NHL: Detroit Red Wings at Montreal Canadiens
Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images

MONTREAL — Every day brings more Montreal Canadiens content to be absorbed, and we’re all bound to miss some news. On Sundays, we recap the relevant NHL news you may have missed, to help you stay in the Habs loop.

Make sure you don’t miss any Canadiens news by signing up to our weekly newsletter! You can also sign up for various other NHL teams, or the daily newsletter covering the most exciting developments in sports.[Sportsnaut]

Montreal Canadiens News And Notes

The Canadiens decided to return Jacob Fowler and Owen Beck to the AHL, to serve as important reinforcements for the Laval Rocket. Seeing as he ended up playing 10 games in the NHL, we decided to take a look at Fowler’s statistics compared to those produced by Samuel Montembeault and Jakub Dobes. [Canadiens Analysis – Fowler’s Results After 10 Games]

There was some good news at practice on Friday, as Kirby Dach, Patrik Laine, and Jake Evans were present, and mostly importantly, were wearing regular sweaters rather than no-contact jerseys. This means we should expect their return to play in the near future, which will come with its share of decisions when it comes to the construction of the forward lines. [Projecting The Canadiens Forward Lines When Healthy]

Veteran Brendan Gallagher understands the value of internal competition.

Head coach Martin St-Louis did not take part in practice due to a family commitment.

Top prospect Michael Hage scored the game-winning goal in the University of Michigan’s 4-1 win over Minnesota.

Logan Sawyer also secured a GWG on the weekend, as Providence triumphed over Boston College in overtime.

Injured forward Kirby Dach made his long-awaited return to play on Tuesday, replacing Alex Texier on the first line, alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. Texier missed the game due to a lower-body injury (day-to-day). [Canadiens Preview: Dach Returns, Dobes Set To Face Wild]

Even though the game versus the Minnesota Wild featured some of the worst officiating of the season, the Canadiens still managed to emerge with a 4-3 win. Once again, it was Caufield who scored the game-winning goal for the Habs, a fitting end to the game since Team USA general manager Bill Guerin, who snubbed Caufield when assembling his Olympic roster, had a perfect view of the American sniper’s 25th goal of the year. [Canadiens Highlights: No One Can Stop Cole Caufield]

The Canadiens couldn’t help themselves following yet another game-winning goal by Caufield. They hilariously tagged Team USA’s Twitter account while posting the exciting play.

To his credit, Eric Furlatt, the referee who made the terrible ghost call on Lane Hutson, did apologize once he had a chance to review his mistake.

Rookie Ivan Demidov enjoyed another solid outing. He could have had three points, if his teammates capitalized on some of the quality scoring chances he created.

Few teams in the NHL can boast the type of scoring depth the Canadiens offer on a nightly basis.

After a brief hiatus, it’s time to bring back the always popular Montreal Canadiens prospect power rankings. As per usual, we’ll be asking for a hand from Habs fans to establish the initial list. All you need to do is take a minute to vote for the top-10 Canadiens prospects, based on their overall value in the organization. [Habs Fan Vote – Ranking Top 10 Montreal Canadiens Prospects]

There’s no doubt about it, Lane Hutson is a superstar. Literally. In fact, according to Byron Bader’s metric, Hutson could go without scoring for the rest of the season and still qualify for superstar producer status.

Top prospect Michael Hage is among the NCAA players who will be in the running for the Hobey Baker Trophy, though that’s not much of a surprise given his stats. Hage has scored 12 goals and 20 assists in 24 games for the University of Michigan. [Hobey Baker]

Head coach Martin St-Louis is encouraged by the play of his veteran line, featuring Josh Anderson, Phillip Danault, and Brendan Gallagher.

St-Louis also had great things to say about Hutson, though that’s far from surprising.

The players were having a lot of fun at practice on Wednesday, playing a carefree shinny game with limited ice. For what it’s worth, the Laval Rocket used to hold the same type of practice on most days when Joel Bouchard was coach.

TSN published their most recent ‘Trade Bait’ board, and for the first time in a long time, there are no Canadiens players listed. New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin leads the charge, with Vincent Trocheck and Nazem Kadri in tow. [TSN]

The Canadiens held a significant edge in shots and scoring chances versus the Buffalo Sabres, but they only capitalized on two opportunities, losing 4-2. Nick Suzuki scored a goal and an assists, while netminder Samuel Montembeault stopped just 13 of the 16 shots sent his way. [Canadiens Highlights: Two-Point Night From Suzuki Not Enough]

It appears that injured forward Patrik Laine is nearing a return to play, having almost recovered from a core muscle injury that required surgical intervention. [Projecting The Canadiens Forward Lines When Healthy]

Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis did not hold back when discussing star rookie Ivan Demidov. “Elite offensive computer” is a rather accurate description, as well.

Speaking of great young Canadiens players, phenom Lane Hutson received his daily dose of praise.

e covered several topics in the most recent edition of the Canadiens mailbag, including potential trade assets, Patrik Laine’s use going forward, prospect shelf life, mangoes, and more. [Canadiens Mailbag: Trade Talk, Prospect Shelf Life, Laine’s Value]

Prospect Aatos Koivu scored in TPS Turku’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Lahti Pelicans. He’s now up to three goals and five assists in 33 games, putting him on pace for a 13-point season.

An article published in French touched on David Reinbacher’s relatively slow progression this season. It’s a solid, first-hand account of what the 21-year-old defenceman is going through in the AHL at the moment. For those of you who do not speak or read French, the conclusion suggests it’s much too early to panic in Reinbacher’s case. [Tout Sur Le Hockey – FR]

Believe it or not, Martin St-Louis is the NHL player who has assisted on Steven Stamkos’ powerplay goals with the highest frequency throughout his career.

avatar
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

Tap Here To Add Sportsnaut As A Trusted Source on GoogleTap Here To Add Sportsnaut As A Trusted Source on Google