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Alex Belzile

Canadiens Notes: Gurianov, Belzile, Draft

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The Canadiens are not expected to tender winger Denis Gurianov a qualifying offer this summer, reports Arpon Basu of The Athletic (subscription link).  The 26-year-old was acquired from Dallas just before the trade deadline with the hopes that a change of scenery could help him rediscover his scoring touch.  While Gurianov did manage five goals in 23 games following the swap (after scoring just twice in 43 games in Dallas), he was held without a point in his final ten games which isn’t the best result when you’re trying to earn a qualifying offer.  That offer is worth $2.9MM and salary arbitration eligibility and it appears that Montreal won’t be giving him that opportunity.  However, Basu adds that they are open to bringing him back at a discounted rate if there isn’t strong interest in him in free agency, similar to what they did with Rem Pitlick last summer, non-tendering him before handing him a two-year contract days later.

More from Montreal:

  • Basu also reports that winger Alex Belzile appears set to test the market next month. The 31-year-old started the year in the minors but was brought up when injuries struck, giving him his first taste of NHL action.  Belzile played in 31 games with Montreal this past season, picking up six goals and eight assists while averaging more than 12 minutes per game.  As a result, Basu notes that he’s hoping to secure a one-way contract this summer which is an offer that the Canadiens are evidently not willing to make at this time.
  • The team is aggressively trying to move up from the fifth selection, per Radio-Canada’s Alexandre Gascon.  There seems to be a growing expectation that the first four selections later this month will all be centers with Russian winger Matvei Michkov sliding past that group.  Accordingly, if Montreal wants to land one of those, they’ll need to get into the top four.  Gascon suggests that San Jose’s selection at number four is the target while Basu adds in his piece that they’ve also reached out to Anaheim to inquire about the price of moving up to pick number two, a cost that would certainly be significant.  The draft gets underway two weeks from today.

Nominees Announced For 2023 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

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The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is given out annually to the NHL player who exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. The Professional Hockey Writers’ Association has voted on the award since 1968, and today they announced their nominees for 2023.

Past winners of the award include Carey Price (2022), Oskar Lindblom (2021), Bobby Ryan (2020), Robin Lehner (2019), Brian Boyle (2018), Craig Anderson (2017), and Jaromir Jagr (2016).

Below are the nominees from each team:

Anaheim Ducks – Jakob Silfverberg

Arizona Coyotes – Clayton Keller

Boston Bruins – Nick Foligno

Buffalo Sabres – Craig Anderson

Calgary Flames – Mikael Backlund

Carolina Hurricanes – Jordan Martinook

Chicago Blackhawks – Alex Stalock

Colorado Avalanche – Andrew Cogliano

Columbus Blue Jackets – Boone Jenner

Dallas Stars – Jamie Benn

Detroit Red Wings – Robby Fabbri

Edmonton Oilers – Derek Ryan

Florida Panthers – Patric Hornqvist

Los Angeles Kings – Pheonix Copley

Minnesota Wild – Mason Shaw

Montreal Canadiens – Alex Belzile

Nashville Predators – Cody Glass

New Jersey Devils – Dougie Hamilton

New York Islanders – Zach Parise

New York Rangers – Jimmy Vesey

Ottawa Senators – Derick Brassard

Philadelphia Flyers – Nick Seeler

Pittsburgh Penguins – Kris Letang

San Jose Sharks – Nikolai Knyzhov

Seattle Kraken – Brandon Tanev

St. Louis Blues – Sammy Blais

Tampa Bay Lightning – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare

Toronto Maple Leafs – Mark Giordano

Vancouver Canucks – Brock Boeser

Vegas Golden Knights – Phil Kessel

Washington Capitals – John Carlson

Winnipeg Jets – Sam Gagner

Sean Monahan, Alex Belzile Out For Season

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Injury news continues to pile up for the Montreal Canadiens, who announced Monday that forwards Alex Belzile (link) and Sean Monahan (link) have been shut down for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.

Belzile’s campaign comes to an end after sustaining a fractured leg in Saturday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. The minor-league veteran had played in every game for Montreal since being recalled from the AHL’s Laval Rocket on February 9, a testament to how injuries have ravaged Montreal’s forward depth this year. He finishes the season with career highs in points and games played, recording 14 in 31. The 31-year-old also scored 26 points in 31 games with Laval, where he served as captain. He’s slated for unrestricted free agency in July.

Monahan’s groin surgery shows he sustained a separate injury on top of the foot injury that had kept him out of the lineup since December 5. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports that Monahan’s groin surgery happened “sometime in the last few days,” and his recovery timeline is six to eight weeks. He’s expected to fully recover in time for training camp next season.

Also set for free agency this offseason, Monahan was productive in the early goings of the season, showing flashes of top-six upside once again. With 17 points in 25 games, he’ll find a home in the NHL again next season, whether with Montreal or somewhere else. Injury concerns remain, though, likely limiting his earning potential on any new contract.

Montreal Canadiens Recall Alex Belzile, Jesse Ylonen

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The Montreal Canadiens have added two forwards under emergency conditions, recalling Alex Belzile and Jesse Ylonen. The move comes just as the group reforms to prepare for their game on Saturday, the first after a long break.

For both players, this is nothing new.

Belzile, 31, has suited up five times with the Canadiens this season, recording four assists in the process. While he’s still looking for his first NHL goal, there’s little doubt that the undrafted forward can hold his own offensively. Through 31 games for the Laval Rocket this year, he has 14 goals and 26 points, just another strong AHL season for the grizzled minor league veteran.

Ylonen, 23, is a bit of a different story. Selected 35th overall in 2018, he was expected to challenge rather quickly for an NHL roster spot. Injuries have hampered his development, and to this point, he has just 25 appearances with the Canadiens. Ten of those have been this year, but Ylonen has just two assists in those games, and Ylonen received fewer than ten minutes of ice time in his last appearance.

With the Canadiens out of it, the young forward will likely get a chance to show what he can do down the stretch. Whether he takes advantage of the opportunity remains to be seen, and the clock is ticking on his status as a “prospect.” Ylonen will turn 24 before next season begins and is a restricted free agent this summer. The time is now for him to make an impact if he is ever going to.

Cole Caufield Out For The Season With A Shoulder Injury

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Jan 27: Caufield will undergo surgery on February 1 in Colorado, according to Eric Engels of Sportsnet.

Jan 21: The Canadiens have struggled offensively this season and scoring goals just got a lot harder as the team announced that winger Cole Caufield suffered a season-ending shoulder injury and will undergo surgery in the near future.  There is no timeline for how long the recovery period will take with an update being expected after the medical procedures are completed.

Caufield played in Thursday’s loss to Florida and was a full participant in practice on Friday so the announcement comes as somewhat of a surprise.  TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie notes (Twitter link) that the injury isn’t something that just happened but has instead been lingering for the past several weeks.  The 22-year-old is tied for 11th in the league in goals this season with 26 while TSN noted earlier this week that he’s tied for eighth in the league in goals since Martin St. Louis took over behind the bench a little less than a year ago.  Caufield has over 21% of Montreal’s goals this season with the team ranking 28th in the league in goals scored heading into Saturday’s action.

Caufield is set to become a restricted free agent this summer without salary arbitration eligibility.  His case is one of some intrigue given how productive he has become under St. Louis while GM Kent Hughes indicated earlier this week that preliminary discussions are underway with a desire to lock him up on a long-term contract.  However, with his first season being a short one having burned his first entry-level year after his college campaign, Caufield only has 123 career regular season contests under his belt which is considerably less than what most players that sign a long-term, big-money agreement after their first contract have.

In a corresponding roster move, the Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that forward Alex Belzile has been recalled from AHL Laval.  The 31-year-old has 13 career games of NHL experience with Montreal over the last two seasons and has 13 goals and 12 assists in 29 games with the Rocket this season.  Even with this recall, Montreal only has 11 healthy forwards on their active roster and they are expected to dress seven defensemen tonight against Toronto.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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