Let’s play as GM and manage the files on Kent Hughes’s desk.

Kent Hughes has several files on his desk right now. That’s normal.

I want to “take” a few of them to see what the club should do, in my opinion, leading up to the deadline. This will involve unrestricted free agents starting July 1st.

After all, due to the beautiful season of the Habs, the club shouldn’t have to manage anything else (in terms of contracts or trades) with players under club control until March 7th.

Michael Pezzetta

I know Pezz is the 13th forward the club wants (so they can let him sit in the stands as long as he wishes), but the guy often holds back too much, and when he plays, he isn’t up to par.

Get him out of his misery and put him on waivers.

David Savard

Unless the Canadiens get a king’s ransom for his services (a first-round pick or an equivalent), I keep him. His best value is in Montreal, with the young players.

Arber Xhekaj is a new man by his side.

I don’t see how the Habs would benefit from letting him go for another third round pick right now. He is a veteran the Canadiens desperately need to support the young guys.

And if he wants to stay for one more year at maximum two million dollars in a more limited role, I’d offer him an extension. We know he wants to stay in Montreal with his family.

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Joel Armia

I’m not trading Joel Armia before the end of the season. And if the guy wants to sign a contract worthy of a fourth-line player, I would be willing to keep him. But he must not, in any case, be a player who is even slightly overpaid.

Keep in mind that three key elements of the penalty kill (Savard, Armia, and Evans) are ending their contracts. Opening the door to possibly not letting everyone go must be done.

Jake Evans

The only scenario in which I would trade Jake Evans is if the Habs are no longer in the race, he has a golden offer on the market, and the negotiations with Evans show that the player and the club are light-years away from reaching an agreement.

Otherwise, I keep him. And I try to sign him.

Pierre LeBrun recently said that the player and the club will both need to be uncomfortable to reach an agreement. I imagine the club will offer four years at three million dollars (12 million total). And the player, if he is greedy, will ask for six years at four million dollars (24 million total) from the Habs.

Do you do it in the two to five years and 3.5 million dollars per season? Is that too much for a guy who plays above his level? In my eyes, it’s too much. It will be less than that if it materializes… because Evans would be less greedy at the outset.

Christian Dvorak

We know that the center player does not have a high value on the market (even at 50% of 4.45 million dollars, I wonder who would want him that much) and that he will be leaving at the end of the year.

If I’m the GM, I keep him to finish the year because he is part of a trio that works and because he helps at the faceoff circle. But if he leaves in March, that’s okay too.

In a nutshell

– Indeed.

– Hmm…

– Reminder: the Habs have many picks.

Jake Evans has not scored a point in eight games.

Since the beginning of the season, we have been singing the praises of Jake Evans. And with good reason.

Clearly, the Canadiens’ center has chosen the right season (a few months before unrestricted free agency) to reach another level as a player for the Canadiens.

This draws a lot of attention, as you know.

So, we wonder at what price the CH and the player could reach an agreement to avoid him becoming a free agent. It’s likely one of the most important files on Kent Hughes’ desk right now.

After all, with everything the player is doing, losing him would hurt on many levels.

But in recent weeks, it has been a reminder that Jake Evans remains a player with limited potential. Why? Because since he scored five goals in five games around the holidays, he has gone dry.

Basically, since the game on December 31 in Nevada, Evans has not accumulated any points.

(Credit: ESPN)

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Eight straight games without any points, including the seven games played in 2025, is the longest dry spell of his entire season. And it’s not even close: his longest streaks of this kind were three games.

However, he had already gone eight games without scoring earlier in the season. But he had assists during that time.

This reminds us that a player like Evans, as complete as he is, was playing above his head offensively. His shooting percentage (his number of goals relative to his number of shots) was 31.3% after the game against Tampa Bay.

This means that in his first 36 games, he was scoring more than three times for every 10 shots.

But since then? He has taken 11 shots in the last eight games and his percentage has dropped to 22.7% this season. We’re talking about less than one in four shots being successful, which is a significant difference in a season.

I’m not saying Evans is a bad player and I still believe the CH should find common ground with him. But what I’m saying is that nature prevails and he needs to be signed at the right price.

In brief

– Do you like it or not?

– He is good, that one.

– Worth reading.

4 matches, 4 goals and 4 victories for Jakub Dobes: a historical pace

This season, the Canadiens are quite fortunate in terms of rookies.

Of course, there’s Lane Hutson, whose on-ice prowess is well documented. Everyone – or almost everyone – knows that he is already a top defender in Montreal.

There is also Emil Heineman. Yes, he will miss a few weeks of action after being hit by a car in Salt Lake City, but he remains one of the most productive rookies in the Bettman circuit as I write these lines.

And now, we can add Jakub Dobes to the list. And this, despite the small sample size.

In four games, the goalie has four wins against major teams (Panthers, Avalanche, Capitals, and Stars) and has only given up four goals total. He is truly dominant.

Martin St-Louis, at this point, can send him against any NHL team.

A feat like this (four games, four wins, four goals) for a goalie making his first steps in the NHL is a pace that is simply historic. In the last 60 years, only three guys have done it before.

Only four goals in his first four games in the NHL wearing the colors of the Montreal Canadiens, the biggest franchise in hockey, has never been seen before for a goalie.

So we can say this: Cayden who?

Dobes’ average of 0.98, his save percentage of .963 (meaning he stops 24 out of 25 pucks), and his shutout show us that he wasn’t joking when he said he was ready for the NHL.

Yesterday, after the game, Dobes said that he really wanted to be recalled and that he worked hard in Laval. Clearly, it worked.

We must never forget that the development of a young player is never linear (Juraj Slafkovsky is a good example) and that the goalie could/should have rough patches along the way.

But at this moment, with the way he is playing and because he is helping the Canadiens win, it is hard to imagine a world where this competitor would return to Laval by the end of the season. However, he must not take anything for granted because things can change quickly, but…

In brief

– Larry Robinson is impressed by Martin St-Louis.

– Hmm…

– Still.

– A must-read.

– Zach Werenski is loved in Columbus.

The CH will continue to win: Martin St-Louis does not intend to shave his beard.

This morning, I received a call. It was from my friend Tankathon.

Basically, he told me he noticed I was talking less about him during the summer, once the draft was over… but he felt I was neglecting him a bit too much this season compared to previous campaigns.

So I had no choice but to tell him that this season, aside from the Canadiens’ results, I didn’t really have a choice but to leave him aside.

(Credit: Tankathon)

The results speak for themselves: if the season ended today, the Canadiens would be lined up to draft 16th overall. Winning the lottery (1.1% chance of that happening) would give the Habs the sixth overall pick in the next draft. #Unlikely

And all this is due to the fact that the CH is one point behind the Bruins and the last playoff spot. The CH has a better points percentage than the Bruins, who have two more games played this season.

(Credit: NHL.com)

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The fact that the Canadiens are the team of the moment in the NHL – let’s not be afraid of words – means that the climb in the standings is simply spectacular. Nothing less.

Let’s say it was hard to predict such a surge at the beginning of December.

Just yesterday, the Canadiens defeated one of the good teams in the NHL, the Stars. This was done on the road, without Emil Heineman and with Michael Pezzetta, who is increasingly running on borrowed time.

One wonders if the coach has celebrated like that again…

via GIPHY

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There is therefore only one logical explanation for discussing the Canadiens’ surge: Martin St-Louis’s beard.

The mix beard, as my father calls it, has been around for a few weeks. And for a few weeks, the Montreal Canadiens have been winning games as if there was no tomorrow.

Coincidence? Probably not.

And on this subject, after the 3-1 victory against Dallas, St-Louis was asked if he was superstitious and if he planned to shave soon. And rest assured: no, he does not plan to shave in the short term.

 

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Top-5: Nathan MacKinnon scores one of the goals of the year in the NHL

13 games were played in the NHL last night, including the Canadiens’ match against the Stars in Dallas.

The CH won its game against the Stars, but we also need to talk about what happened elsewhere around the league.

It was a busy evening:

1 : Nathan MacKinnon scores one of the goals of the year

Nathan MacKinnon is among the elite in the National Hockey League.

And we saw it last night as the Avalanche hosted the powerful Oilers at home.

The Dog scored one of the goals of the year, completely outsmarting Evan Bouchard… before beating Stuart Skinner:

The Avalanche had control of the game… until the Oilers’ big guns decided to wake up.

The Edmonton team scored four unanswered goals to ultimately win 4-3, after being down 3-0 in the first period:

Evan Bouchard (one goal and one assist), Connor McDavid (one goal and one assist), and Leon Draisaitl (two assists) contributed to their team’s victory.

Things are going well for the Oilers lately, who have won eight of their last ten games.

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2 : Another goal for Ovi

We move to overtime of the game between the Senators and the Capitals.

The score is 0-0… And it’s the guy who usually scores that decided to step up.

You guessed it, Alex Ovechkin gave his team the win (1-0) with a nice shot:

Ovi now has 874 goals in the NHL.

He only needs 21 more to pass Wayne Gretzky, and it’s safe to say it’s just a matter of time at this point.

Note that with his goal, Ovechkin has now scored on 179 different goalies since the beginning of his NHL career.

That’s a record:

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3 : Kakko is doing well

The Rangers traded Kaapo Kakko to Seattle in December.

And let’s say the Finn is doing what he can to make Chris Drury look bad.

Kakko registered an assist on the Kraken’s first goal yesterday against the Jets:

He now has 10 points in 13 games since his arrival in Seattle.

Not bad!

However, it should be noted that the efforts of the interested party were not enough: Dylan DeMelo scored with 27 seconds remaining to give his team the victory.

The Jets escaped with the W (2-1 score):

Once again, Connor Hellebuyck was outstanding in goal.

The Jets’ goalie stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced to earn his 28th (!) victory of the season.

He’s going to win the Vezina, for sure.

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4 : An assist for Michkov and Celebrini

Lane Hutson recorded an assist yesterday in the Canadiens’ victory over the Stars in Dallas.

What does the Calder race look like now?

In fact, let’s note that Matvei Michkov and Macklin Celebrini also registered an assist last night in their respective games.

It’s heating up:

Hutson now has 36 points since the start of the season.

Michkov and Celebrini each have 32.

I can’t wait to see who will win the Calder…

Note that Michkov and the Flyers took advantage of their visit to Long Island to beat the struggling Islanders (5-3).

Celebrini and the Sharks, on the other hand, lost 4-1 to the Blue Jackets in Columbus.

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5 : 1300th career game for Vlasic

Marc-Édouard Vlasic is no longer the defenseman he once was.

But he had a nice moment last night, even though his team lost to the Jackets.

The defenseman played his 1300th career game in the NHL:

1300 games… That’s a lot.

And the defenseman’s achievement is notable as he becomes only the 74th player in NHL history to reach that many games in their career.

That’s quite an accomplishment.

Overtime

– That would have been crazy.

– Another win for the Kings.

– Stamkos led his team to victory against the Hawks in the shootout.

– Bedard scored in his team’s loss:

– Nice goal.

– In the Leafs’ victory, Marner reached the 700-point milestone in his career:

– Nice.

– A first career game for Donovan Sebrango. The family was emotional:

– Nice milestone for Victor Hedman.

– Sniiiipe.

– The top scorers of the night:

(Credit: )

– Only two games today in the NHL:

(Credit: )

Samuel Montembeault has made all the starts at the Bell Centre this season.

Last night, Cayden Primeau won his game in the AHL. Things are going well for the Laval Rocket’s goalie (better than Logan Mailloux, let’s say) since he was sent down – and that’s a good thing for him.

In three games, he has three wins. And without him yesterday, the Penguins would have won. Even though he gave up three goals quickly, he closed the door and opened the door to a big comeback.

It’s good if he can regain confidence down there. Because for now, it’s the most effective way for him to prepare for a potential return to the NHL – in Montreal or elsewhere.

But there’s something we need to note on the side of his victory yesterday. Did you know that this season, it’s only the second time Primeau started a home game?

The other time? It was… on January 3, also in Laval.

This season, Primeau (who was in the NHL until the holidays) has not started a single game at the Bell Centre. He has played four times at home, but each time, it was in relief of Samuel Montembeault.

It was never under optimal conditions, then.

(Credit: ESPN)

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And because Jakub Dobes’ three starts with the Habs took place on the road, we can easily conclude that Samuel Montembeault has started all the Canadiens’ games at the Bell Centre this year. Anthony Marcotte discussed it on the radio (BPM Sports) this morning.

It was anecdotal when we talked about Martin Brodeur in New Jersey during his big years, but it’s news in 2024-2025 for the Habs. Especially when we know that Samuel Montembeault is not the best #1 goalie in the NHL – with all due respect for his great season.

Of course, even if it means the Habs believe in Monty, it reflects the lack of confidence the Habs had in Primeau. That said, with Jakub Dobes, things have changed.

Whether he plays tonight in Dallas (I believe he will play), we should expect to see the newcomer get one of the home games this weekend. In my eyes, Sunday’s game belongs to him.

(Credit: NHL.com)

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I expect to see Dobes play on Sunday in New York, next Thursday in Detroit, and one of the last two games (January 28 or 30) of the month before the end of the month. Of those, it would make two home games.

And just before the break for the Four Nations Cup, there will be a back-to-back at home on February 8 and 9. #SuperBowl

If Dobes continues to give the Canadiens chances to win every time he is in net, it is clear that with the schedule as it is, he is not only Montembeault playing at home.

And that’s perfectly fine.

The three goalies who have played in Montreal have things to prove by the end of the season. Monty will want to keep his #1 spot with the young ones pushing, Dobes will want to stay in the NHL, and Primeau will want to prove he is not done playing in the best league in the world.

And with Jacob Fowler coming in, it’s clear that everyone needs to keep an eye on each other.

In Brief

– Jared Davidson did well yesterday. Interesting…

– What does that mean for the Blue Jays?

– Excellent.

The same scenario repeats: the Canadiens have (again) defeated an NHL powerhouse.

For the second time in less than a week, the Canadiens faced the Dallas Stars. After a loss in a shootout last Saturday at the Bell Centre, the CH had the chance to take revenge in Dallas.

For the occasion, it was Jakub Dobes who was in goal for the team.

Here is the Canadiens’ lineup:

On the Stars’ side, Jake Oettinger was in goal for a lineup that includes several injured players.

Here is the home team’s lineup:

We saw action quickly at the start of the game. In fact, it didn’t even take four minutes for the first goal of the match to be scored.

However, it was the Stars who scored, courtesy of Jason Robertson (and a defensive sequence from the CH that will not go down in history).

That said, we have seen for a few weeks that the Canadiens are combative… and they proved it again less than a minute after the Stars’ goal.

A beautiful sequence by Cole Caufield allowed Juraj Slafkovský to tie the score.

It calmed down afterwards, the score was 1-1 after 20 minutes.

In the second period, during a Stars power play, Joel Armia found himself without a stick after giving his to Alexandre Carrier.

However, this did not prevent the Finn from being useful defensively. An impressive effort on his part.

However, it should be noted that in the second period, no goals were scored… and this was notably thanks to the brilliance of Jakub Dobes.

The young goaltender of the CH was dominant during the first 40 minutes of the match.

After 40 minutes, the score was still 1-1.

In the third, the CH continued to fight in a tightly contested game… and once again, Lane Hutson created something offensively.

The defenseman took a shot on goal that was redirected by Alex Newhook… before ending up in the Stars’ net. Suddenly, the CH took the lead in this match.

The Stars had a few good chances to tie the score, but Dobes and the CH held strong.

Joel Armia sealed the score in an empty net.

Final score: 3-1 Montreal

The Canadiens will return to action Saturday night, as they will be back at home to face the Maple Leafs. This will be the first game of a back-to-back.

Overtime

– Once again tonight, the Canadiens demonstrated that they are capable of being competitive against any NHL team. The games are repeating themselves for the club… and for the first time in years, this is a good thing.

– The CH really beat a hot team tonight. This is only their second loss in 10 games for the Stars, who are having a dream season.

– Joel Armia was possibly the best player for the Canadiens tonight. He was everywhere on the ice, and he greatly deserved to score the insurance goal in an empty net. He is well-paid at $3.4M per season, but when Armia plays with confidence, he is quite a hockey player.

– This group is really tight-knit. Look at the team’s reaction when the Stars got a bit too close to Jakub Dobes for the CH’s liking.

– Speaking of Dobes, he stopped 32 of the 33 shots from the Stars tonight. He is really, really solid, the kid.

– I don’t know if we will ever say it enough that Lane Hutson is special… but once again tonight, it is thanks to him that the Canadiens got two points. He now has 10 points in his last six games… and he has 25 points in his last 23 games.

It is (really) difficult for Alexis Lafrenière since he signed his big contract.

The New York Rangers are having a terrible season. The club has a record of 20-20-3 before today’s game, and for a team that had Stanley Cup aspirations, this is obviously an unacceptable performance.

Moreover, having to deal with a new drama almost every week does not help, you can agree on that.

That said, at the start of the season (on October 25, to be precise), the club agreed to the terms of a long-term contract with Alexis Lafrenière. He had a strong start to the season (seven points in seven games), and the club wanted to settle the matter.

However, since he signed his $52.15 million contract over seven years, it has been really difficult for Lafrenière. In fact, since October 25, he has only seven goals and 17 points in 36 games.

And the Quebecer is the first to admit it: he admitted to Alexandre Gascon (Radio-Canada) that it is a tough campaign for him.

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In fact, since December 9, Lafrenière has only four points in 17 games, even though he is on the first wave of the power play. In the context where the Rangers are having a nightmarish season, part of the lack of production is justifiable… but the contract he signed means he needs to be part of the solution.

The deal hasn’t officially started yet (it will begin on July 1), but it has nonetheless changed the player’s status in the locker room.

And if we look at Lafrenière’s statistics since he signed his contract (seven goals and 17 points in 36 games), we see that during this same period, Kirby Dach has scored eight goals and 14 points in 36 games.

Essentially, Lafrenière has roughly the same production as Dach for nearly three months… and Dach, who doesn’t have a huge contract and is coming back from a serious injury, has received a ton of criticism regarding his play. Imagine what it would be like in the city if the Quebec forward had experienced this stretch in Montreal…

Obviously, Lafrenière still has time to emerge from his slump and prove to the Rangers that they made the right decision. That said, sooner or later, he will have to show some promising signs.

After all, Dach is at least showing a few…

In Brief

– Frank Seravalli fires harsh criticism at Kyle Dubas.

Mathias Brunet has essentially done the same thing, by the way.

– It’s (pretty much) better than the Islanders’ performance.

– Choosing Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry over an “aging” Marc-André Fleury was not a good decision in Pittsburgh.

– The Blue Jackets are no longer losing.

SKA: Tony DeAngelo “was not liked and argued with everyone”

In Montreal, the SKA of Saint Petersburg has never had more followers than it does since the beginning of the season. With Ivan Demidov, the club’s great hope, playing there, we are closely monitoring what is happening within Roman Rotenberg’s team.

This clearly shows how eager fans are to see Demidov arrive in town.

Among the many events this season for the SKA, the signing of Tony DeAngelo was a major moment. A quality offensive defender joining the group was a great opportunity for a talented player like Demidov…

Except that in the end, he left the team for “family reasons”… and it sounded like an explanation that hid another.

However, according to MatchTV, the hidden explanation may be the one that has been problematic for DeAngelo since the beginning of his career: in fact, according to a source from the Russian media, DeAngelo “was not liked and argued with everyone” at the SKA.

In the above post, we see a video where a coach from the SKA dismisses DeAngelo as he returns to the bench. He reportedly did this in response to similar comments from DeAngelo towards him.

DeAngelo, whose salary was largely tied to performance bonuses, is also accused of being self-centered and only thinking about his statistics.

Quite a portrait, all of this.

Of course, one has to take some stories of this kind with a grain of salt, especially since DeAngelo has not been able to give his version of events. That said, DeAngelo has not always had the reputation of being a great teammate during his time in the NHL… and this story seems consistent with the defender’s history.

Once again, maybe the source from MatchTV exaggerated things to make the defender look bad after he left the club… but all of this remains peculiar.

That said, we know that (publicly, at least) DeAngelo has never hesitated to praise Demidov. He repeats to anyone who will listen that the CH prospect is a special talent who should never have slipped to the Canadiens’ selection rank.

Perhaps behind the scenes, the relationship between the two was more strained… but one could wonder if Demidov lost a teammate who believed in him. The good news is that Roman Rotenberg now seems to be part of that clan, but in any case, it must be said that Demidov lost a talented teammate.

In Brief

– 6-0-0: the CH’s record this season when Kirby Dach scores.

– A beautiful way to honor his memory.

– He is a name to watch.

Evgeni Malkin: ultimately, his three rings were found at his home.

This morning, colleague Charles-Alexis Brisebois published a text reporting that Evgeni Malkin had been the victim of a burglary. Among the items reported as stolen were notably the three Stanley Cup rings of the veteran.

It’s understandable that it is unfortunate to see him lose items that must hold a lot of value to him.

The investigation has obviously been underway since the burglary… but tonight, a new interesting detail has emerged from this whole story.

In fact, the local police department’s X account provided a small update on the Russian’s rings: they have been found.

What is peculiar, however, is that they were found… at Malkin’s home.

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It’s clear that all of this is quite unusual, and one might wonder how the rings could have been reported as stolen if they never left the Penguins player’s home. Were they moved during the burglary before being found? Did Malkin forget where he placed them? These are, I imagine, possible lines of inquiry.

One might also wonder if this is an insurance issue… but nothing indicates that this is the case, for now.

Furthermore, via the Penguins’ X account, Malkin took the time to thank everyone who supported him since the incident. He notably thanked the police, his teammates, and also the fans.

In short, this is a situation that, one agrees, is quite peculiar… but the most important thing is that, in the end, Malkin has found his rings.

However, it is worth noting that the investigation remains open. We will see if new developments arise in the coming days.

In brief

– Alexandre Carrier helped Kaiden Guhle, but he also helped Lane Hutson take it to the next level.

– Toronto celebrates the return of Sheldon Keefe.

– Connor Hellebuyck must be considered for the Hart, says Martin Brodeur.

– A beautiful moment.

– Indeed.