Tuesday Habs Headlines: Alex Belzile humbled by Bill Masterton Award nomination

Montreal Canadiens News and Notes

• Alex Belzile humbled to be nominated for the Bill Masterton Award, while Arber Xhekaj’s confidence could make him a top-four defenceman. [Sportsnet]
• Sidelined since January, Juraj Slafkovsky was back on the ice Monday and spoke to the media. [Canadiens]
• Slafkovsky knows what he needs to work on to become a more complete player for next season. [Montreal Gazette]
• Before his injury, Xhekaj feels he was playing his best hockey and will be more selective when dropping the gloves in the future; Kaiden Guhle feels it was beneficial to be thrown right into deep end. [Journal de Montreal]
• Rafaël Harvey-Pinard surprised himself with the progress he made while up with the Canadiens. [RDS]
• Mike Matheson lead the Habs in just about every stat last week. [RDS]

Around the League and Elsewhere

• How their respective NHL teams can set prospects-recently-turned-pro Luke Hughes, Matthew Knies and Brock Faber up for success. [The Hockey News]
• With five days remaining in the regular season, there’s still only one series locked in so the other 14 playoff teams still have a lot to play for. [Sportsnet]
• Bo Horvat backtracks on his “better than Vancouver” comment. [TSN]
• Nailed it.