Habs Daily: Fowler’s Contract, Tight Playoff Race, Demidov

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

Montreal Canadiens News

Thanks to their 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Sunday, the Montreal Canadiens are back in the driver’s seat for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. With that in mind, even if the Habs have an easier schedule to close out the year, they cannot afford to leave any more points on the table if they hope to hold off the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, and Columbus Blue Jackets, among others.  [Canadiens Playoff Odds: Down To The Eastern Conference Wire]

Boston College lost 3-1 to the Denver Pioneers, which means top goaltending prospect Jacob Fowler is now expected to sign a contract. It remains to be seen whether he will end up signing his entry-level contract with the Canadiens, or if he ends up signing an amateur tryout with the Laval Rocket, in a bid to bolster their lineup prior to the Calder Cup playoffs getting underway. The former is more likely, but the latter could provide Fowler with more opportunities to play professional hockey in the final stretch of the year. [Canadiens Prospects: Discussing Fowler’s Potential Contract]

Former Hab Vincent Damphousse doesn’t seem worried about thrusting Fowler into a very difficult situation. Damphousse would give him a start as soon as he signs his upcoming contract.

Vincent Damphousse on RDS L’Antichambre says that if the Habs sign Jacob Fowler this week, they should give him the start on Sunday vs the Nashville Predators:

“All of his life, he’s wanted to reach the NHL. He’s always performed well under pressure. Why wouldn’t he be able to… pic.twitter.com/OWgmpwORwy

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) April 1, 2025

Nikko Mikkola was fined for his shot at the end of the Canadiens-Panthers game on Sunday. His fine is $5,000, which means the immense financial hit will ensure Mikkola will never step out of line again.

Right?

Right?

Bueller?

Florida’s Niko Mikkola has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for unsportsmanlike conduct during last night’s game against Montreal.

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) March 31, 2025

The Habs had  a day off on Monday, which means Lane Hutson was busy practicing alone. There are only two states of existence for Hutson: Playing hockey, and desperately counting down the minutes until he can play hockey again. [TVA Sports]

Ivan Demidov was finally given a reasonable amount of ice time (17:36) in SKA Saint-Petersburg’s second playoff game, which led to the Canadiens prospect scoring the team’s only goal in a 2-1 overtime loss. Seeing as Demidov immediately responded to the well-deserved uptick in ice time, SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg decided to drop Demidov’s ice time to just 9:37 on Monday. Demidov still set up the team’s opening goal, assisting on Arseny Gritsyuk’s powerplay marker.

It looks like Demidov whiffed on his shot, but they don’t ask how, they just ask how many. [The Silver Lining To Demidov’s Ridiculous KHL Usage]

National Hockey Now Network

Mike Sullivan had some pretty high expectations for Matt Grzelcyk when Grzelcyk signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins as a free agent last summer. [Pittsburgh Penguins]

Matthew Tkachuk got his first on-ice workout Monday morning since he was injured playing for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. [Florida Panthers]

Taylor Makar, the younger brother of Cale, signed a one-year entry-level contract with the Avalanche on Monday following the end of his NCAA season with the University of Maine. The deal is for the 2025-26 season. [Colorado Avalanche]