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Nick Suzuki

NHL Announces Player Assignments For Skills Competition

February 3, 2022 at 2:49 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 12 Comments

The NHL All-Star Skills competition will take place tomorrow night in Las Vegas, and the league has announced ahead of time which players will participate in which events. The player assignments for the seven events are as follows:

Fastest Skater

Chris Kreider, NYR
Adrian Kempe, LAK
Kyle Connor, WPG
Evgeny Kuznetsov, WSH
Jordan Kyrou, STL
Dylan Larkin, DET
Cale Makar, COL
Connor McDavid, EDM           

Save Streak

Jack Campbell, TOR
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL
Frederik Andersen, CAR
Tristan Jarry, PIT
Cam Talbot, MIN
Juuse Saros, NSH
Thatcher Demko, VAN
John Gibson, ANA

Fountain Face-Off

Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA
Claude Giroux, PHI
Jordan Eberle, SEA
Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson
Roman Josi, NSH
Nick Suzuki, MTL
Zach Werenski, CBJ
Mark Stone, VGK

Hardest Shot

Adam Pelech, NYI
Timo Meier, SJS
Victor Hedman, TBL
Tom Wilson, WSH

Breakaway Challenge

Goalies: Manon Rhéaume & Wyatt Russell

Kirill Kaprizov, MIN
Trevor Zegras, ANA
Jack Hughes, NJD
Alex DeBrincat, CHI
Alex Pietrangelo, VGK

Las Vegas NHL 21 in ’22

Nazem Kadri, COL
Auston Matthews, TOR
Joe Pavelski, DAL
Steven Stamkos, TBL
Brady Tkachuk, OTT

Accuracy Shooting

Leon Draisaitl, EDM
Clayton Keller, ARI
Rasmus Dahlin, BUF
Sebastian Aho, CAR
Jake Guentzel, PIT
Troy Terry, ANA
Johnny Gaudreau, CGY
Patrice Bergeron, BOS
Jonathan Marchessault, VGK

Two new events, the Fountain Face-Off and 21 in ’22 will be held outside in the Bellagio fountain and Las Vegas strip respectively. Individual winners of each event will earn $30,000.

Adam Pelech| Adrian Kempe| Alex DeBrincat| Alex Pietrangelo| Andrei Vasilevskiy| Auston Matthews| Brady Tkachuk| Cale Makar| Cam Talbot| Chris Kreider| Claude Giroux| Clayton Keller| Connor McDavid| Dylan Larkin| Evgeny Kuznetsov| Frederik Andersen| Jack Campbell| Jack Hughes| Jake Guentzel| Joe Pavelski| John Gibson| Johnny Gaudreau| Jonathan Huberdeau| Jonathan Marchessault| Jordan Eberle| Jordan Kyrou| Juuse Saros| Kirill Kaprizov| Kyle Connor| Las Vegas| Leon Draisaitl| Mark Stone| Nazem Kadri| Nick Suzuki| Patrice Bergeron

12 comments

2022 NHL All-Star Game Rosters Revealed

January 26, 2022 at 1:00 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 31 Comments

Jan 26: After Batherson was injured last night, the league has announced that Brady Tkachuk will replace him and be the Senators’ representative.

Jan 13: During a live reveal on ESPN’s SportsCenter program in the United States, the National Hockey League unveiled their four divisional rosters for the 2022 NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Eight skaters and two goalies were announced for each team, leaving one skater spot open for each division. That last spot will once again be decided by a fan vote, who they can select by voting at NHL.com/LastMenIn.

The head coaches of each team were announced earlier, decided by the teams in first place (by points percentage) in their division on New Years Day. Florida’s Andrew Brunette heads the Atlantic Division, Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour will coach the Metropolitan Division, Colorado’s Jared Bednar is the bench boss for the Central Division, and Vegas’ Peter DeBoer will serve as the Pacific Division’s coach.

Below are the full rosters for each division.

Atlantic Division

F Auston Matthews “C” (Toronto Maple Leafs)
F Drake Batherson (Ottawa Senators)
F Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
F Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida Panthers)
F Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings)
F Nick Suzuki (Montreal Canadiens)
D Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres)
D Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
G Jack Campbell (Toronto Maple Leafs)
G Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Metropolitan Division

F Alex Ovechkin “C” (Washington Capitals)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes)
F Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers)
F Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils)
F Chris Kreider (New York Rangers)
D Adam Fox (New York Rangers)
D Adam Pelech (New York Islanders)
D Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets)
G Frederik Andersen (Carolina Hurricanes)
G Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Central Division

F Nathan MacKinnon “C” (Colorado Avalanche)
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg Jets)
F Alex DeBrincat (Chicago Blackhawks)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild)
F Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes)
F Jordan Kyrou (St. Louis Blues)
F Joe Pavelski (Dallas Stars)
D Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche)
G Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators)
G Cam Talbot (Minnesota Wild)

Pacific Division

F Connor McDavid “C” (Edmonton Oilers)
F Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers)
F Jordan Eberle (Seattle Kraken)
F Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames)
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings)
F Timo Meier (San Jose Sharks)
F Mark Stone (Vegas Golden Knights)
D Alex Pietrangelo (Vegas Golden Knights)
G Thatcher Demko (Vancouver Canucks)
G John Gibson (Anaheim Ducks)

Adam Fox| Adam Pelech| Adrian Kempe| Alex DeBrincat| Alex Ovechkin| Alex Pietrangelo| Andrei Vasilevskiy| Auston Matthews| Cale Makar| Cam Talbot| Chris Kreider| Claude Giroux| Clayton Keller| Connor McDavid| Drake Batherson| Dylan Larkin| Frederik Andersen| Jack Campbell| Jack Hughes| Joe Pavelski| John Gibson| Johnny Gaudreau| Jonathan Huberdeau| Jordan Eberle| Jordan Kyrou| Juuse Saros| Kirill Kaprizov| Kyle Connor| Leon Draisaitl| Mark Stone| Nathan MacKinnon| Nick Suzuki| Patrice Bergeron| Rasmus Dahlin| Sebastian Aho| Thatcher Demko| Timo Meier| Tristan Jarry| Victor Hedman| Zach Werenski

31 comments

Montreal Canadiens Extend Nick Suzuki

October 12, 2021 at 9:10 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

With their season starting tomorrow night, the Montreal Canadiens have locked up their future. Nick Suzuki has signed an eight-year extension that will carry an average annual salary of $7.875MM. The deal will start in the 2022-23 season and keeps Suzuki far away from restricted free agency and any potential offer sheet. Chris Johnston of the Toronto Star reports that the deal will include a 10-team no-trade list (which is only applicable for the final four seasons of the contract). PuckPedia tweets the full breakdown:

  • 2022-23: $6.0MM salary + $4.0MM signing bonus
  • 2023-24: $10.0MM salary
  • 2024-25: $10.0MM salary
  • 2025-26: $8.75MM salary
  • 2026-27: $6.25MM salary
  • 2027-28: $6.0MM salary
  • 2028-29: $3.0MM salary + $3.0MM signing bonus
  • 2029-30: $3.0MM salary + $3.0MM signing bonus

Suzuki, 22, is coming off a very strong season with the Canadiens and has assumed the team’s first-line center spot, an undisputed role now that both Philip Danault and Jesperi Kotkaniemi are playing elsewhere. The young forward recorded 41 points in 56 games, but it was once again his outstanding postseason that really put him on the map for many fans. In 22 games on Montreal’s quest for the Stanley Cup, Suzuki scored seven goals and 16 points while averaging almost 19 minutes a game.

That ice time is likely to only go up from here as he transitions from up-and-comer to established leader, helming the Canadiens attack every night. This extension is betting that he’ll take on that responsibility without issue, making him the team’s highest-paid skater for next season, even eclipsing Shea Weber’s LTIR-bound contract.

Make no mistake, there is risk in a deal of this magnitude for someone so young. Suzuki’s career-high in goals is 15 and he has just 82 points through his 127-game career to this point. While those are fine totals, this deal is assuming they will increase as he enters the prime years of his career; a safe assumption, but one nonetheless.

With the deal registered, the Canadiens now have more than $84MM committed to 18 players for next season. A good chunk of that–$7.86MM–is Weber’s deal that will likely be moved to LTIR once again, but it still means that the team won’t have a ton of extra space to work with moving forward. Long-term deals for Suzuki, Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson, Christian Dvorak, Jeff Petry, David Savard, Jake Evans, Joel Armia, and Carey Price mean that this group is unlikely to see sweeping changes for quite some time. Even Mike Hoffman, Joel Edmundson, and Tyler Toffoli are signed for two more years after this season, meaning this is essentially the group for the next while.

No matter what, this is a contract extension that has a high probability of looking like a steal in a few years, should Suzuki continue on his current development path. At worst, he’s a little overpaid as he settles into the level he has already reached. But the Canadiens haven’t had a franchise center in some time, and certainly weren’t going to risk letting this one get poached in restricted free agency, or increase his price with a true breakout offensive campaign.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Free Agency| Montreal Canadiens| Newsstand| Nick Suzuki

3 comments

Trade Rumors: Dubois, Byron, Dumba

January 13, 2021 at 8:11 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 14 Comments

The Pierre-Luc Dubois saga in Columbus took a another turn on Wednesday, as always-candid head coach John Tortorella appeared in an interview on 97.1 The Fan and did not hold back in his commentary on the situation surrounding his young forward. While he has not officially requested a trade from the Blue Jackets, contract negotiations with Dubois did not go well and the team has been led to believe that he would prefer a change of scenery. Tortorella took a more direct approach, outright confirming that this is the case:

Yeah, he wants out. He spoke to the team, as we do here. It’s a little bit different than (departed 2019 free agents Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky) were. This is a 22-year-old kid. It doesn’t happen that often, so he has been honest with the group.

Yet, Tortorella is not content with the explanations (or lack thereof) that Dubois has provided he and others. He remains unclear as to what has changed in the talented center, who looked like a budding superstar and long-term cornerstone in Columbus just months ago in the postseason. And if the coach himself is to blame, it doesn’t seem like Tortorella is willing to let that change his style or impact his locker room.

 I wish he was a little bit more honest as far as reasons why. I still haven’t really gotten to that, but I think he needs to speak on that… I think that (conflict) is a really good thing in developing a hockey player.  Now ’Luc’ may not think that. Sometimes these players, especially today’s athletes, think, ’You’re too hard on me, you’re picking on me’ and this and that. Maybe it’s too hard for him. I don’t know. I haven’t been given a reason why he wants to leave. He certainly hasn’t said it to me that ’I don’t want to play for you.’ I think if that’s the reason he should tell me, and he should really basically get in front of it and get up out of here. That’s just the way I think you should do business in this stuff here. There’s no sense of people trying to figure out what’s going on. Let’s get in front of it here and get about our business and try to be the best team we can be… It’s a short leash with me as far as this is concerned. He needs to continue to do the things to help this team win and be the best teammate he can be, or I’m not sure where it goes. It’s a situation and we’ll go to it day by day.

Tortorella’s very public and very honest take on Dubois is not going to make the situation any better, even if the coach is not to blame for the trade request. Initial reports stated that the Blue Jackets may take their time to deal Dubois, waiting to maximize the return as best they can while he hopefully continues to contribute on the ice. However, if the locker room becomes too toxic with a top player at odds with the head coach and openly opposed to any future with the organization, this situation may need a resolution sooner rather than later. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that suitors are already serious about adding Dubois, so if the Blue Jackets need to make a quick trade, they will still have plenty of offers to choose from.

  • The Montreal Canadiens were able to get under the salary cap ceiling, but it was a tight fit. CapFriendly shows the club with only $708K in space for just a 21-man roster. If the Habs want the flexibility to even field a full roster never mind make a trade addition this season, someone has to go. Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette writes that the name being whispered is that of Paul Byron. Byron has been a loyal soldier for Montreal over the past five years and has developed into one of the club’s locker room leaders. However, the Canadiens’ off-season additions of Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli and the emergence of youngsters Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi have pushed Byron into a seemingly permanent bottom-six role. In fact, Byron played on the team’s fourth line throughout training camp and in Wednesday’s season opener. At a $3.4MM AAV through 2022-23, Byron is an expensive piece to be playing a checking role. The 31-year-old winger has not been durable either over the past couple of seasons either and may be ill-suited for his new position. Byron has scored at nearly a half-point per-game pace over the past four seasons combined and would be more valuable to another team that is able and willing to keep him in a scoring role. The question is whether that destination exists and, if so, will the Habs ultimately pull the trigger on dealing away a respected veteran.
  • One player enjoying the spotlight of rumor mill being off him for now is Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba. Dumba has heard the noise for more than a year now, but remains with the Wild; and the talented blue liner is happy about that, he tells TwinCities.com’s Dane Mizutani. Mizutani is not the only one that Dumba has confided in, either. He has also gone directly to GM Bill Guerin and stated that he would like to remain with the team. Guerin will certainly listen to one of his best players, but he has to listen to offers as well with the threat of the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft looming. With fellow top-four defenders Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, and Jonas Brodin all holding No-Movement Clauses in their current contracts and requiring protection from the expansion draft, Dumba would be the odd man out in the standard 7-3 protection scheme. Minnesota will definitely not allow the Seattle Kraken to acquire Dumba for free though, which has prompted his placement on the trade block. However, if Dumba can back up his desire to remain with the Wild with a strong 2020-21 campaign, Guerin may decide to go with the 8-skater protection scheme and expose three forwards rather than the skilled defenseman.

Bill Guerin| Columbus Blue Jackets| Expansion| Jared Spurgeon| Jesperi Kotkaniemi| John Tortorella| Jonas Brodin| Josh Anderson| Matt Dumba| Minnesota Wild| Montreal Canadiens| Nick Suzuki| Paul Byron| Pierre-Luc Dubois| Salary Cap| Seattle Kraken| Trade Rumors

14 comments

Vegas Golden Knights Shopping Max Pacioretty

December 8, 2020 at 8:37 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 21 Comments

Perhaps spurred by the recent progress in getting the 2020-21 season up and running, the Vegas Golden Knights are back at it, working the phones in an effort to make a move to get salary cap compliant. Vegas is one of a number of teams currently over the salary cap upper limit and must shed some salary before play begins. However, the player that GM Kelly McCrimmon is allegedly pushing to other teams may come as a surprise. TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports that veteran forward Max Pacioretty has been the subject of trade talks this off-season, with those discussions picking up steam in recent days.

Pacioretty, 32, may be one of the older players on the Vegas roster but is still an elite scorer. The long-time Montreal Canadien was in fact the Knights’ leading scorer this past season, recording 66 points in 71 games for a career-high scoring clip. He added another eight points in the playoffs. In the two seasons since coming over from the Habs, Pacioretty has shown no signs of slowing down. His loss would be felt in a major way in Vegas, both on the ice and in the locker room.

However, Pacioretty’s $7MM, while commensurate to his production, is a massive weight on the Golden Knight’s salary cap. If the team were to move Pacioretty without retaining any salary, they would not only be under the cap ceiling but would have the flexibility to make an addition if they so desire. Seravalli mentions top available free agent Mike Hoffman or a reunion with Erik Haula as possibilities. One would also think that Pacioretty would still bring in a considerable return as well; he cost Vegas Nick Suzuki, Tomas Tatar, and a second-round pick just two years ago. However, in a definitive buyer’s market, McCrimmon would have to be careful not to give away Pacioretty for too little just for the sake of cap savings. The team was already lambasted for trading top defenseman Nate Schmidt for pennies on the dollar in order to facilitate the signing of Alex Pietrangelo. 

One other concern for the Knights’ brass is the locker room culture. There have already been reports of many players being unhappy with the frequent trades that the team has made and the perceived lack of loyalty toward the roster. The team has dealt Schmidt, Haula, Colin Miller, Cody Eakin, Malcolm Subban, Brandon Pirri, and Paul Stastny all in the past 18 months, leaving the young franchise with very little roster consistency. There are certainly some in the room who have to be unhappy to even hear the whispers of a potential Pacioretty move. Others in the media have noted that he is not the only name on the block either, with fan favorite Marc-Andre Fleury likely being floated again as well. Vegas must tread carefully when it comes to making any further moves and a Pacioretty trade in particular can only be made with a considerable return and a plan to replace him with the cap savings.

Alex Pietrangelo| Brandon Pirri| Cody Eakin| Colin Miller| Erik Haula| Kelly McCrimmon| Marc-Andre Fleury| Max Pacioretty| Mike Hoffman| Nate Schmidt| Nick Suzuki| Paul Stastny| Salary Cap| Vegas Golden Knights

21 comments

NHL Announces First And Second All-Star Teams, All-Rookie Team

September 21, 2020 at 8:45 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 4 Comments

Following the announcements of the final five NHL regular season awards, the league also revealed their three all-league rosters: the First-Team All-Stars, the Second-Team All-Stars, and the All-Rookie Team. Below are the 2019-20 honorees:

First All-Star Team (link)

G: Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
D: Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
D: John Carlson, Washington Capitals
LW: Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers
C: Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
RW: David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins

The 2020 First-Team All-Stars are a historic group, the first time since the inaugural all-league honors in 1930-31 that all six honorees are first-time members of the team. Unsurprisingly, this team also covers most of the league’s major awards with Draisaitl taking home the Hart, Ted Lindsay, and Art Ross, Josi winning the Norris, Hellebuyck winning the Vezina, and Pastrnak earning the Rocket Richard.

Second All-Star Team (link)

G: Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
D: Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues
D: Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
LW: Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
C: Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
RW: Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning

The President’s Trophy-winning Boston Bruins finish with a league-best three players on All-Star rosters. Their division rival, and current Stanley Cup finalist, the Tampa Bay Lightning are the only other team with more than one inclusion on the all-star rosters. Noticeably absent from either all-star teams are future Hall of Famers Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. This is just the third time since 2005-06 that at least one of the pair have not been on a postseason All-Star team, while they have both have been selected in the same year eight times in the past 15 years.

All-Rookie Team (link)

G: Elvis Merzlikins, Columbus Blue Jackets
D: Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
D: Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks
F: Victor Olofsson, Buffalo Sabres
F: Dominik Kubalik, Chicago Blackhawks
F: Nick Suzuki, Montreal Canadiens

The rookie elite, led by Calder Trophy-winner Makar, is an older group than usual. Merzlikins, Olofsson, and Kubalik, all 25 or older, played in Europe for a considerable amount of time before jumping to North America as a polished product, while Makar and Hughes each played a pair of seasons in the NCAA and Suzuki aged out of juniors before turning pro. Nevertheless, the first-year pros were all impressive and still have many  quality years ahead of them.

Alex Ovechkin| Alex Pietrangelo| Artemi Panarin| Boston Bruins| Brad Marchand| Buffalo Sabres| Cale Makar| Chicago Blackhawks| Colorado Avalanche| Columbus Blue Jackets| Connor Hellebuyck| Dallas Stars| David Pastrnak| Dominik Kubalik| Edmonton Oilers| Elvis Merzlikins| Hall of Fame| John Carlson| Leon Draisaitl| Montreal Canadiens| Nashville Predators| Nathan MacKinnon| NCAA| New York Rangers| NHL| Nick Suzuki| Nikita Kucherov| Pittsburgh Penguins| Players| St. Louis Blues| Tampa Bay Lightning| Vancouver Canucks| Washington Capitals| Winnipeg Jets

4 comments

NHL Announces Player Gaming Challenge

April 23, 2020 at 11:57 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 1 Comment

The NHL is trying desperately to stay relevant even as their season sits in limbo and have today announced a new feature for fans to tune into. The NHL Player Gaming Challenge will be a tournament of EA SPORTS NHL 20 games featuring players from each of the 32 organizations. The tournament will go for four weeks starting on April 30th. The league and EA will donate a combined $100,000 in support of COVID-19 relief.

Because the Seattle expansion franchise doesn’t have any players to represent them at this point, Luke Willson from the Seattle Seahawks of the NHL will carry the torch.

The full list of participants:

Anaheim Ducks: Cam Fowler

Arizona Coyotes: Conor Garland, Clayton Keller

Boston Bruins: Jake Debrusk, Charlie McAvoy

Buffalo Sabres: Brandon Montour

Calgary Flames: Noah Hanifin, Matthew Tkachuk

Carolina Hurricanes: Warren Foegele

Chicago Blackhawks: Drake Caggiula, Alex DeBrincat

Columbus Blue Jackets: Elvis Merzlikins, Zach Werenski

Colorado Avalanche: J.T. Compher

Dallas Stars: Stephen Johns, Jamie Oleksiak

Detroit Redwings: Madison Bowey, Anthony Mantha

Edmonton Oilers: Caleb Jones, Darnell Nurse

Florida Panthers: Jonathan Huberdeau

Los Angeles Kings: Michael Amadio, Blake Lizotte

Minnesota Wild: Devan Dubnyk, Jordan Greenway

Montreal Canadiens: Victor Mete, Nick Suzuki

Nashville Predators: Filip Forsberg

New Jersey Devils: MacKenzie Blackwood

New York Islanders: Matt Martin

New York Rangers: Chris Kreider

NHL Seattle: Luke Willson, Seattle Seahawks (NFL)

Ottawa Senators: Brady Tkachuk, Chris Tierney

Philadelphia Flyers: James van Riemsdyk

Pittsburgh Penguins: Zach Aston-Reese, Bryan Rust

San Jose Sharks: Evander Kane, Marcus Sorensen

St Louis Blues: Colton Parayko, Robert Thomas

Tampa Bay Lightning: Tyler Johnson

Toronto Maple Leafs: Zach Hyman

Vancouver Canucks: Thatcher Demko, Adam Gaudette

Vegas Golden Knights: Ryan Reaves, Alex Tuch

Washington Capitals: Evgeny Kuznetsov

Winnipeg Jets: Anthony Bitetto, Kyle Connor

Select games can be seen on NBC Sports and Sportsnet ONE. All matches will also air within NHL Network’s on-air programming or its Twitch channel.

Adam Gaudette| Alex DeBrincat| Alex Tuch| Anthony Bitetto| Anthony Mantha| Blake Lizotte| Brady Tkachuk| Brandon Montour| Bryan Rust| Cam Fowler| Charlie McAvoy| Chris Kreider| Chris Tierney| Clayton Keller| Colton Parayko| Darnell Nurse| Devan Dubnyk| Drake Caggiula| Elvis Merzlikins| Evander Kane| Evgeny Kuznetsov| Filip Forsberg| J.T. Compher| Jake DeBrusk| James van Riemsdyk| Jamie Oleksiak| Jonathan Huberdeau| Jordan Greenway| Kyle Connor| MacKenzie Blackwood| Madison Bowey| Marcus Sorensen| Matt Martin| Matthew Tkachuk| Michael Amadio| Nick Suzuki| Noah Hanifin

1 comment

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Montreal Canadiens

December 22, 2019 at 2:27 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 4 Comments

As the holiday season approaches, PHR will take a look at what teams are thankful for as the season heads past the one-quarter mark. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Montreal Canadiens.

What are the Canadiens most thankful for?

Plenty of depth scoring.

While the team may not be an elite scoring team, they do get quite a bit of offense from their team with multiple players producing for the Canadiens. The team has six players with 20 points or more and four players with 10 or more goal and another four that have seven or more goals. Tomas Tatar leads the squad with 13 goals and 30 points, while Brendan Gallagher is right behind him 15 goals and 28 points. Phillip Danault has eight goals and 27 points, while Max Domi isn’t far behind with eight goals and 24 points. Joel Armia has 12 goals and even rookie Nick Suzuki has potted seven goals this season.

Who are the Canadiens most thankful for?

Anyone who thinks that at age 34, Shea Weber’s career might begin to decline haven’t seen how well he’s played this year. In 58 games last season, he put up a respectable 14 goals and 39 points even though he was returning from a major injury. However, now fully healthy, he’s shown that little can stop him as he has produced almost a point-per-game pace with 11 goals and 29 points in 33 games this season and is on pace for a potential career-high in goals and points.

Of course, Weber still has six more years remaining on his mega-deal that is worth an AAV of $7.86MM per season, but with the way he’s playing at his age, that contract has been a better value than many thought it might be.

What would the Canadiens be even more thankful for?

The team still has a number of players underproducing and could use a solid second-half of the season.

While Carey Price hasn’t been a disappointment by any measure, his numbers also lack that dominance that has made him one of the best goalies in the league. Through 29 appearances, the 32-year-old has a very pedestrian 2.89 GAA and a .905 save percentage. With the Canadiens battling in quite a tight Atlantic Division, a dominant Price could vault the team even higher in the standings.

On the other hand, a pair of forwards continue to struggle. Jonathan Drouin still hasn’t figured it out. Brought in to be the new dominant face of the franchise back in 2017, Drouin hasn’t been that player and now has been derailed with a wrist injury, but if the team can get Drouin to become the star they had envisioned when he returns at some point in January, the team might be able to take that next step as well.

What should be on the Canadiens’ Holiday Wish List?

A star.

The Montreal Canadiens were rumored to be deep in trade negotiations in hopes of prying star forward Taylor Hall to the team, but failed in the end to land the former Hart Trophy winner. Regardless, the team that should have some cap money to spend this coming summer has made it clear it would like to bring in a big name to headline the team. Unfortunately, with Hall of the table, the options for landing a big name have dwindled as the next biggest star available to the team might be Chris Kreider, who likely doesn’t qualify as a franchise player.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Brendan Gallagher| Carey Price| Joel Armia| Jonathan Drouin| Max Domi| Montreal Canadiens| Nick Suzuki| Phillip Danault| Thankful Series 2019-20

4 comments

Atlantic Notes: Debrusk, Suzuki, Evans, Olofsson

September 22, 2019 at 5:56 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 5 Comments

The Boston Bruins went to the wire with two of their restricted free agents this summer in Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo. Next year might be even worse. The team will have 10 free agents to deal with and another key restricted free agent in Jake Debrusk and will have to hope they can negotiate their way to avoid any holdouts.

Debrusk is coming off a 27-goal season, which would suggest a significant raise, especially if Debrusk can duplicate or even surpass last seasons numbers. NBC Sports’ Joe Haggerty writes that Debrusk has kept a careful watch on the negotiations with McAvoy and Carlo and hopes he also can avoid any kind of a holdout.

“Obviously that’s going to be my situation [as an RFA]. Hopefully not [as a holdout], but maybe, possibly next year just looking around the league you see different things with guys dragging it out,” said DeBrusk, who will be joined by Brett Ritchie and Matt Grzelcyk as next summer’s restricted free agents for the Bruins. “It’s one of those where you ask questions on the business side of it. Things change and different stuff happens with talks, but at the same time I mostly just try to stay out of it. I try to stay dialed in to get ready for training camp and the season. I guess when that time comes, though, I’ll be more aware of what to expect.”

  • The Athletic’s Marc Dumont (subscription required) writes that the Montreal Canadiens have two key players vying for a roster spot in an intense training camp. The team especially likes what it has seen so far from Nick Suzuki and Jake Evans. The Canadiens have given Suzuki a chance to play on the wing so he can challenge for a roster spot and the 20-year-old has fared quite well so far in the preseason. Evans is fighting for a job on the fourth line, but will have to beat out quite a few veterans to claim the job, including Nick Cousins, Nate Thompson and Jordan Weal.
  • Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News writes that with many young prospects on the Buffalo Sabres vying for a job with the team, one player that has nothing to worry about is forward Victor Olofsson. The scribe says that Olofsson is a lock to make the team as he has had a dominant camp thus far. The 24-year-olf Olofsson proved himself in the SHL in 2017-18 when he tallied 27 goals. Then he proved himself once again in the AHL last season when he potted 30 goals and scored a pair of goals for the Sabres in six late regular season games. The team has been

 

Boston Bruins| Buffalo Sabres| Jake DeBrusk| Montreal Canadiens| Nick Suzuki| RFA

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Snapshots: Hurricanes, Krebs, Suzuki, Poehling

September 5, 2019 at 8:29 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 1 Comment

Justin Williams has left the door open to return to the Carolina Hurricanes at some point during the upcoming season, but the team can’t rely on that possibility as part of their identity moving forward. For that reason, the team will replace him as captain, at least at some point. “Be perfectly clear on it”, head coach Rod Brind’Amour told the Associated Press, “He’s not part of the group. We’re moving on as if he’s not going to be here. If he comes to us in January or February and says, `Maybe I want to come back’… it’s not going to catch us by surprise. He’s earned the right to make that decision”. Veteran forward Jordan Staal echoed the sentiment, saying “as of now, we’re moving on from Willie as our captain and we’ll see where it takes us.”

Of course, Staal was on of two co-captains in Carolina in the season prior to Williams’ arrival, alongside defenseman Justin Faulk. Before that there had been no captain since the departure of the face of the franchise, Eric Staal, in 2016. It doesn’t appear as though these Hurricanes will let the captain role lie dormant in Williams’ wake as they did Staal, but Brind’Amour did say that it may take some time to name a replacement. The younger Staal and Faulk are both strong candidates to take over again. Top young players Jaccob Slavin and Sebastian Aho are also top options. For his part, Staal believes there are actually a number of possible players who can fill the role: ”I think as a core, as a group, we’ve got a lot of good kids and a lot of good leaders. ’Usually, as a captain, there’s a lot of guys beside him that are helping him out. I think Willie was a great leader, but as a core, I think there were a lot of great guys that showed up every day ready to work.”

  • On ability alone, Peyton Krebs should not have been the No. 17 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. The talented young forward out of the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice (formerly Kootenay) was talked about as a possible top-five and certainly top-ten pick last season. However, Krebs tore his Achilles tendon during off-season training prior to the draft and teams became fearful of how it might affect his development. Krebs tumbled down the draft board until the Vegas Golden Knights felt his skill was too attractive to pass up. It seems the team already has a plan in place to best manage the injury as well. The Athletic’s Jesse Granger received word from GM Kelly McCrimmon that Krebs will remain in Las Vegas under the supervision of the team’s medical staff and conditioning team for as long as the Knights deem necessary. The club wants to keep a close eye on their new top prospect’s progress rather than send him back to junior and hope for the best. In fact, Krebs will not re-join the ice until he is game-ready. Early expectations were that Krebs could miss the entire 2019-20 season, so it could be that he doesn’t return to WHL action until this time next year. But if that’s what it takes to ensure that Krebs’ injury doesn’t further set his development back by taking the ice too soon, both team and player should be amenable to the arrangement.
  • Rookies Nick Suzuki and Ryan Poehling are undoubtedly aiming to make the Montreal Canadiens roster out of training camp. Both are high draft picks with considerable skill who should be ready for the highest level. However, head coach Joel Bouchard of the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, feels they should at least begin the year in the minors. He tells Sportsnet’s Eric Engels that, while his main objective is to graduate players to the NHL, he thinks the duo could benefit from a stint in the AHL and has spoken to both about the possibility. Bouchard lays out the difference between the two levels and why two players that Montreal hopes will be core forwards at some point may be better off starting in Laval, especially in a season where the Canadiens feel they can be playoff contenders:

The NHL is a performance league, it’s not a development league. We’re not making decisions for the same reasons. For Claude (Julien), everything is about now… Claude can’t do what we do. He doesn’t have the time. I put players in situations where they’re 100 per cent going to fail, face-offs on their wrong side just so they can learn. Claude can’t do that. It’s not like I’m doing it all the time like I want to lose the game… but at the end of the day, it’s about development.

AHL| Carolina Hurricanes| Injury| Jaccob Slavin| Jordan Staal| Justin Faulk| Justin Williams| Kelly McCrimmon| Las Vegas| Montreal Canadiens| Nick Suzuki| Peyton Krebs| Rookies| Snapshots| Vegas Golden Knights| WHL

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