Habs Daily: Demidov Benched, New Canadiens Lines, Slafkovsky

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

Montreal Canadiens News

Top prospect Ivan Demidov was used sparingly during SKA Saint-Petersburg’s 2-1 loss to Kunlun Red Star. The talented forward was given a little over eight minutes of ice time, and was nailed to the bench during the third period. The lowered ice time did not correlate with any mistakes from the 18-year-old prospect, who has scored six goals and 13 assists in 24 games this season, good for third overall among all his teammates.

Martin St-Louis decided to mix things up at practice on Monday morning. Kirby Dach was back on the top line, while centre Jake Evans received a promotion to the second line, alongside Alex Newhook and Juraj Slafkovsky. [Canadiens Practice Notes: Jake Evans Receives Promotion]

St-Louis also brought in former NHLer Marc Bureau to help the struggling Canadiens improve their overall faceoff efficiency.

Former NHLer Marc Bureau working with Canadiens centreman on faceoffs before practice this morning in Brossard. Bureau won 51.4% of his faceoffs with #Habs in 1997-98 and 56.3% with Flyers in 1999-2000. Habs rank 25th in NHL on faceoffs this season at 47.6%. #HabsIO pic.twitter.com/qyUJWE7H7M

— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) November 4, 2024

Even though it was clearly a hit to the head that went unpenalized, Slafkovsky was in relatively good spirits when discussing the incident.

Juraj Slafkovsky today on the hit he took Saturday vs the Penguins:

“I have my opinion but I probably can’t say cause it’s bad.” pic.twitter.com/iTth02j69X

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) November 4, 2024

National Hockey Now Network

Tyler Johnson will soon get to play in an actual game after signing a one-year contract with the Boston Bruins worth $775,000 on Monday, per an announcement by the team. [Boston Bruins]

The Florida Panthers signed another one of their top prospects to an entry-level contract on Monday. Gracyn Sawchyn, a second-round pick in 2023, was one of the nice surprises in training camp as he hung around until the final week. [Florida Panthers]

Amid the New Jersey Devils’ tilt with the Calgary Flames on Friday night at the Saddledome, Nathan Bastian did not return after the first period due to a jaw injury. No timeline was disclosed on his injury. [Philadelphia Flyers]