Author: Dans les Coulisses

Ivan Demidov is going to the KHL All-Star Game.

Since Kent Hughes and his team went to see Ivan Demidov in Russia, everything is great in the best of worlds for the Canadiens’ prospect.

We knew the young man was overflowing with talent, but in recent weeks, he seems to have more room to express himself on the ice. With good ice time, he can dominate.

And today, the KHL announced that the young man has been invited to the league’s All-Star Game, which will take place on February 8 and 9.

Originally, he wasn’t necessarily supposed to be there. But he will replace Tony DeAngelo, his former teammate with SKA. DeAngelo packed his bags and returned to North America.

They don’t play the same position, but Demidov is replacing DeAngelo nonetheless.

At 19 years old, Demidov is one of the youngest players in the league. But despite everything, in 43 games, he has scored 14 times and has 18 assists, which gives him a total of 32 points.

With highlights worthy of the best players in the world, one cannot say that the Canadiens’ prospect has stolen his place.

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The Canadiens must hope he can finish his season strong to gain confidence before coming, if all goes as planned, to North America in the coming months.

One can think that in Montreal, his impact will be quite immediate. But we’ll see in due time.

In Brief

– Read.

– Kirby Dach regains his speed. [98.5 FM]

– Nice.

Jake Evans: “I don’t think the Canadiens are comfortable going for six years”

Let’s talk about the trade market.

The Jake Evans file is probably the most important one for Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton. After all, he is the best player of the Canadiens this season among the unrestricted free agents from the summer of 2025.

And I say this with all due respect for David Savard, who is also important. Yesterday, he stepped up after the second goal from the Utah representatives and it fired up his teammates on the bench.

We know that the Canadiens want to extend their center’s contract – discussions are already underway in this regard – before the trade deadline… but the club does not want to do it at any cost.

Once again, in his article of the day on The Athletic’s site, Pierre LeBrun spoke about the file. And he reiterated that the Canadiens do not want Evans to have too big of a “home run” type contract for the coming years.

What the informant mentions is that the number of years in the contract will surely be the point that complicates negotiations. The 28-year-old player will want to take advantage of his window of opportunity, but…

But the Canadiens might not want to sign the player long-term.

I don’t believe the Canadiens are comfortable going for five or six years. – Pierre LeBrun

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The journalist believes that if the Canadiens do not sign Evans by March 7, he will be shopped by force of circumstances. After all, there are teams that will want him at $1.7 million.

And since the market should pick up quickly this season, as noted by Marco D’Amico, the GM of the Canadiens’ phone will ring quickly.

If the Canadiens and Evans will “both have to be a little uncomfortable” to reach an agreement, it will then be necessary to determine what the risk management will be for both parties.

And if both are comfortable taking on a bit of risk, there should be an announcement in a few weeks.

in brief

– Notably.

– What will he do?

– Certainly.

The Predators would like to hire Shea Weber.

The name Shea Weber is becoming less and less present in Montreal. He still has an impact in the city (Nick Suzuki chats with him every now and then), but not as much as before.

After all, not only is he no longer playing, but he was traded a few years ago.

Even though he was spotted in town on the sidelines of his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame and his addition to the hockey honors ring, let’s say he’s no longer at the center of current events like he used to be.

Now, he spends his time moving from Vegas to Arizona to Salt Lake City with family in Western Canada.

Since the final against Tampa, he hasn’t been the most involved person in the hockey world. We know he has already stepped on the ice with the Golden Knights’ AHL team and has done some scouting with Marc Bergevin, but that’s about it.

But it seems that this experience with Marc Bergevin, who left the Canadiens a few months before Weber, could happen again one day, on a somewhat more regular basis…

But not with the Canadiens.

According to what Alex Daugherty (a journalist from Nashville) reports, the Preds would be open to the possibility of bringing their former captain back to the team one day.

A scout in Western Canada recently retired. Well, well…

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Of course, it wouldn’t be for tomorrow. Weber is still under contract for a year and a half with Utah HC, which inherited his contract by purchasing the contracts of the defunct Arizona Coyotes.

But Barry Trotz, who was Weber’s coach for years and is now the GM of the Preds, opened the door in 2026 to seeing Weber take a role within his organization.

At the end of his contract, if he wants to be part of the organization, we will listen. – Barry Trotz

extension

Because Weber spent more time in Nashville and knows Trotz better than Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton, who traded him after a few months in office (it was the right thing to do), it makes sense to believe that if he works in hockey, it will be with the Preds.

Let’s remember that Pekka Rinne and David Poile are also on the payroll of the Preds. Both will be honored in Nashville at the same time as Weber this week, and perhaps this will inspire the former captain to join the club in a little over a year.

Jared Davidson: Anthony Marcotte’s choice for a call-up to Montreal

Yesterday, it was learned that forward Emil Heineman had been hit by a car in Salt Lake City. Naturally, this changes the situation in Montreal.

Because the club was in Utah (and is heading to Dallas afterward) and it still has 12 forwards and seven healthy defensemen, Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton did not need to provide another forward to Martin St-Louis.

Yesterday, that did not happen.

And right now, one wonders if it will happen before tomorrow’s game. If it does not occur, we can think that Michael Pezzetta will once again be in uniform.

According to Stu Cowan, however, a call-up could be announced tomorrow.

Unless the Canadiens play seven defensemen (thus dressing Jayden Struble) and 11 forwards if the club decides to wait until Saturday to make a call-up?

It’s not impossible, though.

But no matter what is done tomorrow night, we know that afterward, the Canadiens will look to bring in a player from Laval. After all, the club cannot roll with 14 forwards… but 12, including Pezz, is too few.

And according to Anthony Marcotte, it’s Jared Davidson who deserves a call-up – whether for tomorrow or for Saturday’s game. That’s what he said this morning on BPM Sports airwaves.

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Obviously, many people will wonder why it is not Joshua Roy (who will be at the AHL All-Star Game… and who missed his chance earlier this season in the NHL), Alex Barré-Boulet, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, or Owen Beck who stand out the most among the current possibilities.

But as I wrote yesterday, we must not forget who needs to be replaced. Heineman was an effective fourth-line player, not a guy from the middle-6.

Because he is good along the boards, has an excellent shot, is a young player that the Canadiens might want to test, and would nicely fill the vacancy left by Heineman alongside Jake Evans and Joel Armia, he’s the choice of the voice of the Rocket.

We will see in due time what the Canadiens will announce. To be continued…

in a nutshell

– Noted.

– Soon, the Canadiens will be a real threat every year. [RDS]

– He continues to improve.

Evgeni Malkin had his three Stanley Cup rings stolen

Over the past few months, there’s been a trend in the world of sport for star players to be robbed.

Basically, it happens during a match. The thieves know that the owner of the house is not at home, and they take advantage of the situation to steal equipment from the house.

And since athletes are often rich…

Unfortunately, it happened to Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins star fell victim to the phenomenon when thieves showed up at his home to steal equipment.

And according to Jennifer Borrasso, who reported the story, #71’s three Stanley Cup rings (2009, 2016 and 2017) are missing.

The Penguins have confirmed the news, while mentioning that further details will not be released to the public by the club in order to respect the Russian’s privacy.

According to reports, it happened on Saturday, during the game against Ottawa.

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The rear door of the house was reportedly kicked in and the alarm system was not on. The player’s safe was broken into during the burglary.

911 was called, but it’s not known by whom.

With the spate of break-ins at the homes of big-name athletes, I wonder if many players (and families) are thinking of having their home security upgraded, just to make sure they don’t get caught up in the spate too.

Let’s hope Malkin gets his rings back… but don’t hold your breath.

Overtime

– He’s strong.

– Last Islanders powerplay goal: Juan Soto was still a free agent.

– Really?

Lane Hutson demonstrated yesterday that Corey Pronman was in the field (and the latter added to it).

Last night, the Canadiens Hockey Club was in Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Hockey Club. And even without Emil Heineman, who was hit by a car on Monday and will miss a few weeks of action, the Habs found a way to win.

In a 5-3 win, not everything was perfect, of course. But Lane Hutson proved he can be more than just a decent player.

We say that, of course, because Corey Pronman’s ranking of Hutson 39th among his best players aged 23 and under caused quite a stir in town.

In fact, apart from the ranking (which is special in itself, but hey), it’s mainly the fact that his talent with the puck was described as “above average” and his sense of competition as “average” that got a big reaction.

Not the analyst’s best, let’s say.

And yesterday, on the ice, Lane Hutson showed just how strong he is. Getting three assists in a 5-3 game is one thing, but we must also mention his two blocked shots, his plus-3 differential and his excellent defensive play.

He’s taking on the opposition’s best and he’s playing a lot, Hutson… and collecting points.

But I think the comment that got the most reaction was the one where Pronman said that Lane Hutson, if he keeps it up, could be a top-4 player one day in his career.

It was a really good one.

I’m not saying he’d be on every team’s top pairing right now, but he’s playing on the Habs’ top-2. He’s going up against the big boys and he’s holding his own defensively and producing when he’s got the puck.

He leads all rookies in points, and only five defensemen in the NHL have more than his 35 points: Werenski, Makar, Hughes, Morrissey and Theodore. Not exactly a gang of hams…

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But this morning, when no one was forcing him to repost his new text, Corey Pronman shared a piece on the guys with the biggest increase in yesterday’s rankings from the start of the season. And Hutson is there.

Note that yesterday’s segment on Hutson (including the bit about the top-4 and his level of competitiveness) was cut and pasted into a paper published this morning, after the rookie’s excellent game yesterday. He doesn’t look any better this morning, Pronman.

But hey. Anyone who watches Habs games knows what Hutson can bring to the ice. And just yesterday, he was able to prove it to everyone in a Habs win.

But he wasn’t the only player who helped the Habs win. What do I remember from yesterday’s game?

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1. The best players were the best players. We’re talking about Hutson and his three assists, but Mike Matheson (two points, including a magnificent goal) and Alexandre Carrier (two assists) were also good at the blue line.

Up front? Patrik Laine, Kirby Dach (twice) and Cole Caufield found the back of the net. They took advantage of an opponent who wasn’t at his best defensively.

2. In the first period, the Canadiens played perhaps their worst 20 minutes in weeks. Luckily, Samuel Montembeault, who deserved his W yesterday, was there to keep his club and teammates in the game.

But in the second period, it was much better. Especially in terms of penalties…

The Canadiens corrected themselves, and as Martin St-Louis said after the game, he didn’t need to intervene between the first two periods. This means that the guys evaluated each other and corrected together what needed to be corrected.

That’s a sign of maturity. And it reminds us that unlike many moments since the fall of 2021, the Canadiens are capable of regaining momentum and getting back into games.

3. In his last nine duels, Kirby Dach has six goals. We’re talking about all nine games since the holidays… and that brings his season total to eight. Clearly, he’s getting his legs back.

And so much the better.

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4. Emil Heineman is the Canadiens’ only injured player at the moment. That wasn’t the case for André Tourigny’s men, who have several injured men (6-7 guys, including Shea Weber) at the moment.

The result? The Canadiens dressed Michael Pezzetta for the game. Recalling someone to take him to Utah wasn’t realistic, obviously.

The more time passes, the clearer it becomes that Pezz, both for himself and for the Habs, must be put through the waivers – for his own good. Either he doesn’t play, or he doesn’t play… well.

We know what he can bring to the table, but it’s hard to do it playing so little (3:50 yesterday, less than an hour so far this season) and it’s hard to make a name for yourself taking nasty penalties. Put him out of his misery, for his own good.

5. At one point, in terms of shots, it was 12-1 for Utah. It ended 26-25 for the Habs, who really tightened up their defense starting in the second period. It took a long time for the home team to get a shot off in the second.

6. Seeing the Canadiens use the term “hit-and-run” on X made me laugh.

extension

The Canadiens won’t be practicing this morning: instead, it’ll be a day of travel to Dallas. The next practice will take place tomorrow morning, in Dallas. #MorningSkate

As a reminder, the Habs will play tomorrow in Texas before returning home for two games at the Bell Centre this weekend. The Maple Leafs and Rangers are on the menu.

(Credit: NHL.com)

As you can see, after tomorrow’s game against the Stars, it’ll be mostly at home for the rest of the month. Apart from a short trip to Detroit, the boys will be playing mainly at the Bell Centre from now on, in January.

But don’t forget that the California trip is coming up… #EarlyFebruary

Prediction: RDS will regain the French-Canadian national rights to the NHL.

I know you know. You know it. We know it. The media world is in crisis and is undergoing a real revolution.

In sports, it’s worse (or it’s peculiar, if you prefer that term): it’s increasingly difficult to make a profit from the economic activities of a sports media, whether it’s print, audio or video.

However, most TV networks have realized that the only way to do this is to broadcast live (quality and high-level) sport. Opinion programs now have a place on the Web…

Yesterday, a few hours before the start of the NBA finals series, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Silver Circuit had reached – or will reach in the coming days – a new TV deal south of the border: NBC, ESPN and Amazon will pay more than $76 billion to broadcast NBA games together on their respective platforms for 11 seasons. That’s $76 billion!

Goodbye TNT (Warner Bros. Discovery)…

We are talking about $6.91 billion per season, distributed as follows:

$2.6 billion through ESPN (Disney), which will continue to present the finals games. The games will also be accessible through the new streaming site that ESPN will launch in 2025. In the end, Disney will pay more for fewer games, as I understand it?

2.5 billion through NBC, which plans to broadcast fifty games per season on NBC (the regular network, since NBC Sports no longer exists), and then another fifty on Peacock, its streaming network.

1.8 billion through Amazon, which will broadcast regular season games, playoff games, the new season tournament and playoff games.

The NBA is expected to earn two to three times more than before in streaming revenue.

Money, money, money, money, money!
(Credit: YouTube.com)

What does this mean for the NHL?
As we all know, Gary Bettman and the NHL often take a cue from the NBA when it comes to “innovation.”

The rights recently sold for $76 billion in the NBA are U.S. domestic rights. In the NHL, those rights are owned by ESPN, TNT and ABC through 2027-28. That’s not going to change yet…

But the Canadian national rights will expire in two years almost.

Given that the NBA struck a deal a year before the end of its current U.S. national contract, there’s reason to believe that within a year we’ll know the new broadcasters of NHL national games in Canada. As in the NBA…

And according to excellent sources, these types of deals are not negotiated at the corner of a table a month in advance. Negotiations have already begun, and should result in a deal to be announced sometime in June 2024 (if all goes well).

Rogers gambled and hit the jackpot single-handedly 10 years ago. The company, which had already dealt with Quebecor, subsequently sold the French-Canadian national rights to TVA Sports.

From what I’ve heard, the deal is likely to be much more complex two years from now.

The NBA will air on one traditional TV network, one specialty network and three streaming sites when the new deal goes into effect south of the border. From what I’ve heard, the NHL will follow that model as early as 2026-27 in Canada.

We will need an English-speaking partner that is in the sport and available coast-to-coast on TV. There are only two possible partners – Rogers or Bell. Some people believe the two could join forces, as is currently the case with MLSE, but everyone I’ve spoken to is hesitant to believe that. At least for the time being.

Watch out! Not a few people thought TVA Sports would win the game over Francophone 10 years ago….

There will undoubtedly be a partner who will be exclusively in the streaming business, and not in traditional TV. Given that Amazon just picked up some Canadian national rights through Rogers a few weeks ago (for the last two years of the current contract), I’d put my money on a Rogers – Amazon partnership if Mise-o-jeu offered the line, hehe….

But you’re interested in the Franco-Quebec market, right?

Maybe we’ll give Amazon the luxury of presenting all 22 national games in French on their platform, but I think we’ll still have a traditional French-speaking TV partner in Quebec. And there are only two real options once again – Bell and Québecor.

From what I hear, the relationship between Quebecor and the NHL is excellent right now, and both the NHL and Quebecor would like to renew their agreement. The problem: Quebecor is aware that it paid too much for the rights 10 years ago, and the NHL will be looking for more money in its next deal, not less.

I’m also told that the relationship between Rogers and Quebecor (really) isn’t as good as it was in 2014. But hey, relationships are always rehashed….

Could Bell (RDS) become Rogers’ partner for the Quebec territory? It’s possible… but since the two companies work together in Quebec, why shouldn’t they work together nationally? Good question.

Ah, yes… I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bell (Noovo) or Quebecor (TVA) broadcast some games on traditional Quebec TV, should the company get the rights. NBC will do so south of the NBA border. Although Québecor is currently afraid to do so, in order not to reduce the number of TVA Sports subscribers…

Prediction: within a year, we will know that Rogers, Amazon and RDS will broadcast NHL national games in Canada for the next ten years.

Why RDS and not TVA Sports?

Why a Rogers-Bell deal in Quebec and not in Canada? Simply because I think Rogers will outbid Bell for the rights… but only RDS will broadcast NHL games in French in Quebec. Pierre-Karl Péladeau said not long ago that the survival of his sports channel depended on the CRTC, and we are still waiting….

I don’t see how the channel – which has not yet secured its future – could at this very moment negotiate rights to be sold for more than what it is currently spending (too much money in its eyes). Even knowing full well that if it leaves all the space to Bell, it could end up being a disaster for her. #TVASports #Vidéotron #Hélix #ClubIllico #Vrai

In short, I see national field hockey returning to RDS… and occasionally airing on Noovo.

Ah yes… I also think the CBC will keep its traditional (and free) “Hockey Night In Canada“. Gary Bettman wants to keep it, it’s already produced by Sportsnet (Rogers) and Rogers pockets all the revenue from the CBC broadcast. As for the CBC, we’re talking about a state broadcaster that is quite happy to have big ratings (even without revenue) on Saturday nights. #YourMandate

If my prediction turns out to be correct, it will be interesting to see if TVA Sports can survive without the huge expense of rebroadcasting NHL field hockey or if, instead, the channel will once again become irrelevant.

Regional rights: the real battle in Quebec
The real battle(TV ) in field hockey – especially with the Canadiens, who never make the playoffs – will be with the French-language regional rights currently held by Bell (RDS).

The NHL allows its teams to sell most of their games regionally, so it is ultimately up to the Habs to decide where to broadcast 60 of their 82 regular games. It should be noted that most of these games will continue to be broadcast on RDS, as Bell also co-owns the team….

But…

I’m pretty sure that some games will be streamed on Crave and/or on an app that the Habs might launch themselves(Allo Réjean!). The Habs just announced that a TV series about their rebuild will be available exclusively on Crave….

“Forcing fans to subscribe to a streaming service provided by one of your co-owners is the current trend. So is selling games on a per-game basis, or subscribing to a new platform over which you have 100% control.

And this regional deal will be negotiated at the same time as the national rights. Talks have probably already started.

In short, if it seems complex to you now to say: on Saturdays I watch field hockey on TVA Sports (or Sportsnet or CBC) and the other games I watch on RDS, you should know that in two years it will be even more complex. I really hope that some games will not be available on traditional TV, and that many people will turn a blind eye. But hey, the other leagues are already there, and the NHL won’t escape.

If you haven’t been following along, I invite you to reread this text a second time. It’s heavy and complex, but it makes sense. Take my advice.