The Canadiens are expected to activate forward Alex Newhook off injured reserve on Saturday, paving the way for him to return against Dallas, relays Herb Zurkowsky of the Montreal Gazette. The 23-year-old has missed nearly two and a half months with an ankle injury but had gotten off to a decent start to his first year in Montreal before that, recording 13 points in 23 games. While Newhook has spent a lot of time on the wing in his career, he’ll likely play at center more frequently down the stretch following the recent Sean Monahan trade. The Canadiens opened up a roster spot to activate Newhook earlier today when they returned Lucas Condotta to AHL Laval.
Canadiens Rumors
Canadiens Reassign Lucas Condotta
Feb. 9: The Canadiens reassigned Condotta to AHL Laval on Friday, per a team announcement. He logged a +1 rating and one shot on goal in a season-high 10:34 of ice time against the Capitals on Tuesday.
Feb. 4: The Montreal Canadiens have recalled forward Lucas Condotta to the NHL roster. Condotta was up with the Canadiens roster for three days last week, playing in two games and going without a point. It was just the second and third games of Condotta’s career, with the 26-year-old making his NHL debut and scoring his first career goal last season.
Condotta has otherwise spent the entire 2023-24 season in the AHL, playing in 40 games and scoring 13 points with the Laval Rocket. He’s in just his third professional season, joining the Canadiens organization following the end of UMass-Lowell’s 2021-22 season. The undrafted free agent appeared in 17 AHL games through the end of the year, between the end of the regular season and the postseason, scoring a combined five points. He had a much stronger showing in his official rookie AHL season last year, netting 16 goals and 31 points in 72 games.
Condotta isn’t the only new face at Montreal’s Sunday practice, with the team also inking Brandon Gignac to a two-year NHL contract and recalling him to the top club. Gignac is currently leading the Rocket in scoring, with 42 points through 43 games. It’s a career year for the 26-year-old, who has already outscored his previous career-high of 33 points set in 49 games last season.
Gignac and Condotta will battle for a spot in a Montreal lineup that’s opted to ice 11 forwards and eight defensemen since recalling Arber Xhekaj on January 22nd. The Canadiens are without Brendan Gallagher for their next four games, after the winger earned the first suspension of his career with an elbow to Adam Pelech’s head. They are also without Christian Dvorak, Alex Newhook, and Kirby Dach, with all three forwards on injured reserve for varying amounts of time. These absences could provide a chance for the pair of minor-league forwards to find ice time, though which of the two will slot in and for how long is yet to be seen.
Montreal Canadiens Sign Brandon Gignac To Two-Year NHL Contract
The Montreal Canadiens have signed minor-league forward Brandon Gignac to a two-year, two-way contract. This will take over for the AHL contract Gignac is currently on, carrying him through the end of next season. The deal has a prorated $775K salary in the NHL and a prorated $150K salary in the minors for the remainder of this season. He’ll get a raise next season, with the same NHL salary but a $350K salary in the minors, and a $400K guarantee. All cap details come from team reporter Renaud Lavoie.
By signing an NHL contract, Gignac has been effectively recalled to the NHL roster and is slated to practice with the Canadiens on Sunday, per Sportsnet’s Eric Engels. Gignac has been an invite to each of Montreal’s last three training camps, leaving each with a minor-league deal. This new contract represents his first recall since joining the Canadiens organization in 2021 and only the second recall of his professional career. His other recall came in March of 2019 with the New Jersey Devils. He played in his NHL debut but was sent down the next day, failing to score his first NHL point and setting a -2.
That has been the only NHL action that Gignac has received, with much of his eight-year professional career being spent in the AHL. He was drafted in the third round of the 2016 NHL Draft – the same round that yielded Adam Fox and Connor Ingram. Gignac made his AHL debut at the end of the subsequent season and has since totaled 267 games and 154 points. That includes 42 points in 43 AHL games this season, a mark that ties the 26-year-old for fifth in the AHL in scoring. It’s not clear whether Gignac is set for extended time on the NHL roster, though he’s having a hot enough year to push for a spot on a Montreal team that’s played one forward down as of late.
Canadiens Not Likely To Trade David Savard Says Kent Hughes
- The Montreal Canadiens aren’t planning on parting ways with defenseman David Savard, per team general manager Kent Hughes. Savard is in his third season with the Canadiens, joining the team via unrestricted free agency with a four-year, $14MM contract signed during the 2021 summer. It was the first time in Savard’s then 11-year career that he reached free agency and he made sure to return to his hometown team. Hughes isn’t looking to change that decision this Spring.
Snapshots: NHL Expansion, Thomson, Newhook
The NHL is eyeing expansion, with commissioner Gary Bettman naming Salt Lake City, Houston, Atlanta, Cincinnati, and Omaha all as cities that have expressed interest in housing an NHL club. Houston and Omaha are the only cities on the list not currently housing an ECHL club, though Omaha makes up for it with the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Division 1 NCAA team and the USHL’s Omaha Lancers juniors club. Houston did host a minor league club from 1994 to 2013, though they relocated to Des Moines Iowa ahead of the 2013-14 season. The city has been without professional hockey ever since, though this season does mark the first time since World War II that the University of Houston has hosted a club hockey team.
How the NHL will go about reconfiguring divisions if one, or all, of these five cities receive a team is unclear. The list seemingly places three clubs undeniably in the Western Conference – Salt Lake City, Houston, and Omaha – while Atlanta would settle back into their place in the Eastern Conference. Cincinnati would be the toss-up, with the city situated perfectly on the line of conference ambiguity. It’s west of Detroit and Columbus – two teams that have spent time in both conferences – but still east of Nashville, a city that could reasonably mark where the Western Conference ends and the Eastern Conference begins. It seems most likely that Cincinnati will be the balancing piece in any new NHL expansions, if and when they happen.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Ottawa Senators are open to shopping around defenseman Lassi Thomson, per team reporter Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. A recent report on Sweden’s Expressen shared that the defenseman could return to Scandinavian hockey, joining the SHL’s Malmo Redhawks. This rumored move could be a driving factor in any trade talks, as Ottawa will surely want a return on their investment and any recipient will want to ensure they’re getting a long-term piece. Thomson, 23, has spent all season in the AHL, totaling 11 points through 40 games. He’s also added 40 penalty minutes and a -11. All of these stats are a step down from Thomson’s 2022-23 season, when he managed 33 points, 28 penalty minutes, and a -9 through 56 AHL games. The former 2019 first-round pick played two seasons in the Liiga, Finland’s top league, after being drafted and before his career in North American pros began at the end of the 2020-21 season.
- Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Newhook is aiming for a return soon, says team general manager Kent Hughes. Newhook was announced as out for 10-to-12 weeks in early-December after suffering a high ankle sprain. That projection places his return in mid-February, at the earliest – though his return to the ice in late January suggests he’s progressing nicely. Newhook has appeared in 23 games with Montreal this season, scoring seven goals and 13 points. It’s his first time playing in Canada since his two-year stretch in the BCHL prior to being drafted. The Canadiens traded a 2023 first and second round draft pick, as well as Gianni Fairbrother, to the Colorado Avalanche this summer in exchange for Newhook.
Jets Acquire Sean Monahan From Canadiens
10:39 a.m.: The Canadiens have confirmed the deal as reported.
9:44 a.m.: The Jets are nearing a deal to acquire center Sean Monahan from the Canadiens, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports Friday. Montreal will receive a first-round pick plus a conditional later-round pick in return, per TSN’s Darren Dreger. Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press confirms the first-round pick is Winnipeg’s 2024 selection. Dreger adds the conditional pick is a third-round choice in 2027, which will be transferred to Montreal if the Jets win the Stanley Cup this season.
TSN’s Darren Dreger said earlier Friday that interest in Monahan had spiked after the Flames opened trade season by dealing first-line center Elias Lindholm to the Canucks on Wednesday for an expansive return. The Jets and an undisclosed team were still in talks with the Canadiens as of Friday morning, according to Dreger’s report.
Monahan, 29, is on a one-year contract carrying a $1.985MM cap hit with a $2MM AAV. The difference comes from a $15K performance bonus awarded if he reached 26 games played in 2023-24 that the Canadiens have already paid out, per CapFriendly.
The Jets will not have to concede a roster player in this deal for financial purposes. They have $3.8MM in accumulated cap space at the time of the deal and can absorb Monahan’s full contract without retention. The Athletic’s Arpon Basu confirmed the Canadiens are not retaining salary in the trade.
While Monahan may not have the two-way acumen and minute-munching reputation of Lindholm, he’s outpaced his former Flames teammate on the scoresheet this season. The 2013 sixth-overall pick has managed to avoid injury this season and, as such, is having his best offensive campaign since his career-best 34-goal, 82-point season in 2018-19.
At the time of the deal, Monahan is tied for second on the Habs in goals with captain Nick Suzuki (13), third in assists (22), and ranks third on the team with 35 points. His 399 faceoff wins are the most of any Canadien. After missing the last 57 games of last season with groin and foot injuries, he looks no worse for wear and is shouldering top-six minutes in the process, averaging 18:27 per game.
That production comes despite Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis using Monahan in a shutdown role. 61% of his zone starts at even strength have come in the defensive zone, 16% higher than his career average. As such, he’s struggled to replicate his strong possession numbers from last season’s limited stint in the Habs lineup, but he has posted a positive relative possession share in limited minutes on the penalty kill and contributed two shorthanded goals.
The Jets don’t need Monahan to shoulder such heavy defensive zone usage – captain Adam Lowry has that handled down the middle. He can, however, fill the second-line center role behind Mark Scheifele and create a domino effect in the Jets’ middle six. With Monahan in the fold, capable secondary scoring options Mason Appleton and Nino Niederreiter can now anchor a third line with Lowry, and 22-year-old Cole Perfetti can maintain a second-line role with a little less responsibility on the wing. Monahan isn’t a long-term acquisition – at least not yet – and making the deal doesn’t impact Perfetti’s long-term standing as a potential piece down the middle in Winnipeg.
Notably, Canadiens GM Kent Hughes has now recouped two first-round picks for two seasons and 74 games of Monahan’s play. Montreal acquired a conditional 2025 first-round pick from the Flames to take on the final season of Monahan’s previous contract, which carried a $6.375MM cap hit. After posting six goals and 17 points in last season’s 25-game showing, Hughes signed Monahan to his current one-year deal in June.
While the Jets won’t need to make any salary cap-related moves to get this trade done, they may need to waive two players after the All-Star break if Scheifele and David Gustafsson are ready to return from their respective injuries. Both players are currently on injured reserve, but after acquiring Monahan, the Jets have a full 23-player roster with no room to activate them. The only waiver-exempt player on the Jets’ roster is Perfetti, who won’t be sent down.
Canadiens Eyeing First Round Pick For Monahan
- After a lost season to injury last year, Montreal Canadiens forward Sean Monahan has found himself back on the trade market for this year’s trade deadline. With most teams waiting to see what happens with the Flames’ Elias Lindholm, Pierre Lebrun indicates that once that domino does fall, and Montreal commits to trading Monahan, it is more than likely the Canadiens will be able to fetch a first-round pick for a few months of Monahan, especially if they are willing to retain salary.
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Canadiens Place Nicolas Beaudin On Unconditional Waivers For Mutual Contract Termination
The Canadiens placed defenseman Nicolas Beaudin on unconditional waivers with the intent to terminate his contract following a mutual agreement, the team announced Sunday.
Beaudin, 24, has not played a game for Montreal since they acquired him from the Blackhawks in an Oct. 2022 trade. He hasn’t scored in 16 games for AHL Laval this season, posting six assists and a +2 rating.
As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports, Beaudin’s limited minor-league action this season left him unhappy with his role. He was a healthy scratch in seven of 10 games since returning from his Spengler Cup appearance with Team Canada in December.
A Chicago first-round pick in 2018, Beaudin has shown flashes of potential at the AHL level but hasn’t done so with consistency. The speedy puck-mover hasn’t played an NHL game in over two years, last suiting up for the Blackhawks in a Jan. 2022 contest in which he skated only two shifts.
Things were looking up for Beaudin after a strong showing with Laval last season. He posted two goals and 25 points in 39 games, leading Laval defensemen in points per game while tacking on a team-high +17 rating. His momentum couldn’t carry over, however, and assuming he clears waivers tomorrow, he will be free to pursue opportunities with any other NHL team.
There is likely concern from NHL scouts regarding his size – at 5-foot-11 and 185 lbs, he can get overpowered when defending more physically imposing players. That’s been one of the top reasons why consistency has eluded Beaudin throughout his pro career so far, although there is still a fair amount of point-producing potential in his game thanks to his cerebral play and high skating and passing abilities.
Beaudin signed a one-year, two-way deal with a $775K cap hit last July after reaching restricted free agency. He was set to be a RFA again this summer with arbitration rights.
Brendan Gallagher Suspended For Five Games
Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher has been suspended for five games for an illegal check to the head of New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech. He will also forfeit $169,270.85 to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund, per terms outlined in the league’s collective bargaining agreement. Gallagher was given a match penalty for the hit, leaving the ice roughly 12 minutes before Montreal’s eventual win over New York.
Gallagher’s hit spread quickly around social media, where many were surprised to learn that the winger would only be having a phone hearing, limiting the largest suspension he could receive to just five games. He’s received said maximum punishment, marking the first time that Gallagher has been suspended across his 12-year NHL career. The only other disciplinary action that he’s faced was a $2,500 fine for a roughing penalty in November of the 2021-22 season.
Gallagher has had a productive career with the Canadiens, appearing in 723 career games and netting 411 points. His best year came during the 2017-18 season when the winger scored 31 goals and 54 points through 82 games. He followed it up with 33 goals and 52 points through 82 games the next year, marking the longest active streak of Gallagher’s career. Now 31, he’s lost the scoring kick that he once had – boasting just 16 points, split evenly, through 48 games this season. He still ranks fourth on Montreal in scoring, though the team is currently ranked 25th in the league in goals-for.
Jesse Ylonen will likely serve in a larger role with Gallagher out. The winger made his return to the lineup on Wednesday, after exiting the team’s Monday night game with an undisclosed injury. Ylonen has seven points in 36 games this year.
Alex Newhook Skates For First Time Since December Ankle Sprain
- Canadiens forward Alex Newhook skated Friday for the first time since sustaining a high-ankle sprain in early December, the team said. The 22-year-old is nearly eight weeks into his 10-to-12-week recovery timeline, so his return to the ice today means he should have enough time over the next month to gear up for a return. Acquired from the Avalanche last June via trade, the 2019 16th-overall pick was on pace for a career-high 47 points before the injury.