Habs Daily: Demidov MVP, Fucale Eyes Return, Slafkovsky

All the Montreal Canadiens news items, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Friday.

Montreal Canadiens

Head coach Martin St-Louis discussed a few things following the team’s embarrassing 9-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, which featured mid-game adjustments to the top six. Juraj Slafkovsky was promoted to the top line, while Alex Newhook was dropped to the second line. St-Louis suggested the Slafkovsky, Patrik Laine, and Kirby Dach combination was not working, something we confirmed by taking a look at their numbers. [Canadiens Fact Check: St-Louis Discusses Slafkovsky Line Change]

Top prospect Ivan Demidov was actually given a little ice time, and the results will shock you! Lo and behold, the 19-year-old forward earned five points for Russia as they faced Belarus and Kazakhstan at the Channel One Cup, a very short 3v3 tournament. Demidov was also named the Most Valuable Player, which will hopefully translate to reasonable ice time once he’s back in the KHL playing for SKA Saint-Petersburg.

According to Kevin Weekes, former Canadiens goaltender Zach Fucale is hoping to finally earn a job in the NHL. Fucale was drafted by the Habs 36th overall in 2013, and was the highest goaltender selected that year, but never quite reached his potential, toiling away in the AHL and ECHL before the Montreal Canadiens opted not to offer him a qualifying offer in 2018. He then signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, once again spending the majority of his time in the ECHL before suffering the same fate as he did in Montreal, as Vegas decided not to qualify him. He spent time in the Syracuse Crunch organization before eventually signing with the Washington Capitals, where a strong showing in the AHL led to his only NHL starts, a four-game stint in 2021-22.

He put an end to his North American adventure after winning the Calder Cup, signing a two-year deal with Traktor in the KHL, where he’s established himself as one of the top goaltenders in the league.

Hearing that Zach Fucale has hired Dan Milstein to help facilitate his @NHL comeback. Fucale has been the top goaltender in the KHL over the past two seasons, and there’s significant interest from @NHL clubs for the 2025-26 season.#HockeyX pic.twitter.com/A10gtvjDHE

— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) December 13, 2024

Team Canada released its roster ahead of the 2025 World Junior Championship, which takes place in Ottawa over the holidays. It’s worth noting that only two players from the QMJHL made the cut, yet another sign of an ailing hockey province. Keep that in mind the next time a politician that doesn’t discuss hockey until they want to score cheap points brings up the lack of Quebec-born players in the Canadiens lineup.

The fact of the matter is that hockey the issue in Quebec runs much deeper than the professional level. It’s a grassroots problem driven by greed and archaic strategies.

CONFIRMED! Ethan Gauthier and Mathieu Cataford will represent Canada at the next #WorldJuniors! 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/G1A7fD6fpx

— QMJHL (@QMJHL) December 13, 2024

National Hockey Now Network

When a team starts to win games in bunches without giving back the gains with stacks of losses in the aftermath, it can be said a team is improving, turning the corner, or at least evolving. And so, with the recent body of evidence, the Pittsburgh Penguins are turning the corner.[Pittsburgh Penguins]

The Florida Panthers sent social media into a tizzy late Thursday night when they trailed by three going into the third period in Vancouver before losing 4-0 to the Canucks. [Florida Panthers]

Fresh off a 6-5 win at Buffalo, familiar Detroit maladies – an inability to put the puck in the back of the other team’s net, mismanagement of the puck and too much time spent defending in their own zone – was again spelling doom in a 4-1 road loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. [New Jersey Devils]