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Habs Daily: Canadiens Aim To End LTIR Use, Rebuild Lessons

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Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes waivers

All the Montreal Canadiens news items, highlights, and stories you could have missed on Monday.



Montreal Canadiens

It looked like the Canadiens were finally going to play with some wiggle room this season, but general manager Kent Hughes decided to trade for Patrik Laine in August; taking on the entirety of his $8.7M contract and forcing the need for LTIR once again.

The Canadiens could theoretically remove the need for LTIR by sending down a player; reducing their roster size from 22 players to 21 players; but that would leave them exposed in case of injury, as they’d need to use LTIR again just to call up a replacement. [Canadiens Looking To End Use Of LTIR, Prepare For 2025]

As the eternally rebuilding Bufflao Sabres were forced to cancel their practice in Montreal in favour of an emergency meeting with the team owner, there are a few lessons to be learned for the Canadiens, especially when it comes to the challenges involved in taking the next step in a rebuild. [Rebuild Lessons On Tap As Struggling Sabres Visit The Canadiens]

Count me among those who are a fan of former Habs forward PJ Stock. He’s one of the few anglophones who makes regular appearances on the French side of the media barrier, and I will always commend people for exploring beyond their regular routes. With that in mind, since I know he can take a little criticism,  I have to say I do not care much for his proposed lines, even  if they are overflowing with creativity.

Granted, this is a simplistic answer, but the main reason I try to avoid constantly complaining about referees is that the Habs have less discipline than a 17th century sailor breaking into a rum store room on an abandoned ship. Of course, the discipline issues for the Canadiens don’t quite date that far back, but it’s certainly not a new problem. In a vacuum, it may seem the Habs are always getting the short end of the stick, but the long-term trends point to a different issue.


ICYMI: Prospect Florian Xhekaj enjoyed quite an outing against the Bridgeport Islanders. The 20-year-old centre stole the spotlight with a five-point effort, including the first hat trick of his professional career. Jared Davidson also scored a goal in the 6-2 comeback win, pushing his season totals to 12 goals and six assists in 23 games, a significant uptick compared to his rookie scoring pace in 2023-24. [Xhekaj And Davidson Find Rhythm With Canadiens AHL Affiliate]

National Hockey Now Network

New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald has a plan for his pending free agents. Thanks to his versatility and solid play, former Hab Johnathan Kovacevic is among the players the Devils hope to re-sign. [New Jersey Devils]

The Boston Bruins were completely lost through the first two games of their road trip, but a big win versus the Canucks changed the momentum. [Buffalo Sabres]

Nathan MacKinnon has been awarded the NHL’s Second Star of the Week (for the week ending Dec. 15) for the second time this season. [Colorado Avalanche]

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Dana

Habs have less discipline than a 17th century sailor breaking into a rum store room on an abandoned ship.
That’s about 10 hilarious illustrations this month and we are only half way through. Keep them coming! ( and keep your day job)

Greg

I completely agree. Those lines are creative, but nothing i would use. If I were coaching, here would be the lines i would try.
Suzuki-Caufield-Slafkovsky; Dach-Laine-Heineman; Newhook-Armia-Gallagher; Evans-Anderson-Pezzetta. Dvorak would either be the new press box hero or in Laval–he is only good at faceoffs, terrible otherwise. Untradeable, I know, but a stint in Laval smartened up Armia–it can’t hurt to try. Since taking Evans’ place with Andy and Gally, none of the 4 are scoring. Since the top line was changed up, Slafkovsky isn’t scoring after starting out close to a ppg. The PP is solid, and pk not too bad, especially at home, but the lines currently in use seem to only score 5 on 5 when it’s Caufield and Suzuki out there.
On defence, the team is really feeling the loss of Kovacevic, imo. Steady, reliable play from a right shot, 6’4″ heavy hitting defenceman, and Hughes got a paltry 4th round pick for a player type we still needed and never replaced. The new system looks a lot like the one that Ducharme was trying to implement when he got the axe.
And MSL–the team has NOT played so well that you never scratch anyone to allow Pezzetta to play. He’s going to need a conditioning stint after sitting so long–he has played only 3 games, and that is beyond stupid. He’s earned his spot, other teams would love to have him. I hope they trade him if they don’t start using him–he’s done nothing to warrant this treatment, and I’d take him over Dvorak 1000 times out of 1000.

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