Friday Habs Headlines: Are Joel Edmundson and Jeff Petry the best in the North?

Montreal Canadiens news and notes

• Joel Edmundson and Jeff Petry: the best defence pairing in the North Division? [TSN]
• Ben Chiarot has a confirmed fracture in his right hand and is awaiting further evaluation. [Sportsnet]
• Ask Arpon: what happens now with Chiarot out of the lineup? [The Athletic]
• Dominique Ducharme has stepped on every rung of the coaching ladder on his way to his current position. [Montreal Gazette]
• Could the Habs solve some of their faceoff woes with an exclusive faceoff coach? [The Athletic]

Around the league and elsewhere

• Jordan Binnington has signed a 6-year $36 million contract extension with the St. Louis Blues. [Sportsnet]
• Is the NHL working on changing cross-border quarantine rules in order to facilitate additional trades ahead of the deadline? [TSN]
• Bob McKenzie says the NHL Entry Draft will not be moved, but the lottery rules could be changed. [ProHockeyTalk]
• What does the reported $2.8 billion television deal between the NHL and ESPN mean for the salary cap? [The Athletic]
• The impact of empty stadiums on sports in the year of COVID-19. [Radio-Canada]
• Although the NHL may have resumed, some leagues have not restarted at all since last March. That means that a lot of players have spent over a year between competitive games. [The Athletic]
• Fifty years, no Stanley Cups: who’s had it worse between fans of the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks? [The Athletic]
• It took 169:04 to find a winner in Game 5 of the Belarusian Extraliga series between HK Gomel and HC Neman Grodno—the third longest professional hockey game ever played. [ProHockeyTalk]