Canadiens Expect Kirby Dach To Be Ready For Start Of Season
The Canadiens are banking on having center Kirby Dach available for their opening night lineup after he underwent surgery on his right knee in February, EVP of hockey operations Jeff Gorton told Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels adds he’s recovered enough to participate in training camp when it starts later this week, although it’s unclear if that’s in a contact capacity.
By all indications, the 24-year-old’s recovery from a second major surgery on his right knee in as many years has been as smooth as can be hoped. He was on the ice late last month for an informal skate in full gear, although that didn’t subject him to the pace and veracity of a formal camp session. Still, being back on the ice at around the five-month mark should be a good omen.
Montreal hopes a healthy Dach is also an improved one. He’s now entering his fourth season with the Habs after they acquired the 2019 third overall pick from the Blackhawks at the 2022 draft. He still hasn’t reached the heights and promise he offered during his first year north of the border, when he managed a 14-24–38 scoring line and averaged a hearty 18:30 per game despite injuries limiting him to 58 appearances.
In the last two years, his right knee issues have limited him to 59 games, scoring only 10 goals and 24 points with a -27 rating. He produced at a 54-point clip per 82 games back in 2022-23 but has only scored at a 33-point pace since. He also had some of the worst defensive impacts on the team last year before his season ended prematurely. Despite receiving the most sheltered even-strength minutes of his career by a wide margin, starting over 63% of his shifts in the offensive zone, Montreal controlled only 44.8% of shot attempts and 46.0% of expected goals with him on the ice. Posting below team-average possession numbers with that degree of sheltering is a rather significant red flag.
That’s not exactly the type of player a team with playoff aspirations wants centering their second line, particularly with a rookie Ivan Demidov likely to start the year on his flank. Nonetheless, their lack of offseason activity at forward hasn’t left them with many other options. It’ll be some combination of him, trade pickup Zachary Bolduc, and Alex Newhook – all promising young players with spotty or non-existent track records at center – competing for that 2C slot. Might bottom-six staple Jake Evans get a look at an expanded role coming off a career-high 36 points?
Evening Notes: Evangelista, Canadiens Rookies, Cootes
Negotiations between winger Luke Evangelista and the Nashville Predators have begun to stall per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, who reports that yearly salary is what’s created the wedge. Evangelista is one of the top unsigned restricted free agents after players like Connor Zary and Marco Rossi both found new deals. The 23-year-old Evangelista posted an impressive 10 goals and 32 points in 68 games last season. It was a suitable encore to the 16 goals and 39 points he posted in 80 games of the 2023-24 season.
A pair of successful scoring seasons would surely make the player’s camp confident in earning a hardy salary. Columbus Blue Jackets forward Cole Sillinger recently signed a two-year, $4.5MM contract extension, while New Jersey Devils forward Dawson Mercer recently signed a three-year, $12MM contract. Those could be the boundaries for a short-term, bridge contract for Evangelista, who has certainly proved he can stick in Nashville’s top nine. Should contract talks continue to stall, the Predators could opt for a one-year, sub-$1MM contract and kick negotiations back to next summer.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Montreal Canadiens have assigned a group of rookies back to their respective leagues after rookie camp came to a close. In turn, Montreal assigned defensemen Carlos Handel to the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, Andrew MacNiel to the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, and Bryce Pickford to the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers. Goaltenders Arseny Radkov and Mikus Vecvanags will return to Russia and Latvia, respectively. The team has also returned a handful of rookie camp invites. All of the moves come as expected, though it rings as exciting news for fans of Medicine Hat and Halifax, as their top defenders return for another season.
- Top Vancouver Canucks prospect Braeden Cootes was absent from the team’s final rookie camp scrimmage on Sunday, per Thomas Drance of The Athletic. Drance later added that Cootes was held out for precautionary reasons and will still attend training camp next week. That will keep the reigning 15th overall pick on track to take his first crack at breaking into the NHL. Cootes had a strong season with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds last year. He dominated the middle of the ice with quick plays all year long, working up to 63 points and 60 games in total. Cootes seems most likely set for a return to Seattle next season, though a strong training camp could earn him the chance at sticking in the pros for nine games.
Pickford Dealing With A Lower-Body Injury
- The Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Bryce Pickford is dealing with a lower-body injury and didn’t take part in practice today. The 19-year-old wasn’t drafted in his first year of eligibility last year but went in the third round back in June, going 81st overall. Pickford had a breakout year offensively in 2024-25, notching 20 goals and 27 assists in 48 regular season games with WHL Medicine Hat before adding 24 more points in 18 postseason contests.
Hayden Paupanekis Won't Participate In Canadiens' Rookie Camp
A trade market for Boston Bruins forward Pavel Zacha continues to materialize throughout the summer months. According to a new report from James Murphy of RG Media, an NHL source claims that the Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames are two teams that have inquired about the forward’s availability.
Murphy cited a quote from the source, saying, “The Canadiens definitely have interest in Zacha and have inquired about him, but they’re not the only team. Several teams — I’m told the Flames are one — continue to express interest in him.” While nothing is urgent, especially between the two Original Six rivals, Murphy states that various scenarios are now being discussed.
He did not specify which players the Canadiens might be willing to trade for Zacha. However, Murphy mentioned that Joshua Roy, Oliver Kapanen, and Jayden Struble have been mentioned as potential trade candidates in Montreal’s search for a second-line center. Still, it’s notable that outside of swapping draft picks, the Canadiens and Bruins haven’t connected on a player trade since 2001.
- One of the Canadiens’ recent draft picks won’t participate in the team’s upcoming rookie camp. In a team announcement, Montreal shared that forward Hayden Paupanekis, drafted 69th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, will miss rookie camp due to a diagnosis of mononucleosis. He’s coming off a relatively productive season split between the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs and Kelowna Rockets, scoring 22 goals and 43 points in 71 games with a -30 rating.
Matheson Hoping To Re-Sign With Canadiens
Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson is in the final year of his contract and is eligible to sign a contract extension. His agent Philippe Lecavalier told Richard Labbe of La Presse that the 31-year-old is hoping to re-sign. Matheson had a breakout showing in 2023-24 when he put up 62 points, putting him ninth among all NHL blueliners in that category. However, the emergence of Lane Hutson saw Matheson’s offensive minutes drop and the end result was a drop to 31 points. Noah Dobson is now in the fold which could similarly cut into his offensive chances even more. That could complicate things on a new contract as a blueliner who logs 25 minutes a night should be eyeing a raise from the $4.875MM he’s set to make this season but with Hutson and Dobson around, the Canadiens may not be inclined to pay market value for someone who probably won’t come close to that career high offensively again with them.
Canadiens To Sign Kevin Mandolese To PTO
The Canadiens are bringing goaltender Kevin Mandolese to training camp on a professional tryout, reports Frank Seravalli of Bleacher Report. He was scouring the KHL market for a guaranteed deal earlier in the summer but never landed one.
Mandolese, fresh off his 25th birthday, is a former Senators sixth-round draftee who’s since emerged as a steady minor-league presence. He’d spent his entire career in the Ottawa organization until last summer, when the Sens issued him a qualifying offer but ended up trading his signing rights to the Avalanche a couple of weeks later.
The Quebec native’s only NHL action came in 2022-23 amid a rash of injuries in Ottawa’s crease. He made three starts in February and March, performing above expectations with a .916 SV% and 3.29 GAA – only allowing 10 goals despite facing nearly 40 shots per game. For whatever reason, that strong initial showing never landed him another NHL opportunity.
Mandolese also didn’t play very much in the Colorado system last year. He made 19 appearances for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, where he served as the primary backup to No. 3 option Trent Miner and had an 11-6-0 record in 19 showings with a .903 SV%, 2.87 GAA, and one shutout. The Avs did not issue him a qualifying offer at the end of last year, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Montreal is likely looking for a more experienced AHL option to have under contract. Starter Sam Montembeault is set in stone, but youngster Jakub Dobes will be battling with veteran free-agent pickup Kaapo Kähkönen for the No. 2 job in camp. If Kähkönen doesn’t make the team and is lost on waivers, that would leave Montreal with just three goalies under contract and top prospect Jacob Fowler without much help in AHL Laval as he kicks off his first professional season. As such, Mandolese will take a PTO with the Habs to start while they sort out whether they want to offer him a two-way NHL contract or only extend him a minor-league offer.
Despite KHL Extension, Konyushkov Hopes To Play In North America Down The Road
- Back in July, Canadiens prospect Bogdan Konyushkov signed a one-year extension in the KHL, keeping him under contract through 2026-27. However, as he told Denis Klesarev of Sport-Express, the blueliner acknowledged that he still wants to try his hand in North America, suggesting that he will eventually sign with Montreal. The 22-year-old logged nearly 23 minutes a game last season with Torpedo while collecting 17 points in 67 games and could be an intriguing option for the Canadiens if and when he decides to come to North America.
Ken Dryden Passes Away At 78
Early Saturday morning, the Canadiens announced that their long-time goaltender and Hall of Famer Ken Dryden passed away Friday at the age of 78 after a battle with cancer. Team owner Geoff Molson released the following statement:
Ken Dryden was an exceptional athlete, but he was also an exceptional man. Behind the mask he was larger than life. We mourn today not only the loss of the cornerstone of one of hockey’s greatest dynasties but also a family man, a thoughtful citizen and a gentleman who deeply impacted our lives and communities across generations. He was one of the true legends that helped shape this Club into what it is today.
Drafted by Boston back in 1964, he was traded to the Canadiens that same offseason. He spent three seasons at Cornell, posting a sterling 76-4-1 record before turning pro and entering Montreal’s farm system, a place he didn’t spend much time in before getting the call to the NHL.
Dryden was a crucial member of Montreal’s dynasty in the 1970s. He played in eight seasons with the Canadiens during that stretch, compiling a 2.24 GAA and a .922 SV% in 397 games, winning the Calder Trophy in 1972 along with five Vezina Trophies for the NHL’s best goaltender. In the playoffs, he was similarly dominant, helping lead Montreal to six Stanley Cup victories in that span. Dryden was also a key contributor in Canada’s victory over the Soviet Union in the 1972 Summit Series and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983.
But hockey wasn’t Dryden’s only passion. He was in law school in the early part of his career and famously didn’t play in 1973-74 while articling at a Toronto law firm after the Canadiens wouldn’t rework his contract. Then, following the 1978-79 season, he decided to retire altogether at the age of 31.
Dryden got into broadcasting and wrote multiple books to stay involved in the game of hockey and then joined the Maple Leafs in 1997, serving as their team president through 2004. Toronto had a pair of Conference Final appearances during that stretch, a plateau they have not reached since.
Dryden then stepped away from hockey to serve in politics, becoming a Canadian Member of Parliament from 2004 through 2011. Soon after, he was awarded the Order of Canada for contributing to the sport of hockey and to public life.
We here at PHR join the hockey world in mourning Dryden’s passing and send our condolences to his family, friends, and loved ones.
Sharks Acquire Carey Price’s Contract From Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens have traded Carey Price’s contract and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for minor-league defenseman Gannon Laroque. Price has not played since 2021, after undergoing surgery to repair a serious meniscus injury. He carries a $10.5MM cap hit through the end of this season.
Price has received a $5.5MM signing bonus on September 1st of each year of his contract. The Canadiens paid that tab earlier this week, opening the door for his lofty cap hit to be moved out. With no bonuses to worry about, San Jose will only have to pay Price $2MM in base salary, while reaping the benefits of a $10.5MM cap hit. That mark brings San Jose’s cap utilization up to $86.23MM – still $9.24MM below the cap ceiling. Montreal, meanwhile, will move forward with roughly $4.57MM in cap space.
The trade makes sense financially for both sides. The Sharks now distance themselves from the cap floor, while Montreal will be able to enter the season without utilizing long-term injured reserve. That latter point will prove particularly beneficial for Montreal, as they’ll now have the flexibility to bring in almost $5MM in lineup talent – rather than being forced to enter the season at the cap ceiling, since they exceeded the ceiling with Price’s contract on the books.
Montreal is planning to take full advantage of that newfound flexibility, per Marco D’Amico of Responsible Gaming. D’Amico shares that – whether it’s before the season or closer to December – the Habs have expressed interest in building out their roster. The team is noticeably lacking depth at the center position, with little to offer behind clear-cut, top center Nick Suzuki. That could make the Canadiens a strong candidate for a player like Jack Roslovic, who surprisingly remains on the free agent market despite scoring 22 goals and 39 points in his ninth NHL season last year.
The Canadiens will also receive an interesting prospect in this swap. Laroque has fallen victim to substantial injuries throughout each of the last few seasons. He had to undergo surgery on both hips in 2022, forcing him to sit out of all but four games of his final WHL season. He scored five points in those games. Recovery from the hip surgery continued through the 2023-24 season, though Laroque was able to play nine games, and record two points and eight penalty minutes, in both the AHL and ECHL. He seemed well-set to formally begin his pro career, before being pulled out of the 2024-25 season entirely by an undisclosed injury. It wasn’t revealed if this new injury was related to his previous hip surgeries. He was a productive, right-shot defender when he appeared at the junior level. Spending the better parts of two seasons with the WHL’s Victoria Royals, Laroque was able to record 59 points in 84 games.
Meanwhile, San Jose will move forward with balanced books and a clearer outlook of their expenses this season. This move drops San Jose from having the second-most cap space in the league, to the ninth-most. They also now carry 49 contracts, out of a possible 50. Sharks fans will zero in on how the team chooses to move forward with superstar prospect Michael Misa – the second-overall selection in this year’s NHL Draft. Misa scored an incredible 62 goals and 134 points in 65 OHL games this season, but still remains unsigned despite seemingly accomplishing everything he could at the junior flight. He’ll be a name to watch closely, and could even find his way onto the Sharks’ opening night roster, now that the team has a bit more financial security.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports.
Canadiens' Kent Hughes Tempering Next Year's Expectations
- Despite qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, the General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens, Kent Hughes, is tempering down expectations for the team entering the 2025-26 campaign. Montreal gained a year of experience from last year’s playoff run and boosted its forward core this summer by adding Zachary Bolduc from the St. Louis Blues. Still, in an interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Hughes was quoted as saying, “It’s great that the fan base is excited about it. As a general manager, you worry that the players don’t get too far ahead of themselves. It’s a little bit harder when people see you coming than when we sneak up on them.“
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