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Habs Wrap: Rocket Surging, Kapanen, Trade Talk, Laine Drama

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MONTREAL — There’s always Montreal Canadiens news to be absorbed on a daily basis, 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

We can’t confirm that Jake Evans will be traded between now and February 22, which is when the Canadiens are back in action following the 4 Nations Faceoff, but it seems quite likely.

Pierre LeBrun suggested the team and the player are quite far apart in initial contract extension negotiations, which is a clear sign the Canadiens are interested in re-signing him, but only to a certain extent.

To put a fine point on the situation, Evans essentially said his goodbyes following Sunday’s frustrating 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Again, we’re not 100 percent certain a trade is going to take place, but there are very few signs that would lead you to believe Evans is going to stay in Montreal.

As we discussed earlier in the season, despite Evans’ encouraging season, the Habs simply can’t afford to pay a fourth-line player third-line money. That’s not to say Evans is not appreciated, or that he doesn’t absorb important ice time, particularly on the penalty kill, but Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes has to be realistic, which means removing emotion from the equation. Evans is enjoying a one-time shooting percentage surge, is a pending unrestricted free agent, and will  be sought after by many teams looking to bolster their playoff lineups.

Take this with a grain of salt, but I heard the Habs were looking for a first-round pick in exchange for Evans, and that NHL teams were ready to accept the price, especially those with late picks, however, that information came to me during Evans’ hot streak. His market price has surely gone down since. [Canadiens Analysis: The Jake Evans Trade and Contract Situation]

Tuesday

The Habs will be off for a couple of weeks as some of their players attend the 4 Nations Faceoff. It’s a shame both Patrik Laine and Joel Armia are going, at least from a Habs perspective, as they could probably use some time off. Fortunately, neither Nick Suzuki nor Cole Caufield are suiting up for their respective countries, which mean they’ll receive a much-needed break.

Speaking of the break, both Logan Mailloux and Owen Beck were re-assigned to the AHL. The Rocket will play six games in the next two weeks, a perfect situation for young players looking to build on their momentum. Beck, in particular, looked great during his call-up. Not only did he lead the Habs in CF% this season, he also managed to push Laine to well above 50 percent shot share versus the Lightning.

While some wanted to see Jakub Dobes sent back to the Rocket, at this point you have to concern yourself with his confidence. Besides, he’s the team’s backup, he’s not the Rocket’s starter anymore.

The Montreal Canadiens played well, but big mistakes from the youngest players in the lineup ended up costing them a chance to win. The 5-3 loss featured two significant events. First off, Juraj Slafkovsky was demoted to the bottom-six, where he found a renewed sense of responsibility, while Dobes was pulled for the first time of his NHL career. [Habs Highlights: Juraj Slafkovsky Demoted, Jakub Dobes Pulled]

Wednesday

There was some drama at the 4 Nations Faceoff tournament. Or to be more precise, some outlets attempted to produce some contrived drama by cutting out part of Patrik Laine’s comments, which discussed the lowered ice time in recent outings.

If you were to take the malicious edits at face value, it would seem that he is throwing shade toward head coach Martin St-Louis. Hell, some tweets from mainstream outlets suggested as much in the title, while providing only part of the quote.

Here is the full quote, which you can also verify on the Canadiens website.

“Do I wish to be out there more? Absolutely. Who doesn’t? Also, I don’t want to get into that too much. When you’re out there for 10 minutes, I guess it’s hard when you’re used to playing more. You’re not in the rhythm & all that. But you still gotta try to be out there & do your best.”

“Obviously, I haven’t been able to perform like I probably should. So I understand why I haven’t been playing as much as maybe normally.”

“At that point, you gotta take a look in the mirror as well. You just gotta put in the work & gotta make things happen. Sometimes, it is a little tough. But I feel like now, this will be a good turning point to get confidence back & get some boost for the rest of the year.”

Laine is clearly disappointed with his play of late, and if we’re being perfectly honest, we all knew it would take him a lot of time to find his rhythm, and the early goals on the powerplay distorted people’s perception of his form.

Given that Laine has been extremely open about mental health struggles, not to mention his struggles on the ice, it’s incredibly deceitful and unprofessional to twist the narrative against him.

The 4 Nations tournament was set to get underway. Laine, who practiced on the powerplay, as well as Joel Armia will represent Finland, while Samuel Montembeault is set to wear the Canadian maple leaf.


I have to say, those Finland jerseys are gorgeous

Scott Wheeler over at The Athletic ranked Montreal Canadiens phenom Ivan Demidov as the top ranked drafted hockey prospect, confirming what Craig Button had suggested at TSN last week. Scott is one of the few people who takes the required time and effort to properly analyze prospects, and despite some criticism from fans who are upset that their team or player is usually toward the bottom of the standings, I’d argue he’s the least biased and most professional prospect writer in the hockey landscape.

His excellent work speaks for itself.

Thursday

We’re two-thirds into the 2024-25 season, which means it’s time to take a look at where the Montreal Canadiens are improving, as well as regressing, while identifying which players are helping or hurting the cause in every specific metric. [Canadiens Stats: Top 5 & Bottom 5 Players In Important Statistics]

Rookie Lane Hutson is keeping busy during the 4 Nations Faceoff, spending time with the Boston University Terriers, his former NCAA club. Hutson spent two years with the Terriers, racking up an impressive 97 points in just 77 games.

Speaking of Hutson, he received praise from one of the best defencemen in the league, fellow American and Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox.

Team Canada beat Team Sweden 4-3 at the opening game of the 4 Nations Faceoff, with Mitch Marner scoring the overtime game-winner. If you were wondering, Jordan Binnington was average during throughout the game, making 23 saves on 26 shots, but he was excellent once the game went to overtime.

It remains to be seen whether Samuel Montembeault will get a kick at the can, but Canada’s next game is set for Saturday versus Team USA.

Yesterday, Scott Wheeler named Ivan Demidov the top drafted prospect in the world. Today he followed it up by naming another Habs prospect among the best young netminders. Boston College starter Jacob Fowler is second on Wheeler’s list.

Friday

While the playoffs are going to be a difficult task to achieve for the Canadiens, their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, are currently the top team in the league. The Canadiens will always take priority, but with the NHL Trade Deadline looming, they’d be well-served by reinforcing the farm, or at the very least, they’ll be doing the organization a favour by not removing any important player from the lineup due to a trade or any other roster movement. [Canadiens Must Keep A Close Eye On The Surging Laval Rocket]

Speaking of Hutson, he received praise from one of the best defencemen in the league, fellow American and Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox.

Patrik Laine and Joel Armia had a tough outing at the 4 Nations Faceoff tournament, losing 6-1 to a Team USA roster populated by high-scoring Tkachuk brothers. Regardless of what you think of Brady and Matthew, it was a pretty cool moment, because the Americans dedicated the tournament to Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.

At the risk of being labelled a curmudgeon, the NHL is advertising this as a best-on-best tournament, but if we’re being honest, there are 17 countries represented in the NHL, and there are only four countries represented at the tournament.  That doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea, or that the tournament is boring, but it’s clearly a misnomer.  The level of play on Thursday night between the USA and Finland was pretty good, though I can’t agree with the notion that it’playoff-style intensity. It probably didn’t help that the Americans blew Finland out of the water early in the third period, and I do expect some of the upcoming matchups on Saturday to be a little more entertaining, with Canada facing the USA, and Finland facing Sweden, a double rivalry dose.

As for the Habs player involved, Laine played a little over 15 minutes and had one decent scoring chance, while Armia was held to just under 10 minutes in a defensive role.

While springtime hockey is in question for the city’s NHL team, the PWHL club is cruising to playoff hockey. The Montreal Victoire still have work to do, but they’re currently the top team in the league with several games in hand.

In prospect news, forward Ivan Demidov registered yet another assist. The talented Canadiens prospect now has 19 goals and 27 assists in 56 games.

Saturday

David Reinbacher was skating alongside Laval Rocket players, and he was wearing a regular jersey, which means he’s moved on from non-contact practice. There’s no guarantee he will return to play early, but if he does manage to cut some of his recovery time, patience is in order, just as it was for both Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach, two other players who dealt with significant injuries that impacted their mobility.  [Canadiens Injuries: David Reinbacher Approaching Return To Play]

Prospect Oliver Kapanen is enjoying a successful season in the SHL, which is a big step-up in quality compared to his time in Liiga. He’s nearing a point-per-game scoring pace, which is encouraging, but his prime minutes will be difficult to find in Montreal. All expectations as to his eventual impact in the NHL have to keep his current powerplay and top-line usage in mind.  [Canadiens Prospect Report: Oliver Kapanen’s Potential Impact]

The topic of booing anthems once again surfaced at the 4 Nations Faceoff tournament. I had written a rather long-winded post about the situation, and then erred on the side of caution by deleting it, because frankly, we don’t need more opinions on the matter.

But I will say this, if you aren’t bringing up the reason why the American anthem is being booed in the first place, you aren’t doing your job correctly.

Full marks to Cam Robinson, as he provided the necessary context while asking an important question.

Jacob Fowler suffered a rare loss on Friday, as Boston College was taken down by a score of 3-2 by UMass Amherst. It’s notable, since the Eagles are the top-ranked team in the NCAA, while Mass-Amherst is ranked 16th. Fowler stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced, while his counterpart Michael Hrabal allowed just two goals on 39 shots.

Another day, another point from skilled forward Michael Hage. The Habs prospect helped set up the overtime goal for the Michigan Wolverines (12) as they upset follow prospect Luke Mittlestadt and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers (4).

Hage is now up to 12 goals and 19 assists in 28 games.

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