What line do you predict Michael Hage is going to be on once he signs with the Canadiens? You know it’s happening, but let’s play hypothetically.
dpat on X — @HalfBaked 802
It does seem pretty certain that Hage will sign with the Canadiens after playing with the University of Michigan at the NCAA Frozen Four tournament, which will be held next weekend in Las Vegas.
The 19-year-old centre, selected in the first round (21st overall) at the 2024 NHL Draft, has 13-38-51 totals in 38 games this season as a sophomore at Michigan and was also the leading scorer at this year’s IIHF World Junior Championship, posting 2-13-15 totals in seven games with Team Canada.
If the Canadiens decide to play Hage this season and burn off the first year of his NHL entry-level contract — which I think they will — I can see him starting on the second line with Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov. That would mean moving Kapanen or Hage to the wing, which I don’t think would be an issue.
As a rookie with the Canadiens, Nick Suzuki started out as a winger before moving to centre.
When will David Reinbacher be given a chance? This year or next?
JMtl on Bluesky — @jovanmtl.bsky.social
It was interesting that the Canadiens decided to call up Adam Engstrom instead of Reinbacher last Tuesday from the AHL’s Laval Rocket after announcing Alexandre Carrier would be sidelined for two to four weeks with an upper-body injury.
The Canadiens obviously believe Engstrom, 22, is more ready to play in the NHL at this point, and he has already played 11 games with the Canadiens this season. In 45 games with the Rocket this season, Engstrom has 10-24-34 totals and a plus-14 differential.
Reinbacher is also having a solid season with the Rocket, posting 5-18-23 totals and a plus-18 rating in 53 games. I don’t think the Canadiens want to have the 21-year-old make his NHL debut under the pressure of battling for first place in the Eastern Conference with a playoff spot all but locked up.
But the Canadiens will be hoping Reinbacher will be ready to make the jump to the NHL next season, and I believe he will be given every opportunity to do that.
You wrote recently that the Canadiens players know how to fix some things themselves by talking together on the bench. Does that put them at odds with Martin St. Louis at times?
Grumpy on X — @Cwl_Eastridge
Not at all.
When St. Louis was a player, he wasn’t afraid to voice his opinion to coaches about what he liked or didn’t like about the way the team was playing. Now as a head coach, he allows his players to express their opinions and listens to them — especially his veterans.
At the end of last season, St. Louis spoke about how he works with his players.
“I think the players know my intentions,” he said. “As a coach, you’re taking care of the people that take care of the team. I’m not taking care of the team. I take care of the people that take care of the team. I think they feel that. I think they like the way we want to play.
“They don’t have to like the way we want to play,” he added. “You have to convince them. I feel like we’ve done a really good job as a staff to teach, to explain and to involve them in discussion. I feel they think they’re part of the process, that it’s not a dictatorship. I think when you have that environment, you get an easier buy-in.”
Which defencemen do you see the Habs moving on from this summer? I believe it’s too early to move on from Arber Xhekaj because of what he could become and what he brings that the Habs don’t have much of — toughness.
Sheri Taylor
With Reinbacher and Engstrom both looking to make the jump to the NHL, there won’t be room to keep all the defencemen the Canadiens have now.
The fact Reinbacher shoots right and Engstrom is used to playing the right side as a left-hand shot works in their favour.
Xhekaj, 25, can become a restricted free agent on July 1, while Jayden Struble, 24, has one more season left on his contract with a very reasonable US$1.4 million salary-cap hit.
I would expect general manager Kent Hughes will be shopping both Xhekaj and Struble during the off-season.
Because of his unique mix of size, mobility and toughness, there will likely be more interest from other teams in the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Xhekaj and he would probably provide a bigger return in a trade.
I agree that the Canadiens will miss Xhekaj’s toughness if they trade him.
What did you think of Arber Xhekaj being used as a winger? I thought after his first shaky shift as a winger against Carolina last Sunday he seemed fine, and with more practice he could be an effective forechecker. With all the Habs defencemen, it seems Arber’s best chance to remain with the team is as a fourth-line forward.
Deke Rivers on X — @Oleary0
I don’t think Xhekaj has a future as a winger. It’s more likely his future will be as a defenceman with a different team.
Before last Saturday’s game in Carolina, Xhekaj hadn’t played forward since his first season of junior with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers in 2018-19.
“My first year of junior, I played I think 20 or 30 games on forward, but didn’t play very much that year. So I haven’t played forward in a while,” Xhekaj told reporters in Carolina after logging 5:11 of ice time as a left-winger with a team-high five hits in a 3-1 win over the Hurricanes.
“I was just excited to get back playing with the guys,” Xhekaj added after being a healthy scratch for the previous six games. “I sit upstairs, I watch the guys go to war every night and I just want to be out there. I had a lot of energy and they were cheering me up and they were making me feel good.”
Xhekaj said he had some conversations previously with St. Louis about possibly playing forward.
“We’ve had talks before and I said if you need me to play forward or wherever, I’ll try it,” Xhekaj said. “I know our Ds are playing really well right now and I think I can help a little bit with the physicality (against) bigger lineups. I’ve had some talks with Marty about it and they’ve went well, so I was ready for it.”
After playing forward against the Hurricanes, Xhekaj has been in the lineup as a defenceman for the last two games.
The Habs took a gamble on both Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook. Providing Dach can stay healthy, which player brings more to the table for the Habs?
Drew Mersereau
Newhook is the answer to your question.
Dach hasn’t been able to stay healthy since being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2022 NHL Draft and it’s a big reason why I think the Canadiens will be ready to move on from him during the off-season — especially with Hage expected to join the team.
Dach has played in only 149 of 132 games (46 per cent) since joining the Canadiens.
After Dach missed 31 games between Nov. 17 and Jan. 17 with a broken right foot, St. Louis was hoping he could play on the No. 1 line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, allowing Juraj Slafkovsky to stay on the second line with Kapanen and Demidov. But after Dach played six straight games with Suzuki and Caufield, St. Louis had seen enough and demoted him to the third line. Dach played six games on the third line before suffering an upper-body injury in a 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on March 15 that was expected to sideline him for two to four weeks.
Dach has 8-6-14 totals in 32 games this season and the 25-year-old can become a restricted free agent on July 1.
Newhook missed 40 games after requiring surgery on a broken ankle suffered in a 7-0 loss to the Dallas Stars at the Bell Centre on Nov. 13. In 18 games since returning to the lineup, Newhook has 6-5-11 totals, giving him 12-11-23 totals in 35 games.
1. What’s the real Patrik Laine story? 2. Will David Reinbacher grow into his potential next season? 3. Will the Canadiens buy out Samuel Montembeault’s contract if they can’t move him?
moreandfaster.bsky.social on Bluesky
I think the real story with Laine is that this has simply been a very tough season for him.
He had no goals and one assist in five games before having surgery to repair a core muscle injury at the end of October that was expected to sideline him for three to four months. He remains on injured reserve despite practising with the team in a full-contact sweater for more than two months, and it has become apparent he won’t play for the Canadiens again since they don’t really have a spot for him in the lineup.
“He is part of the team like all the other players, and he isn’t a distraction — he hasn’t been so far,” Hughes said after not being able to move Laine to another team ahead of the March 6 NHL trade deadline. “Patrik is available for the team. It’s the coach’s decisions that determine who plays from one game to the next.”
This is the last season of Laine’s contract with an US$8.7 million salary-cap hit. He also received a US$2 million signing bonus on March 31 as part of his contract, which made it more difficult for Hughes to trade him before that payment was due.
The 27-year-old Laine can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and will be looking for a fresh start with a new team.
The Canadiens will certainly be hoping Reinbacher can stay healthy and finally show his potential next season after selecting him with the fifth overall pick at the 2023 NHL Draft.
As for Montembeault, with so many teams having goaltending issues, I don’t believe Hughes will have a hard time trading him during the off-season. The 29-year-old has one season left on his contract with a US$3.15 million salary-cap hit and I can see him bouncing back next season with a new team.
I’d like to know what is your take on Joe Veleno’s contribution to the game? I believe his contribution, like Phillip Danault’s, is underrated.
kanoye.bsky.social on Bluesky
While he might be underrated, Veleno has become a valuable player to the Canadiens while earning only US$900,000 on a one-year contract.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder can play centre or wing, kill penalties and has also played a physical game, ranking third on the Canadiens in hits with 141, trailing Zachary Bolduc (157) and Xhekaj (156). Veleno is also a very good teammate, even when being a healthy scratch for several games.
Veleno has earned the trust of St. Louis, which is why he was on the ice late in the third period of Thursday’s 3-2 win over the New York Rangers, helping protect the one-goal lead.
Veleno, 26, has a long history with Hughes — who was his agent before becoming GM of the Canadiens — and it will be interesting to see if he is offered a contract to return next season in the same role for a slight raise.
Just wondering your thoughts on the fantastic contributions from Jake Evans. As the games get bigger, his role gets larger. Martin St. Louis must love him. And he’s a guy everyone thought eventually would be pushed aside by an Owen Beck or a Florian Xhekaj at some point. Such a gamer.
T-fish on Bluesky
Evans is a reliable, defensive-minded centre who is also a gamer. He is also loved and respected by his teammates.
Evans won three big defensive-zone faceoffs in the last minute of Thursday night’s win over the Rangers. He won 10 of 15 faceoffs in the game (67 per cent) and Danault won five of his seven faceoffs (71 per cent).
The Canadiens have no problems scoring and rank third in the NHL in offence, with an average of 3.51 goals per game. Evans and Danault play key defensive roles as veterans, especially when the Canadiens are protecting a lead and defensive-zone faceoffs become so important.
Evans is showing why Hughes locked him up with a four-year, US$11.4- million contract ahead of last season’s NHL trade deadline.
Wondering if Zachary Bolduc can become a Blake Coleman type of player if he improves defensively?
Kyle Gluska
There are definitely some similarities, although I believe the 23-year-old Bolduc has the potential to become even better than the 34-year-old Coleman, who has 19-13-32 totals in 63 games with the Calgary Flames this season after scoring a career-high 30 goals two seasons ago.
The 5-foot-11, 199-pound Coleman plays a physical game and ranks second on the Flames with 142 hits, which is 15 less than the 6-foot, 187-pound Bolduc has in 73 games.
Bolduc is still learning to play in St. Louis’s system and has 11-17-28 totals in 73 games to go along with a minus-5 differential. St. Louis has been patient with Bolduc — just like he was with Juraj Slafkovsky and that worked out very well. Slafkovsky is one goal shy of hitting 30 this season.
St. Louis spoke recently about how Bolduc is starting to understand the team’s system better after being acquired from the St. Louis Blues last summer in exchange for defenceman Logan Mailloux.
“It’s easy to measure (scoring), but if you understand the way the game should be played and where you should be on the ice and the action — regardless of the actual scoresheet — he’s a way better player right now,” St. Louis said about Bolduc. “I’m excited about that.
“It was a process,” St. Louis added. “He’s still a very young player, but I’m happy to see the growth.”
The “slingshot” method of moving the puck up the ice on the power play seems to be the one preferred by most teams in the NHL. Do you see teams returning to the old method of defencemen passing the puck up to forwards like the Canadiens did back in the day?
Dick Labete, Bradenton, Fla.
The reason most teams use the “slingshot” method with the drop pass on the power play is because it works by freezing the opposition and making it easier for a zone entry.
Since the Canadiens rank fifth in the NHL on the power play with a 24.4 per cent success rate, I don’t see them changing their slingshot method. However, Lane Hutson is sometimes able to catch the opposition by surprise by faking the drop pass and carrying the puck into the offensive zone.
The Canadiens have shown they have more than one option, which can keep the opposition guessing.
If you have a question you’d like to ask for the weekly Habs Mailbag, you can email it to montrealcanadiens@postmedia.com
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