- The Canadiens are expected to hire Adam Nicholas in a player development role, reports Sportsnet’s Eric Engels. Nicholas has worked as a skills consultant with Toronto since 2019 and is the founder of a player development company called Stride Envy.
Canadiens Rumors
Montreal Canadiens Issue Several Injury Updates
The Montreal Canadiens are on fire. The team has won four in a row under new head coach Martin St. Louis, with Cole Caufield looking reborn. The team is still dead last in the Eastern Conference, but they’ve now passed the Arizona Coyotes and are at least showing some fight for the future. With that in mind, the team has issued several updates on their injured players, starting with Carey Price.
Price is “doing better” in his off-ice rehab, but he’s still not ready to return to the ice just yet. The 34-year-old goaltender has been out all year for various reasons and may end up missing the entire year. The Canadiens aren’t rushing anything in their franchise goaltender’s rehabilitation, knowing that there’s not really any benefit in getting him back into games this season.
Corey Schueneman has been cleared from the COVID protocol and returned to practice today. He was joined by several other teammates that have been dealing with injuries. Joel Armia was at practice, is listed as day-to-day, but won’t play on Saturday night. Mathieu Perreault was a full participant in practice and is also listed as day-to-day. Josh Anderson meanwhile has been cleared to play tomorrow against Ottawa.
The two big ones are Joel Edmundson and Jake Allen, who have been out for quite some time–or in the former’s case, the entire season. Edmundson was on the ice for the first time with teammates, and will travel with the group to Ottawa. He won’t play, but it’s great to see Edmundson back on the ice at all after the nightmare season he has gone through. Allen was also on the ice and is “progressing” though there is no clear timeline on his return. Nor for Paul Byron, who is dealing with an upper-body injury and has no timeline for a return.
Canadiens Could Be Aggressive On UFA Market This Summer
- While most rebuilding teams don’t typically set their sights on pricey, high-end unrestricted free agents, Pierre LeBrun reported in the latest TSN Insider Trading segment (video link) that the Canadiens intend to be aggressive in free agency with the hopes of landing a significant player or two on the open market. Montreal is currently projected to be fairly tight to the cap for next season already so if that is their plan, they will need to move some players out that are signed beyond next season as they look to add more draft picks in prospects prior to the trade deadline.
Montreal Canadiens Promote John Sedgwick
When new leadership takes over a front office, quite often the staff that has been there for years quickly find themselves looking for new employment. In Montreal, where there is not only a new general manager but a new executive vice president of hockey operations, it would be easy to see the entire front office cleaned out.
Not so for John Sedgwick, who has been with the Canadiens since 2013. Sedgwick was promoted to assistant general manager today, from his previous position as vice president of hockey operations and legal affairs. His duties for Montreal include player contract negotiation and daily management of the salary cap.
In today’s salary cap-driven league, having an expert in that field is incredibly important. Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes obviously agree, and have decided to keep Sedgwick on after a number of other high-level Canadiens staffers were let go or resigned earlier this season.
A few days ago, Eric Engels of Sportsnet wrote how Gorton is tasked with more than just fixing the Canadiens roster, but modernizing the entire organization. The executive told Sportsnet that there was a “bit of an old-school feel” to the Canadiens, something that he is looking to change. Among those changes has been the additions of Vincent Lecavalier and Nick Bobrov to the front office in various capacities, and now includes the promotion of Sedgwick as well.
East Notes: Chiarot, Lyubushkin, Poulin
There’s a gigantic Saturday night rumors dump, courtesy of Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on Sportsnet’s Hockey Night in Canada. It starts with maybe the most-discussed name on the trade bait list in recent days in Montreal Canadiens defender Ben Chiarot. Talks are reportedly heating up, with Friedman singling the St. Louis Blues on the program as a team interested in Chiarot’s services. It’s entirely likely that Chiarot is another name gone before the deadline, as the Habs certainly don’t seem to be afraid to get out ahead of the action. Chiarot would give the Blues three options with considerable NHL experience at left defense, as Niko Mikkola, Jake Walman, and the injured Scott Perunovich have competed for ice time there this season as well. But none of them have the games played and playoff experience at the NHL level that Chiarot has.
More notes from the Eastern Conference today:
- The Arizona Coyotes are holding Ilya Lyubushkin out of the lineup as a healthy scratch, and Friedman names the Toronto Maple Leafs as one of the top teams interested in the Russian defender’s services. With Nick Ritchie falling out of favor in Toronto, and Arizona’s willingness to take on buried contracts, the fit seems logical as Friedman suggests. Lyubushkin would be a spectacular depth add for Toronto’s right side defensively, who, aside from T.J. Brodie, has faced inconsistency this season.
- Jeff Marek reports that prior to the commencement of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Montreal Canadiens reached out to the representatives of Canadian women’s forward Marie-Philip Poulin about what her career plans were after the games, suggesting Montreal had an interest in having Poulin within the organization. While no official job offer was ever made, all indications point to Poulin wanting to continue her on-ice career. The 30-year-old forward still has multiple opportunities to represent Canada on the international stage.
Trade Candidate: Ben Chiarot
With the trade deadline just over a month away, it’s time to look at some of the players who have a good chance of being on the move between now and March 21st.
A few years ago, Ben Chiarot was playing a limited role on Winnipeg’s back end and the three-year, $10.5MM contract he signed with Montreal back in 2019 raised some eyebrows for being what appeared to be a pretty generous payment. However, the 30-year-old has become a fixture in the top four for the Canadiens and after a strong showing in the playoffs last year, Montreal has set a high price tag for the pending UFA with several teams already expressing interest.
Contract
Chiarot is in the final season of his deal that carries a $3.5MM AAV. The contract also contains a 10-team no-trade clause.
2021-22
As has been the case for pretty much everyone in Montreal this season, things have not gone well for Chiarot. His primary partner from last season was Shea Weber who hasn’t played at all this year and likely won’t again. Former GM Marc Bergevin tried to recreate a similar pairing by adding David Savard but that duo didn’t work well when they were together while Jeff Petry – who has been moved into the number one role – has also struggled.
The end result is that Chiarot has struggled considerably. He has been asked to play a bigger role than he should be, including taking a regular turn on the power play for extended stretches. His offensive numbers are close to his recent output but he hasn’t fared well being the focal part of their defensive plan and the advanced stats aren’t any better when it comes to scoring chances and shots allowed.
That makes his case a particularly interesting one. How much stock will teams be willing to put into his performance over his first two seasons with Montreal and their playoff runs (spanning 32 games) compared to his level of play this season? The player he was during the first two years is worth a lot more than the player he has been in 2021-22.
Season Stats
44 GP, 5 goals, 4 assists, 9 points, -27 rating, 36 PIMS, 82 shots, 23:17 TOI, 45.8 CF%
Potential Suitors
No playoff-bound team will be looking at Chiarot to play the role he has been with Montreal. As a fourth option that can kill penalties though, he’d represent an upgrade for several teams while deepening their depth.
In the East, the Panthers, Hurricanes, Rangers, Maple Leafs, and Bruins have all been linked to Chiarot already. Carolina’s top four on the back end is set and someone like Chiarot would really improve their depth and take off some pressure from that top group. Even with 50% retention though, making the money work would be tight. The left side of Florida’s back end is their weaker side and for now, they have close to enough cap room to bring him in through LTIR although it should be noted that Markus Nutivaara hasn’t been ruled out for the season yet.
The Rangers have more than enough cap space and Jeff Gorton and former European scouting director Nick Bobrov now with Montreal, they’re going to be speculatively linked to the Canadiens on multiple trade fronts. Toronto has made it known they’d like to add to their back end although GM Kyle Dubas’ stated preference is to add someone signed beyond this season. If they were to send one of Travis Dermott or Justin Holl back to Montreal in a deal that also featured 50% retention on Chiarot, the move could be close to cap-neutral as well. Boston and Montreal don’t trade with each other very often and they’re more of a curious fit as Matt Grzelcyk, Derek Forbort, and Mike Reilly already comprise their left side. While Chiarot can play on the right, only the third pairing needs to be shored up there so he may not be the best target for them.
Out West, the Blues, Kings, and Flames have been identified as known suitors. St. Louis has a definite need to upgrade the left side of their back end and Chiarot fits the style that head coach Craig Berube would like but they’re basically in a spot where they have to match money which would make things more challenging as they ideally wouldn’t want to subtract from their roster. Los Angeles continues to hang around the playoff mix and certainly have a hole to try to fill on the left side of their back end. While it’s possible that Alexander Edler could return this year which would complicate things from a cap perspective, the Kings could ask to include Olli Maatta’s expiring contract which is almost the same price tag as Chiarot’s to offset that risk.
Calgary was involved in talks for Chiarot as part of the Tyler Toffoli trade earlier this week. While such a move would be harder now from a cap perspective, they also have a salary offset in Nikita Zadorov’s expiring deal that could help on that front. While Nashville hasn’t been directly linked to Chiarot, they’re a team that he would fit on but the question is how much they will be willing to spend on a rental player in a season that had been deemed as a bit of a reset coming into the year.
Likelihood Of A Trade
GM Kent Hughes met with the media earlier this week and all but guaranteed that Chiarot will be on the move as soon as someone is willing to meet the asking price. Reports have suggested that the Canadiens are looking at what Columbus got for Savard last season (a first-round pick along with a third-rounder) as the benchmark for a move and they are willing to retain the maximum 50% for it to happen. Barring another injury, it’d be very surprising to see the veteran in a Montreal uniform after the deadline.
Canadiens Place Corey Schueneman In COVID Protocol
Most of the Canadiens went through COVID protocol in late December when the team was at one point down more than 20 players. However, a handful of them didn’t contract the virus at that time and one of the ones who didn’t – defenseman Corey Schueneman, has been placed in COVID protocol, per a team announcement (Twitter link).
The 26-year-old was recently recalled to Montreal to take the place of injured defenseman Ben Chiarot and played a career-high 21:24 in Thursday’s victory over St. Louis while being one of two defenders to see time in overtime. Schueneman was likely set to be the one going back down to the minors with Chiarot expected to return on Sunday and this placement will create the roster spot needed to bring the veteran off injured reserve.
Worth noting is that just before being recalled to the Canadiens, Montreal’s AHL affiliate in Laval had a COVID outbreak of their own that has resulted in seven players being added to protocol. Schueneman will have to miss at least the next five days as a result of the placement, one that could be longer if he’s symptomatic.
Armia Listed As Day-To-Day, Chiarot Could Return Sunday
- The Canadiens are expected to have defenseman Ben Chiarot back in the lineup tomorrow, notes TSN’s John Lu (Twitter link). The blueliner was injured last weekend against Columbus and while it was a minor injury, they needed to move him to IR to free up a roster spot to bring up a replacement for him. Chiarot is widely expected to be traded by the deadline but it appears Montreal isn’t ready to hold him out of action as a precautionary measure just yet.
- Still with Montreal, the Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that Joel Armia is listed as day-to-day and will not play tomorrow afternoon. He took a skate blade to the face late in Thursday’s victory over St. Louis. It has been a tough season for the 28-year-old as he has scored just twice in 37 games in the first season of a new four-year, $13.6MM contract.
Montreal Canadiens Hire Vincent Lecavalier
After a few weeks of “will they, won’t they” reporting, the Montreal Canadiens have officially announced Vincent Lecavalier as a special advisor to hockey operations. Perhaps more importantly, the team has also announced that Nick Bobrov has been hired as co-director of amateur scouting, where he will work alongside Martin Lapointe.
Lecavalier obviously is the big name, and one that has been linked to the Canadiens for a very, very long time. The big center was a legendary junior hockey player in the QMJHL, starring with the Rimouski Oceanic for two years before going first overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. A long, successful career followed that included 1,212 regular season games, 949 regular season points, and a Stanley Cup championship alongside new Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis in 2004. Throughout his playing career, Lecavalier was represented by Kent Hughes, now GM of the Canadiens, and rumored to be on the move to Montreal seemingly every summer.
He never did suit up for the Canadiens as a player, instead seeing time with the Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, and Los Angeles Kings, but Montreal will finally get their man. He’ll join a front office that looks wildly different than just a few months ago.
One of those important changes will be Bobrov, who is joining his former boss in Jeff Gorton. The scout worked as the director of European scouting for several years under Gorton in New York and was also with him during his years with the Boston Bruins. The Canadiens are about to go through a franchise-altering draft, with 12 picks in their pocket already and more to come before next month’s trade deadline. Hosting the draft in Montreal, they have a chance to really pump the prospect pool full of talent in one quick sweep.
Morning Notes: Rangers, Memorial Cup, Cozens
Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes was clear today that he’s open for business and just before he spoke to the media, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweeted out an interesting thought. LeBrun connected the Canadiens with the New York Rangers, suggesting that Montreal “covets” some Rangers prospects and would rather add those than more draft picks.
It’s easy to understand why the Montreal front office could be interested in some of New York’s prospects, given Jeff Gorton was the one who drafted or acquired most of them, before being dismissed a little under a year ago. The Canadiens are also in discussions with former Rangers director of European scouting Nick Bobrov, according to Eric Engels of Sportsnet, who would also have familiarity with many of the team’s young players.
- The Memorial Cup has new dates after disruptions to the league schedules forced it to be pushed back. The event, which pits the OHL, WHL, and QMJHL champions and a host team against each other, will be held between June 20-29 this year. The Saint John Seadogs will be the host, and will open things up with a game against the OHL champion on the first day. Notably, this will likely be the last big scouting event before the 2022 NHL Draft, which is scheduled for July 7 in Montreal.
- Dylan Cozens has escaped a suspension but owes the league $2,235.42 for his cross-check on Brock Nelson last night. The young Buffalo Sabres forward will now have a fine on his supplementary discipline record, meaning any future incidents will be looked at with even more scrutiny. Cozens followed Nelson up the ice to deliver the cross-check from behind after it appeared as though the Islanders’ player got his stick between Cozens’ legs and earned a two-minute minor on the play.