Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Filip Mesar

Montreal Canadiens Recall Joel Armia, Assign Filip Mešár To OHL

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Montreal Canadiens have announced two roster moves: veteran forward Joel Armia has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, and 2022 first-round pick Filip Mešár has been assigned to the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers.

With second-line center Kirby Dach now confirmed to be out for the rest of the season, the Canadiens had a need for an extra forward on their NHL roster. The player they have chosen to fill Dach’s spot is the veteran Armia, 30.

The owner of a $3.4MM cap hit through next season, Armia has had three consecutive difficult seasons in Montreal.

The six-foot-three, 216-pound former top prospect has at times been an impact player in Montreal (such as in 2019-20 when he scored 16 goals and 30 points in just 58 games) but his consistency has been sorely lacking.

With training camp battles for forward spots highly competitive in the Canadiens’ preseason, Armia failed to secure a role on the team’s season-opening roster and was sent to Laval after clearing waivers.

An opportunity to play a top-line role and reset his game in the minors seems to have been the right call for Armia, who has scored four goals and five points in four AHL games this season.

Now back on the Canadiens’ NHL roster, Armia is likely to receive fourth-line winger duty with either him or Michael Pezzetta sitting in the press box as the team’s spare forward.

As for Mešár, the 2022 26th overall pick heads back to Kitchener after failing to earn a regular role on a Rocket team flush with quality scoring-line winger options. He did score his first career AHL point in yesterday’s win over the Rochester Americans, but was playing as a fourth-line right-winger next to Riley McKay and Jan Myšák.

The Canadiens seem to believe that the best path forward for Mešár’s development is to play a major role in the OHL rather than a limited role in the AHL.

Mešár’s underwhelming debut season in the OHL last year (he scored 51 points in 52 games) indicates that he still has some unfinished business in that league, so the hope will be that he’ll have a highly productive (if not dominant) final season playing junior hockey.

Since two Laval forwards are now leaving the team’s lineup, these departures could pave the way for Canadiens prospect Jared Davidson to play an increased role for the Rocket. The 21-year-old 2022 fifth-round pick had an impressive training camp and preseason but has fallen victim to the numbers game in Laval and played just one game so far for the team.

With Armia and Mešár no longer in the picture and fellow prospect Emil Heineman out with an injury, the roadblocks to Davidson receiving a regular role in the AHL could now be cleared.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Simon Nemec To Play In World Junior Championship

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Canadian team got a pair of reinforcements this week when Brandt Clarke and Shane Wright were loaned away from their NHL organizations, and it appears as though the Slovakian team will get a similar boost. Miroslav Satan, who is now the president of the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation, confirms that the New Jersey Devils will be loaning Simon Nemec to play at the tournament.

Nemec will be joined by Montreal Canadiens first-round pick Filip Mesar, who is currently playing with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL. Satan did not mention Juraj Slafkovsky, likely meaning that the first-overall pick will remain with the Canadiens instead of playing the junior tournament.

The 18-year-old Nemec was the second-overall pick this summer, giving Slovakia a sweep of the top two spots. That was a historic moment for the country’s hockey program, just as the bronze medal at the 2022 Olympics proved to be.

At the World Juniors, Slovakia has never placed higher than third. They took home a bronze in 2009, thanks to an incredible tournament from Tomas Tatar, and in 1999, thanks to Marian Gaborik and Ladislav Nagy (in 1993, just after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the two nations competed together and finished in third place).

With Nemec, Mesar, and other impressive youngsters in place (including 17-year-old Dalibor Dvorsky, a top prospect for the 2023 draft), Slovakia will try to reach the gold medal game for the first time.

Canadiens Send Filip Mesar To Junior

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

10/16/22: Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek has issued an update on Mesar’s situation. As things currently stand, Mesar is sorting out IIHF transfer issues and is not expected to be available for selection to the Rangers’ lineup until Friday, when the team takes on the Sudbury Wolves.

10/15/22: It’s not very often that players drafted in the previous summer start the season in the minors as an 18-year-old.  For those drafted out of the major junior ranks in Canada, it’s not even an option.  But there are a handful of international players who were picked in July that have started this season in the AHL.  That list shrunk by one today as the Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that they’ve loaned Filip Mesar to Kitchener of the OHL.

The 18-year-old was the 26th pick this summer after a decent showing in the Slovak Extraliga where he had eight goals and eight assists in 37 games while adding four more points in six playoff contests.  Having played at a professional level the last two years, Mesar’s camp had indicated that his preference was to spend the year in the minors and not go to junior.

However, after seeing limited action on the fourth line with AHL Laval last night, Montreal has decided that the best opportunity for Mesar’s development will be to have him play big minutes in the OHL.  As a result of the assignment, his three-year, entry-level deal will slide a season and still have three years left on it leading up to the 2023-24 campaign.  His contract will also be credited off the Canadiens’ 50-contract limit which now stands at 45.

Snapshots: League Revenue, Coyotes Arena, Mesar

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

As many of the league’s bright young stars convened today at the Lifeguard Arena in Henderson, Nevada for the North American Player Media Tour, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly had a chance to meet with the media to discuss a wide range of topics relevant to the league. Daly touched on a recent wave of women being hired and promoted into upper-level management roles with NHL teams, the promising overall start to the Seattle Kraken franchise, the youth movement of NHL teams, the Arizona Coyotes arena situation, and the league’s revenue.

There’s been much speculation around the league’s revenue projections and what it could mean for a significant raise to the salary cap ceiling moving forward. Given the agreement between players and team owners to split revenue 50/50, revenue being naturally down due to the impact of COVID-19, and the players need to pay the difference back in escrow, the salary cap has had to remain relatively flat the past few seasons. The expectation has been that the cap will rise by $1MM next offseason before seeing a meaningful increase ahead of the 2024-25 season, with some speculation that it could happen even sooner. Much of that was confirmed by Daly, who reported a league-record in revenue for this past season, the first time its surpassed $5BN. With the unprecedented revenue last season, one which was still impacted by COVID-19, Daly said that if they see the same kind of excess revenue this season, the timeline for a significant cap increase could come sooner than expected. Ultimately, Daly still believes that based on their current projections for 2022-23, that increase may have to wait another year.

  • Also from Daly’s availability, the Deputy Commissioner was optimistic about the state of the Arizona Coyotes and their short and long-term arena plans. Daly cited the Tempe City Council’s approval of their proposed arena plan in the city, which does still need further approval, as a positive. He also referenced the positive impact playing in an arena of that size could have on the players, expecting it to be filled nightly, thus enhancing the atmosphere, as well as the relative success of this strategy with the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers and their brief stint in an MLS stadium while their current stadium was being built. Finally, when asked about the duration the team might have to spend playing at Arizona State University, Daly said the worst case scenario appears to be three years, while the best case would be two. No matter which way you frame it, this situation is surely difficult and awkward for the team and the league, however seeing the silver linings laid out does give the team some hope as it rebuilds not only on the ice, but off of it too. Final approval on a new arena plan and setting it into motion would be the best possible outcome for the organization, and when it happens, it could certainly have major, immediate impacts on the team and fanbase.
  • As prospect games got underway today, including one contest between the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens featuring prospect Filip Mesar, The Athletic’s Arpon Basu provided an update on Montreal’s plans for Mesar for the upcoming season. Basu reports the team isn’t sure if they would like Mesar to play with the Laval Rocket, their AHL affiliate, or with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL, who hold Mesar’s rights. However, it appears clear Mesar will not be returning Europe for the upcoming season. The 26th overall selection from this year’s NHL draft, Mesar played the last two years for Poprad in his native Slovakia, recording 30 points in 73 games over the two campaigns. The decision not to keep Mesar in Europe makes sense, given the need to help him adjust to North American ice and its style of hockey. Deciding between the AHL and OHL could be tough, as the OHL won’t give Mesar opportunities to play against older and more experienced competition, but will give him experience as a top of the lineup player, like Montreal hopes he will be. The AHL will give Mesar a taste of what playing in the NHL will be like in some respects, but may be a bit too advanced for him to see the top of the lineup and thrive like he might in Kitchener.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top