Saturday Habs Headlines: The Road Ahead

Montreal Canadiens News and Notes

• The Laval Rocket have clinched a playoff spot. [Twitter | La Presse]

• The Habs are looking to a brighter (and more healthy) future. [TSN | Canadiens | Sportsnet | La Presse | Montreal Gazette | CBC | Yahoo Sports]
• Nothing about Martin St-Louis’ first full season behind the Habs’ bench was easy, but he made the most of it. [The Athletic]
• Nick Suzuki wins the Molson Cup Player of the Year. [Canadiens]
• Sam Montembeault will be suiting up for Canada in the IIHF World Championship. [Twitter]

Around the League and Elsewhere

• The schedule for the first four nights of the playoffs is out. [NHL]
• On paper, the Leafs have been the better team in many areas. But the Lightning are the Lightning. [Sportsnet]
• Coyotes coach André Tourignay will be the bench boss for Team Canada at the men’s world championship. [Yahoo Sports]
• Canada’s women’s team is confident heading into the semifinals. [Montreal Gazette]
• Dallas Eakins is out in Anaheim. [NHL | TSN]
• Peter Laviolette and the Washington Capitals have agreed to “mutually part ways” [NHL]
• Brian Burke and Ron Hextall have been fired by the Penguins. [TSN | NHL | Sportsnet]
• So what’s next for the Penguins? [ESPN]
• Nick Holden will be hitting free agency this summer. [TSN]
• Alex DeBrincat does not seem inclined to return to the Sens. [TSN]
• Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund were non-committal in their responses on the topic of returning to Calgary. [TSN]
• J.T. Miller likes where the Canucks are headed. [Sportsnet]
• The Islanders, Rangers, and Devils all make the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. [NHL]
• The Bruins’ historical season is built on the bedrock of Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand’s play on the ice and friendship off of it. [NHL]
• Andre Burakovsky will miss the start of the playoffs for the Kraken. [Sportsnet]
• The Avalanche will be without Gabriel Landeskog for the playoffs. [Sportsnet]
• Jonathan Toews will not, in fact, be returning to Chicago, ending an era. [Sportsnet]
• Tony DeAngelo’s first season with the Flyers didn’t go terrifically, and it doesn’t seem likely to improve if his relationship with John Tortorella remains as it is. [Yahoo Sports]
• Alex Ovechkin only needs 73 more goals to catch Wayne Gretzky. Considering that he shows no signs of slowing down on the scoring front, it’s looking more and more likely to happen. [Yahoo Sports]