Canadiens Daily
Habs Daily: Kapanen Excelling, Mesar Injury, Slafkovsky Shines
Here are the Montreal Canadiens news items, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Tuesday.
Montreal Canadiens News
It’s a tale of two prospects when comparing Oliver Kapanen and Filip Mesar’s seasons. Kapanen has excelled in the SHL, demonstrating that he’s reaching the point where he can be considered a legitimate lineup option as early as next year. Mesar, on the other hand, has struggled to produce while dealing with significant injuries now that he’s in the AHL. The Laval Rocket announced Mesar would likely miss six weeks of action with yet another lower-body injury. [Habs Prospect Report: Kapanen Thriving, More Mesar Adversity]
Juraj Slafkovsky enjoyed a great game against the Senators on Saturday, but the true test came on Tuesday night versus the Carolina Hurricanes. Ass we all know, Slafkovsky has had his fair share of good nights, but consistency has been an issue. The 20-year-old forward opened the scoring for the Canadiens in their impressive 4-0 win over Carolina, using his body to create chaos near the Hurricanes crease. We also have to give credit to Nick Suzuki, Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson, Samuel Montembeault, and Patrik Laine, among others. [Habs Highlights: Juraj Slafkovsky Leads The Charge In Big Win]
If you haven’t had a chance to watch Michael Hage play for the University of Michigan, just know that he’s a supremely entertaining prospect. The rookie has maintained a point-per-game pace with 13 goals and 19 assists in 29 games, and the vast majority of his scoring plays involve him executing at top speed. It’s one thing to skate fast, but it’s another to skate at full speed while maintaining control of the puck.
Hage’s player card reflects his strong play in the NCAA.
To no one’s surprise, Michael Hage of @umichhockey has been one of the top @NCAAIceHockey forwards. The first rounder of @GoHabsGo has been incredible across the board on the offensive side of things. Elite transition force coupled with high-end scoring and playmaking tools.… https://t.co/8sUMRaEVUj pic.twitter.com/CkYR75wLbG
— Puck Preps (@PuckPreps) February 25, 2025
Don’t look now, but Florian Xhekaj is in the midst of an impressive rookie season with the Rocket. His 14 goals place him just two behind Pierrick Dube for the most from a rookie in franchise history.
Statistique intéressante concernant Florian Xhekaj.
Meilleurs buteurs à leur saison recrue dans la AHL, histoire du @RocketLaval.
1. Pierrick Dubé (22-23) – 16 buts
2. Lucas Condotta (22-23) – 16 buts
3. Florian Xhekaj (24-25) – 14 butset il reste 22 matchs à la saison.
— Vincent Demuy (@VDemuy) February 25, 2025
Unsurprisingly, Suzuki and Cole Caufield are among the most common shooting pairs in the NHL. Suzuki sets them up, Caufield knocks them down.
Passing —> Shooting pairs @NHL to this point. Please let me see this one fan base repost it… pic.twitter.com/wk4LD0h9mZ
— Meghan Chayka (@MeghanChayka) February 25, 2025
The Montreal Victoire fell behind 1-0 to the Toronto Sceptres, but thanks to goals from Jennifer Gardiner, Laura Stacey, and, of course, Marie Philip-Poulin, the road team pulled out a convincing 3-1 win. The Victoire maintained the top spot in the PWHL standings, while Poulin’s 12th goal of the year padded her lead over all other players in the league.
Là où maman cache les biscuits 🍪
Absolute snipe omg pic.twitter.com/QJ3IaQr9SJ
— Victoire de Montréal (@PWHL_Montreal) February 26, 2025
Hi Marc. Had another idea for an article but it might be a lot of work. I keep reading pieces about what we hope to get for our UFAs at the deadline, but none of the articles mention anything about other similar players available from other teams that we’d be competing against for an acquiring team’s assets. How about a piece where you compare Evans, Armia, Dvorak, etc. to who else is out there on the trade market? It would give us a more realistic view of how tradeable our guys are and what we might expect in return. That is of course, assuming HuGo sell off the vets at the deadline, rather than keeping them as “own rentals”.
Oh my gosh. Oliver Kapanen. A jewel of a player, who, along with Sam Harris, Bogdan Konyushkov, and Yevgeni Volokhin, three other elite level prospects, are not talked about nearly enough. These guys are playing in the top hockey leagues in the world and thriving. With all the attention (completely warranted, of course) on guys like Demidov, Hage and Fowler, and the guys in Laval, I don’t think many people realize just how deep the Canadiens prospect pool is. If Mtl can properly develop these four guys, and get the Russians out of Russia, the future looks extremely bright for la Sainte-Flanelle.