Wednesday Habs Headlines: Jesperi Kotkaniemi shows off new wheels at practice

Montreal Canadiens news and notes

• Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s improved skating caught Claude Julien’s eye. [Montreal Gazette]
• The Habs are getting used to “the new normal” at practice. [Montreal Gazette]
• The difference between the Canadiens and the Pittsburgh Penguins at centre is “night and day”. [La Presse]
• The Canadiens will play the Toronto Maple Leafs in an exhibition game before the play-in tournament begins in earnest. [TSN]

• Are the Habs potential dark horses enjoying a new lease on life? [Sportsnet (Video)]
• How much the Habs surprise people will hinge, as seemingly always, on Carey Price. [Sportsnet]
• The Canadiens and agent Dan Milstein are racing to get Alexander Romanov a visa to enter Canada before the bubble closes. [The Athletic]

Around the league and elsewhere

• Hub city transformations are intensifying as August approaches. [TSN]
• The full schedule for the qualifying round has been announced. [CBC]
• All the focus has been on the 5-12 seeds, but what about the top four teams in the East? [TSN]
• Auston Matthews has become the reluctant face of NHL players who have tested positive for Covid-19. [The Athletic]
• Pucks — but also masks — were prevalent as 24 NHL teams opened training camps for the second time in the 2019-20 season. [ProHockeyTalk]
• With wife Julie scheduled to deliver the couple’s second child on August 8, Lars Eller intends to leave the Toronto bubble and return after the birth. [ESPN]
• The year was 1987, and the University of Manitoba welcomed a rookie head coach named Barry Trotz. [The Athletic]
• From picking a new design to filing the necessary paperwork with the league: how do you change a team name? [The Athletic]
• Nate Schmidt of the Vegas Golden Knights talks about life in the bubble and Las Vegas missing out on being a hub city. [TSN]
• Leon Draisaitl, Artemi Panarin, and Nathan MacKinnon are the finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award. [Sportsnet]