Montreal Canadiens Reaching Out To General Manager Candidates
As reported by TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the Montreal Canadiens are beginning the process of reaching out to candidates for their vacant general manager position. LeBrun reports that Montreal has reached out to Roberto Luongo, Mathieu Darche, and Daniel Briere, asking their teams’ permission to interview them for the role.
While LeBrun notes there are other candidates possible, those are three interesting names to focus on. Luongo is somewhat recently retired, hanging up the skates after the 2018-19 season, but he’s been in a management role ever since. For the past three seasons, he’s been a special assistant to the general manager with the Florida Panthers, a team that’s experienced a quick rise to success in that time. He also now has general manager experience internationally, serving as the general manager for Team Canada at the 2021 World Championships. Even with his recently retired status, that experience makes him an appealing candidate nonetheless.
Briere has general manager experience, too, however. After retiring from the NHL during the 2015 offseason, he immediately joined the Philadelphia Flyers, also in a special assistant role. He stayed there for two years before joining the ECHL’s Maine Mariners, where he’s been ever since. He’s been in a variety of roles there, serving as the vice president of hockey operations from 2017-18 to last season and the general manager in 2019-20 and 2020-21. His role was upgraded to team president for 2021-22.
Darche actually retired as a Canadien in 2012, but has the least experience out of all three candidates. His experience was in no small role, however. He’s been the director of hockey operations in Tampa Bay since 2019-20, getting a Stanley Cup ring in his first two seasons. The championship pedigree is hard to ignore, and the Lightning organization have developed some serious front office talent in recent years.
Regardless, it’s an exciting development for Canadiens fans eager to see a new face in the role.
Canadiens, Senators Make COVID Protocol Additions
3:43 pm: More bad COVID news came for the Senators, as defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker also entered protocol for them Saturday afternoon. With that, they have no extra players on the roster for tonight’s game at the moment.
10:43 am: The calendar has flipped to 2022, but the battle against Coronavirus won’t go away that easy. While the current surge may be producing far more positive results than symptomatic players, the league and its teams will continue to abide by the protocols in place, which will mean more players missing time. The first additions of the new year belong to Atlantic Division and Canadian rivals, the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, both of whom are still scheduled to play on Saturday but will be short-handed.
The Senators have announced that forward Nick Paul and defenseman Dillon Heatherington have been placed in the NHL’s COVID Protocol. While Heatherington himself has been a COVID/injury replacement this year, skating in minimal minutes in nine games, Paul is a major loss for the club. The big forward is having a down year thus far compared to his past two campaigns, but still leaves a hole at center on the Sens’ second line. Ottawa has recalled Clark Bishop and Logan Shaw from the taxi squad to help fill the gap up front, while young Lassi Thomson has been promoted from AHL Belleville to add a body on the blue line.
In Montreal, the Canadiens have placed a pair of young starters in forward Jake Evans and defenseman Alexander Romanov into COVID Protocol. This makes 16 players and one coach unavailable for the Habs due to COVID, yet the team plans to proceed with their game this afternoon. Up against the salary cap, Montreal will have to stick with what they have for healthy players, which is expected to be a lineup of 11 forwards and five defensemen.
Snapshots: Paquette, Zuccarello, Canadiens Quarantine
The Montreal Canadiens are absolutely ravaged at the moment by injuries and COVID, and bad turned to worse today when forward Cedric Paquette didn’t finish Saturday’s game against the Florida Panthers due to a neck injury, per TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. Montreal dressed just 11 forwards and five defensemen for that game, a 5-2 loss. They had just three players dressed with a cap hit greater than $1MM, with the majority of their lineup filled out by rookies and AHL call-ups. Paquette played a third-line role, centering Lukas Vejdemo and Alex Belzile. Paquette’s only played in 18 games this season, missing some time due to injury and suspension, but he only has one assist while averaging 9:11 per game. More injury news is certainly concerning for the 28-year-old Paquette, who signed a one-year deal with Montreal this offseason.
More notes from around the league on the first day of 2022:
- With the Minnesota Wild missing captain Jared Spurgeon from tonight’s Winter Classic due to a lower-body injury, The Athletic’s Michael Russo tweets that right wing Mats Zuccarello will serve as the third alternate captain for the outdoor spectacle. Matt Dumba and Marcus Foligno are healthy and will serve as the other two alternates, as per usual. Zuccarello fought back from an early-season injury to have one of the most productive starts of his career, posting 24 points through 24 games. The Norwegian winger will likely reprise his role on the team’s top line, playing alongside Kirill Kaprizov and Ryan Hartman.
- The Canadiens aren’t playing again until January 12th at the earliest as their entire upcoming four-game homestand is postponed. The team won’t complain due to the aforementioned excessive amount of lineup absences, but now, head coach Dominique Ducharme says that a five-day quarantine for the entire team upon their return to Montreal is possible and will be discussed. While it won’t affect their playing schedule, it could give a chance for players to stay healthy and help their lineup get back to having experienced NHLers in the mix.
- UPDATE: the Canadiens and Laval Rocket have officially paused all team activities through January 6, following up on Ducharme’s statement from earlier.
Florida Panthers Expected To Have Interest In Ben Chiarot
Through the first period of today’s afternoon tilt against the Florida Panthers, the shorthanded Montreal Canadiens were able to stay even. Playing without most of their regulars the team had just five defensemen dressed, many of them without much NHL experience.
One of the veterans that they were missing is Ben Chiarot, whose name is coming up more and more often as the trade deadline approaches. Chiarot is a pending unrestricted free agent and arguably the Canadiens’ best trade chip this season, though he’s currently in the COVID protocol and unable to help the club against the Panthers.
It’s those same Panthers who could show interest in Chiarot before the deadline, according to Pierre LeBrun on the TSN broadcast:
It just so happens that the team the Habs are playing today, the Florida Panthers, I hear are pretty high on Ben Chiarot. Now they won’t be alone–most Cup contenders, and I believe Florida is a contender, are going to have Chiarot on their trade bait list. They’re going to want to at least try to acquire him.
I think that is going to be the case. I think Florida will reach out to the Canadiens between now and March 21st and see what it takes to pry him out. They won’t be alone, there will be a half dozen contenders looking at Ben Chiarot.
Through 31 games this season, the 30-year-old Chiarot has averaged more than 23 minutes of ice time for the Canadiens. He has five goals and seven points in that time, but is much more known for his punishing, physical defense than his offensive upside. Given that contenders usually have their puck-moving options locked up already, Chiarot seems like a perfect addition for many who want to add some size, length, and experience to the blue line before the deadline.
Still, the amount of chatter that has emerged about Chiarot ever since the Canadiens struggled out of the gate is likely a bit excessive for his actual on-ice impact. This could be a perfect storm for Montreal where a lack of other options could lead to someone overpaying for the rental defenseman.
Jacob Olofsson Signs Extension In Sweden, Brandon Baddock Placed In COVID Protocol
- Canadiens prospect Jacob Olofsson has signed a contract through the 2022-23 season with IF Bjorkloven, the Allsvenskan team announced. The 21-year-old was a second-round pick of Montreal back in 2018 (56th overall) and must sign with them by June to retain his NHL rights. This contract, along with a tough showing in 25 SHL games this season, suggests that’s unlikely to happen.
- Still with Montreal, the Canadiens announced that winger Brandon Baddock has been placed in COVID protocol. The 26-year-old made his NHL debut last night in Carolina due to Montreal’s long list of injuries and COVID protocol, playing a little over eight minutes and recording six hits.
Montreal Canadiens Add Two More To COVID Protocol
Welcome to Montreal, you’re going into the COVID protocol. The Montreal Canadiens have announced that Louis Belpedio and Gianni Fairbrother have both entered the protocol, just two days after they were recalled from the AHL.
Belpedio and Fairbrother join Paul Byron, Laurent Dauphin, Mike Hoffman, Artturi Lehkonen, Tyler Toffoli, Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson, Jeff Petry, Chris Wideman, Jake Allen, and Cayden Primeau in the protocol.
The Canadiens are still currently scheduled to take on the Carolina Hurricanes tonight, despite Montreal’s drastically impaired roster. The team is missing 13 skaters due to COVID (Lehkonen is skating but not yet activated) and another half dozen to injury.
Players like Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Lukas Vejdemo, and Corey Schueneman all made their season debuts on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a game that was actually one of the more competitive matches from the Canadiens all season.
It continues to be a nightmarish season for Montreal, who are now 7-21-4 on the year.
OHL To Reinstate Logan Mailloux
The OHL has announced that Logan Mailloux, a member of the London Knights and first-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens, will be reinstated from his indefinite suspension effective January 1, 2022. In the press release, they explained the decision:
Since the time of suspension, with the support of the London Knights, Logan Mailloux has participated in therapy and counselling with Dr. Lindsey Forbes, and a personal development plan under the leadership of Wendy Glover. Ms. Glover is a London-based, experienced holistic athlete development practitioner, academic and personal development advisor, teacher and member of the Ontario School Counsellors Association.
The player’s Personal Development Plan has included weekly meetings, ongoing completion of certifications, and reflections of concepts explored. Some of the certifications and programs available to athletes that he completed were Respect in Sport, Mental Health in Sport, Sport Media, Ethics in Sport, Diversity and Inclusion, Sport Psychology, and Cultural Awareness.
After reviewing the program, speaking with the player and Ms. Glover, and receiving a commitment from the player to continue with his personal development program, the League is satisfied that Logan Mailloux has undertaken the necessary steps and will reinstate him, effective January 1, 2022.
Mailloux was suspended in September after news spread of an incident that took place in Sweden where he was playing during the 2020-21 season. Mailloux was charged with taking and distributing an offensive photo without consent, of which he was convicted in December 2020. Now 18, he tried to renounce himself from the NHL draft, asking teams not to draft him and saying at the time:
…I renounce myself from the 2021 NHL Draft and ask that no one select me this upcoming weekend. I feel that this would allow me the opportunity to demonstrate an adequate level of maturity and character next season with the London Knights in the OHL and provide all the NHL teams the opportunity to reassess my character towards the 2022 NHL Draft.
The Canadiens selected him 31st overall and explained that they would make a “commitment to accompany Logan on his journey,” providing him with support to guide him in his development. The OHL then suspended him for violating the league’s “expectation of appropriate conduct.”
Montreal Canadiens Add Five Players To COVID Protocol
Dec 29: After getting in one game last night, the Canadiens have placed two more in the COVID protocol today. Paul Byron and Cayden Primeau are both now unavailable and join the rest of the absences in the protocol. Byron was closing in on a return from injury and Primeau was expected to play this weekend with Allen unavailable. McNiven will now likely be recalled to backup Sam Montembeault.
Dec 27: The Montreal Canadiens have added another five players to the COVID protocol today, recalling a handful of replacements in the process. Jake Allen, Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson, Jeff Petry, and Chris Wideman have entered the protocol, along with goaltending coach Eric Raymond. The team has recalled Cayden Primeau and Corey Schueneman to the active roster, while also bringing up Brandon Baddock, Gianni Fairbrother, Cam Hillis, and Michael McNiven to the taxi squad. The team will travel to Florida where they are currently scheduled to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow night.
The new five will join Laurent Dauphin, Mike Hoffman, Artturi Lehkonen, and Tyler Toffoli, who were already in the protocol. The team also has almost countless injuries, meaning it’s not quite the full Montreal experience heading to face the Lightning. In a lost season for the Canadiens, nearly everything that could have gone wrong has, and they find themselves near the very bottom of the league standings.
If the games are played as scheduled, the team will no longer have to play short after the league amended the salary cap and emergency exception rules yesterday. Still, these recalls bring them close to the organizational limit; Primeau and McNiven were the only two other goaltenders in the organization signed to NHL contracts.
Devante Smith-Pelly Signs AHL PTO
With a growing list of COVID absences in the organization, the Montreal Canadiens and Laval Rocket have turned to alumni to save the day. Devante Smith-Pelly, who played parts of two seasons for Montreal several years ago, has signed a professional tryout contract with Laval.
Smith-Pelly, 29, had a long, productive career in the NHL, spanning more than 400 games between the regular season and playoffs. He even won a Stanley Cup in 2018 with the Washington Capitals, scoring two playoff game-winning goals along the way. The bang-and-crash forward last played in the NHL during the 2018-19 season with Washington, before spending 2019-20 in the KHL and last year in the AHL with the Ontario Reign.
Like with some of the other former NHL players signing odd contracts around the world, one has to wonder whether this contract for Smith-Pelly could actually be a precursor for bigger things. The Olympics are coming in a few months and without NHL participation, Canada will be looking for players to represent the country in Beijing that are currently not contracted to an NHL club. A PTO or an AHL deal should allow Smith-Pelly to participate if he finds himself on Hockey Canada’s radar.
If that ever did occur, it would be a redemption story for the Scarborough native. In 2011, Smith-Pelly had made the Anaheim Ducks out of camp but was loaned to the Canadian World Junior team when the tournament arrived. He was supposed to play a huge role for the club and was named an alternate captain ahead of the event. Unfortunately, while blocking a shot during a game that Canada won easily–the kind of heart-and-soul play that Smith-Pelly would become known for–he suffered a broken foot and would not play again the rest of the tournament. Since then, he hasn’t had another chance to suit up internationally.
2022 WJC Participants By NHL Team
The 2022 World Junior Championships will get underway from Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta on Sunday. As is the norm and to be expected from the top U-20 competition in the world, the World Junior tournament field is loaded with drafted NHL talent. While most nations don’t have the prospect depth to form a roster completely composed of NHL prospects and those that do have opted to include some younger, future draft picks, there are still a whopping 106 drafted players on WJC rosters. Nine of ten WJC have at least one current NHL prospect and six of those nine have at least ten draft picks. Those players come from 30 of the NHL’s 32 teams, with the Carolina Hurricanes leading the way with ten prospects. While enjoying the WJC action in the coming days, keep track of who may one day be playing at the highest level:
Anaheim Ducks (4):
F Mason McTavish, Canada
D Ian Moore, USA
F Sasha Pastujov, USA
D Olen Zellweger, Canada
Arizona Coyotes (1):
F Dylan Guenther, Canada
Boston Bruins (1):
F Fabian Lysell, Sweden
Buffalo Sabres (4):
F Jakub Konecny, Czechia
D Nikita Novikov, Russia
D Owen Power, Canada
F Isak Rosen, Sweden
Calgary Flames (1):
F Matt Coronato, USA
Carolina Hurricanes (10):
F Nikita Guslistov, Russia
D Aleski Heimosalmi, Finland
D Ville Koivunen, Finland
D Scott Morrow, USA
F Zion Nybeck, Sweden
D Joel Nystrom, Sweden
F Alexander Pashin, Russia
F Vasily Ponomarev, Russia
G Nikita Quapp, Germany
D Ronan Seeley, Canada
Chicago Blackhawks (4):
G Drew Commesso, USA
D Wyatt Kaiser, USA
D Michael Krutil, Czechia
F Landon Slaggert, USA
Colorado Avalanche (1):
F Oskar Olausson, Sweden
Columbus Blue Jackets (4):
F Kent Johnson, Canada
D Samuel Knazko, Slovakia
F Martin Rysavy, Czechia
D Stanislav Svozil, Czechia
Dallas Stars (4):
F Mavrik Bourque, Canada
F Daniel Ljungman, Sweden
F Logan Stankoven, Canada
F Albert Sjoberg, Sweden
Detroit Red Wings (8):
G Jan Bednar, Czechia
G Sebastian Cossa, Canada
D Simon Edvinsson, Sweden
F Carter Mazur, USA
F Theodor Niederbach, Sweden
F Redmond Savage, USA
D Donovan Sebrango, Canada
D Eemil Viro, Finland
Edmonton Oilers (2):
F Xavier Borgault, Canada
D Luca Munzenberger, Germany
Florida Panthers (5):
F Elliot Ekmark, Sweden
D Kasper Puutio, Finland
F Mackie Samoskevich, USA
F Ty Smilanic, USA
F Justin Sourdif, Canada
Los Angeles Kings (6):
F Martin Chromiak, Slovakia
D Brock Faber, USA
D Helge Grans, Sweden
F Samuel Helenius, Finland
D Kirill Kirsanov, Russia
F Kasper Simontaival, Finland
Minnesota Wild (6):
F Marat Khusnutdinov, Russia
D Carson Lambos, Canada
F Pavel Novak, Czechia
D Ryan O’Rourke, Canada
D Jack Peart, USA
G Jesper Wallstedt, Sweden
Montreal Canadiens (3):
D Kaiden Guhle, Canada
F Oliver Kapanen, Finland
F Jan Mysak, Czechia
Nashville Predators (4):
G Yaroslav Askarov, Russia
F Simon Knak, Switzerland*
D Anton Olsson, Sweden
F Fedor Svechkov, Russia
New Jersey Devils (4):
F Alexander Holtz, Sweden
D Luke Hughes, USA
G Jakub Malek, Czechia
D Shakir Mukhamadullin, Russia
New York Islanders (0)
New York Rangers (4):
F Brett Berard, USA
F William Cuylle, Canada
G Dylan Garand, Canada
F Kalle Vaisanen, Finland
Ottawa Senators (5):
F Ridly Greig, Canada
F Roby Jarventie, Finland
D Tyler Kleven, USA
G Leevi Merilainen, Finland
D Jake Sanderson, USA
Philadelphia Flyers (3):
D Emil Andrae, Sweden
F Elliot Desnoyers, Canada
D Brian Zanetti, Switzerland*
Pittsburgh Penguins (3):
G Joel Blomqvist, Finland
G Calle Clang, Sweden
F Kirill Tankov, Russia
St. Louis Blues (3):
F Tanner Dickinson, USA
D Leo Loof, Sweden
F Jake Neighbors, Canada
San Jose Sharks (1):
F William Eklund, Sweden
Seattle Kraken (2):
F Matthew Beniers, USA
D Ville Ottavainen, Finland
Tampa Bay Lightning (0)
Toronto Maple Leafs (3):
F Roni Hirvonen, Finland
F Matthew Knies, USA
D Topi Niemala, Finland
Vancouver Canucks (1):
F Dmitry Zlodeyev, Russia
Vegas Golden Knights (4):
F Jakub Brabenec, Czechia
D Lukas Cormier, Canada
F Jakub Demek, Slovakia
G Jesper Vikman, Sweden
Washington Capitals (1):
F Oskar Magnusson, Sweden
Winnipeg Jets (4):
F Nikita Chibrikov, Russia
F Chaz Lucius, USA
F Cole Perfetti, Canada
F Daniel Torgersson, Sweden
*Switzerland roster pending finalization on Sunday; team has been in COVID-19 quarantine since Thursday but will be ready to begin tournament and participate as schedule, the Swiss announced.