Mattias Norlinder Returned To SHL
The Montreal Canadiens are focused on development now, which means Mattias Norlinder‘s time in North America has come to an end for now. The young defenseman has been returned to Frolunda HC for the remainder of the SHL season.
Norlinder, 21, actually already played one game with them this season, but has also suited up six times for the Laval Rocket and six times for the Canadiens. A third-round pick in 2019, his future looks bright, but not close enough to warrant him staying with Montreal for the rest of this season. The AHL was technically an option, given he does not have a European Assignment Clause, but all parties have agreed the best thing for his development is a return to Sweden.
It will allow him to play a larger role in a comfortable setting, given his history with the club, and come back to Canadiens training camp next year hopefully ready to step directly into the NHL. In 37 games last season, Norlinder recorded ten points with Frolunda, but was a real difference-maker in a short playoff run. He had one point in his six games with Montreal.
In a lost season for the Canadiens, new front office boss Jeff Gorton has to look forward. A move like this could signal that more changes are coming for the team, who have lost seven in a row and sit second-last in the entire league.
Christian Dvorak Out Indefinitely With Lower-Body Injury
The Montreal Canadiens continue to plod their way through a disastrous season and now will have to do it without the help of a prized offseason acquisition. Christian Dvorak is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury and will be evaluated daily. Dvorak has already missed three games since exiting last week’s match against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The team has also announced that Brendan Gallagher and Sami Niku have exited the COVID protocol, but will not practice with the main group yet as they build their conditioning back up. They are expected to rejoin the team later in the week.
Dvorak, acquired from the Arizona Coyotes after the Carolina Hurricanes signed Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet, had 12 points in 27 games before going down to injury. The 25-year-old center was playing more than 18 minutes a night, but still scoring at a pace right around his career average. That could be considered a disappointment, given the fact that he told Montreal media he had “more to prove offensively” after leaving the desert. Should this injury force him out for a good chunk of the season, it seems unlikely that he’ll break his career-high of 18 goals or 38 points, both set in the 2019-20 season.
Perhaps more importantly though is that Dvorak was brought in to solidify the center ice position after Phillip Danault‘s departure, a position that will once again be in question with him out. That could probably be said about every spot on the ice with the long list of absences Montreal is dealing with, which also includes key players like Tyler Toffoli, Josh Anderson, Joel Edmundson, and Carey Price.
It’s a lost season for the Canadiens, who are now 6-21-3 on the season and ahead of only the Coyotes league-wide. A silver lining? The Carolina Hurricanes are in a solid playoff position, meaning the first-round pick Montreal owes Arizona for Dvorak won’t be their own.
Roster Notes: Lehkonen, Korpisalo, Maple Leafs
As the Montreal Canadiens continue to falter in 2021-22, now last in the Eastern Conference and leading the league in goals allowed, a fire sale seems imminent for the franchise. As pundits across North America discuss who could be moving on from the Habs, a story has emerged from TVA’s Renaud Lavoie about one potential candidate who was nearly moved last season. Lavoie reported on their air on Saturday that the Canadiens and St. Louis Blues had a deal in place for forward Artturi Lehkonen at the deadline, which would have seen Sammy Blais go the other way. However, a condition of the deal was an extension for Lehkonen, then an impending restricted free agent, and the restricted free agent refused to agree to a new contract with the Blues, nixing the trade. The 26-year-old ended up re-signing for just one year with Montreal this summer and will be an RFA once more this off-season. However, it seems more and more unlikely that he will be negotiating with the Habs once again, as Lehkonen’s scoring is up from last season, making him an attractive trade piece for the Canadiens. Although Blais is now a member of the New York Rangers, the Blues could still be a suitor for Lehkonen with a different offer if they can make the cap implications work. The forward could be seen as a rental or as a long-term investment which should provide a deep pool of potential trade partners for the new front office administration in Montreal.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets could be forced to make a significant roster move later this season, but hopefully it does not come to that. The Finnish government released a list of names this week that included professional athletes who had not completed their required military service. All male citizens of Finland are conscripted to serve a certain number of days – 165, 255 or 347 days depending on the assignment – of military service and must meet this requirement between the ages of 18 and 28. Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo turns 28 this spring and has yet to complete any of his required service. Korpisalo tells The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline that he regrets putting it off, but he has had his in-season obligations every year since he was 18 and never wanted to disrupt his off-season training schedule in the summers. The Finnish government stated that those athletes who had not yet met this civic duty would be enlisted to begin service on April 11, 2022. Well, Columbus’ regular season does not end until April 29 and the team currently sits just one spot outside of playoff position as well. Korpisalo’s response to the possibility of missing time because of conscription: “If they want to come get me, come get me. I’m not leaving during my season.” Hopefully it doesn’t reach that point for Korpisalo and the Jackets, but it does seem like the goaltender at least plans to serve his time this summer. He has little choice as the Finnish government will not renew his passport if he does not complete his required service before turning 29, making it impossible for him to travel to North America let alone play in the NHL. This is especially concerning for Korpisalo this summer, when he will be an unrestricted free agent. While the veteran keeper expects that a “special arrangement” will be made that allows him to complete his current season, serve his time in the off-season, and be ready for next season, wherever that may be, the last-minute nature of the situation could still prove problematic. This likely isn’t the last we have heard about Korpisalo’s military requirements and its impact on his playing career.
- Ilya Mikheyev appears to be getting closer to a return to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup. The Hockey News’ David Alter reports that both Mikheyev and defenseman Travis Dermott will be evaluated on Tuesday for a potential return against the Edmonton Oilers. Getting the skilled forward back from Long-Term Injured Reserve will be a nice boost for the Leafs, but it of course raises questions as well. Toronto is currently $4.9MM over the salary cap, but this is permissible given the LTIR usage afforded by Mikheyev and Mitch Marner. However, once Marner is healthy as well, a roster crunch will set in for the Leafs if no more extended injuries have arisen. Even if no one is on injured reserve at the time and the likes of Alex Steeves and Kyle Clifford have likely been bumped from the roster to accommodate the additions up front of Mikheyev and Marner, the team will still be over the salary cap. If the Leafs want to carry the full 23 skaters, they will need to save room for at least a minimum $750K contract too. This could result in a notable player being traded or waived in order to become cap compliant. For a number of bottom-six forwards, the return of Mikheyev is a warning and they have until Marner returns to prove that they belong on the team or else could be the one forced out of town.
Tyler Toffoli Undergoes Hand Surgery
Montreal’s injury woes have been an issue all season for them and they’ll now be without one of their top wingers for a while. The team announced following their morning skate today that Tyler Toffoli has undergone successful hand surgery and will be out of the lineup for eight weeks.
Toffoli is in his second season with the Canadiens and this one hasn’t gone anywhere near as well as his first one did. Last season, he was one of the higher-scoring wingers in the league, collecting 28 goals in 52 games while chipping in with 14 points in 22 playoff contests. But as has been the case with many Montreal players, this season has seen him struggle as he has scored just five times in 26 games with his shooting percentage down nearly 10% from a year ago.
The 29-year-old is likely to be out longer than the timeline that the team listed as that basically takes them to the All-Star Break which is immediately followed by the Olympics. Accordingly, the earliest that he’s likely to return is February 26 versus Ottawa, a little more than three weeks before the trade deadline. Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek recently listed Toffoli as a trade candidate to watch for with a $4.25MM AAV for two more years after this one, a bit below market value for a top-six winger but he won’t have a lot of time to show he’s back to full strength before teams need to decide whether or not he’s worth acquiring this season.
Montreal will get a bit of help on the injury front tonight as Joel Armia returns from an undisclosed injury that has caused him to miss the last two games. However, they’re also losing another regular as Arpon Basu of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that forward Jake Evans is now listed as day-to-day and won’t suit up versus St. Louis.
Montreal Canadiens To Terminate Arsen Khisamutdinov’s Contract
Dec 10: Khisamutdinov has cleared waivers and will have his contract terminated.
Dec 9: The Montreal Canadiens have announced that they have mutually agreed to terminate the contract of Arsen Khisamutdinov, presumably placing him on unconditional waivers today to do so. Khisamutdinov is in the second season of a two-year, entry-level contract signed in 2020. A termination would make him a free agent and clear the way for a return to the KHL.
It’s easy to see why the 23-year-old forward would want out, given he’s been playing at the ECHL level so far this season. After 15 unspectacular appearances for the Laval Rocket last season, Khisamutdinov has five points in 10 games for the Trois-Rivieres Lions in 2021-22. That’s not going to keep many KHL talents in North America, though the young forward hasn’t really even proved himself at that level either. Selected in the sixth round of the 2019 draft (after going undrafted previously) he has 41 games of KHL experience under his belt, with eight points.
For Montreal, this is actually a positive, as it gives them an extra contract slot to work with moving forward. The team is currently at 48 of their 50 allotted contracts, with one more to be opened once Khisamutdinov clears and the termination is executed tomorrow.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Toffoli, Jaros
The NHL has released their Three Stars for last week, with Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers taking home the top spot. Huberdeau put up nine points in three games and helped the Panthers to the top spot in the entire NHL. Sometimes overlooked when hockey fans consider the top offensive players in the league, Huberdeau is now working on his fourth consecutive season scoring at a better than point-per-game rate.
Second and third place went to Victor Hedman and Jake Guentzel respectively, after their own outstanding performances. The Tampa Bay Lightning star had eight points in four games, jumping him up to top spot among all defensemen in the league. His 26 points in 24 games puts him in the running for the Norris Trophy once again, an award he has been a finalist for (or won), five years in a row. Guentzel, another player who may not get his due credit when discussing the top offensive players in the league, had five goals and six points in three games last week. The Pittsburgh Penguins forward is tied for 21st in the league with 24 points, including 13 goals in 23 games.
- The Montreal Canadiens will be without Tyler Toffoli for the next few weeks. The team announced Toffoli’s absence “could be quite long” as he deals with an upper-body injury. The Canadiens are dealing with several key injuries as they try to turn over the organization from the recently-fired Marc Bergevin to the newly-hired Jeff Gorton.
- The New Jersey Devils have activated Christian Jaros from injured reserve, a month after he went on the shelf with a hand injury. Jaros has played just two games this season for the Devils and will likely go back to just a depth role for the team. The 25-year-old defenseman has 85 games of NHL experience and was acquired from the San Jose Sharks last summer.
Canadiens Claim Kale Clague Off Waivers From Kings
Down multiple defensemen at the moment, the Canadiens have added some depth on the back end as they’ve claimed Kale Clague off waivers from the Kings, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (Twitter link).
The 23-year-old somewhat surprisingly cleared waivers at the start of the season and picked up four assists in five games with AHL Ontario which helped him earn an opportunity when Los Angeles was really battling injury issues to their defense corps. Clague was actually relatively productive in his 11 games with the team, picking up five assists while logging nearly 18 minutes a game but with Drew Doughty recently returning and Clague sitting for nearly two weeks, they decided to try to send him down again.
The Canadiens have battled injury issues all season and find themselves without Jeff Petry (upper-body injury), Joel Edmundson (back injury), and Sami Niku (COVID protocol) so there is definitely a chance that Clague can secure a spot with Montreal in the short term at the very least. Laurent Dauphin was sent back to AHL Laval to make room for Clague on the roster; they will have to make another move later as well as they’ve already committed to activating Mike Hoffman off IR before tonight’s game.
Clague is making just over $761K this season and will be a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights next summer.
Canadiens Activate Mike Hoffman Off Injured Reserve
It has been a tough season for the Canadiens. After making the Stanley Cup Final, they’ve struggled mightily out of the gate this season and have been hit hard with injuries. While they’ve lost winger Josh Anderson for the next two to four weeks, Montreal will also get a player back for their game in Nashville tonight as the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Mike Hoffman will play which means he will be activated off injured reserve.
It hasn’t been a fun first year with Montreal for Hoffman who signed with them on the opening day of free agency last summer, inking a three-year, $13.5MM deal. An offseason training injury kept him out of training camp plus the start of the season and this injury has cost him three more weeks. In between those, he has recorded four goals and three assists in 13 games with five of those points coming on the man advantage.
The Canadiens are presently carrying a full 23-man roster even after transferring Anderson to IR on Friday. As a result, they will need to make some sort of roster move before the game in order to activate Hoffman and have him in the lineup tonight.
Montreal Canadiens Will Not Make Coaching Change This Season
The new executive vice president of hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens met with the media today, as Jeff Gorton did his best to work through an opening statement in French before taking questions. While there were nearly a half dozen questions about the potential of Patrick Roy joining him as general manager–something Gorton would not commit to or rule out–eventually he was also asked about the future of head coach Dominique Ducharme.
Gorton explained that he will not be making a coaching change this season, allowing Ducharme to play out the year before making a decision. There is no question that the position will be evaluated at that point, but Gorton repeatedly said that he needs more time to evaluate the whole organization before making any big decisions like that.
On the topic of general manager, Gorton told reporters that he won’t be making any hire until after Christmas and noted that the team will be potentially looking for an “outside the box” candidate. He and team president Geoff Molson have not yet made a list of candidates, as he continues to get familiar with the organization.
There was also a discussion of building out the analytics and player development departments, with Gorton explaining that it’s necessary to have as much support as possible for players from the moment they are drafted. That could prove very important in the coming years, as Montreal looks like they may need to go through at least a partial rebuild after losing their 19th game of the season last night. The team was outshot 33-20 by the Colorado Avalanche, who were in the second half of a back-to-back. That was the first time Gorton was with the team in person since being hired, but he is headed out on the road with them to Nashville to continue his evaluations.
Ducharme, who is safe through the end of the season, now has a 21-33-9 regular season record overall as head coach of the Canadiens, though he was also the one who took them all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. In July, he signed a three-year extension that keeps him under contract through 2023-24 and pays him approximately $1.7MM per season.
Brendan Gallagher, Sami Niku Placed In COVID Protocol
The Montreal Canadiens have lost a pair of players, this time to the league’s COVID protocol. Brendan Gallagher and Sami Niku have both been placed in it and will be unavailable to the team in the immediate future.
The Canadiens have not confirmed whether or not either one has actually tested positive, but if they did and are experiencing any symptoms, they’ll be held out for a minimum of ten days. This comes just as the team is trying to reset the narrative of their season under a new boss, following the firing of Marc Bergevin and hiring of Jeff Gorton as the new front office chief. Instead of a change, the team lost to the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night, keeping them at just six wins for the season.
This evening, Montreal is set to take on the Colorado Avalanche, a team that will be fuming after giving up eight goals to the Toronto Maple Leafs. It looks like the Canadiens will be without Gallagher and Niku, not the ideal situation for the rest of the group.