- In some rare positive injury news for the Montreal Canadiens this season, Jake Evans has returned to practice in a full-contact jersey, while Jesse Ylonen has returned to practice after missing the team’s last game with an illness, per TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. Ylonen hasn’t looked out of place in his first extended NHL look this season, recording five goals and 12 points in 29 games. Evans is nearing a return after missing over two months with a lower-body injury.
Canadiens Rumors
Brendan Gallagher Returns For Canadiens
Although no formal announcement has been made about his activation from the injured reserve, the Montreal Canadiens will welcome back veteran forward Brendan Gallagher to their lineup tonight. Seemingly injured for this entire season, the Canadiens can now employ one of their best players, both on and off the ice.
After being a strong emotional leader for the Canadiens during their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, Gallagher was rewarded with a 6-year, $39 million contract extension from Montreal. Unfortunately, for both Gallagher and Montreal, he has been wholly unable to play a full season since that contract was signed. In only 25 games played so far this year, the forward has four goals and five assists for the struggling Canadiens.
Nevertheless, with the Canadiens in rebuild mode, Gallagher is a strong leader to put around the younger players coming up to Montreal. Given his injury history lately, $6.5MM a year is quite a lot of money to spend on a player that seems unable to play a full 82 games, but Gallagher’s leadership should make the contract a bit more palatable for the Canadiens. As the Canadiens take on Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, Montreal is 1-7-2 in their last ten games, remaining in the bottom five of the NHL league standings.
Atlantic Notes: Brodie, Luff, Richard
David Alter of Sports Illustrated reports that per head coach Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs’ defenseman T.J. Brodie will not be in the lineup tonight. Keefe confirms that Brodie has been fine for the most part, but remains a little banged up as the Maple Leafs continue their final stretch toward the playoffs. During a flurry of trade deadline activity, the Maple Leafs have added Conor Timmins, Erik Gustafsson, Luke Schenn, and Jake McCabe, while only moving defenseman Rasmus Sandin off their roster.
Keefe did not specifically use the word “maintenance”, but with nine defensemen on the active roster ready to fill in, this is exactly what it seems like for Brodie tonight. Having been placed on the injured reserve twice already this year, Brodie is having a down year for his standards. Playing in only 47 games so far this season, Brodie has two goals and nine assists for the Maple Leafs. Although his point scoring is down, Brodie has still been racking up the blocked shots and serving valuable minutes on Toronto’s penalty kill.
Other notes:
- The Detroit Red Wings announced that they have recalled forward Matt Luff from their AHL affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins. Playing in his first season in the Red Wings’ organization, Luff actually missed over two months of play from an injury at the beginning of the season. Playing in only seven games for Detroit, the forward has scored one goal this year. In the minor leagues, Luff has been a very productive forward for the Griffins, scoring 25 points in 28 games.
- Being recalled on emergency loan on March 9th, the Montreal Canadiens have sent forward Anthony Richard back to their AHL affiliate Laval Rocket. Playing in 13 games this season for the Canadiens, Richard has scored three goals and two assists. Unlike his production in the NHL, Richard has been one of the best players in Laval this season, if not one of the best players in the minor leagues altogether. In 49 games played for Laval, the forward has scored 24 goals and 31 assists.
Canadiens Prospect Alexander Gordin Has KHL Contract Terminated
- Montreal Canadiens prospect Alexander Gordin had his contract terminated by his KHL club, HK Sochi. The 2020 sixth-round pick spent most of the season at the second-tier VHL level, scoring eight goals and 12 points for HK Rostov. He notched two points in six KHL games for Sochi, although he didn’t see a whole lot of ice time, including one game where he played just 25 seconds. The Canadiens have the exclusive rights to sign Gordin indefinitely, and although there is no word on whether he’s planning on heading to North America, this contract termination does give him options for where to continue his development.
- The ECHL’s Florida Everblades signed Chayse Primeau, who is the son of former NHLer Keith Primeau and the brother of Montreal Canadiens AHL netminder Cayden Primeau. The 25-year-old has spent the past five seasons with playing college hockey, spending four years with the University of Nebraska-Omaha before transferring to Notre Dame for his final year. He has amassed 95 points in 154 career games, and was named an NCHC Second-Team All-Star in his senior season at Nebraska. He’ll now join the Everblades, who are right in the thick of a competitive race for the ECHL’s South Division title.
Latest On Canadiens, Sean Farrell
While the emergence of Montreal Canadiens 2022 second-round pick Lane Hutson has attracted a significant amount of attention in the Montreal market (no doubt helped by the fact that it was his overtime goal that won Boston University the Hockey East title), 2020 fourth-round pick Sean Farrell has had an incredible season in his own right. The Harvard forward was recently named the ECAC’s player of the year after scoring 52 points in 33 games, and this comes after he scored six points in four games representing the United States at last year’s Winter Olympics. This has led to many wondering if the NHL could be just around the corner for Farrell, or if he would choose to play until graduation and potentially test the open market once his rights expire.
Based on recent reporting, it seems Canadiens fans may not have much to worry about. The Athletic’s Marc Antoine Godin and Arpon Basu reported in a recent column (subscription link) that Farrell’s advisors at CAA have assured them that the scenario of Farrell graduating and testing free agency is “not one worth mentioning” because Farrell “has every intention of signing with the Canadiens.” This means that should Harvard be upset in their first-round matchup against Ohio State on Friday, “Farrell could be available as early as this Saturday,” and his signing would certainly add some excitement to what has been a rollercoaster Canadiens season.
Injury Notes: Canadiens, Greenway, Johnson
The Montreal Canadiens have been absolutely ravaged by injuries yet again this season, missing key players for long stretches. While they have no playoff aspirations at this point in the season, there is still some promising news for the team health-wise. The Athletic’s Marc Antoine Godin reports that forwards Kirby Dach, Jake Evans, and Brendan Gallagher were all at practice today, albeit in non-contact jerseys.
All three have missed significant stretches of time this season, especially Gallagher, who’s played just 25 games with intermittent lower-body injuries. His latest absence has kept him out since January 3 and is past his original estimated return timeline of six weeks. Evans exited the lineup a few weeks later and was issued a 10-week recovery timeline from a knee injury. Dach has been out since the end of last month with a lower-body injury and has no timeline for a return.
All are important players to Montreal in their own right, but Dach has especially been impressive in his first season in Montreal. The third overall pick in 2019 has taken a significant step in his offensive development since being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks, adding an even brighter star to an already bright future for the Canadiens.
- Buffalo Sabres winger Jordan Greenway is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, according to Bleacher Report contributor Joe Yerdon, adding to a bumpy season for him. The 26-year-old has just one goal in eight games since the Sabres acquired him at the trade deadline, and the team is quickly plummeting out of the Wild Card race.
- On a positive note, The Denver Post’s Bennett Durando reports that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson practiced in a regular jersey today, signaling he’s close to a return. Johnson has missed over a month with a foot injury but could draw back into the lineup soon ahead of the playoffs. The 34-year-old has seven assists in 51 games this season.
Montreal Canadiens Reassign Emil Heineman To AHL
The Montreal Canadiens reassigned forward prospect Emil Heineman to the AHL’s Laval Rocket on Monday, per a team announcement.
Heineman, 21, arrived in the Canadiens organization last year in the second trade of his career. Initially a 2020 second-round selection of the Florida Panthers, Heineman’s signing rights were first transferred to the Calgary Flames in the Sam Bennett trade before he was again flipped to Montreal in the Tyler Toffoli deal.
Since being drafted in 2020, the 6’2″, 194 lb forward has played almost exclusively with Leksands IF in the SHL, aside from one game back in juniors in 2020-21. It’s the organization where he’s spent his entire career, all the way back to U16 hockey in 2015.
Signed to an entry-level contract for this season, Montreal opted to loan Heineman back to Leksands for another year of development in Sweden. He responded by scoring eight goals and 15 points in 35 games, roughly on track with the 16 points in 38 games he posted the season before.
Heineman shuffled up and down the Leksands lineup this season, seeing fourth-line ice time in some games and first-line ice time in others. He joins a Laval team that’s currently on the outside looking in of the Calder Cup playoff picture but sits only one point back of the Belleville Senators with a game in hand for the final playoff spot in the AHL’s North Division.
Kaiden Guhle Will Sit Out Tonight
As their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning gets underway, the Montreal Canadiens announce that defenseman Kaiden Guhle will sit out of tonight’s game due to a lower-body injury. With quite a large amount of injuries already, Guhle will join the list of Canadiens unable to play.
In his first-ever season in the NHL, Guhle has fit in very well with Montreal this year. Drafted 16th overall in the 2020 NHL draft, the Edmonton Oil Kings alumni has put up 18 points in 44 games for the Canadiens this year. Although these may seem like rather modest numbers from a defenseman, he actually sits second on the Canadiens’ defense in points scored. With a list including Justin Barron, Jordan Harris, and Arber Xhekaj, Guhle complements a list of Montreal defensemen 22 years of age or younger.
As he has primarily played on a unit with David Savard, it appears that Mike Matheson will move up to the top unit tonight against the Lightning, and defenseman Chris Wideman will fill in for Guhle in tonight’s lineup.
Jonathan Drouin Held Out Of Practice After Missing Team Meeting
- Montreal Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin was held out from practice today after missing a team meeting this morning, according to head coach Martin St. Louis. As a consequence, St. Louis said he may also opt to scratch Drouin for tomorrow’s game against Tampa, his former team. The 27-year-old forward has one goal and 24 assists in 45 games this year.
Christian Dvorak Undergoes Season-Ending Knee Surgery
The Montreal Canadiens’ season-long battle with the injury bug continues, as the team has announced that center Christian Dvorak underwent season-ending knee surgery today. Per the announcement, a full recovery is expected before the start of next season.
While no announcement has officially been made, it’s likely that Dvorak will land on injured reserve following this news. When that placement officially comes, he’ll join a whopping eight Canadiens players on either regular or long-term injured reserve.
The Canadiens have been absolutely decimated by injuries this season, and their list of contributors who have missed significant time this season rivals that of any other NHL club. They have lost players such as budding superstar Cole Caufield and promising rookie defenseman Arber Xhekaj to their own season-ending surgeries, and now Dvorak joins that list.
The result of the slew of injuries the team has faced this season has been that coach Martin St. Louis has been forced to make do with an even more talent-depleted roster than the one the Canadiens entered the season with.
While some players such as longtime minor leaguer Alex Belzile and seventh-round pick Rafael Harvey-Pinard have seized the opportunities these injuries have provided them, it’s clear that the trouble the Canadiens have faced in the health department has cost them valuable development time for some key players.
For Dvorak, 27, this injury ends what has been an up-and-down season.
The former Arizona Coyotes center has always been the kind of player who is at his best when he can feed off of more gifted linemates, and in Montreal he has not been given that luxury.
As a result, his offensive production has declined as he’s settled into more of a defensive role.
He’s leading all Canadiens regulars in short-handed ice time per game and splits the task of handling the team’s hardest matchups with captain Nick Suzuki.
Dvorak, who makes $4.45MM against the cap through 2024-25, will finish his second season in Montreal with 10 goals and 18 assists in 64 games, which is a 13-goal, 36-point pace.
That’s a decline from the 48-point pace he posted last season, which is disappointing, but he has the type of consistency across his 422-game NHL career to suggest that he’ll have a chance to rebound next season.
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