Will Jakub Dobes be back in the net this season?
Ron Boyle
I thought head coach Martin St. Louis would keep riding Samuel Montembeault as the No. 1 goalie for a while — especially after the Canadiens won their first three games following the 4 Nations Face-Off break in the schedule with him in goal to stay within five points of a wild-card playoff spot. Montembeault only allowed five goals in the last three games while posting a .932 save percentage.
But St. Louis announced after practice Friday in Brossard that Dobes will start against the Sabres Saturday in Buffalo (7 p.m., SNE, City, TVA Sports). After winning his first five games following his promotion from the AHL’s Laval Rocket, the Canadiens have an 0-3-1 record in the last four games Dobes has played and he has an .868 save percentage during that span.
Dobes hasn’t played since Feb. 9, when he allowed three goals on eight shots in a 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre. St. Louis said it’s important not to let the 23-year-old goalie sit out any longer than he already has.
Dobes will get more starts before the end of the season, but probably not very many — unless the Canadiens fall out of the playoff race.
The Canadiens have four more sets of back-to-back games left on the schedule, which should give Dobes more opportunities to start. They play March 11-12 in Vancouver and then in Seattle, March 27-28 in Philadelphia and then in Carolina, April 5-6 at home against Philadelphia and then in Nashville, and April 11-12 in Ottawa and then in Toronto.
Assuming the Habs trade Christian Dvorak and Jake Evans, are Oliver Kapanen and Owen Beck the favourites as their replacements at centre?
Darren — Habs and Avs on X — @DK4lighting
It certainly looks like Dvorak and Evans — who can both become unrestricted free agents on July 1 — will be dealt before the March 7 NHL trade deadline.
Evans is listed at No. 17 and Armia at No. 18 on the TSN Trade Bait board. TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reported on Insider Trading that the Canadiens and Evans remain far apart in contract talks and that he’s most likely getting traded. LeBrun added that teams interested in Evans and/or Armia include the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils and Minnesota Wild. Canadiens GM Kent Hughes has told those teams he doesn’t have to trade Evans and/or Armia if he doesn’t receive any serious offers and that he already has enough draft picks.
In trade talks Hughes could be looking for younger versions of Dvorak and Evans with some NHL experience.
At this point, Kapanen and Beck are the favourites to replace Dvorak and Evans next season.
After playing 12 games with the Canadiens and picking up two assists to start this season, Kapanen has 14-16-30 totals in 31 games with Timra IK in the Swedish Hockey League. Beck hasn’t looked out of place in the eight games he has played with the Canadiens since getting called up from Laval and he picked up his first NHL point (an assist) in Thursday’s 4-3 overtime win over the San Jose Sharks while playing centre on the second line with Patrik Laine and Alex Newhook.
Do you think the Canadiens are looking for a Russian player to help Ivan Demidov’s arrival and, if so, which ones would be interesting?
Maurice Haché
I don’t think the Canadiens will be going out of their way to find a Russian player to help Demidov.
The 19-year-old forward, selected fifth overall at last year’s NHL Draft, started learning English two years ago as part of his preparation for the NHL and is now comfortable communicating in the language.
When Demidov was interviewed by the Canadiens before last year’s NHL Draft, Jeff Gorton had a question for him.
“Are we crazy if we don’t take you?” the executive vice-president of hockey operations asked Demidov about the decision the Canadiens would have to make if he was still available as the No. 5 overall pick.
“Yeah,” Demidov replied.
“We’re crazy, right?” Gorton responded.
“Yeah … if you didn’t take me,” Demidov said.
“Like a franchise player?” Gorton asked.
“Yeah, I think. Yeah,” Demidov responded.
In 58 games this season with SKA St. Petersburg, Demidov has 19-28-47 totals, setting a KHL record for most points by a player under age 20.
I had pretty much given up on Sean Farrell becoming an NHL player, but he’s been playing really well as of late with the Laval Rocket. Do you believe he’s simply adjusting to the pros or is he only having a hot streak? Is he a career AHL player or do you see a future for him in the NHL?
AL BΞLSO on X — @a_belso
Farrell has indeed caught fire with Laval recently, posting 8-7-15 totals in his last 10 games. In his first 22 games with Laval this season, Farrell had no goals and two assists and he now has 12-12-24 totals in 47 games. He played 47 games with the Rocket last season as an AHL rookie and had 9-19-28 totals.
Farrell was selected by the Canadiens in the fourth round (124th overall) because of his offensive skills. With the USHL’s Chicago Steel in 2020-21, Farrell had 29-72-101 totals in 58 games. During his second season at Harvard University in 2022-23 before turning pro, he had 20-33-53 totals in 34 games.
Size and strength are the two big question marks for Farrell, who is only 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds. During the six games he played with the Canadiens at the end of the 2022-23 season, during which he scored one goal, Farrell simply wasn’t strong enough to battle at the NHL level. He’s not going to grow any taller at age 23, but if Farrell can’t improve his strength on and off the puck it will be very difficult for him to play in the NHL.
Do you think there are any trade “untouchables” with the Canadiens?
Jon Degan
Captain Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Lane Hutson and Kaiden Guhle are the key young players the Canadiens are building around and I would consider them to all be untouchables.
Suzuki is under contract through 2030, Caufield and Guhle through 2031 and Slafkovsky through 2033. Hutson has one more season after this remaining on his NHL entry-level contract and the Canadiens will certainly be looking to lock him up long-term also.
Based on everything you know, what is your best guess what the Canadiens roster will look like in two years?
Dave on X — @sdcctnj
Not knowing what trades Hughes will make over the next two years or who he will select with first-round picks at the next two NHL Drafts it is a bit of a guess as to what the Canadiens will look like then. However, I believe they will be a legitimate playoff contender in two years.
The addition of Demidov next season should provide an offensive boost and the next year centre Michael Hage — selected 21st overall at last year’s NHL Draft — might be ready for the NHL. Hage has 13-19-32 totals in 30 games this season as a freshman at the University of Michigan.
Winger Florian Xhekaj — the brother of Arber Xhekaj — is having a strong rookie season with the Rocket, with 15-7-22 totals and 128 penalty minutes in 48 games and could add more grit to the Canadiens.
Hutson, who has already become a star as a rookie defenceman, will have more experience under his belt in two years. The Canadiens will also be hoping in two years that David Reinbacher has started to develop into the defencemen they hoped he would become when they selected him fifth overall at the 2023 NHL Draft. The same applies to Logan Mailloux, selected 31st overall at the 2021 NHL Draft.
There’s also goalie Jacob Fowler, who has a 22-5-1 record as a sophomore at Boston College, along with a 1.73 goals-against average, a .937 save percentage and six shutouts. I imagine Fowler will turn pro after this season and then spend a year with Laval. After that, he could be ready to battle Montembeault — who would be in the final year of his contract — for the No. 1 spot with the Canadiens.
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