- The Montreal Canadiens have been better than expected this season, as they were the NHL’s worst team last year but have hovered around the .500 mark so far in 2022-23. Despite that, the team is still anticipated to engage other teams as a seller in next year’s trade market, and one of the players reportedly garnering interest from other teams is defenseman Joel Edmundson. On TSN’s Insider Trading segment, LeBrun reported that the Edmonton Oilers had interest in adding Edmundson, a 2019 Stanley Cup champion who has taken an important leadership role on a young Canadiens team.
Canadiens Rumors
Montreal Canadiens Release Injury Updates
The Montreal Canadiens have updated several injury statuses, including one that fans of the team were dying to hear about. Cole Caufield will travel with the team and is available for tomorrow’s game against the Ottawa Senators. For David Savard and Sean Monahan, things aren’t so positive. Both players will be out for two to three weeks. Mike Matheson and Jonathan Drouin are listed as day-to-day, though the latter will travel with the team to Ottawa.
Caufield’s status is the most encouraging after he took a huge hit from Trevor Lewis last night that looked like it might keep him out for a while. The young forward is off to a brilliant start to the season with 16 goals and 25 points in 28 games. His continued development under head coach Martin St. Louis is one of the biggest successes of the year for Montreal, and one that will likely lead to a huge extension at some point for the diminutive sniper.
Monahan’s injury, though, is terrible for the team. Not only was he playing excellent hockey, rebounding from hip surgery nicely, but he had become one of Montreal’s top trade chips. The pending free agent could be an excellent addition for a contending team looking for center depth, but he’ll have to stay healthy. A weeks-long absence doesn’t take him off the board but will certainly cause some hesitation in teams that might have been focusing in on him as a target.
Savard is back to playing big minutes for the club this season but still doesn’t have strong results. The 32-year-old is signed through 2024-25 and has eight points through 24 games this year. While he isn’t driving play for the Canadiens, the team doesn’t have the deepest group to choose from and will be icing quite a few young defensemen in his absence.
Injury Notes: Caufield, Stützle, Tanev
After exiting tonight’s game early in the second period with an upper-body injury, Montreal Canadiens star sniper Cole Caufield will not return, according to the team. He was hit hard in front of the Canadiens’ net by Flames forward Trevor Lewis and reached for his head after the collision.
Caufield and Nick Suzuki’s chemistry have been instrumental in helping the Habs hover around the .500 mark this far into the regular season. Caufield’s 16 goals lead the team, and his 25 points in 27 games are second behind Suzuki’s 29. Any long-term absence from their top goal-scorer will be extremely difficult to overcome.
- Another Canadian team also lost an important young forward tonight. Ottawa Senators center Tim Stützle left their game against the Anaheim Ducks and did not return after sustaining an upper-body injury in the first frame, per the team. He was checked by Ducks forward Brett Leason, who was given an interference penalty on the play. Stützle’s 27 points are second on the team, and they’re already without their other top center in Josh Norris.
- For Calgary, they lost defenseman Chris Tanev after taking a puck to the face. The veteran stayed down on the ice after the impact but didn’t require a stretcher and was helped off the ice by teammates. If Tanev is to miss time, Calgary will need to recall another defenseman with MacKenzie Weegar battling an illness.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Montreal Canadiens
Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2022-23 season and beyond. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Montreal Canadiens
Current Cap Hit: $93,451,094 (over the $82.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Cole Caufield (one year, $880.8K)
D Kaiden Guhle (three years, $863K)
D Jordan Harris (one year, $842.5K)
F Juraj Slafkovsky (three years, $950K)
D Arber Xhekaj (two years, $828.3K)
Potential Bonuses
Caufield: $850K
Guhle: $420K
Harris: $507.5K
Slafkovsky: $3.5MM
Total: $5.2775MM
Slafkovsky has the richest entry-level deal in league history as the ceilings got a small boost this season (and will go up again in 2024 and 2026). The first-overall pick has had a limited role so far as they ease him with a decision on whether or not to run him past the 40-game mark and accrue a season of service time still to come. If he can become the impact power forward they hope he can be in the next couple of seasons, he’s a strong candidate to bypass the bridge deal. With the limited usage, he’s unlikely to achieve any of his bonuses at this point.
Caufield’s next contract is shaping up to be an intriguing one already. He recently reached 100 career NHL regular season appearances but has been one of the top goal-scorers in the league dating back to midway through last season. If Montreal wants to sign him to a max-term agreement (which they likely do at this point), they’ll have to make him the highest-paid forward on the team (and in franchise history) while a bridge contract could run in the range of Jason Robertson’s $7.75MM with Dallas. Notably, he still is five years away from UFA eligibility so a four-year bridge deal (like Robertson’s) is a legitimate option for both sides to consider. He’s on pace to reach all his ‘A’ bonuses.
Guhle hasn’t been eased into things in his rookie season, logging more than 20 minutes a night, often on the top pairing. If he stays in that role, he’s likely to hit his two ‘A’ bonuses this season and if he continues there for the next couple of years, he’s someone GM Kent Hughes will likely want to try to lock up long term. Harris, meanwhile, already is in line for a new deal after burning his first season down the stretch last year. He’s likely heading for a bridge contract with an AAV likely checking in a bit below the $1.5MM range while he’s on pace to hit his two ‘A’ bonuses and most of his ‘B’ ones for games played. Xhekaj has gone from being an undrafted free agent signing a year ago to a regular in Montreal’s lineup on the third pairing. Having burned the first year while playing in junior last season, he’ll be hard-pressed to command a long-term second deal and is likely heading for a bridge contract himself, potentially a little above the $1.5MM mark if he remains a fixture on the third pair.
Signed Through 2022-23, Non-Entry-Level
F Paul Byron ($3.4MM, UFA)
F Evgenii Dadonov ($5MM, UFA)
F Jonathan Drouin ($5.5MM, UFA)
F Sean Monahan ($6.375MM, UFA)
F Michael Pezzetta ($750K, RFA)
Calgary had to pay a high price tag (a first-round pick in either 2024, 2025, or 2026) to dump the final year of Monahan’s deal, allowing them to sign Nazem Kadri in the process. He has recovered well from the hip issues that plagued him over the last couple of years and is at his highest point-per-game pace since 2018-19. As a capable defensive forward that can kill penalties and do well at the faceoff dot, it’s certainly not impossible to think that he could get some interest as a second-line center on the open market this summer. If that happens, there’s a good chance that Monahan could land a contract similar to this one, a scenario that not many would have thought possible at this time a year ago.
Drouin hasn’t panned out as expected when Montreal sent Mikhail Sergachev (plus a conditional second-round pick that didn’t materialize) to Tampa Bay to secure him. He has the skills to play in the top six but hasn’t been able to produce with consistency or stay in the lineup with any consistency. He’s a prime candidate for a one-year pillow value elsewhere next season to try to rebuild some value in a new situation. Dadonov was picked up from Vegas in exchange for Shea Weber’s LTIR contract with the Canadiens likely hoping that they could flip him with retention at the trade deadline. Instead, he’s off to the worst start of his career offensively. His next deal could be closer to the $2MM mark if not a bit lower and at that point, it’s possible that he could look to return to the KHL if a significant offer materializes there.
Byron’s availability to play this season is in question as he continues to battle hip trouble. If he’s able to play next year, Byron would be eligible for a one-year deal with incentives due to his injuries (even though he’s not 35); such a contract would likely have a base salary closer to $1MM before bonuses. Pezzetta is on his first career one-way contract and has had a limited role so far. Assuming that continues, even with arbitration rights, it’s unlikely he’d be able to land more than $1MM for next season.
Signed Through 2023-24
D Joel Edmundson ($3.5MM, UFA)
F Mike Hoffman ($4.5MM, UFA)
G Samuel Montembeault ($1MM, UFA)
F Rem Pitlick ($1.1MM, UFA)
D Chris Wideman ($762.5K, UFA)
Hoffman was expected to help Montreal’s power play but that hasn’t been the case over his first year and a bit with the team to the point where he was scratched earlier this season. He’ll need to produce with much more consistency in the back half of this deal to have a shot at matching this price tag in 2024. Pitlick played well after coming to the Canadiens on waivers last season, earning this two-year deal, his first one-way pact. However, some early struggles landed him on the waiver wire again this season where he passed through unclaimed. Barring a change in his production, he’ll be in tough to match let alone beat this contract two summers from now.
Edmundson has battled injury trouble this season and last but when he has been in the lineup, he has been a dependable second-pairing option that can kill penalties and play physically. There’s a ceiling for those types of players in terms of their earnings upside but a small raise closer to the $4MM mark on a multi-year agreement could be doable if he’s able to stay healthy as he’ll hit the market at 31. Wideman is on a minimum deal for the second straight season and has a very limited role. In his second stint in the NHL, he’s more of a depth player so it’s likely that his next deal will also be close to the minimum salary.
Montembeault’s first full NHL season was a rocky one with Montreal struggling mightily last season. That allowed the team to give him a low-cost two-year commitment that could be fully buried in the minors. However, he’s off to a much better start this season and is starting to push for a little more playing time. He’s making well below the league average for a backup and a decent showing the rest of the way this season and next could push him closer to the $1.75MM range at least. Otherwise, he might be looking at something closer to this deal, a lower-cost one-way pact on a cap-strapped team.
Signed Through 2024-25
G Jake Allen ($2.875MM in 2022-23, $3.85MM in 2023-24/2024-25, UFA)
F Joel Armia ($3.4MM, UFA)
F Christian Dvorak ($4.45MM, UFA)
F Jake Evans ($1.7MM, UFA)
D Johnathan Kovacevic ($766.7K, UFA)
D David Savard ($3.5MM, UFA)
Dvorak was acquired to replace Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the 2021 offseason with the hopes that he could become a legitimate second-line center. That hasn’t happened yet. Instead, he appears to be heading for another season around the 30-point mark. His defensive game and faceoff ability give him some extra value but if this type of production is indeed his ceiling, he’s going to be in tough to get more than this on the open market. A similar contract is possible but even in a pricier cap environment, it’s hard to see him pushing for $5MM.
Armia’s strong showing in Montreal’s improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final strengthened his market to the point where he was able to land this commitment. Since then, he has 16 points in 76 games. Armia can kill penalties but he’s more of a fourth liner that should have a price tag closer to half of his current one. Evans had a strong year last season with 28 even-strength points in a bottom-six role but his playing time has been more limited this year. If he can get back to pushing for 30 points in that lower spot on the depth chart, he could generate enough interest to push his AAV past the $2MM mark in 2025.
Savard is playing a much bigger role than he was used to at the end of his time with Columbus (and a brief stint in Tampa Bay) as he sits second on the team in ATOI. Right now, they’re getting some value for their buck but he’ll turn 35 early on his next deal and at that point, Savard will likely be best suited for a third-pairing role. That should push his price tag down a little bit. Kovacevic was claimed off waivers late in training camp and has played in most of Montreal’s games since then. It’s still a bit early to forecast what’s next as he’s a late-bloomer rookie but if he plays more often than not on this deal, he could have a shot at doubling his AAV on the open market. If Kovacevic turns into a full-time regular, the cost will only go up.
Allen has had some ups and downs since effectively taking over as the starter last season, a role he struggled with when he had it in St. Louis. Even with the inconsistency, what he’s making now is well below market value for a starter and on his next contract, as long as he can hold down a regular spot in the platoon, Montreal should get a reasonable return on it as well.
Mike Matheson Day-To-Day With Lower-Body Injury
- After he didn’t play last night against the Los Angeles Kings, the Montreal Canadiens confirmed that defenseman Mike Matheson is in-fact injured, dealing with a lower-body injury. Fortunately, this doesn’t seem to be as bad as the abdominal injury that kept him out the first 17 games of the season., the team announcing the injury as day-to-day. The veteran has only played in nine games so far this season while dealing with injury, but does have an impressive six points in that span. Matheson is in his first season with Montreal after coming back the other way from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Jeff Petry trade.
Canadiens Notes: Hoffman, Matheson, Gallagher, Monahan
The Canadiens got both some good news and bad news on the injury front today. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Mike Hoffman will be activated off injured reserve and suit up tonight against Los Angeles. The veteran has five goals and three assists through his first 16 games of the season and will at least give Montreal 12 healthy forwards to use after finishing up their road trip with only 11 healthy ones.
Meanwhile, defenseman Mike Matheson will be unavailable tonight due to an undisclosed injury. He left practice early on Friday and while he took part in the morning skate, he obviously isn’t healthy enough to play. The 28-year-old has six points in his first nine games with Montreal while logging a team-high 24:25 per night on the back end.
More from Montreal:
- To make roster room for Hoffman’s activation, the Canadiens moved winger Brendan Gallagher to injured reserve. The veteran has missed the last four games due to a lower-body injury and is expected to miss at least a few more days before being cleared to return. Montreal was eligible to back-date the placement and if they did so, Gallagher could be activated at any time.
- Center Sean Monahan is still sporting a walking boot, notes Marc-Antoine Godin of The Athletic (Twitter link). He was able to play through his foot injury for a few games but left Monday’s game early and hasn’t skated since then. There’s no timetable for his return. Monahan figures to be one of the more prominent middlemen available at the trade deadline after putting up 17 points in his first 25 games so it’s likely that Montreal will play things safe with the injury and not rush him back.
Simon Nemec To Play In World Junior Championship
The Canadian team got a pair of reinforcements this week when Brandt Clarke and Shane Wright were loaned away from their NHL organizations, and it appears as though the Slovakian team will get a similar boost. Miroslav Satan, who is now the president of the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation, confirms that the New Jersey Devils will be loaning Simon Nemec to play at the tournament.
Nemec will be joined by Montreal Canadiens first-round pick Filip Mesar, who is currently playing with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL. Satan did not mention Juraj Slafkovsky, likely meaning that the first-overall pick will remain with the Canadiens instead of playing the junior tournament.
The 18-year-old Nemec was the second-overall pick this summer, giving Slovakia a sweep of the top two spots. That was a historic moment for the country’s hockey program, just as the bronze medal at the 2022 Olympics proved to be.
At the World Juniors, Slovakia has never placed higher than third. They took home a bronze in 2009, thanks to an incredible tournament from Tomas Tatar, and in 1999, thanks to Marian Gaborik and Ladislav Nagy (in 1993, just after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the two nations competed together and finished in third place).
With Nemec, Mesar, and other impressive youngsters in place (including 17-year-old Dalibor Dvorsky, a top prospect for the 2023 draft), Slovakia will try to reach the gold medal game for the first time.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Montreal Canadiens
With American Thanksgiving now behind us and the holiday season coming up, PHR continues its look at what teams are thankful for in 2022-23. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Montreal Canadiens.
Who are the Canadiens thankful for?
Kent Hughes.
It hasn’t even been a year since the Canadiens installed Hughes as general manager but his impact is already found throughout the organization. He has completed 14 trades in the months since arriving, adding nearly a dozen high-end future assets including Kirby Dach, Justin Barron, and multiple first- and second-round picks without taking much value out of the organization.
Yes, fans have had to say goodbye to Artturi Lehkonen, Jeff Petry, Ben Chiarot, and Tyler Toffoli, but none of those players were expected to be around the next time the Canadiens were competitive. Alexander Romanov could have been part of the rebuild but Hughes saw an opportunity and jumped at it, cashing in an asset to get a player in Dach that he more highly coveted.
Perhaps his most important move, however, was having the guts (and relationship) to hire Martin St. Louis to run the bench, despite no formal coaching experience. The home run cut appears to have worked, as St. Louis’ impact has been felt throughout the roster – nowhere more significantly than with Cole Caufield. Last season, the young sniper didn’t score his second goal until February 10, after a stint in the minor leagues. He would score 22 times in 37 games down the stretch under the new coaching staff, and has continued that production this season. Caufield now has 37 goals in 63 games under St. Louis and has become the core piece that Montreal fans knew he could be.
What are the Canadiens thankful for?
Nazem Kadri’s long free agent process.
There is one trade that looks like a complete gold mine for the Canadiens, and had Kadri – one of the league’s top free agents last summer – not taken so long to make a decision, who knows if Hughes would have come out so far ahead. By the time the Calgary Flames signed the free agent center to a seven-year, $49MM contract, it was already August 18, and training camp was right around the corner. Calgary didn’t have a ton of time to sort out its financial situation and clear cap off the books. Right away, they made the move to flip Sean Monahan to the Canadiens along with a first-round pick for nothing in return.
Now, after returning from another hip surgery earlier this year, Monahan looks rejuvenated and is playing big minutes for the Canadiens. If the team wants to, they shouldn’t have any trouble flipping the 28-year-old at the deadline, perhaps even for an extra first-round pick, given his strong performance so far.
Had Kadri not signed with Calgary, or had it not taken more than six weeks from the start of free agency, the Flames might not have been in such a rush to dump Monahan’s contract. Taking advantage of that timing worked out perfectly for Montreal, who gained a high pick and a top-six center to ice for the first part of this season, if not longer. They do have the option of extending his expiring contract, though the future assets that are possible with a deadline deal might seem too good to pass up.
What would the Canadiens be even more thankful for?
The return of Brendan Gallagher.
There are some players in the NHL that get by for years without suffering serious injuries, and play well into their thirties without much of a decline. Gallagher is not one of those players. The in-your-face, bang-and-crash, do-anything-required forward has long been the engine of the Montreal forward group, flying around the ice and creating havoc in the opponent’s end. For a time, he was also one of the most effective players in the league below the hash marks, despite being just 5’9″. He scored 64 goals over a two-year stretch from 2017-19, 51 of them coming at even strength.
But after years of abuse, his game has declined. Gallagher has just eight points in 22 games and is seeing fewer minutes than he has since finishing second in Calder Trophy voting in 2013. While the Canadiens aren’t desperate for his production as they move through this rebuild, the problem lies in his contract. Gallagher is signed at a $6.5MM cap hit through 2026-27, a deal that will be extremely difficult to move if the team needs additional space. Remember, this isn’t a complete teardown – the Canadiens already have some of the pieces in place for their next competitive team. Four more years of Gallagher being paid like a top-end forward is one of the only difficult contracts on the books.
There is still hope, at least, that the 30-year-old can rebound at some point. But there are a lot of miles on that body from the playstyle Gallagher has embraced and injuries just keep piling up.
What should be on the Canadiens’ holiday wishlist?
Another young, NHL-ready forward.
Grabbing first-round picks is great, but the Canadiens already have so many draft picks that they should shift their trade focus to players closer to contributing. Dach was a move in that direction, and there will be more opportunities to grab players in the same age range. As they start shedding expiring veteran contracts like Monahan, Mike Hoffman, Evgenii Dadonov, Jonathan Drouin, and even potentially Joel Armia, there will be spots and ice time to hand out.
Adding another dynamic piece to build around should be the goal now, instead of just collecting lottery tickets for the future. If one becomes available, Hughes has proven he won’t hesitate to pull the trigger, even if it costs another future asset in the process.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Injury Notes: Canadiens, Blues, Brodin
The Montreal Canadiens will be without defenseman David Savard and forward Sean Monahan when they take on the Seattle Kraken tonight. Per the team, Savard is dealing with an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. At the same time, Monahan has a lower-body injury and will be reevaluated when the team returns to Montreal after their road trip concludes tonight.
Savard is second among Canadiens defensemen this season in points (eight) and average time on ice (22:17). While his defensive play hasn’t been what it was during the end of his time in Columbus, he’s a vital minute-muncher on a youthful Montreal defense. His usage is the highest it’s been in more than five years, so it’ll be testing for the Habs rookies to see if they can handle some increased minutes in his absence. Monahan is also in the middle of a well-documented resurgence, sitting in fourth place on the Habs with 17 points in 25 games this year. He’s also been great in the faceoff circle, winning over 55% of his draws and leading the team in total faceoff wins (177).
- While the St. Louis Blues are on their way to a convincing road win on Long Island, they did it without a pair of key players in winger Pavel Buchnevich and defenseman Torey Krug. Buchenvich was out with a lower-body injury, while Krug missed the game with an upper-body injury. Head coach Craig Berube noted pre-game that both players need further evaluations before “knowing whether the injuries would be more short-term or long-term.”
- Minnesota Wild head coach Dean Evason said today that although defenseman Jonas Brodin won’t make his return to the lineup tomorrow, the Swede looked “great” today and is close to returning. Brodin, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, has missed a combined five games this year with this injury and an earlier illness. While known for his defensive prowess, he’s still in the middle of a down year offensively, with just four assists in 19 games.
Brendan Gallagher Out Two Weeks
- The Montreal Canadiens will be without Brendan Gallagher for the next two weeks, ruling him out with a lower-body injury. He’s going to be joined on the sideline by David Savard, who is listed as day-to-day but continues to be evaluated. While in years past Gallagher’s absence would be a devastating blow to the Canadiens’ forward group, the proverbial torch has been passed this season, with the 30-year-old playing the fewest minutes of his career and subsequently producing at a pedestrian pace. Gallagher has just three goals and eight points in 22 games so far.