Montreal Canadiens
- P.K. Subban shared his thoughts on the pressures of living up to his contract extension, being nominated for his second Norris Trophy and the Canadiens’ captaincy discussion. [Canadiens]
“Being selected as the captain of the Montreal Canadiens would be special and different than being named captain of any other team. Just the fact that I’m a part of the leadership group with other big players that have worn a letter on this jersey is something special. This type of situation isn’t something you take lightly. You’re just not given a letter like this in Montreal.”
- Jeff Petry’s recent playoff performance may have guaranteed him more money with regards to his next contract. Petry, along with fellow unrestricted free agents Ward, Beleskey and Beagle, are all due for a substantial raise. [Sportsnet]
- Canadiens’ prospect Artturi Lehkonen has decided to spend an additional year in Sweden. The young Finn will remain with the Swedish club Frölunda, instead of playing in the AHL with the St. John’s Ice Caps next year. [La Presse] (French)
- Listen to the season three of Ice Level! True to form, the crew get to discussing the complicated question of what the Montreal Canadiens need to do, in order to get better. [EOTP]
Around The League and Elsewhere
- Alas, “Babwatch” has come to an inglorious end. Former Detroit Red Wings‘ head coach Mike Babcock has decided to take his talents to Toronto and here’s how the fine folks at Pension Plan Puppets reacted to this news. [PPP]
- To put matters in perspective, this is how successful Mike Babcock has been while the Toronto Maple Leafs were not. Leafs’ fans are understandably excited. [Twitter]
Since taking over Red Wings in 2005, Mike Babcock led team to playoffs 10 times. Toronto has been once in that span. pic.twitter.com/Is2EqsmTYd
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 20, 2015
- But Mike Babcock did not come cheap. [Twitter]/
#Leafs head coach Mike Babcock will earn more next season than #RedWings Henrik Zetterberg’s cap hit.
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) May 20, 2015
- However, Habs’ fans can take solace in the fact that the this hiring probably means Guy Boucher is not Toronto bound. However, both the Detroit Red Wings and the Buffalo Sabres may still be interested in his services. [Puck Daddy]
- Ontario’s other hockey team did not make quite big a splash but they did manage to sign goaltender Andrew Hammond to a reasonable $4.05-million dollar contract. With Hammond under contract, the Ottawa Senators are expected to part with one of Anderson or Lehner. [CTV News]
- The Boston Bruins have appointed Don Sweeney as their new general manager. Sweeney, who served as an assistant general manager to former GM Chiarelli, had little to say about the future of current Bruins’ head coach Claude Julien. [Star Tribune]
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have named forward Nick Foligno as their captain. Foligno, who was acquired by the Blue Jackets in a trade with the Ottawa Senators, will be the sixth captain in Blue Jackets’ history. [NHL]
- The Philadelphia Flyers signed 32-year old defenseman Yvgeni Medvedev from the KHL. Medvedev is a 3 time KHL All-Star and has represented Team Russia internationally. Interestingly enough, he was used in a top-4 role at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, paired with Montreal’s own Alexei Emelin. [Broad Street Hockey]
- Martin Brodeur will named assistant general manager with the St. Louis Blues. Brodeur, who had initially been hired as a special advisor to the GM, will now be working alongside current Blues’ GM Doug Armstrong. [STL Today]
