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Canadiens Notes: Anderson, Laine, Montembeault, Worlds, Savard

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As expected, several injuries for the Montreal Canadiens were revealed in today’s end-of-season presser. Forwards Josh Anderson and Patrik Laine, along with netminder Sam Montembeault, shared insights into their struggles with injuries during Montreal’s playoff run.

Vaguely, Anderson told Eric Engels of Sportsnet that he was dealing with lower- and upper-body injuries throughout the regular season, and that he likely wouldn’t have played if the Canadiens weren’t in a position to qualify for the postseason. Still, Anderson impressively tallied 15 goals on the year and played in the highest number of games since the 2018-19 season.

Meanwhile, Laine shared with Marco D’Amico of RG the specifics of the hand injury that kept him out of Games 3, 4, and 5. D’Amico quoted Laine saying, “I broke my finger in the second game. I couldn’t really hold my stick, and shooting is what I do. I was disappointed.”

Lastly, Engels reported that the Canadiens were without their starting netminder for the series’ last two games because of a torn groin. Thankfully, Montembeault won’t require surgery, meaning a full off-season with rehab should have him ready to start the 2025-26 season on time for Montreal.

Other Canadiens notes:

  • Now that their playoff run has concluded, the Canadiens will have at least one player participating in the 2025 IIHF World Championships and could have a few more. Montreal announced that defenseman Mike Matheson will suit up for Team Canada, while Engels reported Cole Caufield (Tweet Link) and Lane Hutson (Tweet Link) are undecided on playing for Team USA. Unfortunately, Team Slovakia will be without one of their top young players as Engels shared Juraj Slafkovsky won’t play in this summer’s international competition.
  • Now retired following the Canadiens’ elimination at the hands of the Capitals, David Savard would like to continue his work career with the Canadiens in a different capacity (Tweet Link). He didn’t allude to which path, as in coaching or a front office position, but he did say he would like to work with the team’s defensemen in some fashion.

Scott Arniel, Spencer Carbery, Martin St. Louis Named Jack Adams Finalists

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The Jets’ Scott Arniel, the Capitals’ Spencer Carbery, and the Canadiens’ Martin St. Louis are this year’s Jack Adams Award finalists as the NHL’s top head coach, the league announced.

All are first-time finalists. Unlike most other awards (like the Selke, whose finalists were announced today), the Adams is voted on by broadcast media members, not print/digital.

In his first season behind the Winnipeg bench after taking over for the retiring Rick Bowness, Arniel guided the Jets to their first Presidents’ Trophy and best regular season in franchise history. Promoted after serving as an assistant under Bowness since 2022-23, the former Jets 1.0 forward logged a 56-22-4 record.

This is Arniel’s second stop as an NHL head coach. He was previously at the helm of the Blue Jackets for a year and a half, posting a 45-60-18 (.439) record in 123 games before being fired at the halfway point of the 2011-12 season. He would be the first bench boss in Jets 2.0 franchise history to win Coach of the Year honors.

Over in Washington, Carbery oversaw one of the league’s biggest point increases from 2023-24 to 2024-25 in his second year behind the Capitals’ bench. He’s now posted a 91-53-20 (.616) record across his two seasons in the role, including an Eastern Conference-leading 51-22-9 record this year for Washington’s first division title in five years. While it’s not considered for this award’s purposes, he also just guided the Caps to their first playoff series win since 2018 with a five-game dispatching of the Canadiens in the first round.

Carbery helped improve Washington’s offense from a 28th-ranked 2.63 goals per game last year to 3.49 in 2024-25, second-best in the NHL. If he wins, the 43-year-old would be the first to take home Coach of the Year honors at every stop of the NHL’s professional development pyramid. While in lower levels of the Caps organization, he won COTY honors with ECHL South Carolina in 2013-14 and with AHL Hershey in 2020-21.

As for St. Louis, the Hall-of-Fame winger could add coaching-related honors to a trophy case that includes a Stanley Cup, two Art Ross Trophies, MVP honors, and three Lady Byng Trophies. Coming off his third full season behind the Montreal bench, the 49-year-old helped guide a young Habs squad out of the dark stages of their rebuild. The team recorded their first 40-win season in six years and ended a three-year postseason drought that was tied for the longest (1999-2001, 1920-1922) in franchise history. A Habs bench boss hasn’t been named COTY since Pat Burns in 1989.

Phil Roberto Passes Away

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In a sad announcement, the St. Louis Blues revealed that former player Phil Roberto has passed away at the age of 76.

Roberto began his professional playing career with the Montreal Canadiens on December 17, 1969. Despite tallying only one assist in eight games during the 1969-70 season, Roberto increased his offense the following season, scoring 14 goals and 21 points in 39 games. He added another assist in 15 postseason contests as the Canadiens captured the Stanley Cup against the Chicago Black Hawks.

Without much information on the type of transaction, Roberto was moved from Montreal to the Blues organization partway through the 1971-72 season. St. Louis is where he’d have the most individual success of his career, scoring 33 goals and 71 points in 148 games in parts of four seasons.

The Niagara Falls, Ontario native joined the Detroit Red Wings partway through the 1974-75 season, and scored 14 goals and 48 points in 83 games with the second Original Six organization of his career. Roberto left the Red Wings in the 1975-76 season and began playing for three different teams that were briefly part of the NHL.

From halfway through the 1975-76 season to 1977, Roberto played for the Kansas City Scouts, Colorado Rockies, and Cleveland Barons. He joined the WHA’s Birmingham Bulls in 1977-78, ending his NHL career with 75 goals and 106 assists in 385 regular-season games.

PHR sends our condolences to Roberto’s family, friends, colleagues, and former teammates.

Department Of Player Safety Fines Arber Xhekaj

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  • Due to some extracurricular activity before Game 4 between the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals, the league’s Department of Player Safety decided to bestow some punishments. The Department of Player Safety announced they’ve fined Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj $3,385.42, the maximum allowable under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, for unsportsmanlike conduct during warm-ups of yesterday’s contest. The league didn’t allude to any specific actions from Xhekaj, but he was seen exchanging words with a few Capitals players from his side of the red line.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Canadiens Recall Cayden Primeau

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The Montreal Canadiens have recalled goaltender Cayden Primeau in the wake of an injury to starter Sam Montembeault. Montembeault left Game 3 during a second-period TV-timeout, after a conversation with Montreal’s director of sports medicine and performance, Jim Ramsay. He has been listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, did not practice on Sunday, and will formally be questionable for Game 4 – head coach Martin St. Louis shared with NHL.com. Montreal will start rookie Jakub Dobes in their next matchup, and now have Primeau as a potential backup option.

Primeau has had a near-perfect season in the minor leagues. He’s posted a dazzling 21-2-2 record, .927 save percentage, and 1.96 goals-against average. In turn, Primeau recorded the fewest losses, the third-highest save percentage, and the highest goals-against average of all qualified AHL goalies. It was a true breakout performance after Primeau posted a .909 save percentage, and varying surrounding stats, in each of the last four AHL seasons.

Primeau was the de facto starter any time he was in the AHL, though he fell three games shy of the Laval Rocket’s lead in games played after spending two months on the NHL roster to start the season. He stepped into 11 games over that tenure and managed a far less encouraging 2-3-1 record, .836 save percentage, and 4.70 goals-against-average. It continued what’s been a string of underwhelming NHL performances for Primeau, who sits with a 13-24-7 record and .884 save percentage through 55 career games. Those numbers were boosted slightly by a .910 save percentage in 23 games last year – numbers that Montreal will hope he can recreate after a flawless season in the minor leagues.

Josh Anderson, Tom Wilson Fined For Unsportsmanlike Conduct

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For their part in a game three incident, Montreal Canadiens forward Josh Anderson and Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson were both fined $5,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct, per an NHL release.

The fine is the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. As players prepared to enter their respective locker rooms at the end of the second period, Wilson and Anderson engaged in a wrestling match that ended up spilling into Washington’s bench. Both players received roughing minors and 10-minute misconducts. Multiple players joined the fracas, and Washington’s Lars Eller and Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj were also assessed minor penalties. For his part, Wilson also took the opportunity to mock Montreal players directly following the incident.

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery told reporters following the game that the situation was, “Just two competitive teams, two competitive guys going at it.” He added that when the second period concluded, he was making his way to the locker room when he needed to reverse course to avoid Anderson and Wilson coming into Washington’s bench.

These types of situations are not uncommon for Wilson, who has been suspended five time in his career in additional to several fines he’s accumulated over the years. Playing on the edge is also what has made Wilson a successful power forward for the Caps. His 2,368 career hits only trail teammate Alex Ovechkin in Washington history, while his 835 career games rank eighth in team history.

Anderson has also played a physical brand of hockey over his career, though this represents the first fine of his career (he did receive a two-game suspension for boarding in 2022). With the Canadians pulling away to a 6-3 win in game three, and drawing closer in the series, it will be interesting to see if there is a follow-up between the two physical forwards as the series progresses.

Canadiens’ Patrik Laine To Miss Game 3

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The Montreal Canadiens have announced that winger Patrik Laine will be a last-minute scratch for Friday’s Game 3 due to an upper-body injury. Laine appeared to sustain the injury at some point during Game 2. He played in just 10 minutes of the losing effort, over four minutes fewer than he averaged during the regular season.

Laine was noticeably quiet during Game 2. He failed to generate much action after being on the ice for plenty of action in Game 1. Laine generated a team-high five shots on net, and recorded one assist and a minus-two, in the first game of Montreal’s postseason. The score was Laine’s first postseason point since 2019. His years in between took the Finn through campaigns with the snake-bitten Columbus Blue Jackets – but he found stronger standing with the Canadiens this year. Even despite missing 30 games to injury, Laine still managed 20 goals and 33 points in 52 games with Montreal this season.

With Laine out of the lineup, Montreal will turn towards rookie Oliver Kapanen to step into a bottom-six role. Kapanen played in the first 18 games of his NHL career earlier this season. He recorded two assists and a minus-five. The quiet start prompted the Canadiens to loan Kapanen to the SHL’s Timra IK. He made the most of the role with 35 points in 36 games – the second-highest scoring pace on Timra. Kapanen also scored three points in six SHL playoff games. He’ll now fight to carry that footing over to the NHL as Montreal looks to record their first win of the series.

11 Teams To Carry Bonus Overage Cap Penalties In 2025-26

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The end of the regular season also means the end of daily salary cap calculations across the NHL. With no more cap-related transactions left in the year, 11 teams have officially finished over the salary cap because players on entry-level or 35+ contracts earned performance bonuses that put them above the upper limit. They’ll carry bonus overage penalties in 2025-26 as a result. Those teams break down as follows, per PuckPedia:

Carolina Hurricanes: $33K – $1.076MM

Carolina’s numbers vary wildly here because of the $1.0375MM bonus rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin will incur if he wins the Conn Smythe. Their guaranteed $33K penalty comes from Logan Stankoven’s post-acquisition games-played bonuses. There’s the potential for an additional $5K penalty if rookie Juha Jaaska plays at least two playoff games. Carolina ends the year in LTIR, so they can’t afford any bonuses. They don’t have any other cap charges next year.

Dallas Stars: $368K

The Stars ended the year in LTIR, so all of Wyatt Johnston’s $319K in Schedule A bonuses and Logan Stankoven’s $49.5K games-played bonus, which they paid out before he was traded to the Hurricanes, count as penalties next year. Their total dead cap charges will total $1.801MM with another year of Ryan Suter’s buyout on the books.

Detroit Red Wings: $871K

Detroit ended the year with a comfortable $2.02MM in cap space but had $2.888MM in performance bonuses to dole out, so they’ll get hit with a six-figure penalty next year. Patrick Kane hit $1.75MM in games played bonuses this year as part of his 35+ contract, while Simon Edvinsson and Marco Kasper each hit multiple Schedule A bonus categories for $638K and $500K in respective bonuses. They also have a $1.056MM cap charge next season for the final year of Justin Abdelkader’s buyout, bringing their total dead cap next season to $1.927MM.

Edmonton Oilers: $150K – $250K

All of the Oilers’ penalties stem from Corey Perry’s 35+ contract after ending the season in LTIR. He’s already earned $150K in games played bonuses and could earn up to $100K in playoff bonuses – $50K if the Oilers win two rounds and Perry plays in either half of the second-round games or half of the total first and second-round games, and another $50K if they win three rounds and Perry plays in either half of the Western Conference Final games or half the total games through the WCF. That’s on top of the $2.3MM cap charge Edmonton faces from buying out Jack Campbell.

Los Angeles Kings: $213K

It’s simple here – the Kings couldn’t fit the performance bonus earned by Brandt Clarke for hitting 25 assists. That gives them $813K in dead cap next year, combined with the Mike Richards buyout.

Minnesota Wild: $1.1MM – $1.15MM

The Wild ended the year with just $36K in cap space, so virtually all of the performance bonuses earned by Marco Rossi and Brock Faber hitting their full complement of Schedule A targets ($850K and $250K, respectively) will count as a penalty. The number could increase slightly if rookie defenseman Zeev Buium plays five playoff games or wins the Conn Smythe, each landing him a $25K bonus. Minnesota’s total dead cap charges will be at least $2.767MM with Zach Parise’s and Ryan Suter’s buyouts still on the books, albeit at a drastically reduced cost from the last few years.

Montreal Canadiens: $1.728MM – $2.308MM

All of the Canadiens’ performance bonuses awarded this season will count toward their overage because they ended the year with Carey Price on long-term injured reserve to remain cap-compliant. Star rookie Lane Hutson maxed out his Schedule A bonuses for $750K, Juraj Slafkovsky earned $500K in A bonuses for finishing top-six among Montreal forwards in average time on ice and top-three in plus-minus rating, defenseman Kaiden Guhle maxed out his $420K in A bonuses, and rearguard Jayden Struble earned his $57.5K games played bonus. Their penalty will increase based on the performance bonuses rookie Ivan Demidov incurs in the postseason. He’ll earn $25K for five playoff appearances, $30K for 10, and a whopping $525K bonus if he wins the Conn Smythe Trophy. The Habs don’t have any other dead cap charges next year, but still have to contend with the final year of Price’s deal.

New Jersey Devils: $1MM

The Devils ended the season in long-term injured reserve and thus can’t afford reigning Calder Trophy finalist Luke Hughes’ $1MM in Schedule A bonuses. At present, it’s the only dead cap charge New Jersey will have next year.

New York Islanders: $600K – $850K

Mathew Barzal’s and Semyon Varlamov’s LTIR placements kept the Isles cap-compliant at season’s end, so the entirety of Matt Martin’s $100K in games played bonuses and Maxim Tsyplakov’s $500K in Schedule A bonuses (plus-minus and ice time). If Tsyplakov makes the NHL’s All-Rookie Team, he’ll incur an additional $250K bonus. New York doesn’t have any other dead cap charges next year.

St. Louis Blues: $2.153MM

The Blues are currently set to incur the most significant bonus overage penalty of any team next year. Most of that comes from the $2.225MM in performance bonuses awarded to veteran Ryan Suter in his 35+ contract last summer. He earned all of them, while sophomore Zachary Bolduc earned a $212.5K bonus for finishing in the top three in plus-minus rating among St. Louis forwards. Those, less the Blues’ $284K in season-ending cap space, give them a bonus overage carryover penalty of $2.153MM. Barring any buyouts this summer, that will comprise their entire dead cap hit for 2025-26.

Toronto Maple Leafs: $626K

Since they ended the season in LTIR, the performance bonuses Max Pacioretty earned for playing 37 games on his 35+ contract will count against the Leafs’ cap next year. As things stand, they could begin the year with an additional $300K in dead cap if Ryan Reaves and Matt Benning are buried in the minors as they were to end 2024-25.

The Capitals could find themselves added to this list if rookie Ryan Leonard wins the Conn Smythe. He’s owed $275K if he does, which the Caps can’t accommodate after ending the year in LTIR.

Photo courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.

David Savard To Retire Following Season

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Canadiens defenseman David Savard will retire whenever Montreal’s time in the postseason ends, he confirmed to reporters today (including Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports).

Savard, 34, will close the book on an 870-game career spanning 14 seasons. It began at the 2009 draft, when the Blue Jackets selected him in the fourth round from the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats. An elder statesman for his draft year, thanks to his October birthday, the defensive-minded defender had still managed 44 points in 68 games in his draft year with a +29 rating. Combined with his 6’1″, 234-lb frame as a right-shot defender, it’s surprising at first glance that he slipped that far in the draft.

In turn, his development path quickly outpaced that of the average fourth-round pick. Savard erupted for over a point per game the following year with Moncton, earning QMJHL Defensive Defenseman of the Year honors while also leading the league’s blue liners in scoring. That landed him his entry-level deal with Columbus, and he joined the team’s AHL affiliate, then the Springfield Falcons, for the 2010-11 campaign.

Savard spent most of his three-year rookie deal in the minors, although he did appear in 35 NHL games in limited minutes during that span. After posting 97 points in 176 minor-league games with a +12 rating, Savard entered Blue Jackets camp in 2013-14 looking to land a full-time role after inking his qualifying offer over the summer. He achieved his goal. While he wasn’t yet a top-four force, he avoided an AHL assignment that year and hasn’t touched minor-league ice since. Following a five-goal, 15-point performance in 70 regular-season games and an exceptional postseason showing in Columbus’ first-round loss to the Penguins, the Jackets signed Savard to a two-year, $2.6MM bridge deal.

That was quite the prudent decision from former Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen. Savard had the best season of his career in 2014-15, serving as the team’s No. 2 defenseman behind Jack Johnson while posting an 11-25–36 scoring line in 82 games. He led the Jackets with 195 hits to boot and posted an even rating on a streaky Jackets team that finished with a -21 goal differential and missed the playoffs. That was also Savard’s first season averaging over 19 minutes per game, a mark he’d eclipse in every following season until this year.

Before leading Blue Jackets defensemen in scoring in 2015-16 with 25 points in 65 games, Savard agreed to the first long-term deal of his career: a five-year, $21.25MM commitment to keep him in Columbus through the 2020-21 season. He continued to serve as the Jackets’ premier shutdown defenseman for most of that contract, including a team-leading +33 rating when the Jackets recorded the only 50-win season in franchise history in the 2016-17 campaign.

Coming out of the pandemic, Savard’s game nosedived in the final year of his deal. He managed just six points and a -19 rating in 40 games for Columbus in the shortened 2021 season, and with the Jackets entering a rebuild, there wasn’t a path toward an extension. They retained some of his salary and traded him to the Lightning before the deadline, ending his time in Columbus after nearly 10 seasons with the club.

Savard’s time in Tampa was short but fruitful. He continued to struggle down the stretch in the regular season and had his minutes slashed in the playoffs, averaging just 14 minutes per game in third-pairing duties with Mikhail Sergachev. His play improved when he was lower in the lineup, posting five assists and an even rating in 20 games as he helped the Bolts win their second consecutive championship.

A free agent the following offseason, Savard inked a four-year, $14MM contract with the Canadiens – the team he defeated in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final – to help fill the void left by captain Shea Weber hanging up the skates due to multiple injuries. While Savard’s possession impacts lacked in Montreal on a team that’s failed to control possession well during his tenure, the Quebec native has been a vital leadership figure as the Habs continue to graduate younger rearguards into NHL minutes. With his regular-season career now behind him, he posted 13-63–76 and a -45 rating across 259 appearances for Montreal, averaging 19:50 per game.

Savard had averaged over 20 minutes per game in his first three seasons with the Canadiens but saw his minutes slashed to 16:35 per game in 2024-25, slipping down the depth chart behind Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle, and Alexandre Carrier. That, plus the toll injuries have taken over the past few years, likely influenced his decision to step away from the game. Lavoie adds that Savard informed Montreal’s front office of his intent to retire a few weeks ago.

He ends his career with 54-188–242 and a -29 rating in 870 career regular-season games. Despite spending the last four-plus years of his career elsewhere, Savard’s 597 games played in a Blue Jackets uniform still rank fifth in franchise history and first among defensemen, although Zach Werenski will eclipse that record next season, barring injury. All of us at Pro Hockey Rumors congratulate Savard on his lengthy career and wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Photo courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports.

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