East Notes: Canadiens, Guhle, Senators, Robertson
While the Canadiens sit in the basement of the Atlantic Division once again and are speculated to be likely to move out more veterans, Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette argues that Montreal might be better off retaining two in particular, defenseman Mike Matheson and center Jake Evans. Matheson has one more year left on his contract at an affordable $4.875MM and had 15 points in 24 games so far this season after finishing in the top ten in scoring among NHL defenders in 2023-24. But with Lane Hutson impressing early on, some have wondered if he’d be available.
As for Evans, the 28-year-old is off to a career-best start with five goals and nine assists through 26 outings while logging 16 minutes a game while leading all NHL forwards in shorthanded ice time. A pending unrestricted free agent, he could conceivably double his current $1.7MM price tag on the open market. With his low cost this season, Evans could be one of the Canadiens’ better trade chips but Cowan suggests that he and Matheson might be the right types of veterans to keep around as Montreal tries to emerge from its rebuild in the coming seasons.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- Still with Montreal, Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle missed Thursday’s game against Nashville due to illness. However, TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that indications are that the 22-year-old will return to the lineup tonight. Guhle has recorded six points, 48 blocks, and 26 hits in 20 games so far while averaging a career-best 21:34 per night.
- While the Senators may have had cursory discussions about acquiring Jacob Trouba, those talks wouldn’t have gone far, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The veteran blueliner made it known that he had no interest in playing for a Canadian-based team which also took Montreal, a speculative landing spot with former Ranger GM Jeff Gorton in the front office, off the table. Trouba eventually accepted a deal to Anaheim on Friday.
- After being recalled yesterday, the Rangers announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Matthew Robertson has been re-assigned to AHL Hartford. The 23-year-old hasn’t made his NHL debut just yet but has started well with the Wolf Pack this season, notching eight points in 19 games so far. New York is now down to just six healthy blueliners on its roster so this could be a case of Robertson (or someone else) being brought up on game days to serve as a seventh option for the time being.
Evening Notes: O’Connor, Iginla, Guhle, Lee
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman published today’s rendition of ’32 Thoughts’ in the written medium. One of the noteworthy items is that the Pittsburgh Penguins are getting interest from around the league in forward Drew O’Connor.
O’Connor is seemingly an ideal trade candidate for the Penguins this season. He’s on a relatively cheap expiring contract with a $925K salary. His offensive production is down this season with three goals and nine points in 27 games but he can play up-and-down the lineup at all three forward positions.
The Colorado Avalanche seems like a perfect landing spot for O’Connor should Pittsburgh trade him. It’s tough to find a team dealing with more injuries this season and O’Connor’s versatility and low cost should make for a decent transition. Colorado doesn’t have much draft capital to work with so the Penguins may have to scout heavily into the Avalanche’s minor league systems.
Other notes from tonight:
- It’ll be a short year of development for Tij Iginla. The WHL’s Kelowna Rockets announced Iginla has undergone successful hip surgery but will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 WHL season. Iginla has already skated in 21 games for the Rockets this season scoring 14 goals and 32 points with a +18 rating. Still, the Utah Hockey Club can’t be pleased that the organization’s first-ever draft pick will go most of the season without playing.
- The Montreal Canadiens announced that defenseman Kaiden Guhle wouldn’t play tonight due to illness shortly before the team’s matchup against the Nashville Predators. Justin Barron who’s scored one goal in 12 games for Montreal this season is filling in for Guhle on the blue line. Barron has two shots, one blocked shot, and one hit through 10 minutes in tonight’s game against Nashville.
- Per a team release from the Los Angeles Kings, Andre Lee has been papered down to the AHL’s Ontario Reign. The move is strictly to capture more salary cap space for a Kings organization with limited space. Los Angeles doesn’t play against until Saturday when they take on the Minnesota Wild and the expectation is that Lee will re-join the team for that contest.
Canadiens Activate Kaiden Guhle From Injured Reserve
The Canadiens announced that Kaiden Guhle will be back in the lineup tonight against the Capitals. The defenseman will be activated from injured reserve, but with two open roster spots, no corresponding transaction is necessary. Justin Barron will also return after missing the last three games with an upper-body injury.
Guhle’s activation was prefaced yesterday by Logan Mailloux‘s return to the minors. It wasn’t necessary to open up a roster spot, but Mailloux was going to be sitting in the press box once Guhle was ready to come back. That’s not the right move for the 21-year-old’s development away from the puck, so he’ll return to the AHL to improve his defensive game.
Guhle, 22, had missed the last five games with an upper-body injury. He was off to a hot start on the scoresheet before exiting the lineup, scoring once and adding three assists with a +4 rating in five appearances. His 20 blocked shots still rank third on the team, but as possession metrics indicate, that’s more indicative of how much time he spent in his own end than anything else. Guhle had been given challenging even-strength deployment, but the Canadiens still only controlled 34.5% of shot attempts and 49.9% of expected goals with him on the ice at even strength in the early going.
A left-shot, Guhle will return to his usual top-pairing role on his off side next to Mike Matheson. Barron, a 22-year-old righty with one goal in seven games this season, will comprise Montreal’s third pairing with Jayden Struble. Arber Xhekaj, a healthy scratch twice earlier this month, will sit in the press box to make way for Barron.
Guhle is in the final season of his entry-level contract. Over the offseason, he signed a six-year, $33.3MM extension that will pay him an average of $5.55MM per season starting in 2025-26.
Canadiens Notes: Guhle, Slafkovsky, Harvey-Pinard
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle was a full participant in today’s morning skate as he donned a regular jersey (as per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports). Guhle was officially placed on injured reserve two days ago, but the 22-year-old has been out of the lineup since October 17th with an upper-body injury. Guhle is eligible to come off of IR at any time.
Guhle started the season well offensively, posting four points and a +4 rating in his first five games. The start was a bit of a surprise given that he missed almost all of the Canadiens training camp due to his recovery from appendectomy surgery. However, despite his impressive offensive numbers, Guhle had some major struggles away from the puck and was buoyed by a 113.2 PDO (as per Hockey Reference).
In other Montreal Canadiens notes:
- Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky has dressed tonight after he declared himself pain-free and ready to play (as per Kenzie Lalonde of TSN). Slafkovsky clarified to the media that the issue plaguing him was in fact, not a shoulder injury but was a different issue that he called a “weird injury.” The 20-year-old missed three games with an upper-body injury and slotted in tonight on the second line alongside Alex Newhook and Joel Armia. The 2022 first-overall pick has had a strong start to the season with a goal and five assists in his first six games.
- Montreal forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard practiced today for the first time since having surgery in July to repair a broken leg (as per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports). The 25-year-old was wearing a non-contact jersey as he took to the ice with his teammates, Harvey-Pinard was originally ruled out until late November but could return to the lineup sooner than that, depending on the next few weeks of practice. Harvey-Pinard had a disappointing 2023-24, posting just two goals and eight assists in 45 games.
Canadiens Place Kaiden Guhle On IR, Reassign Lucas Condotta
The Canadiens quietly recalled center Lucas Condotta from AHL Laval over the weekend. While the news evaded PHR at the time, the team announced this morning that he’d been reassigned back to Laval. Condotta was rostered for yesterday’s 4-3 win over the Flyers but did not play. They also moved defenseman Kaiden Guhle to injured reserve, per the NHL’s media site, giving them the 23-man roster spot to house Condotta temporarily.
The 26-year-old Condotta is in his third year of professional hockey after four seasons at UMass-Lowell. He’s spent all of them in the Habs pipeline, signing there as an undrafted free agent immediately after his senior season. The 6’1″, 223-lb pivot saw NHL ice in each of his first two full seasons under contract, recording a goal and a +1 rating in four appearances across the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns.
Condotta hasn’t been a needle-mover offensively with Laval but has shown value as a strong checker. He was named their captain ahead of this season and is off to a good start with three assists and a +2 rating in six appearances. In 150 career AHL games since turning pro at the end of the 2021-22 campaign, he has 24 goals, 30 assists, 54 points, 108 PIMs, and a +1 rating.
The Ontario native is in the back half of a two-year, two-way deal he signed in 2023 as a restricted free agent after his one-year entry-level contract expired. With his 27th birthday coming next week, he’ll be eligible for unrestricted free agency for the first time next summer.
Condotta is no longer waiver-exempt, but he cleared them without incident in September. Based on the timing of each announcement, the Habs only burned one day off his temporary waiver-exempt status, so he can still spend 29 days on the NHL roster (or play up to 10 games) this season until he requires waivers again to return to Laval.
Meanwhile, for Guhle, There’s no material change in his timeline for a return to the lineup. He remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury that’s kept him out of the lineup since Oct. 17. That’s over seven days ago, so he’s eligible to come off IR at any time. There’s now a roster spot for him to walk right into with Condotta being sent down. After missing nearly all of training camp while recovering from appendectomy surgery, Guhle had one goal and three assists for four points and a +4 rating in five showings to begin 2024-25.
Evening Notes: Woll, Guhle, AHL Eligibility
David Alter of The Hockey News is reporting that Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll could be ready to return to action as early as Tuesday. The news comes from Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube, who said it’s possible the 26-year-old would play tomorrow night when Toronto takes on the Columbus Blue Jackets. Woll has been dealing with groin tightness since training camp in early October. His injury has thrust summer free agent signing Anthony Stolarz into a lot of work early in the season as the veteran netminder has played five of Toronto’s first six games entering action tonight.
Woll signed a three-year extension early in the summer and appeared to have the inside track to the starter role as he entered training camp. The Dardenne Prairie, Missouri native was terrific last season for the Maple Leafs, posting 7.2 goals saved above expected (as per Money Puck) in 25 games.
In other evening notes:
- Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports that Montreal Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury and did not participate in Canadiens practice earlier today. Guhle has been dealing with the ailment since late last week and didn’t play on Saturday night against the Islanders. The 22-year-old missed nearly all of Canadiens training camp after having his appendix removed and has had an uneven start to the season, posting good offensive numbers, but has been abysmal on the possession front (34.5% CF% at even strength as per Hockey Reference).
- Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News is reporting that a source of his has told him that the next NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement could have AHL eligibility as an option for 19-year-olds written into it. The news could be another challenge for the CHL who are preparing to navigate the new NCAA eligibility rules. However, the news would be good for players such as Sabres forward prospect Matt Savoie who just spent his age-19 season in the WHL last year.
Atlantic Notes: Red Wings, Canadiens, Woll
The Detroit Red Wings recalled the eighth-overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft, Marco Kasper, earlier today under emergency conditions. We now know the context under which that move was made. Max Bultman of The Athletic shares that forward Tyler Motte is being evaluated for an upper-body injury suffered in the team’s recent game against the New York Rangers.
Motte played most of Thursday’s game against the Rangers securing 9:33 of ice time but did receive quite the shot from rookie defenseman Vittorio Mancini in the first period. It became clear that Motte was unappreciative of the hit as he attempted to draw Mancini into a fight on his next shift.
With the team hopeful Kasper can give them an offensive jolt up front, the team will also gain reinforcements on the back end. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports defenseman Jeff Petry is medically cleared to play in the team’s next contest tomorrow afternoon. Petry has only factored into Detroit’s opening night loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins so far as he’s been recovering from an upper-body injury.
Other Atlantic notes:
- The Montreal Canadiens will be somewhat bruised and battered in their upcoming game against the New York Islanders tomorrow evening. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports that defenseman Kaiden Guhle won’t travel with the team as he’s dealing with an upper-body injury but fortunately, defenseman Mike Matheson will make the trip. Engels also shared that forward Juraj Slafkovsky would travel with the team to New York but he’s questionable to participate in tomorrow night’s action. Montreal will look to win their third contest of the season tomorrow night but may have to do so without some important pieces.
- Goaltender Joseph Woll‘s return to game action for the Toronto Maple Leafs is on the horizon as Nick Barden of The Hockey News reported the young netminder was a full participant at the team’s practice this morning. Woll has been on the team’s injured reserve with an upper-body injury since the regular season kicked off on October 9th. Toronto has gotten adequate goaltending in his absence between Anthony Stolarz and Dennis Hildeby combining for a .935 save percentage in four games with 4.2 goals saved above average according to Hockey Reference.
Canadiens Recall Logan Mailloux
The Canadiens have recalled defenseman Logan Mailloux from AHL Laval, according to a team announcement. There’s an open spot on their 23-man roster, so no corresponding move is necessary. The call-up does come after No. 1 defender Mike Matheson left last night’s loss to the Kings with an upper-body injury, however. Kaiden Guhle is also day-to-day with an upper-body injury, the team said later Friday.
Mailloux, 21, made his NHL debut in the final game of last season, posting an assist and a +1 rating with two shots on goal in over 21 minutes of action against the Red Wings. It came at the end of the right-shot defender’s first season in the pros, playing all 72 games for Laval. His 14 goals and 33 assists for 47 points led Rocket defensemen in scoring and earned him a place on the league’s All-Rookie Team.
The 6’3″ Ontario native spent his junior career with the OHL’s London Knights. While spending his draft year on loan to Sweden’s SK Lejon due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was charged with defamation and criminal photography for “sending explicit pictures of a sexual act without the consent of his partner” (as written by CTV’s Daniel J. Rowe).
He was fined by the Swedish government and subsequently asked not to be selected in the 2021 draft but was selected by Montreal anyway with the 31st overall pick. He spent most of his post-draft year with OHL London out of the lineup, serving a suspension related to the charges, but had 53 points in 59 games the following season and led the league in goals from a defenseman with 25.
In regard to Matheson, the 30-year-old will be further evaluated today, the team said (via TSN). He had three assists and a -2 rating through Montreal’s first five games of the season. He’s coming off a 51-assist, 62-point campaign in 2023-24 that nearly doubled his previous career highs, cementing himself as a top-pairing threat offensively in the prime of his career with the Habs. He logged 25:33 per game last year, good enough for third in the league.
Mailloux will enter the lineup tomorrow against the Islanders if neither Matheson or Guhle can play.
Canadiens Reassign Three Players
Oct. 7: The Habs returned Condotta, Gignac, and Trudeau to Laval last night, the team announced Monday morning.
Oct. 5: Several teams today have promoted players from the AHL in advance of their final preseason game tonight. Montreal is the latest to do so as they’ve recalled forwards Brandon Gignac and Lucas Condotta along with defenseman William Trudeau from AHL Laval per the NHL’s Media Portal.
Gignac spent most of last season in the minors but saw his AHL contract converted to a two-year, two-way NHL deal in February. He got into seven games with Montreal last season, scoring his first NHL goal. Meanwhile, in Laval, he had 19 goals and 36 assists in 61 games.
Condotta, meanwhile, has now been recalled for the second time since clearing waivers less than a week ago. The 26-year-old was held off the scoresheet in three appearances with the Canadiens last season while adding 19 points in 65 contests for the Rocket. Condotta, a full-time forward, wound up taking some shifts as a defenseman last weekend when the Canadiens were down to just four available to them early in a preseason game against Toronto.
As for Trudeau, the 21-year-old has yet to see NHL action in his first two professional seasons. Instead, he has played exclusively with Laval and put up eight goals and 16 assists in 70 games in 2023-24.
Meanwhile, the team revealed earlier today (Twitter link) that blueliner Kaiden Guhle will play his first preseason game after undergoing an appendectomy last month, causing him to miss their first five contests.
As for the other three, they will likely be returned to Laval before Monday’s deadline to submit season-opening cap-compliant rosters to the NHL.
Atlantic Notes: Canadiens-Senators, Guhle, Red Wings
No supplemental discipline is expected after a flurry of controversial hits and injuries in last night’s Canadiens-Senators preseason tilt, reports Sportsnet’s Eric Engels.
The fireworks started late in the first period when Ottawa forward Ridly Greig elevated his arms to lay a blindside hit on Montreal center Kirby Dach, receiving an interference minor and briefly knocking him out of the game. Dach would return, but that didn’t stop Habs defender Arber Xhekaj from charging Sens star Tim Stützle with a similar hit midway through the second period, earning himself an interference major and a game misconduct. He also received matching minors with Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk after the play. Neither Stützle nor Tkachuk returned to the contest with upper-body injuries, per the team.
Dach and Greig brawled during the third after the former returned to the game. Both players received fighting majors and 10-minute misconducts. Dach also received an extra minor for interference on the play. The Xhekaj hit on Stützle was likely most prone to a potential suspension. Still, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety believes the game misconduct assessed on the play was appropriate on its own.
More from the Atlantic Division:
- Staying with Montreal, defenseman Kaiden Guhle is skating in a regular jersey at Wednesday’s practice, per Engels. It’s the first time he’s done so since having his appendix removed at the beginning of training camp. The 2020 16th overall pick signed a six-year, $33.3MM extension to remain a Canadien for the long haul in July, but he’ll still play out this season under the final year of his entry-level contract. The Edmonton native has quickly established himself as a top-four defender, averaging 20:51 per game last season and adding 22 points (6 G, 16 A) with a -8 rating in 70 contests.
- Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde is “very impressed” with how forward prospects Nate Danielson, Marco Kasper, and Carter Mazur have performed in training camp, he told The Athletic’s Max Bultman. “They’ve kind of played into my optimistic vision of them,” he added. “I like all three. I think I’ve stated that quite a bit over the last year, year and a half, and they’ve done nothing to disappoint.” The trio are still long shots to make the opening night roster with some crowded roster math working against them, but it’s clear they’ll be at the top of the list for in-season call-ups and should each get at least a few NHL reps this year.