From the moment the Canadiens re-acquired Jeff Petry from Pittsburgh, speculation soared about Montreal flipping him elsewhere with 50% retention. With what the market would be for him in that scenario, that might not be the best course of action for the Canadiens.
Mike Matheson was one of the more intriguing players heading into last season to see how he’d fare with his new team. He wound up making a bigger impact than many expected; how will he fare for an encore?
The Habs were somewhat surprisingly the third team involved to help facilitate the Erik Karlsson trade and in the move, moved out a pair of veterans while bringing in two more. Our writers offer up their assessments of the swap.
The long-expected Erik Karlsson to Pittsburgh trade was completed on Sunday and as expected, a third team was involved. That team wound up being Montreal who moved out Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick for a package headlined by former Hab Jeff Petry.
Juraj Slafkovsky’s rookie campaign wasn’t the best but there also is certainly plenty of room for improvement. What should the expectations be for him in 2023-24? Our writers offer up their thoughts.
Expectations were a little higher offensively for Josh Anderson last season with the belief he’d be a fixture on the top line. While that didn’t happen with consistency, there is some reason for optimism that he might be able to pick up a few more points in 2023-24.
As far as late-round draft picks have gone, Jake Evans has been a nice success for the Habs, going from a seventh-round selection to a regular. But heading into next season, the 27-year-old has a lot to prove.
Montreal’s lone remaining restricted free agent has put pen to paper on a new contract as the Habs announced on Monday that they’ve re-signed winger Jesse Ylonen to a one-year, two-way contract.
It would be fair to say that Cayden Primeau’s time as a pro has had its ups and downs to the point where he’s on the borderline of being an NHL goaltender. Unfortunately for the Habs, there are about to be even more questions for him next season.
When I looked at Montreal’s original restricted free agent list (before they picked up Alex Newhook), there was only one contract that I thought could be iffy, Rafael Harvey-Pinard’s. Instead, his was done early but there remains one that isn’t done in winger Jesse Ylonen.