Should the Habs be buyers at the NHL trade deadline if they are circling the wild-card spot or should they look to bolster their future by trading off the free agents and pick up prospects or young players that will help in seasons to come?
Rusty James on X — @TheHabinator
I think the Canadiens could be both buyers and sellers at the March 7 trade deadline if they are in the mix for a playoff spot at that time. Jake Evans, Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia and David Savard can all become unrestricted free agents on July 1 and GM Kent Hughes will certainly be listening to trade offers for them. But instead of just looking for young prospects and/or draft picks in return Hughes will likely be looking to add players who can help the Canadiens immediately. Evans would fetch the most in a trade if Hughes doesn’t re-sign the 28-year-old centre before March 7. If offers for the other three players aren’t significant and Hughes believes they can still help the Canadiens in a playoff push the GM might decide to keep them. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Do you think the Habs have turned a corner?
Johnny BG on X — @JBGMTL
I do. I thought this season could go off the rails after the Canadiens lost 9-2 to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bell Centre on Dec. 12, giving up six unanswered goals in the third period. The trade six days later to acquire Alexandre Carrier from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Justin Barron really settled things on the blue line with three set pairings and the overall team defence also improved.
Getting a shutout from Jakub Dobes in a 4-0 win over the Florida Panthers on Dec. 28 in his first game after getting called up from the AHL’s Laval Rocket gave the team confidence in both of their goalies, which could be huge moving forward. I also thought the Canadiens would get smoked in Las Vegas after falling behind 2-0 in the first period on New Year’s Eve. But their impressive comeback for a 3-2 win against one of the best teams in the NHL was the biggest sign this team has, indeed, turned a corner. Saturday night’s 2-1 shootout win over the Avalanche in Colorado with Dobes making his second NHL start was another sign.
What overall grade would you give the Habs for the halfway mark in the season? And, if applicable, how has your grade improved from the quarter-mark?
Ed Helinski, Auburn, NY.
At the quarter-mark of the season, I gave the Canadiens an F as a grade when answering a Habs Mailbag question. Management’s goal heading into the season was to be “in the mix” for a playoff spot and at that point the Canadiens had an 8-11-3 record and were 29th in the overall NHL standings. The Canadiens now find themselves “in the mix” for a playoff spot — only one point out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference after Saturday’s win in Colorado — so I will give them a B-minus as a grade at this point.
Does being on LTIR prevent Carey Price from being a goalie coach or doing anything to support the Canadiens? Or, like Paul Byron, does he need to wait until his contract is done to officially retire and then he can join the team in another capacity?
BeDeLeezy on X — @bdelisi
I reached out to an NHL player agent to answer this one and if he wanted to Price could work “unofficially” with the Canadiens goalies until the expiration of his contract at the end of this season. If Price announces his retirement after next season — as expected — he could join the Canadiens in an official capacity if that’s something he and the team wanted. After Byron announced his retirement as a player in September 2023, the Canadiens hired him as a player-development consultant.
There is half a season left to play. How many games do you see Jakub Dobes playing — assuming Samuel Montembeault keeps his present form?
Kevin Maxwell
The Canadiens have eight sets of back-to-back games left on their schedule. So I would expect Dobes to get at least eight starts. If he continues to play well, I can see Dobes getting another 5-6 starts on top of the back-to-backs. If he plays really well, Dobes could challenge Montembeault for the No. 1 job.
What does our defence look like next year?
Chris LeBlanc
I’d be surprised if Hughes trades Mike Matheson, so I think the defence next season will look like it does now, minus Savard. That would set up a battle at training camp for the sixth defence spot between Jayden Struble, Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher, if he recovers well from his knee injury.
Who would you say has the better shot (defined as you wish) — Patrik Laine or Cole Caufield?
Nil d’Entremont on X — @NildEntremont
Both players have elite-level shots, but I will give the edge to Laine for the simple fact he’s bigger and stronger at 6-foot-4 and 208 pounds. Having said that, it’s amazing how hard Caufield can shoot the puck at 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds.
Caufield also gives me confidence that 5-foot-9, 162-pound Lane Hutson can improve his shot as his NHL career moves forward and he gets stronger. If that happens, Hutson will become even more of a threat on the power play than he already is with his vision and offensive skills. Hutson was named the NHL’s rookie of the month for December on Wednesday after posting 2-11-13 totals in 14 games.
Why do we keep calling Jake Evans’s line the fourth line? Based on ice time it’s more like the second line.
GaryBettmansOnlyFan on X — @jacques_all
The Canadiens post their starting lineup on X before each game and the line of Evans with Joel Armia and Emil Heineman is listed as the fourth line. Evans and Armia both get a boost in ice time because they kill penalties. Evans leads all NHL forwards in penalty-kill ice time, while Armia ranks seventh. As a result, Evans is averaging 15:39 of ice time per game and Armia is averaging 14:38. Heineman is only averaging 11:00 of ice time as a fourth-liner.
How do Joshua Roy, Logan Mailloux and Adam Engstrom fit into this team. If the Canadiens’ success continues, do they just keep them in Laval?
Rohan Sukhdeo
Unless there are injuries, I think Roy, Mailloux and Engstrom will keep playing in Laval, which definitely won’t hurt their development. That could change after the trade deadline depending on what Hughes does or doesn’t do.
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