Canadiens Rumors & News

Sportsnet "Did John Tavares and his $77-million sweepstakes open his UFA followers’ eyes for what might be possible if you peek beyond the curtain? The summer of 2019 will deliver no shortage of star power, as a two-time Vezina winner, a finalist for three major 2018-19 trophies,..." June 24

Habs Eyes On The Prize "There’s no worse feeling than thinking you’ve prepared for the draft more than any other year, waiting for the team you cover to make their picks and constantly saying to yourself, ‘Who?’ But that’s what it was like for me watching the Montreal..." June 24

Montreal Gazette "The Canadiens selected right-winger Cole Caufield with the 15th overall pick at Friday night’s NHL Draft at the Rogers Arena. Canadiens captain Shea Weber announced the selection. The 5-foot-7, 157-pound Caufield played this season with the USA U-18 team, posting 58-24-82 totals..." June 21

Sportsnet "The NHL Draft is coming up fast and the trade rumours and speculation are heating up. Here are some of the bigger questions to consider before the fireworks begin: WHICH PLAYER WILL BE CHOSEN FIRST OVERALL? Jack Hughes has long been the projected No. 1 in this..." June 21

The Score "NHL commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed a series of rule changes for the 2019-20 season. The alterations were approved by the league's Board of Governors, general managers, and competition committee. The most prominent changes pertain to video reviews, which underwent..." June 21

Pro Hockey Talk "The 2019 NHL Awards celebrates the best players and moments in hockey, but it’s also a great reminder of how much of an impact players can make off the ice. As you can see from this roundup, Minnesota Wild forward Jason Zucker won the King Clancy for his..." June 20

USA Today "While it’s indisputable that NHL teams are more likely to find a superstar in the first few picks of the draft than they are later on, USA TODAY Sports research shows that quality picks can be found deep into the first round. In many cases, we found multiple desirable..." June 20

NHL.com "The Montreal Canadiens will host the 2020 NHL Draft™ at Bell Centre, the National Hockey League, the Canadiens and City of Montreal announced today. The 2020 event will mark the 27th time the City of Montreal will host the NHL Draft, and the first time since 2009. The 2020 NHL Draft will..." June 19

Habs Eyes On The Prize "Just a season ago, the Winnipeg Jets were the toast of the Western Conference; a young team laden with budding stars and quality veterans who rocketed them out of the basement to a Western Conference Final. Fast forward to this year and they were an abject disaster from the new year all the way..." June 19

Habs Eyes On The Prize "With several restricted free agents in the organization who need contracts before July 1, the Montreal Canadiens have decided to part with a few long-time members of the prospect pool. Two 2014 Draft selections — Brett Lernout and Daniel Audette — along..." June 19

Sportsnet "I have a theory. And, after the Rangers/Winnipeg trade involving Jacob Trouba, I’ve decided to lay it out. That deal was a surprise because the Jets were asking for more, and, on paper, Trouba is worth a greater return. So, why didn’t it happen? I think..." June 18

The Score "The salary cap for the 2019-20 NHL season could come in below the $83-million upper limit that was initially estimated. The NHL and NHLPA are meeting Tuesday, and many teams reportedly told TSN's Bob McKenzie that they're concerned about the current forecast for the..." June 18

Sportsnet "It’s a situation you can only hope to be in when you have a major need to address. With 23 players already on the active roster, close to $12 million to spend before reaching the projected upper limit of the National Hockey League’s salary cap ($83 million), several..." June 17

USA Today "The NHL draft will be held Friday night and Saturday in Vancouver. Here's a look at some of the worst draft decisions NHL teams have made through the years: In 1993, the Ottawa Senators drafted Quebec Major Junior Hockey League star Alexandre Daigle with the No. 1..." June 17

Habs Eyes On The Prize "After a divisive trade at the NHL Draft several seasons ago, Andrew Shaw finally entered into the role many fans were expecting when he arrived from Chicago. He was physical, brought solid offensive numbers, and kept himself on the ice instead of in the box or suspended. With 19 goals..." June 15

Montreal Gazette "Now that the Stanley Cup final is over and the St. Louis Blues are champions for the first time in franchise history, the focus shifts to next season and there should be plenty of player signings and trades leading up to the June 21-22 NHL Draft in Vancouver and the free-agent sweepstakes that..." June 14

The Hockey News "The Stanley Cup final continues, but the 2019 UFA class is far too interesting to hide from the headlines for long. And with all due respect to the top UFA forward, Artemi Panarin, this is Erik Karlsson’s year. Not only is he the best offensive defenseman of the past two..." June 05

Yardbarker "R-Sport in Russia is reporting that Philadelphia Flyers forward Jori Lehtera has signed a one-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg, while Jokerit Helsinki have announced they agreed to terms with Montreal Canadiens goaltender Antti Niemi on a one-year deal. Both players are technically still under..." June 05

Sportsnet "This is not an opportunity the Montreal Canadiens can turn away from, if it is in fact an opportunity being presented to them. Assuming Don Brennan’s story in the Ottawa Sun checks out—that impending unrestricted free agent Erik Karlsson is hoping for competitive offers..." June 04

ESPN "Putting Gary Bettman in charge of hockey labor peace is like putting a cat in charge of rodent safety. There are just some things that are inherently, instinctually part of an individual's comportment, and there's nothing they can do to suppress the urges. For Bettman,..." May 30

Montreal Gazette "The Canadiens added some insurance on defence Monday when they signed restricted free agent Xavier Ouellet to a one-year, two-way contract. It’s a good deal for both parties. The Canadiens retain a veteran defenceman who can play a top-four role with the Laval Rocket and fill in..." May 27

Habs Eyes On The Prize "The Montreal Canadiens have re-signed defenceman Brett Kulak to a three-year contract. The contract will have a cap hit of $1.85 million per year, which is outstanding value for the defenceman who cemented a role in the team’s top four last season. He was set to become a..." May 25

Habs Eyes On The Prize "As of right now, the Montreal Canadiens have 10 defencemen under contract for the 2019-20 season, and six pending free agents at the position. That doesn’t even include prospects like Scott Walford and Jarret Tyszka - who can be signed until June 1, nor any..." May 24

Montreal Gazette "Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin announced on Friday afternoon that the team has agreed to terms on a one-year, two-way contract with forward Alex Belzile. The deal will pay Belzile $700,000 at the NHL level and $175,000 in the AHL, with $200,000 in guaranteed salary for the..." May 24

Pro Hockey Rumors "When drafting a player out of North America or more European countries, a team acquires their exclusive negotiating rights for a set amount of time. Each year on June 1, a long list of players see those rights expire and they become unrestricted free agents. While this doesn’t always..." May 24

Sportsnet "As a rule, even rich people hate spending money on nothing. It’s just one of those things that irks the human soul on a fundamental level. Given that, there’s understandable hesitation when it comes to the potential of buying out players on cumbersome contracts. Sometimes..." May 23

Habs Eyes On The Prize "There are not many big free agents looming in Montreal this summer. In fact, the free agents for the Canadiens should be re-signed without much to do. Joel Armia is one of those players. And while a new deal is likely imminent, the actual cost will be quite interesting. Armia, for all..." May 17

USA Today "It’s no longer a question of whether the NHL should look at how the game is officiated. The question is: How could they not? This year’s Stanley Cup playoffs has provided overwhelming evidence that significant changes are required. What happened Wednesday, when..." May 16

TSN "The Bread Man is going to make cake. Artemi Panarin delivered the goods despite a circus swirling around him in Columbus, leading the Blue Jackets to the best season in franchise history. Now, after fulfilling his contract, he’ll head to free agency as the No. 1..." May 10

Sportsnet "Let’s be upfront and clear: Executing a successful NHL offer sheet is about as common as spotting Bigfoot riding Halley’s Comet to the lost city of Atlantis. We haven’t seen one signed since Calgary dangled $10 million over two years in attempt to lure Ryan..." May 08

Sportsnet "It was the goal seen round the hockey world. Nick Suzuki, on a one-on-one, fakes a shot, drops down to one knee, slips the puck through his legs as he’s spinning into a shooting position, and then backhands it into the top right corner of the net to give his Guelph Storm a 3-0 lead in an..." May 07

TSN "The Montreal Canadiens have announced that they have agreed to terms on a two-year, entry-level contract with defenceman Otto Leskinen.  The 22-year-old Finland native spent the 2018-19 season with the Liiga's KalPa Kuopio, where he recorded 31 points (eight goals, 23..." May 07

Sportsnet "Once you whittle down CapFriendly.com’s list of pending unrestricted free agent defencemen to the ones who averaged at least 17 minutes of ice-time per game last season, you’re left with just 14 names. From there, only two of them fit the proper criteria for a job with the..." May 06

Sportsnet "The plan, according to Carey Price, was to play 60 games this past season. The Montreal Canadiens goaltender said as much with several weeks remaining on the team’s schedule, as he was trending towards finishing at that number. And then backup Antti Niemi faltered —..." May 04

Sportsnet "Montreal Canadiens winger Jonathan Drouin has undergone surgery for a "previously fractured nose," the club announced Wednesday. The team added the procedure performed Tuesday was "minor" and that the 24-year-old is expected to resume off-season training in two to..." May 01

Sportsnet "The Montreal Canadiens have signed centre Jordan Weal to a two-year, $2.8 million contract extension. The one-way deal carries a $1.4 million cap hit through the 2020-21 season. " April 26

Pro Hockey Rumors "The Montreal Canadiens have already re-signed two of their trade deadline additions, inking short extensions with both Nate Thompson and Christian Folin in recent days. At least one more of their expiring contracts could stay, as Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that there have been..." April 25

Montreal Gazette "The Montreal Canadiens signed veteran centre Nate Thompson to a one-year, one-way, US$1 million contract on Thursday. Thompson, 34, waived a no-trade clause in his contract with the Los Angeles Kings that allowed the trade in February that brought him to the Canadiens, along with a..." April 25

Montreal Gazette "We are still bogged down in the first round of the NHL’s second season (a trek that seems almost as long as the first season), but already it seems the Habs have been on the golf course since Howie Meeker was shrieking into the mike on Hockey Night in Canada. When the Canadiens..." April 24

Sportsnet "Montreal Canadiens centre Jesperi Kotkaniemi had surgery on his left knee Tuesday, the team has announced. The procedure isn’t expected to delay Kotkaniemi’s off-season training, GM Marc Bergevin said in a statement. “With regards to Jesperi,..." April 23

Habs Eyes On The Prize "After all the pre-season games had been played in September, Claude Julien made his final roster decisions. He chose to cut AHL veterans Kenny Agostino and Michael Chaput in favour of Charles Hudon and Matthew Peca, hoping to get a bit of offence from the..." April 22

NHL.com "Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin announced on Thursday that the team has agreed to terms on a one-year, one-way contract (2019-20 - $800,000) with defenseman Christian Folin. Folin, 28, played 45 games in 2018-19 with the Canadiens and the Philadelphia Flyers,..." April 18

USA Today "Yet another NHL player has been seriously hurt because Gary Bettman insists on fighting a losing game. Carolina Hurricanes rookie Andrei Svechnikov is in the concussion protocol and likely to miss Game 4 of the playoffs Thursday night, an outcome just about anybody could..." April 17

Sportsnet "Perhaps the most important thing to come out of this season for Jonathan Drouin is that he finally sees what everyone else sees, that he recognizes what he needs to do in order to access that otherworldly talent of his on a more consistent basis. That he has looked inward for the..." April 11

TSN "Veteran goaltender Antti Niemi will not be back with the Montreal Canadiens next season. General manager Marc Bergevin told the impending free-agent goaltender that he will not be offered a new contract. A native of Vantaa, Finland, the 35-year-old Niemi just..." April 09

The Hockey Writers "For any professional sports league, growth is crucial. The NHL has shown that they know this by adding the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017-18 and a new team in Seattle for the 2021-22 season. For the next expansion, the NHL needs to look bigger than North America. They need to look to..." April 08

TSN "Rookie forward Ryan Poehling will make his NHL debut tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the season finale. He signed a three-year entry-level contract on Sunday. The Habs selected Poehling 25th overall in 2017 and spent the past three seasons at St. Cloud State. The..." April 06

NHL.com "There was Stanley Cup Playoff hockey in this city Tuesday. Now all the Montreal Canadiens have to do is actually make it to the postseason. The Canadiens' come-from-behind 4-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning put a charge through an arena and a fan base that, 80 games ago,..." April 03

Pro Hockey Talk "The NHL’s current playoff format is reportedly sticking around, at least for one more season. According to a report from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the NHL and NHLPA have agreed to extend the format, as well as the current divisional alignment, for one more year. Even..." April 03

Sportsnet "It was in a game against the Florida Panthers last Tuesday that Byron was hurt in a fight with defenceman MacKenzie Weegar. Byron was knocked to the ice by Weegar before being helped to the Canadiens dressing room in the third minute of the first period. He was unable to return and ended up..." April 02