{"id":517277,"date":"2026-03-06T03:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T03:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/517277\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T03:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T03:14:08","slug":"canadiens-healthy-environment-an-important-factor-in-trade-considerations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/517277\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadiens’ healthy environment an important factor in trade considerations"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 Martin St. Louis had everyone\u2019s attention, but especially ours as he walked the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> through five-on-six drills at Monday\u2019s practice in San Jose.<\/p>\n

For a little over four years, we\u2019ve watched scenes like these play out countless times, but usually from behind the panes of glass that separate the Canadiens from the press.<\/p>\n

In a much smaller bowl than the one that envelops SAP Center, over in Brossard, Que., where the Canadiens practise, there\u2019s little benefit to sitting in the stands. Sounds bounce off the walls and become easily distorted, making only the screaming and cheering at ice level somewhat discernable. So, the warmer, quieter refuge of the seating area designated to media is generally the preferred choice.<\/p>\n

But the seats in the big empty bowl at SAP Center were premium to hear everything we wanted to hear Monday morning. And what we heard was every word of the fascinating conversation between St. Louis and his players.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t so much what was said that made it so interesting \u2014 most of it was about where and when to apply pressure defensively in these situations \u2014 as much as it was how it was said and responded to.<\/p>\n

A loose puck hit the side boards with two defenders getting caught between decisions to rush it or back away from it, and then an attacking player picked it up, fed it to the point and watched as it was shot and tipped into the net. That\u2019s when St. Louis paused the drill and asked his players which one of the two defenders should\u2019ve rushed the puck and killed the play.<\/p>\n

Nick Suzuki<\/a> didn\u2019t raise his hand. Without hesitation, he blurted out the answer.<\/p>\n

St. Louis affirmed Suzuki\u2019s response and then solicited questions from the group.<\/p>\n

Two players asked for clarifications on different reads the situation might have required, and the coach provided them.<\/p>\n

And then he continued eliminating a lot more of the gray that\u2019s led the Canadiens to getting scored on 10 times at five-on-six since the start of the season.<\/p>\n

The drill ran for roughly 10 minutes, but it involved everyone and proved very productive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a place where we expect to be at five-on-six at the end of games, so we have to work on that,\u201d said St. Louis afterwards. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not just at the end of the game; sometimes it\u2019s from a penalty we take, and they take their goalie out in the middle of a game and we find ourselves at five-on-six. How you defend that shouldn\u2019t be different from how you defend it at the end of the game, but I think it\u2019s important for everyone to be comfortable in those situations. So that\u2019s what we did today.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes discussion, because some will learn from doing it, some will learn from the whiteboard or video, some will learn more through conversation, so you try to check all the boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not every coach makes it as collaborative, but who\u2019d argue with St. Louis\u2019 approach?<\/p>\n

If the Canadiens have consistently put one foot in front of the other since embarking on this rebuild, it\u2019s been largely because of how he\u2019s developed them. And that development has been massively stimulated by his communication skills.<\/p>\n

Sure, St. Louis was hired to inspire. To drive growth with the passion that drove him from undrafted, unsigned and unwanted to undeniable in his rise to a Hall-of-Fame playing career.<\/p>\n

But it turned out his perceived weakness \u2014 of jumping from the bench of his son\u2019s bantam team to one of the most prestigious benches of the NHL without much coaching experience in between \u2014 would prove to be his greatest strength, for St. Louis immediately understood that the methodology he used with much younger players was the best one for this new generation of NHLers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love to create dialogues and back-and-forth,\u201d St. Louis said prior to Tuesday\u2019s game against the Sharks. \u201cI think they\u2019re able to absorb more when they\u2019re part of these discussions. I\u2019ve always said I\u2019m not a dictator, it\u2019s not a monologue. There\u2019s dialogue and there\u2019s conversations and the guys know that I ask a lot of questions, so they\u2019re more alert to get engaged, and I think it facilitates the learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs players, you obviously don\u2019t want to overstep,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when he\u2019s looking for clarification from us, I think it helps the communication between the players and the coaches. There\u2019s little nuances that maybe someone will bring up that the coaches haven\u2019t thought of, or vice versa, so I think it\u2019s nice to have that open communication.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s so much more of it that goes on behind the scenes \u2014 and not just with St. Louis, whose work is extremely well complemented by the coaching staff, but also with director of player development Adam Nicholas, who\u2019s busy crafting an endless video catalog for the players to access when he\u2019s not working with them on every single aspect of the game on the ice.<\/p>\n

Back in December, we asked St. Louis about the synergy that\u2019s been created between him and Nicholas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe bounce a lot of stuff back and forth to steer both of us in a direction to accelerate the development of our group because you can\u2019t help these guys develop (by yourself),\u201d St. Louis said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just one guy. Adam plays a big part of that, for sure, but we all help each other out. It was the mandate when we came here, and I feel like we\u2019re trying to check that box each and every day. The way we practise, the feedback that they get, the coaching, the video, he plays a huge part of that, and what drives that for me I think is just his passion for the game. <\/p>\n

“I feel like I\u2019ve found somebody very close to my own passion, and we have a lot of fun doing what we\u2019re doing. And we don\u2019t think we all have the answers, but we steer each other towards the answers, and I feel that has accelerated the development of our young group.\u201d<\/p>\n

But management has seen it from much closer, which puts decisions like the ones they\u2019re facing less than 24 hours from the NHL trade deadline in perspective.<\/p>\n

On Monday, hours before witnessing that scene at SAP Center, we presented the reasons Canadiens president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton and general manager Kent Hughes should\u00a0consider paying the high price<\/a> St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong has set on centre Robert Thomas. <\/p>\n

We anchored our argument to the 26-year-old being a sure bet to solidify the middle of the Canadiens\u2019 lineup \u2014 especially as an established point-per-game player on a cap-friendly contract that only expires in 2031 \u2014 and suggested it might be worth it to take that while sacrificing some \u201cmaybes\u201d to do it.<\/p>\n

But if Gorton and Hughes prefer to wager on top prospects Michael Hage and Alexander Zharovsky (among others) hitting their full potential, it\u2019ll have as much to do with the natural aptitude both players (and other top prospects in the system) possess as it will the environment St. Louis, the coaching staff and Nicholas have created for them to develop in.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t help but notice how healthy it is, and not just because of how St. Louis, his assistants and Nicholas have fostered it.<\/p>\n

The players often say there\u2019s something special about this group, and it\u2019s evident looking at the close relationships forged by the ones in the fiercest competitions with each other for ice time.<\/p>\n

Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj are as close as it gets, and they\u2019ve been fighting with each other for a permanent space in the lineup for two seasons. Zachary Bolduc and Alexandre Texier have formed a similar bond, even as both are fighting for bottom-six minutes.<\/p>\n

There never seems to be animosity between any of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we all share that common goal of competing and trying to win a Stanley Cup and trying to win as many games as possible,\u201d said Lane Hutson. \u201cI think, obviously, everyone wants to play. But when you\u2019re not in, it\u2019s always nice to see that the guys who aren\u2019t in are cheering on the guys that are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to describe culture. It\u2019s a feel. And I feel like it\u2019s something I addressed early when I came in, and we talked about it, we worked on it, and I feel like it gets to a certain point where the culture takes life,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I feel like anybody who\u2019s been added to the group, they feel something. Whether it’s camaraderie, whether it\u2019s selfless actions, whatever it is, there\u2019s a feeling amongst our group that they enjoy coming to the rink each and every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

It starts with the people at the top and filters down.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have really good humans,\u201d St. Louis said. \u201cWhen you have good humans, you\u2019re able to create this environment. You can try to create this environment, but it\u2019s going to be really hard if you don\u2019t have good humans.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the first time since Game 18 of the season, Juraj Slafkovsky is leaving his line with Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen for a reunion with Suzuki and Cole Caufield for Friday\u2019s game in Anaheim.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a good surprise this morning,\u201d Slafkovsky said, welcoming the change after three post-Olympic games with Demidov and Kapanen didn\u2019t produce desired results.<\/p>\n

His play reached new levels steering both rookies and he\u2019s hoping the confidence he gained from doing that turns Montreal\u2019s top line into an even more dangerous one than it\u2019s been at any point this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot changed,\u201d Slafkovsky said. \u201cI grew a lot as a player, and I feel like I got better carrying the puck and being comfortable skating up the ice. And I feel like it can only help playing with these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Newhook slides in with Demidov and Kapanen, on the line from which he produced six goals and six assists through the first 17 games before suffering a displaced fracture to his ankle.<\/p>\n

Newhook has been flying since he returned three games ago, with two goals scored in the 7-5 loss to the Sharks Monday vaulting him quickly back into the top six.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s what the 25-year-old was gunning for.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said, I wasn\u2019t coming back to ease into it. That\u2019s for sure,” Newhook said. \u201cI know where my game can be at, I know what I can have for an impact on this team, and I really just want to dive in and head into my return. That\u2019s been my mindset, so I\u2019m excited for tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kirby Dach practised on Newhook\u2019s previous line with Jake Evans and Bolduc, while Phillip Danault remained with Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson.<\/p>\n

St. Louis wouldn\u2019t confirm whether any changes would be made for Friday\u2019s game, but he did say he wants the Canadiens to play with much more \u201cjam\u201d up the ice to restore the pride that was dented by giving away points in two of the last three games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 Martin St. Louis had everyone\u2019s attention, but especially ours as he walked the Montreal Canadiens…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-517277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}