New Montreal GM Has Strong Ties To Jordan Harris
- One of the most interesting things on Kent Hughes‘ to-do list as he takes over as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens is trying to sign Jordan Harris, a top collegiate player, captain of Northeastern, and third-round pick that could become an unrestricted free agent later this year. As Marc Antoine Godin of The Athletic points out though, Hughes seemingly has a few advantages–or at least some familiarity–in that negotiation. Hughes coached Harris for a time with the Boston Jr. Eagles several years ago, and two of the young defenseman’s college teammates at Northeastern happen to be related to the Montreal GM. Riley Hughes, a seventh-round pick of the New York Rangers (when they were run by Canadiens VP of hockey operations Jeff Gorton, no less) is an alternate captain at Northeastern, while Jack Hughes is a freshman with the potential to be a first-round pick this spring. With the Canadiens already tweeting out highlights of Harris, you can bet they’ll put on the full-court press to get him signed in the coming months.
Alex Belzile, Cam Dineen Clear Waivers
Jan 18: Both Belzile and Dineen have cleared waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, and can be assigned to the minor leagues.
Jan 17: The Montreal Canadiens are getting some reinforcements in the coming days, meaning some players must be moved off the roster. Today it’s Alex Belzile who has been placed on waivers, according to Eric Engels of Sportsnet. He’s not alone though, as Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports that Cam Dineen of the Arizona Coyotes has also been placed on waivers today.
In Montreal, Josh Anderson will be back in the lineup today, Tyler Toffoli is expected back this week and Paul Byron will soon rejoin the team. Brendan Gallagher is also on track to return in one or two weeks, meaning the Canadiens will finally have some semblance of the roster they expected at the start of the season. All that means for Belzile is it’s time to go, either to the taxi squad or back to the minor leagues.
The 30-year-old minor league journeyman made his NHL debut in the 2020 bubble and has suited up 11 times for the Canadiens this season, but is still looking for his first NHL goal. In 16 games for the Laval Rocket before his most recent call-up, he had 11 points. An undrafted forward who spent years in the ECHL near the start of his pro career, Belzile serves as nothing more than injury insurance at this point.
Dineen meanwhile is at the opposite end of his career. Still just 23, he was a third-round pick of the Coyotes in 2016 and made his NHL debut this season. In 14 games, the left-shot defenseman has four points. Passed over on the prospect depth chart by several other defensemen in the Arizona system, Dineen’s placement on waivers doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
Still, given his relative youth and inexpensive price tag, he perhaps could be snagged by another team dealing with defensive injuries or absences. He is currently signed to a one-year, two-way deal that carries a cap hit of just $750K.
Cole Caufield, Joel Armia Placed In COVID Protocol
The Montreal Canadiens can’t seem to get a healthy lineup together. Just as some of their forwards were getting back from injuries, they’ve lost Cole Caufield and Joel Armia to the COVID protocol. Both played in yesterday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes, but will now face an isolation period of at least five days if they tested positive.
That means Caufield and Armia likely won’t be available tonight against the Dallas Stars, Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights, or Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche as the Canadiens go through a fast-paced road trip. The team will be in Minnesota on Monday, a game that technically they would be eligible for if they are able to test out of the protocol.
It’s not like having them in the lineup was adding much anyway, as both Caufield and Armia are experiencing brutal offensive seasons. Each has just a single goal on the year, despite playing 29 and 32 games respectively. Caufield’s disappearance has been especially frustrating for fans who believed he would contend for a Calder Trophy this season. The 21-year-old sniper has just eight points on the season and hasn’t scored since late November.
New general manager Kent Hughes will have to wait to get his first look at the young forward as part of the Montreal front office, but everyone understands that this is a lost year for the Canadiens anyway. Now just 7-25-5 on the season, they are last in the NHL and are in pole position for the draft lottery in a few months.
Montreal Canadiens Hire Kent Hughes
The Montreal Canadiens have made a decision, hiring Kent Hughes as their next general manager. Hughes joins vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton in a new-look front office and will receive a five-year contract. Gorton released the following statement:
The process of hiring our new general manager allowed us to meet several highly qualified candidates. Kent is the one who stood out the most, and who we believe is the perfect person to fill the position of general manager of the Canadiens. We believe that his extensive experience as an agent will be an important asset to our organization.
Hughes, 51, has no front office experience but that does not mean he’s a newcomer to the hockey world. One of the most decorated player agents in the game, he represented players like Patrice Bergeron, Kris Letang, and Darnell Nurse from his agency Quartexx Management. He’ll now leave that role to take on the weight of Montreal, working as the francophone counterpart to Gorton’s leadership.
First connected to the Canadiens by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Hughes has been a longtime friend and associate of Gorton, and fits the profile of an inexperienced, French-speaking general manager that could grow into the role. He was not, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, part of the initial wave of interviews along with names like Daniel Briere and Mathieu Darche, but he landed the job anyway as a sort of unconventional option. He leaves behind more than $290MM in active contracts according to PuckPedia, as his players will have to find new representation.
The speculation of course that Letang, Bergeron, or others could sign in Montreal will certainly ramp up as they head toward free agency, but there is also another young hockey player that will now be linked to the Canadiens. Jack Hughes–not that Jack Hughes or that Jack Hughes–is a top prospect for the 2022 draft, currently ranked seventh among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. He is a freshman center for Northeastern University who was developed by the U.S. National Team Development Program. He also happens to be the son of the new Canadiens general manager.
With the draft scheduled for Montreal this summer, you can bet that the new front office will be hoping to make a splash. The team has been absolutely dreadful this season, finding the bottom of the barrel after a Cinderella-like run to the Stanley Cup Finals last year. A 5-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Monday showed just how far things had fallen, as the Canadiens dropped to 7-25-5 on the year, dead last in the league.
Orchestrating a rebuild is not new for Gorton, who was part of the New York Rangers management group that issued a letter to fans before a scorched-earth tear-down. It will be a new experience for Hughes, as will everything about being a GM. Gorton and Hughes are set to meet with the media on Wednesday morning.
Carey Price Suffers Setback, Restarts Injury Rehab
Montreal Canadiens VP of hockey communications Chantal Machabee issued an update to reporters today, saying that goalie Carey Price suffered a setback and is “essentially starting from scratch in his rehab for his knee,” remaining out indefinitely.
Price underwent knee surgery in late July after the conclusion of the team’s ill-fated Stanley Cup Final run. He was originally supposed to be ready for the 2021-22 season, but also took a personal leave of absence from the team prior to the start of the season. He had begun to skate with the team intermittently after returning in November, but they never issued any timeline for a return.
It’s not a promising sign for Price’s future after previous injury troubles in his career. The 34-year-old netminder is signed through 2025-26 with a cap hit of $10.5MM.
The lack of Price in the picture gave the starting role to Jake Allen, who’s been just okay. It’s hard to fault him and his .901 save percentage with the state of the team in front of him, however, as they’ve scored just 76 goals through 36 games.
A bigger issue than Allen’s play has been the lack of a reliable backup, however. With Price unavailable, the team claimed Sam Montembeault off waivers from the Florida Panthers prior to the season. He’s struggled to be a reliable NHL goalie, posting just a 1-6-3 record and .895 save percentage.
Snapshots: Rust, Byron, Sharks
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust practiced with the team today after missing their last four games while in COVID protocol, per team reporter Michelle Crechiolo. The Penguins face off against Vegas tomorrow night, but head coach Mike Sullivan said today that he’s unsure whether or not he’ll insert Rust into the lineup. Rust’s yet again been lethal when in the lineup, although he’s been limited to just 15 games this season. He has nine goals and 11 points, on pace for his second career season above a point-per-game pace.
More from around the league:
- Montreal Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme issued a further update today on injured winger Paul Byron, stating that he’s probable to join the team at some point during the upcoming week. Byron’s been absent the entire 2021-22 season after having offseason hip injury, and he was expected to miss about five months. He’s now missed about five-and-a-half, so it’s a good sign that he won’t be out much longer. The 32-year-old winger has 26 points in 75 games over the past two seasons and will provide valuable leadership presence to a struggling Canadiens team.
- The San Jose Sharks could be getting a pair of players back into the fold. Head coach Bob Boughner said today that goalie James Reimer — who’d been out with a lower-body injury for over a week — and forward Alexander Barabanov, who was on COVID protocol, could be back in the team’s lineup for their Monday night game against Los Angeles. Both Reimer and Barabanov have been valuable parts of an impressive Sharks team this season. Reimer’s posted strong numbers in a tandem with Adin Hill, and Barabanov has 20 points through 32 games.
Rangers Have Shown Interest In Artturi Lehkonen
The Rangers have been looking to add to their bottom six group for several weeks now following the season-ending injury to Sammy Blais. It appears that one of the players that they’re interested in is Canadiens winger Artturi Lehkonen as Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that GM Chris Drury has reached out to Canadiens Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Jeff Gorton to discuss Lehkonen’s availability with those discussions being termed as preliminary.
The 26-year-old hasn’t been able to repeat the 18-goal performance he had in his rookie season but has become a reliable defensive forward for Montreal over his six-year NHL career. Like many Canadiens this season, he has struggled offensively, notching just four goals and eight assists in 33 games but also leads all Montreal forwards in penalty killing time.
He would likely have a similar role if he was to be acquired by the Rangers, one that would see him primarily in their bottom six while playing a significant role on their penalty kill, giving them another above-average forward on that front along with newcomer Barclay Goodrow.
While Lehkonen is on an expiring contract, he still has one year left of arbitration eligibility with a qualifying offer of $2.3MM, matching his current cap hit and salary. To that end, this isn’t a situation where it’s a guarantee that he’ll be moved by the March 21st trade deadline. Accordingly, the asking price may be higher than it would be for someone in a similar role that’s set to hit the open market in July.
With ample salary cap space (nearly $10MM per CapFriendly), the Rangers have the opportunity to try to add multiple players over the next couple of months but with pricey extensions already in place for Adam Fox and Mika Zibanejad for next season, their cap flexibility will be short-lived. As a result, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Drury also on the lookout for some pending unrestricted free agents in the weeks to come.
Jake Allen Returns To Montreal For Evaluation
- The Canadiens announced that goaltender Jake Allen has returned to Montreal to undergo further evaluation on an upper-body injury sustained on Wednesday in Boston. Allen was placed on injured reserve yesterday and will miss at least a week while the team won’t return back home until January 27th when their 10-game road trip (due to scheduling changes) comes to an end.
Canadiens Down To Three Candidates For GM Role
The Montreal Canadiens are getting closer to naming a new general manager, as Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports they’ve narrowed their search to just three candidates. Engels believes that Daniel Briere and Mathieu Darche are two of those three, and notes that some of the other candidates interviewed could still land different positions with the organization.
Calvin De Haan Avoids Suspension, Earns Fine
Not only does the Department of Player Safety have a hearing with Ross Johnston of the New York Islanders today, but some more supplementary discipline was on their plate. Calvin de Haan of the Chicago Blackhawks has earned a $2,500 fine for a dangerous trip on Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield.
The incident in question happened partway through the third period as Caufield tried to skate around the Blackhawks’ net. The trip, which appeared to be a clear slew-foot, went unpenalized by the on-ice officials. The league has been seeing a huge increase in these kinds of incidents this season, with Brad Marchand and Kevin Labanc both earning slew-footing suspensions and P.K. Subban earning multiple fines.
There are some who credit the crackdown on cross-checking as the reason why these trips have seemingly increased, though obviously, the league believes something like this is not worthy of a suspension. Caufield did not suffer a serious injury on the play. While it isn’t a suspension, the incident will still be considered in any future disciplinary decisions involving de Haan.