Habs Daily: Slafkovsky Has Arrived, Hutson’s NCAA Excellence

Check out the latest Montreal Canadiens news, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Tuesday.

Habs News

• Don’t look now, but phenom Lane Hutson is currently eclipsing his record-setting results from last season. And he’s also improved his defensive play by leaps and bounds.  [Canadiens Prospect Report: Hutson And Beck Increased Scoring]

• Cayden Primeau was given the start against the Anaheim Ducks, just his first game since mid-January. [Canadiens Game 53: Cayden Primeau Given Start Versus Ducks]

• Ladies and gentlemen, it appears that Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky has arrived. The 19-year-old winger put together one of the best games of his young career against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. He scored a goal and added two assists, but more importantly, he drove the play with confidence. [Canadiens Juraj Slafkovsky Dominant In Exciting Win Over Ducks]

• Slafkovsky’s recent uptick in results is particularly impressive given that he’s developing in the NHL as a teenager, never an easy task.

• It was lost in all the excitement, but Primeau played very well considering he was rusty. Sure, it wasn’t the most difficult game in which to pitch a shutout, but Primeau rarely receives run support when he starts games for the Canadiens. The relatively easy first-career shutout was well-deserved.

• The game also featured Brandon Gignac’s first career NHL goal, a fitting reward for a player who worked incredibly hard every night in the AHL to make it back to the big leagues.

National Hockey Now Network

• Seven months ago, it looked as though Cal Petersen’s time in the NHL was close to running out, having been sent to the Philadelphia Flyers as a salary cap dump in the Ivan Provorov trade. Instead, unforeseen circumstances vaulted the 29-year-old from the AHL back to the NHL. [Philadelphia Flyers]

• The New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames were in serious talks about a potential trade involving goaltender Jacob Markstrom. However, he also reported that the trade has since died. So what halted the potential Flames-Devils trade? [New Jersey Devils]

• When Vancouver Canucks 6-foot-5, 220-pound player Nikita Zadorov delivered a blow to the head of Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond Saturday it wasn’t the first time that he angered Detroit fans. [Detroit Red Wings]

By Marc Dumont

Marc has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for Journal Metro, The Athletic, The ... More about Marc Dumont