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It has become obvious the Canadiens don\u2019t have a spot in the lineup for winger Patrik Laine and that he has played his last game for the team. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\nThe Patrik Laine situation is bizarre. He travels with the team, practises with the team, but Arber Xhekaj is ahead of him on the forward depth chart. Has there been any explanation at all from Canadiens management?<\/p>\n
Forum Ghost on X \u2014 @forumthost97<\/p>\n
General manager Kent Hughes attempted to move Laine ahead of the March 6 NHL trade deadline, but wasn\u2019t successful. A reason for that was probably the US$2 million signing bonus due on March 31 as part of the final season of Laine\u2019s four-year, US$34.8-million contract.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatrik is part of the team, like all of our other players, and he\u2019s not a distraction,\u201d Hughes said after the trade deadline passed. \u201cHe hasn\u2019t been up to now. He\u2019s still available to the team and (it\u2019s) the coach\u2019s decisions as to who will play from one game to the next.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laine hasn\u2019t played since having surgery to repair a core muscle injury at the end of October. In the five games he did play this season, Laine had no goals and one assist. He is still officially on the injured-reserve list, even though he has been practising in a full-contact sweater for more than two months.<\/p>\n
It has become obvious the Canadiens don\u2019t have a spot in the lineup for Laine and that he has played his last game for the team. The 27-year-old winger can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.<\/p>\n
It has become obvious the Canadiens don\u2019t have a spot in the lineup for winger Patrik Laine and that he has played his last game for the team. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like he\u2019s had a great attitude,\u201d head coach Martin St. Louis said Thursday when I asked him about Laine. \u201cIt\u2019s been good. I know it\u2019s not easy, but \u2026 he\u2019s had a great attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n
I also asked captain Nick Suzuki about Laine\u2019s situation and how he has handled it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been a great teammate the whole time,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cSupporting the guys. It\u2019s tough to know what he\u2019s been going through, but he\u2019s been doing everything the right way. It\u2019s been nice to have him around more lately.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laine\u2019s wife, Jordan, has also been a regular at the Bell Centre for games and brought Easter treats to the family room last weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s great,\u201d Suzuki said. \u201cIt\u2019s good that all the girls get along really well and our family lounge is always pretty close with wives, girlfriends, family. It\u2019s a good atmosphere to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which Canadiens goalie is your choice to start the playoffs? Better yet, why?<\/p>\n
Ed Helinski<\/p>\n
Jakub Dobes has to be the goalie to start the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
In his last 17 games since Marco Marciano replaced Eric Raymond as goalie coach on Jan. 28, Dobes has a 13-3-1 record with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. For the season, Dobes has a 29-8-4 record with a 2.69 GAA and a .904 save percentage.<\/p>\n
Dobes, 24, also has the experience of playing in three playoff games last season in the Canadiens\u2019 first-round loss to the Washington Capitals, posting a 1-2 record with a 2.91 GAA and an .881 save percentage after Samuel Montembeault suffered two torn groin muscles. That experience is huge and Dobes is a much better, more confident and more experienced goalie than he was then.<\/p>\n
If Dobes were to struggle in the playoffs, head coach Martin St. Louis wouldn\u2019t hesitate to use Jacob Fowler, who since Marciano took over has a 4-2-0 record with a 2.36 GAA and a .907 save percentage. For the season, the 21-year-old Fowler has an 8-6-2 record with a 2.52 GAA and a .904 save percentage.<\/p>\n
While there might be some concern about having two rookie goalies, the Canadiens have a history of success with rookie goalies in the playoffs. Ken Dryden won the Stanley Cup as a 23-year-old rookie in 1971 and Patrick Roy did the same as a 20-year-old rookie in 1986.<\/p>\n
Should the Canadiens carry three goaltenders into the playoffs? I say no. I do not recall, however, the roster options available vis-\u00e0-vis Samuel Montembeault.<\/p>\n
After i on X \u2014 @JMcinthe613<\/p>\n
Carrying three goalies in the playoffs makes sense in case one of them gets injured. That\u2019s why Montembeault continues to practise with the team even though he hasn\u2019t played a game since March 6.<\/p>\n
The Canadiens won\u2019t be carrying three goalies next season. <\/p>\n
Montembeault, 29, has one more season left on his contract with a US$3.15 million salary-cap hit, and Hughes will be looking to trade him during the off-season. With so many teams having goaltending issues, I don\u2019t think Hughes will have a problem doing that.<\/p>\n
What do you think Ivan Demidov\u2019s next contract looks like within the team\u2019s internal salary-cap hierarchy?<\/p>\n
Paul Starke<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a good question with the NHL salary cap projected to jump from US$95.5 million this season to US$104 million in 2026-27 and US$113.5 million in 2027-28.<\/p>\n
Demidov has one more season left on his NHL entry-level contract with a US$940,833 salary-cap hit and US$3 million in potential bonus money.<\/p>\n
Noah Dobson is the highest-paid player on the Canadiens, with a US$9.5 million salary-cap hit, and Lane Hutson will become the second highest-paid player next season, when his new contract kicks in with a US$8.85 million cap hit.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m thinking Hughes would like to sign the 20-year-old Demidov to something between those two contracts \u2014 so around $9 million.<\/p>\n
One advantage the Canadiens have is that they can afford to offer a lot of up-front money in signing bonuses, and I imagine they will do the same thing with Demidov.<\/p>\n
Dobson\u2019s eight-year, US$76-million contract, which kicked in this season, includes US$11 million signing bonuses in each of the first three seasons and US$5 million in the fourth season. Hutson\u2019s new eight-year, US$70.8-million contract includes signing bonuses of US$11 million for each of the first two seasons, followed by signing bonuses of US$9.5 million in Year 3, US$6 million in Years 4 and 5, and US$5 million in Year 6.<\/p>\n
With the level of talent Ivan Demidov has, do you believe he will be the Habs\u2019 No. 1 right-winger on the top line in two years? Because I believe he will be. The talent with this guy is undeniable and he would only get better playing with Nick Suzuki. Just curious what you think.<\/p>\n
geoff on X \u2014 @ieatpinktaco<\/p>\n
That wouldn\u2019t surprise me, especially with prospects Michael Hage and Alexander Zharovsky coming along as potential top-six forwards.<\/p>\n
Hage, a 19-year-old centre, had 13-39-52 totals in 39 games this season at the University of Michigan. Zharovsky, a 19-year-old right-winger, has 16-26-42 totals in 59 games with Ufa Salavat Yulayev in the KHL.<\/p>\n
The question will be whether Martin St. Louis wants to break up the obvious chemistry that Suzuki has developed with Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky as they\u2019re becoming one of the best lines in the NHL.<\/p>\n
But St. Louis is definitely going to have some options when it comes to his forward lines. <\/p>\n I see Jake Evans as a modern-day Guy Carbonneau (minus a few goals), especially as he matures into his role with the Canadiens. Martin St. Louis obviously has faith in Evans and he seems well-respected by his teammates. Do you see a similar parallel? How do you see him stacking up across the league in this important role?<\/p>\n John Wood<\/p>\n Evans has never had the offensive skills that Carbonneau had, but he has definitely matured into a solid fourth-line centre and penalty-killer with the Canadiens who can win big faceoffs and is trusted by his coach and well-respected by his teammates. <\/p>\n Just like Carbonneau.<\/p>\n Evans knows his role and he does it very well. That\u2019s why a lot of other teams would have been interested in him if he had become an unrestricted free agent last summer and why the Canadiens decided to lock him up with a four-year, US$11.4 million contract ahead of last season\u2019s NHL trade deadline.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n In his final season at the University of Notre Dame (2017-18) after being selected by the Canadiens in the seventh round (207th overall) of the 2014 NHL Draft, Evans had 13-33-46 totals in 40 games. Carbonneau had 72-110-182 totals in 72 games during his final season with the QMJHL\u2019s Chicoutimi Saguen\u00e9ens in 1979-80 after being selected in the third round (44th overall) of the 1979 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n Evans and Carbonneau both realized that the best way for them to stay in the NHL was to become defensive-minded centres. <\/p>\n Evans, in his seventh season with the Canadiens, is a great success story after being the fourth-to-last player selected at the 2014 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n Carbonneau became a Hall of Famer.<\/p>\n How many players\/roster spots do you realistically see being turned over in the next one to three years? I see a minimum of five and as many as 10. I\u2019d say within two to three years, we\u2019ll have a finished product. Rebuild over.<\/p>\n Jon Josephson<\/p>\n You could make an argument that the rebuild is already over with the Canadiens sitting in fifth place in the overall NHL standings with a 47-22-10 record after beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 Thursday night at the Bell Centre.<\/p>\n But there is still work to be done and more roster changes to come. I\u2019d say a minimum of five over the next couple of years.<\/p>\n As noted above, Montembeault and Laine won\u2019t be back next season. <\/p>\n With defencemen David Reinbacher and Adam Engstrom looking to make the jump to the NHL from the AHL\u2019s Laval Rocket, the Canadiens will have to decide what to do with Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble, who have been battling each other for the sixth defence spot this season. Xhekaj can become a restricted free agent this summer, while Struble has one more season left on his contract with a US$1.4 million salary-cap hit. Defenceman Alexandre Carrier also has one more season left on his contract with a US$3.75 million cap hit.<\/p>\n Kirby Dach can become a restricted free agent this summer and fellow forwards Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson and Phillip Danault can all become unrestricted free agents next summer.<\/p>\n Change is a constant in the NHL. There are only six players still with the Canadiens who were with them when they lost the 2021 Stanley Cup final to the Tampa Bay Lightning: Suzuki, Anderson, Danault (after four and a half years with the Los Angeles Kings), Gallagher, Evans and Caufield.<\/p>\n I was thinking about Paul Byron. We\u2019d heard he was playing a role with the team, but haven\u2019t heard much about him in a while. Any updates of interest, especially with the playoffs coming and memories of his flying goal vs. the Maple Leafs. <\/p>\n canucky67 on X \u2014 @canucky675<\/p>\n Byron is still a player development consultant with the Canadiens and I have seen him a couple of times this season at the Bell Centre. <\/p>\n Player-development people aren\u2019t around the Canadiens very often. They spend the vast majority of their time working and talking with prospects, whether they\u2019re playing in the AHL, junior, the NCAA or Europe.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Other members of the Canadiens\u2019 player-development staff include Rob Ramage (director of player development), Francis Bouillon (player development coach), Lauri Korpikoski (European player development coach), Alex Burrows (player development consultant) and Montreal Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin (player development consultant).<\/p>\n Can you tell us more about Chris Boucher, head of analytics for the Habs \u2014a bio and information about his current work? He has been following some players for almost five years. How does he look at them from the start to now?<\/p>\n Qu\u00e9bec libre et vert on X \u2014 @ClaudeLalondMtl<\/p>\n I\u2019d love to be able to tell you more about Boucher and have asked in the past about interviewing him for a column because he seems like a very interesting guy. Unfortunately, the Canadiens don\u2019t allow behind-the-scenes staff like Boucher to be interviewed.<\/p>\n President of hockey operations Jeff Gorton hired Boucher as director of hockey analytics in May 2022, six months after starting the rebuilding process. Boucher has since built an analytics department that includes Philippe Desaulniers (head of hockey analytics technology) and Miranda McMillan (hockey data analyst).<\/p>\n After getting your question, I decided to ask St. Louis about Boucher so I could provide some kind of an answer.<\/p>\n \u201cThe data, you got to look at it,\u201d St. Louis said about Boucher and his staff. \u201cIt\u2019s not the whole story. But it\u2019s some of the story and you get steered. We use it, and I feel like his department\u2019s been a huge addition and he\u2019s a big part of why we do things a certain way. He\u2019s one of the reasons.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like there\u2019s multiple things, but based on where we are now in sports, you\u2019ve got to pay attention to that \u2014 and we do.\u201d<\/p>\n scowan@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n