Habs Daily: Kapanen’s Role, Playoffs On The Horizon, Fowler

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

Montreal Canadiens News

Oliver Kapanen is now in Montreal, but he’s not quite ready to play. The 21-year-old centre will be given a few days to catch-up before head coach Martin St-Louis puts him in the lineup. That leads us to the question, where should Kapanen play? The obvious choice may be replacing Michael Pezzetta on the fourth line, but there’s also a clear need for a second-line centre. [Finding A Late-Season Canadiens Role For Oliver Kapanen]

The Montreal Canadiens did not just beat the Boston Bruins on Thursday night, they flat-out dominated their rivals. As per usual, the first line made their mark, with Nick Suzuki reaching 80 points, and Cole Caufield hitting the 35-goal mark, but it was the third line, led by Brendan Gallagher, that really set the tone. There are a lot of great stories this season, but Gallagher’s resurgence has to be among the best.
[Habs Highlights: Gallagher & Suzuki Push Team Closer To Playoffs]

Few players do more with less. Gallagher doesn’t get a lot of ice time, but he doesn’t let that let get in the way of producing.

Brendan Gallagher’s 19 goals this season are the 2nd-most in the NHL among players averaging less than 14 minutes TOI/Game#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/KeObo3FsIh

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) April 4, 2025

With the win, the Habs now have 81 points with seven games left on the docket. Statistically speaking, they’re very likely to make the playoffs. They have the easiest strength of schedule and the most points. Seeing as the Columbus Blue Jackets lost to the Colorado Avalanche, the New York Rangers now represent the clear and present danger for the Canadiens, since they hold an edge in regulation wins (RW), as well as regulation and overtime wins (ROW), which are the primary and secondary playoff tiebreakers.

The updated playoff odds were not available at the time of scheduling this article, but if I had to guess, the Habs will be somewhere in the 60-65 percent range, while the Rangers will be closer to 25 percent. Click here for updated NHL playoff odds.

It sounds like the Jacob Fowler situation is winding down. The top Montreal Canadiens goaltending prospect is expected to sign an amateur tryout with the Laval Rocket, which means his entry-level contract would only kick in next season. Kent Hughes pulled off the best-case-scenario with his prized netminder.

I can confirm the #GoHabsGo have signed goalie Jacob Fowler. Sounds like he will be headed to the Laval Rocket on an ATO.@sickpodnhl @TheRGMedia

— Jimmy Murphy (@MurphysLaw74) April 3, 2025

It’s a great sign that Juraj Slafkovksy’s points per 60 (P/60) is going up, but we may have to do something about his sassiness per 60 (Sass/60), because it’s out of control.

someone take the point and laugh emote away from slaf pic.twitter.com/VNzrW6NH4L

— ava (@teapottoffoIi) April 4, 2025

I noticed a picture of Juraj Slafkovsky alongside David Desharnais on Sportsnet’s feed last night. I can actually provide a little background about the story. I had a lot of time to kill at a Canadiens development camp in Brossard one season, and a volunteer working with the Canadiens youth camp flagged me down. He explained that Slafkovsky, the team’s brand new, shiny toy, actually had a link with the team prior to the draft, as he had participated in one of the many Canadiens youth camps that took place at the team’s practice facility. He also thought it would be cool if Slafkovsky could quickly say hello to the kids that were participating in a youth camp at the time, and he was absolutely right.

Anyhow, Slafkovsky came out and said hello to the kids, making it a full-circle moment.

That’s Slafkovsky with Desharnais on the top right, BTW. He attended a Habs youth camp back in the day.

Pretty cool. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/8op0V3YwZW

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) April 3, 2025

Bonus: I found the quick picture I snapped of Slafkovsky saying hello to the children. It’s not the greatest, but it was an old phone during a very humid day.

National Hockey Now Network

While the Habs were celebrating a big win against Boston, the Bruins were lamenting in their 10th loss in a row. [Boston Bruins]

The Avalanche did the Canadiens a favour by smashing the Blue Jackets 7-2. [Colorado Avalanche]

The Florida Panthers are now four points behind the Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division standings. [Florida Panthers]