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Habs Daily: Trade Deadline Returns, Dach Injury, Angry St-Louis

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Montreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans

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

Montreal Canadiens News

There was some unfortunate news on the health front, as forward Kirby Dach underwent surgery to repair his right knee, the exact same knee that required a surgical intervention last season. It’s the third consecutive year that Dach has faced a season-ending injury, placing his future with the Canadiens in doubt. The most important aspect of this whole situation is Dach’s health, including mental health, but we also have to be realistic about his long-term value to the organization.

On the flip side, prospects such as Owen Beck should receive a healthy uptick in NHL usage now that Dach is sidelined. [Canadiens Analysis: Impact Of Long-Term Kirby Dach Injury]

On Wednesday we identified a few NHL teams that could use penalty killing reinforcements, with the Minnesota Wild and the Edmonton Oilers leading the pack. This was before Pierre LeBrun confirmed both the Wild and the Oilers, among other teams, have indeed inquired about a potential trade involving Montreal Canadiens forwards Jake Evans and Joel Armia.

Seeing as the Habs aren’t interested in mediocre draft picks or B-level prospects, we took a look at what some of the interested teams, which also include the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Winnipeg Jets, could offer the Canadiens in exchange for either Evans and/or Armia. [Canadiens Trade Talk: Potential NHL Returns For Evans And Armia]

Head coach Martin St-Louis was rather animated at practice, and while some may think that type of attitude is a little much, especially since the Canadiens are on a three-game winning streak, I’d argue there’s always room for improvements.

In fact, the whole ‘don’t change a winning lineup’ theory makes no sense to me. You’re telling me you wouldn’t put Nick Suzuki back into the lineup if he missed a game? Okay, that’s not very realistic, since Suzuki doesn’t miss games because he seems to have Wolverine and Cal Ripken Jr. DNA running through him. But you know what I mean.

Arber Xhekaj didn’t have his best game on Thursday versus the San Jose Sharks, which led to a benching via Martin St-Louis.  The 24-year-old defenceman took the situation in stride, another sign of the maturity he’s gained since jumping from the OHL directly to the NHL.


Juraj Slafkovsky discussed the team’s solid play since returning from the 4 Nations Faceoff break. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield tend to play fairly well on the first line, with or without Slafkovsky, but their best hockey takes place when Slafkovsky is overflowing with confidence, which is currently the case.


National Hockey Now Network

As coach Mike Sullivan said this week, the plight of the Pittsburgh Penguins has not been easy for anyone in the organization. We wondered, though, how the season that has fallen apart might affect the younger players — their development, their psyche. [Pittsburgh Penguins]

The Trade Deadline is exactly one week away, and things are quiet. Too quiet. It’s like the entire league– Vegas Golden Knights included– is collectively holding their breath, waiting for that first domino to fall.  [Vegas Golden Knights]

Detroit Red Wings Captain Dylan Larkin didn’t have a problem with his coach Todd McLellan criticizing his Thursday performance against Columbus because he agreed with his assessment. [Detroit Red Wings]

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