Mitchell Stephens Clears Waivers, Canadiens Send Justin Barron Down
1/23: Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports that Stephens went unclaimed on waivers, and will now report to Laval.
1/22: The Montreal Canadiens have placed forward Mitchell Stephens on waivers and loaned defenseman Justin Barron to the AHL’s Laval Rockets. Stephens started the season in Laval, clearing waivers ahead of the season’s start. He scored 12 points in 16 AHL games before joining Montreal on December 1st. Meanwhile, Barron is slated for his first stint with Laval, after playing in 41 of Montreal’s 46 games this season. The 22-year-old defenseman has managed 12 points in that stretch, a step down from the 15 points he recorded in 39 games with Montreal last season. Barron also recorded 16 points in 25 AHL games last year.
While Stephens has already cleared waivers once this season, his depth has proven valuable throughout his eight-year professional career. Stephens was originally drafted 33rd overall in the 2015 NHL Draft, just a few picks before the Carolina Hurricanes drafted Sebastian Aho. He made his professional debut in the following year, playing five AHL games at the end of the 2015-16 season. He returned to juniors in the following season, but played his first full pro season in 2017-18, scoring 41 points in 70 games with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. That year’s scoring remains Stephens’ career-high, although he matched it in 68 games during Laval’s 2022-23 season. The 26-year-old forward has only played in 95 career NHL games, recording 16 points and 22 penalty minutes. He’s also recorded 219 career AHL games and 137 points.
Hockey Canada Releases Initial 2023 World Championship Roster
Hockey Canada has released the initial complement of 20 players that will represent their country at the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championships next week in Finland.
It’s a more experienced roster than their American counterparts released, at least in terms of current NHL caliber. In net, they’re likely the most well-set team in the tournament, with projected rookie sensation Devon Levi sharing the crease with Montreal Canadien Sam Montembeault, who had a strong season in a tandem role with Jake Allen.
While 2023 presumptive first-overall selection Connor Bedard won’t join the team, likely to avoid risking injuries prier to his rookie season in the NHL, projected second-overall pick Adam Fantilli will. After capturing the Hobey Baker award in what’s likely his only season at the University of Michigan, Fantilli will join seasoned NHL veterans such as Milan Lucic, Scott Laughton, and Tyler Toffoli as Canada goes for gold at the Worlds.
Their defense is highlighted by MacKenzie Weegar. Although he had a tough season in Calgary, he’s not far removed from being a top 20 defender in the world and should make a significant impact at the tournament. Youngsters Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Justin Barron will also get a chance to shine for the Canadians.
The full 20-player roster is as follows:
F Cody Glass
F Jack McBain
F Milan Lucic
F Peyton Krebs
F Scott Laughton
F Jack Quinn
F Jake Neighbours
F Lawson Crouse
F Tyler Toffoli
F Sammy Blais
F Joe Veleno
F Adam Fantilli
D Pierre-Olivier Joseph
D Justin Barron
D MacKenzie Weegar
D Tyler Myers
D Ethan Bear
D Jake Walman
Justin Barron To Return For Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis has confirmed that defenseman Justin Barron will return to the lineup for the team tonight as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the same announcement, St.Louis mentions that defenseman Chris Wideman will sit.
Having not played since their March 2nd game against the Los Angeles Kings, Barron will return back to the blue line in his first full season with the Canadiens. Having split time between the Canadiens and their AHL affiliate Laval Rocket, Barron has remained on the big league roster since his call-up on December 27th, 2022. During his time in Laval, he was extremely productive, scoring 16 points in 25 games.
After being acquired in the deal that sent Artturi Lehkonen to the Colorado Avalanche last year, the former first-round pick has become a defenseman that the Canadiens would like to build around in the future. Although he has not yet scored on a consistent level in the NHL, he has seen growth in all levels of the game so far throughout his young career.
Artturi Lehkonen Leaves Game With Upper-Body Injury
The Colorado Avalanche have announced that Artturi Lehkonen will not return to tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens after leaving with an apparent upper-body injury.
It was quite an eventful night for Lehkonen who was playing in his first game back in Montreal since being traded to Colorado in March of 2022. Lehkonen received a video tribute and a standing ovation from the Montreal crowd, then followed it up by adding two goals and an assist in less than two periods of play. The injury puts a damper on what was an incredible return to Montreal for the former second round pick.
Lehkonen has been red hot as of late with seven points in his past five games. He’s been everything Colorado could have hoped for when they dealt a second-round pick and Justin Barron to Montreal for him just under a year ago. Lehkonen has flourished this season with a career high 49 points in 62 games. This after scoring 14 points in 20 games last postseason in Colorado’s magical run to the Stanley Cup.
Should Lehkonen miss any time it will be a big blow for an Avalanche team that has dealt with a multitude of injuries throughout this season. Colorado is already missing Josh Manson, Gabriel Landeskog, Darren Helm, Erik Johnson, and goaltender Pavel Francouz. Despite the injuries, Colorado has maintained stellar team defense this season as they rank seventh in the league in goals against. The Avalanche currently hold the final wild card spot in the west, but they have struggled as of late having dropped four of their last six games coming into tonight.
Montreal Canadiens Recall Anthony Richard
The Montreal Canadiens will be without Christian Dvorak this evening as he deals with a lower-body injury. In his place, the team has recalled Anthony Richard from the Laval Rocket.
Richard, 26, has been Laval’s best player this season, scoring 24 goals and 55 points in 49 AHL games. Mix in seven games with the Canadiens, where he scored his first NHL goal and registered his first NHL assist, and it’s been quite the year for the minor league veteran.
Dvorak is just the latest in a long line of Montreal injuries, including Jordan Harris, who is out tonight. Harris is dealing with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.
Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barron both took part in the morning skate, the former in a regular jersey and the latter in a no-contact capacity. It’s been a carousel in Montreal this season, with players constantly moving in and out of the lineup due to injury. Thirty-three skaters have played at least one game; when Dvorak misses tonight, only Nick Suzuki will have suited up for all 65.
Injury Notes: Simek, Guhle, Barron
San Jose Sharks defenseman Radim Simek did not travel with the team to Winnipeg, according to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. Nikolai Knyzhov and Nick Cicek were recalled on Sunday, as the Sharks reshuffle their blueline ahead of their matchup with the Jets. They’ll be looking to put together a bounce-back performance after their squad was thoroughly dismantled by the Washington Capitals after the first period of yesterday’s game.
Simek has been a defense-first member of the Sharks’ blueline since coming over from the Czech league in 2017 as a free agent. He has recorded 28 points in 199 games played since making his NHL debut, and while he averages over 15 minutes of ice time per game for his career, he has struggled with nagging injury issues in recent years. Simek is making $2.25MM against the cap through next season.
Some other injury notes from across the NHL:
- The Montreal Canadiens announced today that rookie defenseman Kaiden Guhle is out with an upper-body injury. Per the announcement, Guhle’s status is to be considered day-to-day. It’s an unfortunate development for the 21-year-old as he just recently returned from an extended injury-related absence. When healthy, he has impressed despite being thrust into a challenging situation as a minutes-eating rookie blueliner with significant defensive responsibilities.
- Another Canadiens rookie, Justin Barron, is also out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. While Barron didn’t make the Canadiens out of training camp as Guhle did, Barron got some extra seasoning at the AHL level and has played well as of late. He’s scored three goals and nine points in 24 games this season and is averaging just over 15 minutes time-on-ice per game.
2023 AHL All-Star Rosters Announced
While the focus of many hockey fans is on the upcoming NHL All-Star festivities, the AHL is set to hold its own event to honor the league’s best players. Today, they announced the rosters for the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic, which will be held in Laval, Quebec on February 5-6. Todd Nelson (Hershey), Greg Moore (Toronto), Neil Graham (Texas), and Mitch Love (Calgary) will be the four head coaches.
The rosters are as follows:
Atlantic Division
F Will Cuylle, Hartford Wolf Pack
F Tyson Foerster, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
F Ethen Frank, Hershey Bears
F Matthew Highmore, Springfield Thunderbirds
F Vinni Lettieri, Providence Bruins
F Riley Nash, Charlotte Checkers
F Mike Vecchione, Hershey Bears
D Samuel Bolduc, Bridgeport Islanders
D Xavier Ouellet, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
D Cam York, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
G Brandon Bussi, Providence Bruins
G Joel Hofer, Springfield Thunderbirds
North Division
F Alex Barré-Boulet, Syracuse Crunch
F Brandon Biro, Rochester Americans
F Gabriel Dumont, Syracuse Crunch
F Anthony Richard, Laval Rocket
F Logan Shaw, Toronto Marlies
F Egor Sokolov, Belleville Senators
D Justin Barron, Laval Rocket
D Noel Hoefenmayer, Toronto Marlies
D David Jiricek, Cleveland Monsters
D Darren Raddysh, Syracuse Crunch
G Nico Daws, Utica Comets
G Joseph Woll, Toronto Marlies
Central Division
F Riley Barber, Texas Stars
F David Gust, Rockford IceHogs
F Tommy Novak, Milwaukee Admirals
F Lukas Reichel, Rockford IceHogs
F Brett Seney, Rockford IceHogs
F Sammy Walker, Iowa Wild
D Declan Chisholm, Manitoba Moose
D Thomas Harley, Texas Stars
D Max Lajoie, Chicago Wolves
D Brian Lashoff, Grand Rapids Griffins
G Yaroslav Askarov, Milwaukee Admirals
G Jesper Wallstedt, Iowa Wild
Pacific Division
F Thomas Bordeleau, San Jose Barracuda
F Michael Carcone, Tucson Roadrunners
F Seth Griffith, Bakersfield Condors
F Matthew Phillips, Calgary Wranglers
F Andrew Poturalski, Coachella Valley Firebirds
F T.J. Tynan, Ontario Reign
D Ryker Evans, Coachella Valley Firebirds
D Brad Hunt, Colorado Eagles
D Daniil Miromanov, Henderson Silver Knights
D Christian Wolanin, Abbotsford Canucks
G Lukas Dostal, San Diego Gulls
G Dustin Wolf, Calgary Wranglers
Canadiens Recall Justin Barron
The Canadiens have decided to get a look at one of their main acquisitions from the trade deadline last season as they announced the recall of defenseman Justin Barron from AHL Laval.
Montreal picked up the 21-year-old last season at the trade deadline from Colorado as part of the move that saw Artturi Lehkonen head to the Cup-winning Avalanche. While Barron got into five games with the Canadiens last season, this will be his first taste of NHL action this year. So far at the minor league level with the Rocket, he has seven goals and nine assists in 25 games.
With David Savard and Mike Matheson both injured, Montreal was only carrying six healthy blueliners prior to this recall. Considering the Canadiens still have four games left on their season-long seven-game road trip, some injury insurance on the back end was needed and it will be Barron that gets the nod.
Montreal Canadiens Announce Rookie Camp Roster
After months of quiet on the ice, rookie camps usually give hockey fans the much-anticipated signal that the season is drawing close. This year, it also signifies a return to normalcy in the schedule and off-ice operations, with the regular season beginning on time and full media access restored in locker rooms. Today, the Montreal Canadiens announced their roster for rookie camp, which will begin September 14 at the Bell Centre.
As per the team announcement, the roster consists of 28 players (15 forwards, 10 defensemen, and three goaltenders). Six of those 28 players were members of Montreal’s 2022 draft class: first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovský, right wing Filip Mešár (26th overall), center Owen Beck (33rd overall), left wing Cedrick Guindon (127th overall), center Jared Davidson (130th overall), and defenseman Miguël Tourigny (216th overall).
Additionally, the team invited four players to rookie camp on a try-out basis: right wing Pierrick Dubé, right wing John Parker-Jones, and goalies Antoine Coulombe and Riley Mercer.
The main story of the camp will be Slafkovsky’s performance. The Slovak winger’s spectacular international play this season shot him all the way up to first overall on the draft board, but it would be quite a large jump for the 18-year-old to shift from a middle-six role in the Finnish Liiga to full-time NHL minutes. Slafkovsky will play for the Canadiens organization in North America this season in all likelihood, but his rookie camp performance will be important in leaving a good first impression. Whether or not he starts in the NHL or in the AHL with the Laval Rocket remains to be seen.
There’s also the matter of which young Canadiens defensemen will make the team out of camp. Four candidates jump out on their rookie camp roster as players who could show they deserve an NHL look right away: Justin Barron, Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, and Mattias Norlinder. All four except Guhle made their NHL debuts already last season, while Guhle is coming off a WHL championship with the Edmonton Oil Kings and the playoff MVP award. With at least two NHL spots available for these rookies, it should be good competition all throughout rookie camp, training camp, and preseason.
Justin Barron, Jake Allen Out Rest Of Season
The Montreal Canadiens season hasn’t gone according to plan, and it’s ending a little prematurely for another two players. The team announced today that Justin Barron and Jake Allen will not play again this season, though both are expected to make a full recovery in time for training camp.
Barron, 20, was acquired by the Canadiens at the trade deadline and played five games for the team before suffering an ankle injury. It will not require surgery, but he won’t be back in the lineup in 2021-22. The young defenseman was the big prize for the team in the Artturi Lehkonen sweepstakes and represents someone that can play a full-time, impact role as soon as next season. Selected 25th overall by the Colorado Avalanche in 2020, Barron had 20 points in 43 games this season for the Colorado Eagles before the trade.
Allen meanwhile has had just a nightmare season, missing several months due to injury already. He appeared in 35 games, won just nine of them and posted a .905 save percentage. He suffered a groin injury over the weekend, but is expected to be ready by training camp. At that point he is expected to once again be the backup, given Carey Price‘s expected return, though Allen will likely still see a lot of playing time. Signed through 2022-23 at a $2.875MM cap hit, he will hit unrestricted free agency at the end of next season.
The team also announced that Emil Heineman, another prospect acquired earlier this season and recently signed to an entry-level contract, is in Montreal being evaluated for an upper-body injury. There is no timeline for his return, meaning the Laval Rocket will have to wait to get a chance to see him on the ice.