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Mike Hoffman

East Notes: Canadiens, Gallant, McDonnell

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Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is expected to soon meet with the surgeon who performed his knee surgery over the summer to determine the next step in his rehab, notes Sportsnet’s Eric Engels.  The veteran has yet to play this season after spending time in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and had resumed on-ice drills until about three weeks ago.  There remains no timetable for his return for now but that should change soon following that meeting.

Meanwhile, wingers Josh Anderson, Mike Hoffman, Joel Armia, and center Christian Dvorak have all been classified as day-to-day as they work their way back from respective injuries.  Anderson, in particular, appears to be ahead of schedule as he was initially expected to be out until early February.  With Montreal having 15 players currently in COVID protocol, any returns would be a boost as they get set to resume their season on Wednesday in Boston.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • The Rangers announced (Twitter link) that head coach Gerard Gallant has been placed in COVID protocol. Assistant coach Kris Knoblauch will take over as New York’s acting bench boss.  It’s the second year in a row that Knoblauch has filled in for this reason as he also was thrust into that role in 2020-21 when he filled in for David Quinn for six games with the team winning four of those contests.  Gallant shouldn’t be out that long as he could return after as little as five days.
  • With the OHL trade deadline now just a day away, another NHL-drafted player is on the move as Lightning prospect Declan McDonnell has been moved to the Barrie Colts. The 19-year-old was the final pick of the 2020 draft (217th overall) but has collected 24 points in 28 games this season.  Tampa Bay has until June 1st to sign McDonnell or they will lose his rights.

Canadiens Activate Mike Hoffman Off Injured Reserve

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It has been a tough season for the Canadiens.  After making the Stanley Cup Final, they’ve struggled mightily out of the gate this season and have been hit hard with injuries.  While they’ve lost winger Josh Anderson for the next two to four weeks, Montreal will also get a player back for their game in Nashville tonight as the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Mike Hoffman will play which means he will be activated off injured reserve.

It hasn’t been a fun first year with Montreal for Hoffman who signed with them on the opening day of free agency last summer, inking a three-year, $13.5MM deal.  An offseason training injury kept him out of training camp plus the start of the season and this injury has cost him three more weeks.  In between those, he has recorded four goals and three assists in 13 games with five of those points coming on the man advantage.

The Canadiens are presently carrying a full 23-man roster even after transferring Anderson to IR on Friday.  As a result, they will need to make some sort of roster move before the game in order to activate Hoffman and have him in the lineup tonight.

Injury Notes: Canadiens, Flyers, Smith

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The Montreal Canadiens came back with a drastically stronger effort on Saturday night, winning 6-3 against the Nashville Predators for just their fifth victory of the season. They should also be getting some reinforcements in the coming days and weeks, as several updates were given on injured players today.

Head coach Dominique Ducharme told reporters including Eric Engels of Sportsnet that Cedric Paquette could be back as early as Wednesday, while Mike Hoffman and Mathieu Perreault skated today. Hoffman is out for at least another week, while Perreault’s vision is not back fully yet but there is optimism he will be okay following his second procedure. Joel Edmundson and Jake Allen were both on the ice today as well, though the former isn’t expected to play just yet and an update on the latter won’t come until tomorrow.

  • While much of the focus today was on the news that Kevin Hayes re-injured himself and is out week-to-week, there were some other updates out of the Philadelphia Flyers organization. Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Wade Allison has resumed skating and has been cleared for practice with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Unfortunately, Tyson Foerster could miss five months with a shoulder injury. Foerster, a 2020 first-round pick, is one of the handful of junior-aged players that secured an exemption to play in the AHL this season because of their games in 2020-21.
  • Some concern was raised today when a report emerged about Mike Smith’s status, but both Jason Gregor and Ryan Rishaug of TSN tweet that as of now, surgery is not the plan for the Edmonton Oilers goaltender. Rishaug adds that the expectation is still that Smith will return at some point in December. Smith hasn’t played since October 19, but Stuart Skinner has more than made up for his absence with a .939 save percentage in five appearances.

Guillaume Brisebois Clears Waivers

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Nov 17: While Brooks was claimed by the Vegas Golden Knights, Brisebois cleared and has been assigned to the AHL.

Nov 16: The Montreal Canadiens have placed Adam Brooks back on waivers after suiting up just four times with the team. Brooks had been claimed from the Toronto Maple Leafs off waivers earlier this season. Should Toronto put in a claim and are the only team to do so, they would be able to send him directly to the AHL. The Canadiens have also moved Mike Hoffman to injured reserve, retroactive to Saturday.

Meanwhile in Vancouver, the Canucks have placed Guillaume Brisebois on waivers, designating him for assignment to the AHL should he clear. Brisebois was on season-opening injured reserve, but this move suggests he’s nearing a return to action.

Brooks, 25, registered a single point in those four appearances for Montreal. The 2016 fourth-round pick has just 22 NHL regular season games under his belt, with four goals and nine points total. A natural center, he has shown the ability to score at a high rate in junior and the AHL, but is undersized and has yet to receive a true top-six opportunity.

Toronto does have an open roster spot and the cap space to carry Brooks, after sending Joey Anderson back to the minors yesterday.

It seems unlikely that Brisebois will be claimed, given he is coming off injury and has just nine games of NHL experience. This is a move that would have been done at the end of training camp in a normal situation, but the Canucks shouldn’t have much trouble getting him through to the minor leagues where he can get back up to speed.

Injury Notes: Canadiens, Pitlick, Sullivan

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Ahead of Sunday’s road tilt for the Montreal Canadiens against the Boston Bruins, head coach Dominique Ducharme provided injury updates regarding a few Canadiens players. After leaving Saturday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, goaltender Jake Allen has been assigned a day-to-day status while he undergoes evaluation for a more detailed evaluation. Allen left the contest after a net-front play which resulted in him colliding with Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin. Ducharme also notes that Mike Hoffman is absent from the lineup with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day, as Adam Brooks draws into the lineup in his place. It’s Hoffman’s second instance of injury this season, missing the team’s first three games of the season with a lower-body injury.

  • Calgary Flames forward Tyler Pitlick is absent from Sunday afternoon’s game against the Ottawa Senators with a lower-body injury. He’s classified as day-to-day, per the team. Forward Walker Duehr was inserted into the lineup, making his NHL debut. Pitlick has just two assists in 12 games this season, playing a bottom-six role, but remains a strong defensive presence if nothing else.
  • After being activated from the league’s COVID-19 protocols today, Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan doesn’t think he’ll be available for Thursday night’s game in Montreal due to border restrictions. Sullivan will be behind the bench for Sunday’s game against Washington and Tuesday’s game against Buffalo barring any unforeseen circumstances. The Penguins have dropped three out of five as they finally look to be close to healthy for the first time this season.

Injury Notes: Boeser, Severson, Perron, Hoffman

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While Vancouver fans are relieved to see Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes back in action after they signed new contracts to stay with the team, they’ll have to wait a bit longer to see one of their young core members debut this season. Head coach Travis Green said Friday morning that it’s doubtful Brock Boeser plays in that night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Boeser has been on the shelf with an undisclosed injury since October 2. He was expected to only miss one week, but that timeline has passed and his status is now day-to-day. In his absence, it appears rookie Vasily Podkolzin will now get a look on the second line with Pettersson and J.T. Miller.

Some other injury notes from around the league:

  • New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff notes that defenseman Damon Severson is progressing and could play in New Jersey’s game next Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken. The Devils play their season opener tonight, meaning Severson might only be on the shelf for one game. Severson suffered an undisclosed injury on October 4 and has been listed as day-to-day since then.
  • The Montreal Canadiens could see a big free-agent addition make his debut soon. Head coach Dominique Ducharme says that winger Mike Hoffman could be ready for the team’s Tuesday or Thursday night games next week, but he’ll miss Saturday’s tilt against the New York Rangers. That’s about right on time for Hoffman, who was projected to miss four weeks with a lower-body injury suffered in late September.
  • With the St. Louis Blues’ season opener looming Saturday in Colorado, they could be without forward David Perron, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas. Perron was absent from the Blues’ practice today but was seen at the facility wearing street clothes. Head coach Craig Berube called it a “maintenance day” for Perron, who’s questionable for the game with an undisclosed injury.

Montreal Canadiens Announce Several Injuries

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Saturday: Hoffman is expected to miss four weeks, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie.  On that timeline, he will miss the first few games of the regular season.

Thursday: The Montreal Canadiens started their on-ice portion of training camp today, but they were a bit shorthanded. The team announced that Paul Byron, Mike Hoffman, Joel Teasdale, Josh Brook, and Carey Price all failed their physicals as they deal with various injuries. All five players are “most likely” out for the entire camp.

While the news about Price isn’t unexpected, the fact that Hoffman is going to miss all of camp came as a surprise to many after he signed a three-year, $13.5MM contract this offseason. The 31-year-old sniper is dealing with a lower-body injury and it is not clear if he will miss any of the season at this point.

Hoffman was signed to add a little more scoring punch to a group that finished 17th in goals for last season. They bid farewell to Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault, Corey Perry, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, but should be getting a full season from young phenom Cole Caufield. One of the most consistent goal-scoring and powerplay threats in the league, Hoffman has scored 186 goals over the last seven seasons, including 17 in 52 games last year.

The Canadiens, who went to the Stanley Cup Finals last season, will have a difficult path to the playoffs this year. The divisions are back to normal, meaning the Atlantic Division is packed with the likes of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, and Toronto Maple Leafs, all teams that finished ahead of Montreal last season. Early injuries can be overcome, but they certainly won’t make things easier.

Poll: Are The Montreal Canadiens A Playoff Team In 2021-22?

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After making it all the way to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, losing in five games to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Montreal Canadiens have had one of the most interesting offseasons of any team. That much roster turnover is unusual for a team that made it that far in the playoffs, but a decent portion of it has been out of their control.

A good portion of Montreal’s starting 12 forwards will look different next season. Gone down the middle are Phillip Danault, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and Eric Staal. Dvorak will attempt to replace Danault’s shutdown role with a little more offensive touch but less defensive prowess. Kotkaniemi’s third-line role is likely to be replaced by another young center, most probably Jake Evans. Staal’s fourth-line role will likely be comprised of a more defensive-minded pivot in Cedric Paquette. Their group of wingers will look different too, losing out on Tomas Tatar’s two-way play in favor of a power-play specialist in Mike Hoffman. Gone is veteran Corey Perry in the bottom six, being replaced by another veteran presence in Mathieu Perreault.

The team’s defense faces the loss of the team’s captain in Shea Weber. His injury will keep him out for at least this entire season and puts the rest of his career in jeopardy. His absence will be replaced by committee, as youngster Alexander Romanov and new addition David Savard should see more minutes. The left side stays relatively constant from last season, and overseas addition Chris Wideman could challenge for some games as well.

A tandem of Carey Price and Jake Allen returns after a successful regular season campaign.

However, a team that barely squeaked into the playoffs last season returns with some question marks. Full seasons of Jonathan Drouin and Cole Caufield help boost the team, but downgrades from Danault to Dvorak and Tatar to Hoffman raise near-negating doubts. The success of youngsters like Evans and Romanov will be crucial if Montreal wants to make a return to the playoffs in 2022, and they’ll need repeat performances from players such as Jeff Petry and Josh Anderson.

So the question to you, PHR readers, is this: has Montreal done enough this offseason to yield a playoff team in an increasingly competitive Eastern Conference? Make your voice heard below:

Mobile users, click here to vote!

Montreal Canadiens Sign Mike Hoffman

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The Montreal Canadiens are adding some serious goal-scoring to the top-nine, signing Mike Hoffman to a three-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $4.5MM.  PuckPedia reports that Hoffman will earn $3.5MM in 2021-22 and $5MM in each of the final two seasons.

Hoffman, 31, is one of the most lethal powerplay weapons in the NHL, and should immediately help Montreal with the man-advantage. Even more than that he adds another legitimate offensive weapon to a team that struggled to score goals in 2020-21. Even in a down year by his standards, Hoffman’s 17 goals would have tied him for second on the Canadiens, behind only Tyler Toffoli. His 36 points would have been behind only Toffoli and Nick Suzuki among the forwards, and more than replaces the numbers that Philipp Danault provided (though obviously not his defensive or positional abilities).

The question now is where Hoffman fits exactly, given the current makeup of the team. The Canadiens already have Toffoli, Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson, Joel Armia and Cole Caufield on the wing, not to mention Jonathan Drouin who is expected to ready to play again at the start of the upcoming season. Hoffman will have to find fit somewhere on those top three lines, or likely won’t be able to provide enough offense to offset the hefty cap hit he just received.

Still, there’s no doubt that Hoffman can score, and that alone made him an interesting target in this year’s free agency. He ranked 12th on our list of the Top 50 UFAs, with a prediction of three years and $12MM for the Canadiens.

Blues Open To Moving Some Pending Unrestricted Free Agents

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The Blues have been in a slump for the last month.  They’ve lost seven straight and 12 of their last 14 games and as a result, they’ve gone from a team that’s in a playoff spot in the West Division to one that is tied for fifth with San Jose and now sit five points behind Arizona for fourth place.  As a result, Pierre LeBrun notes in TSN’s latest Insider Trading segment (video link) that Blues GM Doug Armstrong is indicating that he’s open to moving some of his pending unrestricted free agents, highlighting winger Mike Hoffman and center Tyler Bozak as potential options to me.

Hoffman is clearly the headliner of the two.  He was pegged to be one of the more highly sought-after players in free agency last fall but it took a long time for a market to materialize.  He ultimately settled on a PTO with the Blues with the framework of an agreement in place; the two sides worked out a one-year, $4MM pact just before the regular season got underway.  Unfortunately for him and St. Louis, it hasn’t been the best of fits as the 31-year-old has just 21 points (9-12-21) in 36 games and was recently a healthy scratch.  For someone that had 65 goals over the previous two years, they were hoping for more from him.  On the other hand, that recent track record should generate some interest on the trade front in the coming days as well.

As for Bozak, he has had a limited role this season while also missing significant time due to a concussion.  As a result, he has been limited to just two goals and two assists in 14 games while averaging a career-low 13:14 per contest.  While he would serve as capable bottom-six depth, he also carries a $5MM AAV which, even if St. Louis pays up to half of it down, will limit his market considerably.

Jaden Schwartz is another pending unrestricted free agent but wasn’t mentioned by LeBrun as a possible trade option.  The 28-year-old has been with St. Louis for his whole career spanning parts of 10 years and at this point, it’s quite possible that the intent at this point is to try to work on a contract extension.  If that’s the case, those discussions would logically need to intensify over the next few days.

Armstrong is no stranger to selling when his team has been hanging around the playoff race before.  He moved Kevin Shattenkirk four years ago when they were in a playoff spot and the following season, sent Paul Stastny to Winnipeg when they were only a point out.  With that in mind, even if they pick up a couple of wins by next week, the GM could still lean towards selling.  As teams that are looking to buy start honing in on their desired candidates, they’ll now need to take a look at the Blues as well.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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