Friday Habs Headlines: It’s Nick Suzuki versus Joël Teasdale tonight in Halifax

Montreal Canadiens news and notes

• Habs prospects Joël Teasdale and Nick Suzuki will face off tonight in the semifinal of the Memorial Cup. [Montreal Canadiens]
• Is Ville Heinola an option for the Habs with the 15th overall selection? [Montreal Canadiens]
• After Jakub Jerabek, Michal Moracvik, and David Sklenicka, what makes Otto Leskinen different? [The Athletic]
• A week remains for the Canadiens to re-sign Scott Walford and Jarret Tyszka. [La Presse]

Around the league and elsewhere

• The Ottawa Senators announce the hiring of Toronto Maple Leafs Assistant Coach D.J. Smith as their new Head Coach. [Silver Seven]
• The Toronto Maple Leafs hired former Florida Panthers Assistant Coach Paul MacFarland to replace the departed Smith. [Pension Plan Puppets]
• Who are the top goalie prospects of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft? [The Athletic]
• The Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota Wild are discussing a possible trade involving Phil Kessel. [The Athletic]
• Sean Gentille outlines the rationale behind trading Kessel. [The Athletic]
• Brock Nelson has re-signed with the New York Islanders for six more years. [ESPN]
• David Backes is set to face his former club in the Stanley Cup Final. [ProHockeyTalk]
• Remember when the St. Louis Blues made three Stanley Cup Finals in a row? [ProHockeyTalk]
• The Blues find themselves on the verge of writing a great story. [The Athletic]
• Having not undergone the “tank-and-rebound” cycle of recent Cup winners, are the Blues changing how people think a championship-level team should be built? [The Athletic]
• Jayna Hefford and Martin Brodeur are among the Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame inductees this year. [Sportsnet]
• An arbitrator has ruled that Vyacheslav Voynov will be eligible for NHL reinstatement at the halfway point of next season. [Sportsnet]
• His former team has stated that they have no interest in the defender. [Los Angeles Kings]
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The wide world of sports

• How did Canada become a tennis superpower? [The Guardian]

Friday’s schedule

No NHL games today

Next: Stanley Cup Final Game 1 — Monday, May 27: St. Louis Blues @ Boston Bruins

Memorial Cup Semifinal: Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (2-1) @ Guelph Storm (2-1)

Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
Streaming: CHL Live