- Like many Montreal Canadiens, Joel Armia had a season to forget this past year. Armia, who had scored at a 22-goal pace as recently as 2019-20, scored only six goals in 60 games last season and finished with 14 points. Armia’s contract has made him a potential candidate to be traded this offseason, as the Canadiens would clear $3.4MM off their books if they move him. That contract and Armia’s performance was generally believed to be working against Montreal if they chose to shop him, but one thing that could be working in their favor is Armia’s performance at the recent IIHF World Championships. Armia scored five goals and added three assists in ten games and captured the gold medal as a member of Finland’s team. Armia looked rejuvenated after taking a personal leave at the end of the NHL season, and a league source told Jimmy Murphy of Montreal Hockey Now that Armia’s performance at the World Championships has gotten him noticed. That’s far from an indication that a trade is near, but it does indicate that the Canadiens could have an easier time finding a trading partner than they would have had a few months ago.
Canadiens Rumors
Former Canadiens Defenseman Larry Hillman Passes Away
After leaving Toronto, Hillman would bounce around for five seasons, spending time with the Minnesota North Stars, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, and Buffalo Sabres. Prior to the 1973-74 season, a 36-year-old Hillman would depart the NHL for the rival WHA, where he spent three seasons, the first two with the Cleveland Crusaders, and finally with the Winnipeg Jets, then of the WHA. All told, Hillman played 789 games in the NHL over 19 seasons, tallying 36 goals and 196 assists along with 565 penalty minutes. Hillman also had a brief coaching career, spending two seasons as the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, compiling a record of 78 wins, 55 losses and eight ties in two seasons behind the bench for the Jets, still of the WHA.
Injury Notes: Price, Point, Kuemper
After playing only five games this season, Carey Price is preparing to get back on the ice with the Montreal Canadiens, as he said today. However, his status is still unknown. The 34-year-old had a Platelet-Rich Plasma injection in his knee and is waiting for it to take hold before he gets back to training and preparing. The netminder said that “I wish I felt better about the situation, but I don’t.”
Price had knee surgery in the 2021 offseason and the injury got reaggravated this season after he returned from personal leave to participate in the NHLPA Player Assistance program. In April, he had a meeting with his surgeon in Manhattan and is now under treatment. Being without their number one goaltender for the next season is a reason for concern for the Montreal Canadiens. If he doesn’t recover in time, they will have to make a plan and go after a goaltender this offseason with Price on LTIR.
- Tampa Bay fans can celebrate, albeit hesitantly. Forward Brayden Point was doing drills in practice for the first time since his injury in Game 7 in Toronto, per TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. He participated for 55 minutes, doing drills with the taxi squad. While this is not an indicator that he could be back for Game 3, it’s still good news for the team. It can be a needed boost for the current Stanley Cup champions in the series against the Rangers if he’s able to get back.
- Colorado Hockey Now’s Adrian Dater reports that Darcy Kuemper’s injury doesn’t seem too serious, but that backup netminder Pavel Francouz will likely start Game 3 in any event. Francouz is coming off a 24-save shutout in Game 2 that sparked the Avs to a 2-0 series lead.
Carey Price Wins 2022 Masterton Trophy
Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price is the recipient of the 2022 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, given “to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey, ” as voted by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. Price beat out other finalists in New York Islanders defenseman Zdeno Chara and Philadelphia Flyers forward Kevin Hayes to win the award.
Price, after leading the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, faced incredible amounts of adversity throughout the 2021-22 campaign. The well-respected veteran netminder waived his no-movement clause and was subsequently left unprotected by the Canadiens in the 2021 Seattle Expansion Draft, kicking off an offseason of uncertainty. He then dealt with knee and hip injuries over the offseason but was expected to only miss six to eight weeks and be ready for the start of the season. Obviously, that wasn’t the case.
Then, as Price missed camp with those injuries and a non-COVID illness, he entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program just days before the start of the season. Price returned to the team a month later, but as he recovered from the issues that caused him to enter the program, he wasn’t close to returning to game action. He continued to suffer injury setbacks throughout the season before finally returning to NHL ice on April 15 against the New York Islanders. He got his only win of the season in the team’s last game of the year, a 10-2 drubbing of the Florida Panthers.
The hockey world hopes that Price can continue to work towards full health and continue his Hall of Fame-caliber career.
Poll: Who Should Montreal Draft At No. 1?
For quite a while, Shane Wright was held up as the undisputed first-overall pick for 2022. From the moment he received his exceptional status in the OHL in the spring of 2019, through his rookie season in the OHL, there was really no one considered his rival. The young center had dominated minor hockey, scoring hundreds of points in his final U16 season (playing above his age group), and immediately burst onto the major junior scene with 39 goals in 58 games for the Kingston Frontenacs.
Wright was made the youngest alternate captain in team history, and finished with an impressive 66 points in 58 games, despite starting the season as a 15-year-old. Unfortunately, he was not only robbed of the last few games of the OHL regular season by a worldwide pandemic, he also ended up missing an entire year of development in 2020-21, waiting for a league that never resumed play.
When the league came back in 2021-22, there still weren’t really any whispers about another player taking over the top spot. In September 2021, Bob McKenzie of TSN published his preseason rankings, writing that “it’s not even close” and all ten of the polled scouts had Wright at No. 1. In fact, McKenzie suggested that Wright was so far ahead of the field, he likely would have gone first overall in the 2021 draft, ahead of Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power.
But then the season began, and right away Wright’s lead started to shrink. After missing an entire year of hockey he–understandably–started rather slow, scoring just seven goals in his first 17 games, while registering just 19 points in the same stretch. That wasn’t the dominating two-way center that everyone had expected, it was arguably not even the best player on his own team.
Suddenly, it became a race. Players like Logan Cooley, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Matthew Savoie started to get more press as rising options, though they still weren’t expected to really challenge for the top spot. It was actually Ivan Miroshnichenko that grabbed one of the ten spots in McKenzie’s mid-season scouts poll. That scout specifically pointed at Wright’s “lack of dominance” and suggested the Russian forward had a “higher ceiling.”
Though Miroshnichenko has fallen out of the race–through no fault of his own–the same arguments are being made for Slafkovsky and Cooley, as potentially having a higher ceiling than Wright. The question is whether that is more a case of overexposure to an exceptional status player like Wright, who has been in the public eye for so long, or if his season really did bring up reason for concern.
In terms of not being “dominant,” some may argue that Wright found his game and became exactly the player that many expected, once he shook off the rust. After scoring 19 points in his first 17 regular season games, he would record 75 in his final 46, finishing the year eighth in league scoring. Every player ahead of him is either already drafted or substantially older than Wright. His goal scoring did decrease, as he wasn’t even able to match the 39 he scored as a rookie, but Kingston was also a much more well-rounded team this time around, with plenty of options to put the puck in the net.
Still, his main competition had great performances of their own. Slafkovsky especially has been suggested as the better pick, including by Corey Pronman of The Athletic, who recently listed him ahead of Wright as the best player available. The Slovakian winger has performed brilliantly at every challenge, including taking home MVP honors at the Olympics.
So who should Montreal select at the very top? Do they go with the player who everyone believed would be No. 1, or go with the late riser who has shown a consistent ability against higher level competition? What about the American center, who will be entering the college system that general manager Kent Hughes is so familiar with? Is there a chance they go with someone else entirely, believing that there is a higher upside on defense perhaps?
The Canadiens met with several of the top names at this week’s scouting combine, doing their due diligence when they can. Cast your vote below on who you think they should pick later this summer, and make sure to leave a comment to explain why!
Montreal Canadiens Officially Name Martin St. Louis Head Coach
The Montreal Canadiens have made it official, announcing Martin St. Louis as the 32nd head coach in franchise history. The interim tag has been lifted, and St. Louis has signed a three-year contract, keeping him behind the bench through the 2024-25 season. Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes released the following statement:
We are happy to officially appoint Martin as head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. Martin is a proven leader, a great communicator with a deep understanding of and passion for the game of hockey. His arrival brought a renewed energy to our group, and we look forward to him returning behind the bench to continue guiding our team for the foreseeable future.
St. Louis, 46, immediately impacted the Canadiens after taking over from Dominique Ducharme last season. The Hall of Fame player jumped behind the bench for the first time and guided the club to a 14-19-4 record down the stretch. While those numbers aren’t impressive in a vacuum, when compared to the 8-30-7 that Ducharme had recorded, St. Louis was obviously a vast improvement.
Perhaps most notable was the transformation of young sniper Cole Caufield. A player that has heard comparisons to St. Louis for years because of their shared stature, Caufield had just one goal in the entire season before the coaching change. Suddenly he found life under his new bench boss and managed 22 goals in 37 games under St. Louis, incredibly leading Montreal in goals despite his brutal start. If Caufield’s emergence was important, it certainly was a nice sign for St. Louis’ future with the club.
Just because he’d never coached at the NHL level before, doesn’t mean that St. Louis has no connections to talent at that level. Not only does he have a long history with Hughes and fellow executive Jeff Gorton, but other young players have also explained how familiar they are with the legendary player from his days coaching minor hockey. Even Shane Wright, the potential first-overall pick for Montreal at this year’s draft, told Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com yesterday that he had played against a team coached by St. Louis in the past.
As a player, St. Louis was rather unique. Undrafted, the 5’8″ forward from the University of Vermont started things off with the Calgary Flames but famously found himself on waivers early on. When he ended up with the Tampa Bay Lightning, things clicked and he would go on to become one of the most consistent offensive players in the league for the next decade. In total, he played in 1,134 regular season games and racked up 1,033 points, won the Stanley Cup, Olympic gold, and many individual awards. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019, a few years after retirement.
It may be a risk to hire a coach with such little experience behind the bench, but this is no ordinary coach. The Canadiens will hope that his unique hockey story continues with success in this next chapter.
St. Louis Contract To Be Settled In Coming Days
Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes met with the media today, as the team prepares for the draft combine and meetings with many of the top available prospects. When asked about head coach Martin St. Louis, Hughes explained to reporters including Eric Engels of Sportsnet that a contract should be settled in the coming days.
Joshua Roy Signs AHL ATO
After inking his entry-level contract a few months ago, Joshua Roy is going to get an early taste of professional hockey. Since that deal doesn’t kick in until the 2022-23 season, Roy is still eligible to sign an amateur tryout with the Laval Rocket and help them in their quest for the Calder Cup.
Roy, 18, was a fifth-round pick in the 2021 draft and something of an afterthought for many fans until he hit the ice with the Sherbrooke Phoenix this season. He led all QMJHL skaters with 119 points and carried that production right into the playoffs. As it currently stands, Roy leads the entire league in postseason scoring with 23 points in 11 games, though that still wasn’t enough to keep Sherbrooke in the hunt. They were defeated yesterday by the Charlottetown Islanders in the semi-finals, meaning Roy’s season has now ended.
Incredibly, the 2003-born winger will not be eligible for the AHL next season, despite his dominance of junior this year. He will turn 19 in August and have to return to the QMJHL for another season, assuming he fails to make the Montreal Canadiens roster out of camp.
This taste of pro hockey should be interesting, as if he gets into the lineup with Laval it will be like jumping onto a moving train. The Rocket are set to start the Eastern Conference Finals against the Springfield Thunderbirds on Saturday–a tough spot for an 18-year-old to make his debut. Whether he plays or not, it is certainly a nice reward for his outstanding season and will only help his overall development.
Montreal Canadiens To Meet With Shane Wright
- Before free agency can begin, there is another major event on the NHL’s calendar that will need to be completed: the entry draft. We previously covered how it’s not a guarantee that Kingston Frontenacs center Shane Wright will go first overall to the Montreal Canadiens, and there is now another development regarding that connection. Friedman reported yesterday that the Canadiens’ brass led by Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes will meet face-to-face with Wright at the NHL combine. Just as making the first overall selection comes with a lot of opportunity so comes a lot of responsibility, and the interactions between the Canadiens and Wright could go a long way towards making the team feel more comfortable in his projection if he does end up the number-one pick.
Shane Wright Not A Lock To Go First Overall To Montreal
As soon as the Montreal Canadiens emerged victorious from the 2022 NHL Draft Lottery, many were quick to crown center Shane Wright as the next Habs star – but is the first overall pick truly a foregone conclusion? Wright is the consensus top player in the draft, but is not quite the homerun prospect that leads some draft classes. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman and Max Bultman sat down with Montreal beat writers Arpon Basu and Marc Antoine Godin on The Athletic Hockey Show and the group did not reach the same consensus that Wright will absolutely be selected first overall. Of course, Wright is certainly the favorite; the Kingston Frontenacs captain does everything well and plays a mature, two-way, team-first game that is always attractive in a young player. Wright recorded 94 points in 63 games in the OHL this season even after not playing last season during the league’s closure. Wright’s development and ability are not in question and, though every team wants a franchise center, Montreal does have an immediate need of a top-six center and Wright could be ready to go. With all that being said, the group discussed that Wright did not exactly shatter scoring expectations this season and his inconsistent effort at times has drawn criticism. It begs the question that if Wright is not an elite offense talent and doesn’t possess an elite work ethic, is there more upside elsewhere on the board?
Another center option could be USNTDP standout Logan Cooley, and while he won’t play in the NHL next season as he heads to the University of Minnesota, there is also some belief that Wright could also return to junior next year due to his lost season in 2020-21. Cooley is also a two-way pivot with a well-rounded game and a minority of pundits feel he does have more offensive potential than Wright. The group also mentioned that a future top-pair defenseman is a need for the Canadiens and Simon Nemec or David Jiricek could meet that description. However, neither appears to be in the mix for first overall and the Habs are almost certainly not going to trade down from No. 1 in a draft hosted in Montreal. As such, the group lands on upstart winger Juraj Slafkovsky as the most likely alternative to Wright as the Canadiens’ top choice. Though wingers are largely considered to be less valuable than centers, Slafkovsky’s draft stock has skyrocketed this season to a point where it would not be as great a shock to see him surpass Wright. The big Slovakian forward is arguably the more dynamic offensive player and even more he has proven it at a number of levels this year. Slafkovsky recorded 10 points in 31 games plus seven points in 18 playoff games with TPS in the Liiga, Finland’s top pro league. He added 18 points in 11 games with their U-20 team. Yet it is internationally where he really shined; Slafkovsky was named MVP of the Olympic tournament with seven goals in seven games for Slovakia and then recorded nine points in eight games at the World Championship (where Habs GM Kent Hughes was reportedly scouting him.)
Hughes and company also present an interesting twist in the decision at No. 1. Hughes and Director of Hockey Operations Jeff Gorton are both new to Montreal, as are head coach Martin St. Louis and highly valued advisor Vincent Lecavalier. Not only are they playing catch-up on draft analysis, but they are also bringing new and potentially contrary viewpoints from the existing scouting and analytics staffs for the Canadiens. The group opined that the odds of all of these key decision makers being in agreement on the pick is unlikely, and if Wright is not the top option for Hughes or Gorton then that certainly opens up the conversation. It is worth noting that Hughes, Gorton, and St. Louis all have close ties to USA Hockey, which could be a boost for Cooley, while their scouting department is majority European, which could benefit Slafkovsky.
At the end of the day, Wright remains the heavy favorite to be selected first overall, as he has all season. However, it is not the guarantee that it is in some seasons or that many expected it to be this year – and it worth knowing that other options exist. With the 2022 NHL Draft being held in Montreal, the drama around the Canadiens’ top pick will be entertaining at the very least and the reaction should they take Slafkovsky or Cooley instead of Wright will be fascinating. Montreal is in difficult shape with an expensive, veteran lineup that did not produce this season and certainly cannot afford to miss on this pick.