Juraj Slafkovsky and David Reinbacher: no surgery in sight

This morning, the site reported that Juraj Slafkovsky had stayed in Montreal for medical reasons. This followed information from Slovak journalist Tomas Prokop.
Naturally, we wondered whether the Habs player had undergone surgery under the circumstances, and when we saw that he was expected back next Monday for the World Championship, we quickly concluded that, no, it couldn’t have been a major operation.
And then our colleague Maxime Truman went to the source. He was told that Slaf would

Toronto Maple Leafs made an important move when they announced Craig Berube to be their new coach. The enthusiasm of Berube to take on his new position was evident from the start, even though he spent his first days more on the telephone than on ice. Communication was crucial. It involved discussions with team leadership, Core Four members, current assistant coaches, as well as potential ones.
Brad Treliving, the General Manager of Toronto FC’s first press conference presented a detailed

NHL news of the day: the Ryan McDonagh trade. It’s pretty rare to see a deal of this magnitude when teams are still in playoff action.
Both teams stand to benefit from such a transaction. On the one hand, it’s a return to Tampa Bay for the former Canadiens prospect, and on the Nashville side, the club frees up $6.75 million on the payroll. Matt Duchene’s contract buyout will hurt the Preds in 2024-2025.
Despite the McDonagh acquisition, Julien BriseBois confirmed that the Stam

The closer we get to the draft, the more analysis and commentary there is about the top prospects available in 2024.
Obviously, the main focus is on the names (mostly forwards) that could be selected by the Montreal Canadiens at the 5ᵉ level.
The names that come up most often are Ivan Demidov, Cayden Lindstrom, Tij Iginla and Berkly Catton.
Or even Beckett Sennecke?
In short, a number of interesting options are likely to present themselves to the Habs when they take to the sphere stage in

The group phase, or preliminary round if you prefer, of the World Ice Hockey Championship came to a close today.
A few minutes ago, the last two games of the group phase came to an end, with Switzerland beating Finland 3-1, and Sweden dominating Slovakia 6-1.
All 16 teams present at the tournament in Prague, Czech Republic, have now officially played their seven group games, giving us the final standings for both groups.
(Credit: IIHF.com)
(Credit: IIHF.com)
It’s important to note first o

The Steven Stamkos issue is probably one of the most talked-about in the National Hockey League this summer.
As everyone knows, the Tampa Bay Lightning captain is currently out of contract for next season, the 2024-2025 campaign, and could therefore become a free agent on July 1ᵉʳ.
If Stamkos and the Lightning don’t come to an agreement by then, Stamkos will be free to sign with the team of his choice.
Obviously, Stamkos’ first choice would be to re-sign with Tampa Bay, w

Milan Lucic was an unsettling and frightening player for many years in the National Hockey League, especially with the Boston Bruins.
He enjoyed some fine seasons with the Bruins before moving west to Alberta to play for the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, where he slowed down considerably.
Last summer, as a free agent, Lucic signed a one-year contract with the Bruins, returning to the city of Boston where he had enjoyed so much success.
However, things didn’t work out as planned.
Why

Before the Americans’ game of the day at the World Hockey Championships, Cole Caufield had two goals and two assists in six games. We knew he was capable of taking his game to the next level.
And that’s exactly what he did today against the Latvians.
In a 6-3 win, the Canadian forward picked up two goals and two assists, for a total of four points. He thus doubled his offensive output in his seventh game.
First, he had two assists on the Americans’ first two goals, and then he

Surprise in Florida.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that they have acquired defenseman Ryan McDonagh from the Nashville Predators, along with the Oilers’ fourth pick in 2024.
In return, Nashville receives the second pick in 2025 and the seventh pick this year.MAC IS BACK
Detailshttps://t.co/zDDVRd71Wt pic.twitter.com/Lr8w00kq2H
– Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) May 21, 2024Two years ago, for salary reasons, the Lightning had been forced to send the former first-round pick

Corey Perry is having an eventful season, to say the least.
With everything that happened in Chicago leading up to the end of his contract, the player attracted attention for all the wrong reasons. But even so, the Oilers took a chance on him at minimum salary.
He ended the season in Alberta. It’s safe to assume that this will be his last season on the Bettman circuit.
The contract he signed included bonuses. Not all players are eligible for bonuses, but he is. And the Oilers took advanta

The Oilers struggled to eliminate the Canucks, who were without their first two goaltenders, last night in British Columbia. Alberta won the Canadian battle. Good news for Vancouver, though: there were no riots this year, following elimination in seven games!
Time for the third round
The third round begins tonight in New York, when the Panthers host the visitors at the legendary Madison Square Garden.
This four-of-seven between the Rangers and the Panthers is probably the match-up that every no

Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, Kirby Dach and Cole Caufield: the Habs currently have four players who should, if all goes well, play in the club’s top-6 in the long term.
What this means is that at least two of them are missing.
Why “at least” two? Because injuries can happen. Because players can develop poorly. Because having too many top-6 players is not a bad thing.
To find these players, there are several solutions. It could be through the development of in-house guys (Ale

That’s it: the second round of the playoffs is officially over.
With last night’s elimination of the Canucks (do they know shootouts are allowed in the NHL?), the playoff picture is officially complete for the Final Four.
In the West, the Oilers will face the Stars. And in the East, it’ s a series pitting the Rangers against the Panthers. I predict the Stars in 6 and the Rangers in 6.From 16 to 4.Lets hear your picks for the Conference Finals!pic.twitter.com/9b5MYu3C6E
–

Last night, the second round came to a close.
Match number seven between the two Canadian teams, the Oilers and the Canucks, took place.
In the end, it was Edmonton who ran away with the victory. 3-2, the final score.What a battle between these two Canadian teams.pic.twitter.com/R1bKSEV6i1
– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 21, 2024It was a heated battle between two division rivals (six of the seven games in the series ended in a goal), but the Oilers were more opportunistic. Vancouver finished

We say it often enough, but the fact is clear: Kent Hughes and Martin St-Louis seem to prefer good players on 200 feet. They don’t want one-dimensional players.
This is the main reason why Cole Eiserman’s name hasn’t been linked to the Habs more than it should. Yet the maverick, who scored 25 goals in 24 games this season, doesn’t consider himself just a goal scorer.
In an interview with Montreal Hockey Now, the young American confessed that he wants to be inspired by a

The Hurricanes may be one of the most powerful teams in the NHL in recent years, but their six-game loss to the Rangers obviously hurt.
It hurt, but it also raised a number of questions. The Rod Brind’Amour file has been settled (he’s still thinking of retiring), but there are others lingering on Don Waddell’s desk.
Martin Necas is a good example. Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s, too.
On July 1, 14 players will become free agents. Jake Guentzel, Seth Jarvis and Teuvo Teravainen are

This morning, my colleague Charles-Alexis Brisebois wrote an excellent piece on the fact that Martin Necas wanted to be traded… This information was reported by none other than his father.
I don’t think my son is happy about his father’s outburst, but whatever.
Later in the day, Hurricanes GM Don Waddell and head coach Rod Brind’Amour addressed the media. Waddell says “hello” to Papa Necas.Don Waddell might be my favorite general manager in all of sports, fo

This summer, one of Kent Hughes’ objectives will be to look for help on offense to fill an organizational need. Obviously, the draft will be a great way to do this(if Ivan Demidov and/or Cayden Lindstrom are available at No. 5), but the Habs would benefit from getting more than one.
It’s not for nothing that there’s talk of the Habs trading one or more of their many defensemen for reinforcements up front.
Obviously, some names are being bandied about, such as Trevor Zegras and

It’s no secret that the Habs have a surplus of defensemen in their organization. In an ideal world, they’d trade them for forwards, which they need a lot more of.
It also explains why, in an ideal world, the Habs would draft a forward… andtrade up if Cayden Lindstrom (and Ivan Demidov) are no longer available at No. 5.
The question now is which defenseman will move. We know that Arber Xhekaj is of interest to a number of teams, including the Flames, but the Habs have no inten

For the past few years, the Oilers have relied on a veritable two-headed monster in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Both forwards are among the NHL’s elite, and it’s hard to argue that they aren’t doing their part to help the Oilers succeed.
Both guys are racking up points with disconcerting ease.
That said, while McDavid seems to be in Edmonton to stay, it seems less certain for Draisaitl. The departure of the German, whose contract expires in a year’s time, seems mo

Arber Xhekaj is a popular name on the trade market. And that’s despite the fact that the defenseman has had a less than stellar season and is a regular on the trade block.
He’s popular because people know what he can bring to the rink. He’s got a special toolbox, and everyone realizes that pretty quickly.
That makes him a crowd favorite, but also a valued teammate.
Because of this, Habs management isn’t ready to let him go. Even if teams continue to call for the Sheriff

Yesterday, Matvei Michkov’s name was back in the news when a Russian newspaper seemed to confirm that the youngster would be making the jump to North America as early as the 2024-25 season. Considering he wasn’t due to arrive until the summer of 2026, this was big news.
The Flyers didn’t confirm anything, of course, but you could sense that negotiations were going on behind the scenes.
Seeing Michkov like a post on Instagram linked to his arrival in Philadelphia didn’t c

With the draft slowly approaching, we’re beginning to wonder where the various prospects in the upcoming auction will end up. In a draft that seems to be full of hidden cards, everything seems rather mysterious.
There won’t be any suspense at No. 1, but at No. 2, things could get a little shaky.
The Habs, who are drafting at No. 5, are in a strange situation, given that it’s impossible to know who the four guys who will start at No. 5 will be. We know the club would like to dr

May: the month when (the weather’s starting to warm up and) you watch teams other than your own play in the playoffs… and look forward to the draft and the transactions that usually come with it.
Let’s just say that the habs fan in me doesn’t have a lot to look forward to on July 1. Kent Hughes isn’t the type to be tempted by overpricedplayers… especially not in the middle of his rebuild.
But May is also the month when you start analyzing four or five thing

Since the start of the World Championship, there’s been a lot of talk about Cole Caufield, who doesn’t seem to be having any fun. The talk is of Juraj Slafkovsky, who is clearly where he belongs.
There’s even talk of Oliver Kapanen, who’s running at top speed.
But we’re not really talking about Vinzenz Rohrer (for obvious reasons) or even Kaiden Guhle. And yet, the young Canadian stud has a good tournament on the Canadian blue line.
In fact, since the start of the