- Canadiens prospect Mikus Vecvanags has signed with QMJHL Acadie-Bathurst, per a team announcement (Twitter link). Montreal selected the netminder in the fifth round (134th overall) back in June. Vecvanags was selected by the Titan in the CHL Import Draft but elected to start the season with BCHL Brooks but playing time was hard to come by as he got into just five games with the Bandits, posting a 3.18 GAA with a .881 SV%.
Canadiens Rumors
Canadiens Recall Jakub Dobes For NHL Debut
The Canadiens have recalled goaltender Jakub Dobes from AHL Laval for his NHL debut, reports Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. There’s no injury to the Habs’ current NHL duo of Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau, but the club has an open roster spot and will use it to carry three goalies for its Florida back-to-back over the weekend.
The 23-year-old Dobes was the No. 136 overall pick in the 2020 draft, heading to Montreal in the fifth round. After impressing in United States Hockey League action in his post-draft season, he went on to have a strong two-year run at Ohio State University, where he posted a .926 SV% in 75 appearances. The transition to pro hockey has gone fairly well for Dobes too, taking over as Laval’s starter last year in his first look in AHL action, logging a 2.93 GAA, .906 SV%, and one shutout in 51 games.
While Dobes has been battling injuries this season, he’s gotten into 14 AHL games, posting a 2.44 GAA and .910 SV% with a 9-3-1 record. He’s split time evenly with veteran offseason addition Connor Hughes thanks to his health, posting slightly better numbers than his 28-year-old Swiss counterpart.
Dobes’ relatively seamless transition from level to level throughout his development bodes well for his performance on his first NHL recall. But while he deserves a look, today’s transaction isn’t all about him. It also has much to do with Primeau’s poor play in a backup role this season. The 25-year-old has established himself as nearly unplayable, logging a .836 SV%, 4.70 GAA, and remarkable -16.0 GSAA in just seven starts and four relief appearances, “good” for a 2-3-1 record. He’s posted a league-average save percentage in just one of those seven starts, a 33-save performance on 36 shots in a shootout loss to the Islanders back on Oct. 19.
It stands to reason that we’ve seen the last of Primeau for a while, although the Habs likely can’t afford to jeopardize Dobes’ development by keeping him up as Montembeault’s backup for the rest of the year. Whether Montreal parts ways with Primeau via trade or waivers, they’ll likely bring in a cheap option to replace him to give Dobes a little more time in Laval. The 6’4″ Czechia native will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer.
No Extension Talks Yet Between Canadiens And David Savard
With the trade deadline about two and a half months away, some teams have started to assess what it might cost to keep some of their pending free agents around. The Canadiens don’t appear to be one of them. Center Jake Evans acknowledged that there have yet to be any discussions about a new deal while Pierre LeBrun recently reported on a TSN Insider Trading segment that the same goes for veteran blueliner David Savard.
The 34-year-old is in his fourth season with Montreal after inking a four-year, $14MM contract with them in the 2021 offseason. Over his first three years with the team, he continued to be a reliable top-four defensive blueliner, albeit one who dealt with injury issues as he missed at least 20 games in each of those campaigns. With that and the Canadiens rebuilding, Savard entered the season as a speculative trade candidate.
This season, Savard has seen his ice time dip a bit, checking in at 18:44 per game which would be the lowest he has had since the 2013-14 campaign with Columbus. That is due to often lining up on the third pairing at even strength. However, he leads Montreal in shorthanded playing time at 3:38 per night, a mark that ranks second in the NHL to Utah’s Mikhail Sergachev. Savard has nine points in 32 games thus far while adding a team-high 84 blocked shots.
While Savard entered the year as one of the better right-shot rental options on the back end, the reduced role isn’t going to help his trade value. Generally speaking, contending teams won’t want to move a high draft pick or strong prospect for a player likely to be their fifth defender. Instead, they’ll be looking to upgrade those spots with more secondary pieces.
With that in mind, it might make sense for the Canadiens to entertain the idea of keeping Savard around a little longer. While they got some veteran insurance on the right side of their back end when they acquired Alexandre Carrier just before the roster freeze, there’s certainly room to keep both around past this season.
Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher are Montreal’s top prospects on that side of the defense and while Mailloux might be ready for a full-time role next season, Reinbacher has yet to play in 2024-25 due to a knee injury and probably won’t be ready to play full-time in the NHL next season. If they don’t keep Savard, it stands to reason that they might look to add a veteran on that side sometime over the offseason.
In the coming weeks, the Canadiens will need to assess whether they want to keep Savard around a little longer at a price tag that would likely check in around his current $3.5MM AAV. Otherwise, expect to see his name in trade speculation as we get closer to the March 7th trade deadline.
Canadiens, Jake Evans Haven’t Discussed Extension
The Montreal Canadiens are well-positioned to be deadline sellers for the fourth consecutive season. They also might have one of the most valuable rental candidates on the market.
Middle-six center Jake Evans is in the middle of a career year, only 11 points away from reaching career-highs in scoring despite playing in 39 fewer games. He’s scored seven goals and 19 points in 33 games for the Canadiens this season and sits fourth on the team in scoring. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent next summer when his three-year, $5.1MM contract concludes.
Montreal should theoretically be interested in keeping a player like Evans around but if they do — he doesn’t know it. In an interview with Eric Engels of Sportsnet, Evans replied, “Still crickets” when asked about extension negotiations with the Canadiens.
The Toronto, Ontario native is on pace for 17 goals and 47 points should he continue his current pace for the rest of the regular season. His career 50.8% faceoff rate and 89.2% on-ice save percentage in all situations should give interested teams confidence that Evans can play center toward the bottom of a contending lineup.
Evans’ biggest issue is his inconsistency over the last several years. That’s something he acknowledged in the interview with Engels when he said, “You start to understand your role and where you’re going to fit in and where you’re going to bring value to a team. Sometimes it takes guys half a season, but for me, moving up and down the lineup, you don’t really know what kind of player you’re supposed to be, and now I feel like I’ve finally found it.”
Still, even though he could conceivably double his current salary on the open market, Evans strikes as a player the Canadiens should keep around for the long haul. Cap space won’t be a concern for Montreal anytime soon and Evans has proven his value to the organization this season.
Canadiens Acquire Alexandre Carrier
The Canadiens and Predators have swapped blueliners before Thursday’s roster freeze. Montreal has acquired Alexandre Carrier from Nashville in exchange for defenseman Justin Barron. Both teams have announced the deal.
Carrier is in his seventh NHL season, all of which came with Nashville after they drafted him in the fourth round back in 2015. He has gone from a depth defender to one counted on inside their top four.
However, the 28-year-old hasn’t been able to duplicate his 2021-22 performance that saw him land a spot on the All-Rookie Team. That year, Carrier had 30 points and 124 blocks in 77 games while logging nearly 21 minutes a night of ice time. He only managed 29 points in the following two seasons and has seven in 28 outings this season while averaging just over 20 minutes per game. Carrier is currently dealing with an upper-body injury but is believed to be ready to return to the lineup, relays TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link).
Carrier had a chance to test unrestricted free agency for the first time this past summer but instead elected to remain in Nashville, inking a three-year, $11.25MM deal that runs through the 2026-27 campaign. With David Savard being a pending unrestricted free agent and a speculative trade candidate as a result, it stands to reason that Carrier will eventually take his role as the veteran option on the right side of Montreal’s back end, ensuring they’ll have one experienced player on that side beyond this season.
As for Barron, the 23-year-old was a first-round pick by Colorado back in 2020, going 25th overall. It’s the second time in his career that he’s been on the move after he was the centerpiece of the package that the Canadiens acquired in exchange for winger Artturi Lehkonen back at the 2022 trade deadline.
At the time, Montreal was hoping that he’d become a key cog on their back end for years to come. However, while Barron has shown flashes of being a capable NHL player, he has struggled with consistency. Last season, despite a stint with AHL Laval, he collected seven goals and six assists in 48 games while averaging 18:38 per game and it appeared as if he’d turned a corner in his development. That earned him a two-year, $2.3MM bridge deal this past summer.
Unfortunately for Barron and the Canadiens, that hasn’t been the case this season. He has been a frequent healthy scratch over the first two-plus months of the year, only getting into 17 of 31 games. In those outings, he has been limited to just one goal (without recording any assists) while his playing time has dropped to just 14:43 per game.
This move gives Nashville a younger player to try to turn into a full-time piece while saving the team $2.6MM on the salary cap. Barron will also still have two years of team control when his deal expires while Carrier will be an unrestricted free agent when his contract is up. With the Preds struggling much more than many expected this season, it will be interesting to see if GM Barry Trotz has any plans to quickly utilize those cap savings with the roster freeze approaching or if he’ll wait until the new year to try to add another piece to their roster.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
East Notes: Matheson, Laine, Ovechkin, Matinpalo
The Montreal Canadiens tweeted that defenseman Mike Matheson and forward Patrik Laine will not take part in today’s team practice. The tweet wasn’t overly detailed and described their absences as a “Therapy day.”
The Canadiens have been cautious with Laine as he just returned from injury and has played just four games this season. The former second-overall pick suffered a knee injury in the preseason and there were concerns he could miss the entire season. However, the 26-year-old fortunately was able to recover without surgery and missed just two and a half months of action. Laine has been sensational since returning, posting three goals and an assist.
There are no further details on Matheson at this time, but the 30-year-old did miss two games at the end of November with a lower-body injury. Matheson has been terrific once again this season for Montreal, registering two goals and 13 assists in 26 games.
In other Eastern Conference notes:
- Washington Capitals injured superstar Alex Ovechkin skated this morning as he tries to work his way back into game action (as per Tom Gulitti from NHL.com). Ovechkin skated in a non-contact jersey and had former teammate Nicklas Backstrom join him on the ice in a track suit. The 39-year-old Ovechkin is trying to overcome a fractured fibula that has kept him out of action since November 18th. Ovechkin had seven goals in the five games prior to the injury as he closes in on the NHL’s all-time goals record.
- The Ottawa Senators announced that they have loaned defenseman Nikolas Matinpalo to the Belleville Senators of the American Hockey League. Matinpalo was recalled yesterday, but is being returned to Belleville as his shuttling back and forth continues. Matinpalo has yet to play an NHL game this season but did dress in four games last season. This year, the 26-year-old has dressed in 17 AHL games, picking up two goals and four assists.
Case For Montreal To Keep Matheson And Evans; Guhle Returns Tonight
While the Canadiens sit in the basement of the Atlantic Division once again and are speculated to be likely to move out more veterans, Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette argues that Montreal might be better off retaining two in particular, defenseman Mike Matheson and center Jake Evans. Matheson has one more year left on his contract at an affordable $4.875MM and had 15 points in 24 games so far this season after finishing in the top ten in scoring among NHL defenders in 2023-24. But with Lane Hutson impressing early on, some have wondered if he’d be available.
As for Evans, the 28-year-old is off to a career-best start with five goals and nine assists through 26 outings while logging 16 minutes a game while leading all NHL forwards in shorthanded ice time. A pending unrestricted free agent, he could conceivably double his current $1.7MM price tag on the open market. With his low cost this season, Evans could be one of the Canadiens’ better trade chips but Cowan suggests that he and Matheson might be the right types of veterans to keep around as Montreal tries to emerge from its rebuild in the coming seasons.
- Still with Montreal, Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle missed Thursday’s game against Nashville due to illness. However, TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link) that indications are that the 22-year-old will return to the lineup tonight. Guhle has recorded six points, 48 blocks, and 26 hits in 20 games so far while averaging a career-best 21:34 per night.
Canadiens, Oilers Complete Minor Swap
Two of the league’s storied Canadian franchises have gotten together on a minor-league deal. According to a press release from the Montreal Canadiens, the former is sending forward Jacob Perreault to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer.
Hoefenmayer is an older prospect being drafted with the 108th overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Arizona Coyotes. He transitioned to professional hockey for the 2020-21 season but spent much of his first two years in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ ECHL affiliates.
The last three years have given Hoefenmayer more consistent playing in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies and Bakersfield Condors. He scored 11 goals and 38 points in 65 games for the Marlies in 2022-23 while adding 114 PIMs. His move to Bakersfield has been far less productive scoring only eight goals and 25 points in 58 games with the Condors.
Perreault is the only player in the swap to make his NHL debut. He was originally drafted by the Anaheim Ducks organization and selected 27th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft. He fell out of favor rather quickly in Anaheim, largely due to his defensive inefficiencies, and was traded to the Canadiens this past March for fellow 2020 draftee, Jan Mysak.
The deal is between two teams heading in different directions in the AHL standings. The Laval Rocket are fourth overall in the league standings with a 14-6-1 record through 21 games while the Condors sit in 25th with a 7-8-2-1 record through 18.
Kaiden Guhle Out Tonight With Illness
- The Montreal Canadiens announced that defenseman Kaiden Guhle wouldn’t play tonight due to illness shortly before the team’s matchup against the Nashville Predators. Justin Barron who’s scored one goal in 12 games for Montreal this season is filling in for Guhle on the blue line. Barron has two shots, one blocked shot, and one hit through 10 minutes in tonight’s game against Nashville.
[SOURCE LINK]
Evening Notes: Team USA, Annunen, Misa
Chris Johnston of TSN’s Insider Trading reported tonight that it appears Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield and Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson will not be a part of Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Both Caufield and Thompson have had strong starts to the season but were reportedly left off the roster as Team USA prioritized experience over young skill.
It’s a tough decision for Team USA, but one that makes sense given that the players they chose will be a better fit in the team’s bottom six forward group. Johnston floated the names of Vincent Trocheck, Chris Kreider and Brock Nelson as the players likely to make the team over Caufield and Thompson.
In other evening notes:
- The Nashville Predators reportedly tried to acquire goaltender Justus Annunen from the Colorado Avalanche last season in the Yakov Trenin deal (as per Predators reporter Brooks Bratten). The Predators scouts coveted Annunen for quite a while and are thrilled to have him in the fold. The 24-year-old has dressed in 11 games this season with Colorado, posting pedestrian numbers with a 6-4 record and a .872 save percentage. While those numbers certainly don’t jump off the page, Annunen was solid last season in 14 NHL games, posting a .928 save percentage and a 2.25 goals-against average.
- Jeff Marek of Daily Faceoff tweeted today that Boston University is interested in potential 2025 first-overall pick Michael Misa. The 17-year-old has been tearing up the Ontario Hockey League this season with the Saginaw Spirit, tallying 25 goals and 24 assists in 25 games. The Oakville, Ontario native is in his third full season in the OHL and has registered 76 goals and 104 assists in 137 career OHL games. BU is also apparently interested in Misa’s brother, Luke Misa, who is a Calgary Flames prospect playing for the Brampton Steelheads. Luke is having a nice season in Brampton, scoring 13 goals and adding 19 assists in 24 games.