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Jesperi Kotkaniemi Undergoes Arthroscopic Knee Surgery

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The Montreal Canadiens have announced that rookie center Jesperi Kotkaniemi underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee today. GM Marc Bergevin released a short statement following the procedure:

With regards to Jesperi, it was a chronic, minor injury that did not stop him from playing this past season. Jesperi will remain in Montreal for the coming weeks to complete his rehabilitation program with our team’s medical staff. We have been told by our medical group that there should be no delay in starting his offseason training. 

While it is good news that Kotkaniemi won’t miss any training time, this is something to watch moving forward. After a brilliant start to the season there was obviously something slowing the 18-year old down in the second half of the season, and the team drastically reduced his minutes. In fact, on three occasions during the Canadiens playoff hunt head coach Claude Julien deployed his young center for fewer than 10 minutes in a game, something seemingly unthinkable at the start of the year when he made such an impact.

Hopefully this procedure will let him get back to full strength for the 2019-20 season when the Canadiens will once again try to climb their way into the postseason. The team surprised many by taking it right down to the wire this year, and should be improved next season with players like Kotkaniemi taking a step forward in their development. With just 11 goals and 34 points on the year, he’ll be asked to provide a little more offense while still offering solid two-way play down the middle.

Canadiens Notes: Drouin, Okulov, Free Agency

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One of the underlying reasons why the Montreal Canadiens were unable to hold on to a wild card spot down the stretch was the poor play of one of their best players, Jonathan Drouin. Speaking with Alexis Belanger-Champagne of La Presse, Drouin acknowledged that his play suffered when it matter most in the final games of the season. He even owned his decreased ice time, understanding that head coach Claude Julien needed productive, confident players on the ice and he was playing frustrated and failing to find results. Drouin finished the season with 53 points in 81 games, but only contributed one goal and two assists in Montreal’s final 18 games. Yet, for all of his late-season struggles, Drouin does not expect to be shopped this off-season. The 24-year-old forward did match a career-high in points this year and early in the season was on pace to shatter all previous personal marks. Drouin knows that he dropped the ball, but tells Belanger-Champagne that he is happy with the Canadiens and knows he can be a difference-maker once again next season and beyond. GM Marc Bergevin seems to agree. Bergevin told La Presse that Drouin showed maturity with how he handled his poor play and that he understands his role on the team. Bergevin expects the young scorer to “take another step forward next year.” At $5.5MM for four more years, Drouin can still be a bargain for the Habs and certainly a dependable top-six forward. Bergevin is not one to overreact, so expect Drouin to be back in the bleu, blanc, et rougue next year.

  • Drouin’s return doesn’t mean that the Canadiens won’t try to address their offense this summer. In fact, the team already has their sights set on an import out of Russia. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Montreal is “high” on KHL forward Konstantin Okulov. Okulov, 24, is currently playing in the Gagarin Cup Final with CSKA Moscow and his breakout regular season has extended into the postseason. The skilled forward has 12 points in 15 playoff games following a career-high 20 goals and 31 points in 48 regular season games. The Habs would like to see if his high-powered game can translate to the NHL. Unfortunately, Friedman also notes that Okulov is under contract for one more year with CSKA and may not be available to Montreal this off-season. Unless he both wants and is granted a release from his contract, the Canadiens may need to keep scouting for another year.
  • As for attracting free agents already in the NHL, The Montreal Gazette’s Pat Hickey opines that the Canadiens may have a tough time luring top names to Montreal this summer despite ample cap space. It doesn’t have anything to do with team personnel, either. Hickey notes that taxes and cost of living are among the negatives of making the move to Montreal and claims that has deterred free agents in recent years. However, Hickey adds that this might not be a bad things, as Bergevin’s track record of late has been better with trades than it has been with signings. The Habs will undoubtedly still add a few free agents, but in need of a veteran backup goalie, a top-four defenseman, and a top-six forward, the team will likely have to tackle the trade market to address at least one of those holes.

Antti Niemi Will Not Return To Montreal Canadiens

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The Montreal Canadiens will have a new backup goaltender next season, as GM Marc Bergevin told Antti Niemi he won’t be back with the team. The veteran goaltender’s contract is coming to an end and he will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

It’s hard to argue with the decision to let Niemi go after the struggles he experienced this season. The 35-year old goaltender saw his numbers decline across the board and finished with an 8-6-2 record and .887 save percentage. That’s where things appeared to be headed when Niemi was bought out by the Dallas Stars in 2017, but he found incredible success with Montreal in the second half of the 2017-18 season.

The Canadiens though have a backup ready and waiting for an opportunity in Charlie Lindgren and a young goaltender in Cayden Primeau that will need playing time in the minor leagues. Lindgren was given the final game of the regular season once the Canadiens had been eliminated from playoff contention, and figures to at least compete for the backup role next season—though he experienced his own struggles this season in the AHL and could potentially be replaced by a more veteran option if Montreal finds one to their liking.

For Niemi, if this is the end it was quite a ride. Undrafted, the Finnish goaltender signed with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2008 and found himself starting in the playoffs by spring of 2010. As a rookie Niemi led the Blackhawks all the way to a Stanley Cup championship on the back of his .910 save percentage through 22 postseason starts. He would start another 43 games in the playoffs for San Jose and Dallas, but failed to capture another title. If he believes he can still compete at the highest level there will surely be people willing to give him a chance, but a guaranteed backup role seems like a stretch for the veteran netminder at this point in his career.

Montreal Canadiens Sign Ryan Poehling To Entry-Level Deal

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Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin has announced that the team has signed center Ryan Poehling to a three-year, entry-level deal. The Canadiens’ 2017 first-round pick, who has played the last three seasons with St. Cloud State University, is expected to join the team immediately.

Poehling will begin his three-year deal this season as the team will burn the first year of his contract, but he will remain exempt from the upcoming Seattle expansion draft as he would need to play in 11 games to earn a pro season towards expansion eligibility. Known for being an offensive catalyst who is exceptional at play-making, the 20-year-old has scored 29 goals and 46 assists in three years at St. Cloud State. While his junior year numbers don’t stand out (eight goals, 31 points in 36 games), Poehling is considered to be a top prospect, who just has struggled this season with his shooting percentage, despite putting up more shots as well as more quality shots on goal this season.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound forward also saw some international time as he was named the tournament MVP of the 2019 World Junior Championship for Team USA, showing off his offensive prowess. This included leading an impressive third period comeback in a preliminary game against Sweden, when he scored a natural hat trick in the second half of the period to tie the game. In the end, he tallied five goals and eight points in seven games. It was the second time Poehling played in the World Juniors as he also suited up for the 2018 team as well.

“Chances Are High” Montreal Canadiens Will Stand Pat At Deadline

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It’s been a surprisingly successful season for the Montreal Canadiens to this point, but don’t expect that to translate to an active trade deadline. Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin has said all along that his team would not be interested in acquiring rentals this season and now another voice has echoed that sentiment. TVA’s Renaud Lavoie, one of the top Montreal insiders, states that he has heard the “chances are high that nothing much will happen” when it comes to the Habs in this week leading up to the trade deadline.

The Canadiens have had a great 2018-19 season and have outperformed most expectations. However, their own success has to be considered relative to the success of teams around them. In the uber-competitive Atlantic Division, Montreal is in fourth place, six points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, and is unlikely to challenge for a divisional spot. The Eastern Conference wild card race has picked up as well and the Habs will have to outlast the Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins, and red-hot Carolina Hurricanes just to make the postseason. Dom Luszczyszyn’s model for The Athletic currently projects the Canadiens to finish with a very respectable 96 points for the year. However, that gives them an eighth-place finish and a date with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round. In fact, their 96-point pace only provides a 67% chance of making the playoffs according to the model, with Carolina projected for 95 points and 64% postseason odds. The Hurricanes have the longest active playoff drought in the NHL and are desperate to simply make the playoffs. Can the Canadiens say the same?

Odds are Lavoie’s report of little to no trade action expected in Montreal stems from the team’s own contentedness with how the season has gone. The Canadiens were not expected to make this kind of jump and Bergevin and company can rest easy with their success this year without giving up futures at the deadline. The Habs are not a lock for the playoffs and, if they do make it, would be a round one underdog in almost any scenario. If the team can continue to defy expectations, then that is great for them, but no one can blame management for not wanting to buy in completely on a run this year. The Canadiens have massive amounts of salary cap space heading into the off-season and are expected to be active players on the free agent and trade markets then and have even been mentioned as an offer sheet threat. There’s no need to rush a re-tooling that is already ahead of schedule. Aside from a minor tweak or even a small sale, expect the deadline to come and go in Montreal this season without much to talk about.

 

Montreal Canadiens Will Not Be Deadline Buyers

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The Montreal Canadiens have been inside or on the fringe of the Eastern Conference playoff picture for much of the season. Yet, in the stacked Atlantic Division, GM Marc Bergevin knows that he faces an uphill battle to advance very far this season. The experienced executive has thus decided not to fall into the trap of acquiring short-term rentals ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline this season. Addressing the media today, Bergevin stated:

I don’t think I’ll be in the rental business… I’m going to listen. If it makes sense, I’ll do it. But I’m not going to start mortgaging the future… I know …who they’re going to be asking for and I’m not going moving these kids. So it will be a short conversation I think.

As TSN’s John Lu clarifies, Bergevin is speaking about protecting his recent World Junior Championship standouts. Montreal’s prospects stood out at the 2019 WJC perhaps more than any other NHL team. At the front of that group is obviously reigning tournament MVP Ryan Poehling, the Habs’ 2017 first-round pick out of St. Cloud State University, who notched five goals and points in seven games for the Americans. Alexander Romanov, the team’s second-round pick this past June, was also a top performer at the WJC; the KHL product was named the tournament’s top defenseman with eight points in seven games as well. Cayden Primeau, the starting goaltender for Team USA, and one of the few who beat him in the gold medal game, Finnish forward Jesse Ylonen, also belong to the Canadiens. So too do Team Canada contributors Nick Suzuki and Josh Brook, who both impressed before their team’s early exit.

Bergevin has done a great job of stocking the cupboard for the Canadiens and is right to protect his top young assets. There is always a chance to win for any team that makes the playoffs, but Montreal would first have to qualify, battling for a wild card spot with the Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, and New York Islanders, at the very least. Currently, the projection model of The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn gives the Canadiens a 50% chance at making the playoffs, but does place them in the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. However, that would still land Montreal with a first-round match-up with the likely President’s Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning and, if by some miracle they advance, then a face-off with the Toronto Maple Leafs-Boston Bruins winner. It’s a tough road for the Habs and one that is unlikely to be successful this year, so the team may as well steer clear of the rental market and hold on to their top prospect talent. As Bergevin states, he’ll listen, but doesn’t expect to be convinced. Without any obvious rental pieces of their own either, this could be a quiet deadline season in Montreal.

Carey Price Will Not Participate In 2019 All-Star Game

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The Montreal Canadiens have decided that the long-term health of Carey Price is more important than his appearance at this year’s All-Star game. GM Marc Bergevin announced today that Price will not attend the event scheduled for later this month, instead will use the time to rest an injury.

We took the time to discuss the situation with Carey and the medical group earlier today, and we all agreed that the best decision for him would be to rest and recuperate during the upcoming All-Star Break. Carey has had a nagging injury for some time, and we want to make sure to have him healthy and rested for the second half of the season. Carey is honored to once again have been named to the NHL All-Star Game, and he is on board with the Club’s decision. 

Like Alex Ovechkin who made a similar decision, Price will be forced to miss the game immediately prior to or immediately after the All-Star break. With the team playing in a back-to-back situation coming out of the break, it seems likely that Price will miss the game on February 2nd against the New Jersey Devils as punishment.

Price’s decision brings up an interesting decision for the NHL, as he was to be the team’s lone representative at the upcoming event. Every team is supposed to send at least one player, but unless Antti Niemi is going in his place there doesn’t seem to be room for Montreal to send someone else. Shea Weber is involved in the fan voting for the “Last Man In” from the Metropolitan Division, but seems like a distinct underdog against the likes of Morgan Rielly, Mark Stone and Brayden Point (among others).

One can imagine the league would not have chosen Price for the game had they known he would decide not to attend, especially given the backlash that erupted from his selection in the first place. Not only has Price missed time due to injury this season, but he had a .904 save percentage at the time of selection—one of the worst numbers of his career. In comparison, Jaroslav Halak (.926), Frederik Andersen (.923), Andrei Vasilevskiy (.920), Carter Hutton (.917) and Tuukka Rask (.917) all have started at least 20 games and have better save percentages than Price’s current .908 mark in the Atlantic Division right now. The Canadiens needed a representative though, and the league decided goaltender was the best bet.

Regardless of the All-Star implications, the decision to rest is likely a good one for Price and the Montreal organization. Notorious for playing through minor injuries, the franchise goaltender will get a good amount of rest and hopefully be able to stay healthy for the second half of the season. The Canadiens are battling for a playoff spot this season despite low expectations, and need their goaltender at his best down the stretch.

Snapshots: Lundestrom, Hudon, McGinn

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When the Anaheim Ducks loaned rookie Isac Lundestrom to Team Sweden for the World Junior Championship in the midst of a campaign split between the NHL and AHL, it was a hint that perhaps the experiment was over with the 19-year-old for this season. This has now in fact been confirmed, as agent Martin Nilsson tells Swedish news source Aftonbladet that Lundestrom has returned to Sweden for the remainder of the season. Although the Ducks’ recent first-round pick, No. 23 overall last June, showed signs of promise in his first foray into North American hockey, he nevertheless had failed to produce. Lundestrom, in burning the first year of his entry-level contract, played in 15 games with Anaheim but only recorded two assists. In 12 games with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, Lundestrom only managed six assists. After half a season with zero goals and limited opportunity to score them, Lundestrom is set to return to his Swedish club Lulea, where he played exclusively with the top team last season. After a WJC in which Sweden struggled but Lundestrom excelled, recording four points in five games, Nilsson says that the youngster is eager to return home and take on a key role for his club. He remains in conversation with Anaheim and, more likely than not, will be back with the organization to begin next season. In the meantime, the Ducks hope to see more of his offensive potential as he takes on the Swedish Hockey League.

  • Another player who could be on the move soon is Montreal Canadiens forward Charles Hudon. Marc Antoine Godin of The Athletic recently sat down with Hudon’s agent, Allain Roy, and discovered that the young forward has asked the Canadiens to give him a chance to play. While Godin would not go so far as to say that Hudon demanded a trade, the 24-year-old did allegedly tell the team that he wants a chance and, if it isn’t in Montreal, he would like to be moved elsewhere. “Charlie wants to play in the National Hockey League”, said Roy, “He’s a good player, and we’re still waiting for an answer whether it’s from Montreal or anywhere else.” After a 30-point performance in his first full NHL season last year, it’s fair for Hudon to be discouraged with how this season is going. Expected to be top-nine contributor, Hudon has instead been a frequent scratch and has played the majority of his 23 games on the team’s fourth line with Matthew Peca and Nicolas Deslauriers, despite ample opportunity to line up elsewhere. The trio has combined for just 17 points and Hudon has only contributed four. The Canadiens have opted to hold on to Hudon rather than risk him on waivers, even at the cost of recent claims Nikita Scherbak and Jacob de la Rose, but continue to deny him an opportunity to succeed. Godin wonders what the market would look like for a player like Hudon, whose size and skill set are ill-fitted for checking line work but who has yet to truly prove himself as a top-nine scoring option. Hudon would most likely not clear waivers if any team could grab him for free, but will anyone be willing to ante up to acquire the eager winger from the Canadiens? If the team doesn’t start giving him a larger role, we’ll soon find out the answer to that question.
  • Already on his way to a new team is Tye McGinn. Unlike Jamie and Brock, the middle McGinn brother is without an NHL contract this season for the first time in his eight-year pro career. McGinn, 28, had been playing for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets, but yesterday was traded to the Chicago Wolves, affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights. This ended up being the “future considerations” side of the Jets’ acquisition of defenseman Jimmy Oligny from Vegas. With the Knights looking playoff-bound again this season, the McGinn acquisition could yield an intriguing late-season signing option. The team is sure to take a look at how the veteran two-way forward performs for their farm team and could decide he is worthy of stashing as a deep depth piece for the stretch run and postseason. McGinn was last an NHL regular in 2014-15, but has always produced consistently in the minors and shown good checking ability at the next level. Vegas has only two roster spots open as of now, but depending on how their trade deadline plans shake out, could dedicate one of those slots to McGinn later on.

Atlantic Notes: Kotkaniemi, Nyquist, Pysyk, Petrovic, Kulak

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With countries releasing their preliminary rosters for the World Junior Championships, many teams must make some decisions on whether they intend to send some of their young prospects to World Juniors and interrupt their careers. The Montreal Canadiens could be one of those teams as they have a tough decision to make on Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who is on the Canadiens’ roster.

While on the surface it would be obvious the team would keep him, the team did allow defenseman Victor Mete to leave the team last year and play in the World Juniors. Mete, however, was struggling and was already losing playing time in Montreal. Kotkaniemi is in a similar boat as he started strong, but has just two points in the past eight games and has hit a “rookie wall.”

However, TSN’s Dan Robertson reports that general manager Marc Bergevin met the media this afternoon and stated that he’s 95 percent sure that Kotkaniemi won’t play in the WJC. The 18-year-old has three goals and 14 points in 29 games.

  • The impressive play the Detroit Red Wings have gotten from Gustav Nyquist causes many long-term questions. Nyquist, who is on pace for a career season as the 29-year-old already has seven goals and 26 points in 29 games is in the final year of a four-year, $19MM deal he signed back in 2015, could be looking for another big contract. The question that MLive’s Ansar Khan wonders is whether Detroit will consider bringing back Nyquist. It’s likely he will be asking for $5MM per year for three or four years. With the team in the middle of a rebuild, there is no guarantee the Red Wings will consider signing Nyquist a priority, although the team is also well known to give out money to veterans.
  • With the Seattle expansion draft on teams’ radars for the next few years, The Athletic’s George Richards (subscription required) writes that nothing worked out last time for the Florida Panthers who made a side deal to protect two defensemen by sending both Jon Marchessault and Reilly Smith to Vegas in the expansion draft. The team’s plan was to protect both Mark Pysyk and Alexander Petrovic. However, neither has been a key member of the team’s defense since then and both may not be on the roster by the time the next expansion draft rolls around.
  • After being traded from Calgary to Montreal and finding himself in the AHL, defenseman Brett Kulak could have considered his situation dire. However, Kulak has since been recalled and has found himself a key piece to the Canadiens’ defense and is paired next to Shea Weber, which looks like a perfect fit, according to Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette. “He was playing in the NHL last year, so it was not like I got a guy from the East Coast Hockey League,” said general manager Marc Bergevin. “He’s an NHL defenceman. Our scouting staff liked him because of the way the game is going. He’s a good skater.”

Montreal Gives Karl Alzner’s Agent Permission To Seek Trade

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When the Montreal Canadiens placed Karl Alzner on waivers this week there was little chance that he would be claimed. With a hefty contract that carries a $4.625MM cap hit—or $3.6MM when buried in the minors—through the 2021-22 season, it’s hard to imagine anyone picking up the tab and taking him off the Canadiens hands. In fact, his demotion to the minor leagues threatened the future of his NHL career given that Montreal had obviously moved on with younger, cheaper options on the blue line. Now, as if knowing that he has little chance of climbing back up to the top league, Alzner and his representation have been given permission to speak to other teams and seek a trade according to Pierre LeBrun on the latest edition of Insider Trading for TSN.

There is obviously always the chance that the Canadiens themselves find a need for Alzner, should injury or inconsistency plague their current group. The team doesn’t desperately need the cap discount they receive by keeping the 30-year old defenseman in the minor leagues, but does have a back log of players who are all eligible for waivers and would likely run the risk of getting claimed. That’s why Alzner was the odd man out in the first place, and why finding a trade partner isn’t necessarily a top priority for GM Marc Bergevin. Why not keep a veteran option in the minor leagues while you develop the rest of your group?

Still, it’s easy to understand why Alzner would want out. The former Washington Capitals defenseman reached unrestricted free agency in 2017 and signed a five-year deal with the Canadiens, only to watch his friends and teammates go on to win the Stanley Cup without him. He’d been with that group for nearly a decade, and hadn’t missed a single game since becoming a full-time NHL player in 2010. After suiting up for all 82 games in his first season with Montreal, Alzner was a healthy scratch on opening night this year and played just eight games with the Canadiens before hitting waivers.

It’s hard for any NHL player to accept an assignment to the minor leagues, but for one who hadn’t even missed a game in years the demotion is likely even tougher. Alzner obviously wants to play still, but any deal will likely have to include salary coming back to the Canadiens to even things out. Those deals are always the toughest to make, meaning his NHL future may still be extremely limited.

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