, but considering the Kings had played and travelled the previous night, it was a disappointing effort level from Martin St-Louis’ team. [Canadiens Instant Recap: Hutson Plays Over 30 Minutes In Loss]

Here’s an interesting statistics regarding Hutson’s performance on Thursday. He had the puck on his blade longer than almost every single NHL player last year. Ideally, you don’t want to put that type of pressure on a rookie, but you’d be hard-pressed to argue Hutson has faltered despite his heavy usage since the start of his career. The key will be regulating his energy, as he’s not used to playing 82 games in a season. The NCAA involves a lot of practice, but roughly half the games that are played in an NHL season.

The early-season results have been awful from a team perspective. As it stands, the Habs are dead last in a few important statistical categories. It’s been ugly, but it’s still early. From an individual standpoint, Brendan Gallagher, Emil Heineman, Samuel Montembeault, and Arber Xhekaj have stood out from the crowd. [Canadiens Stats Pack: Heineman and Xhekaj Stand Out]

Saturday

Prospect Michael Hage continues to enjoy a fantastic start to his NCAA career. The high-event forward has scored four goals and three assists in just five games, including his fantastic goal for the University of Michigan against St. Cloud State on Friday night. I know I’m a broken record when it comes to his style of play, but I can’t help but appreciate the entertainment factor whenever Hage is on the ice. Executing plays at top speed bodes very well for his NHL aspirations.

Speaking of Hage, thanks to his hot start he’s currently the most productive Under-19 player in the NCAA.

Well, it happened. The injury bug saw its own shadow, which means it gave the Canadiens one extra week of good health, but it was all for naught, as the team has been hit with the usual sadness parade to the infirmary. Defencemen Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson were missing from practice on Friday, with the former being listed as day-to-day. Guhle, on the other hand, will not make the trip to face the Islanders on Saturday night. Juraj Slafkovsky left practice with what appeared to be an injured shoulder, but he will also join the team on Long Island. Head coach Martin St-Louis could not confirm whether Slafkovsky or Matheson were healthy enough to play against the Islanders. [The Impact Of The Latest Montreal Canadiens Injuries]

Alex Barre-Boulet and Joshua Roy are taking their demotion to the AHL seriously. Both players put together a fantastic effort as the Laval Rocket beat Joel Bouchard and the Syracuse Crunch 5-2. Barre-Boulet had two goals and two assists, whereas Roy contributed a pair of goals and one assist. Jakub Dobes saved 25 of the 27 shots he faced.

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