Habs Daily: First Cuts, Demidov Stands Out, Mesar Impact

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

Montreal Canadiens News

Ivan Demidov was the best player on the ice on Saturday night, except perhaps for the Jets’ goaltender. Demidov participated in all three goals the Habs scored in a 4-3 loss to Winnipeg’s prospects. [Canadiens Highlights: Demidov Steals Show At Prospect Showdown]

Sunday’s game versus the Toronto Maple Leafs also resulted in a loss, however, the teams decided they need to take part in at least three fights. The good news is that Filip Mesar scored Montreal’s lone goal, which should instill some confidence in the 21-year-old Slovak when he needs it most. [Canadiens Highlights: Mesar Stands Out In Fight-Heavy Game]

Mike Matheson, one of the most affable players in the league, kept busy during the 2025 Prospect Showdown.

Mike Matheson signing autographs for kids & Arber Xhekaj watching the Habs prospects game pic.twitter.com/xt8oXgQaW3

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) September 14, 2025

The Habs made their first round of cuts after Sunday’s game, sending most minor-league players back to their respective teams. The list includes Carlos Handel, Simon Lavigne, Andrew MacNiel, Maleek McGowan, Bryce Pickford, Arseni Radkov, Mikus Vecvanags, and Matthew Wang. A few other players, such as Will Dineen and Egor Goriunov, were not cut, but they’re set to play for the Laval Rocket, which means they’ll have to wait for Laval’s camp to open before reporting.

Les Canadiens ont retourné Handel, Lavigne, MacNiel, McGowan, Pickford, Radkov, Vecvanags et Wang à leur équipe respective.

The Canadiens have assigned Handel, Lavigne, MacNiel, McGowan, Pickford, Radkov, Vecvanags and Wang to their respective teams.

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 14, 2025

National Hockey Now Network

Ryder Boulton is a free agent prospect on the Columbus Blue Jackets rookie team roster at the 2025 Prospects Challenge. He’s also the son of former NHL enforcer Eric Boulton, and as the Pittsburgh Penguins prospects faced the Columbus team, it was more than abundantly obvious the Boulton apple did not fall far from the knuckles tree. [Pittsburgh Penguins]

The Philadelphia Flyers have traded backup goaltender Ivan Fedotov to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus has been searching for depth at the goaltender position, while the Flyers have a surplus, so to speak. [Philadelphia Flyers]

It has been an eventful couple of months for Sam Bennett but with training camp starting this week, the reigning Conn Smythe Award winner is ready to get things rolling again with the Florida Panthers. [Florida Panthers]