Montreal Canadiens news and notes
- Vincent Damphousse says, as was the case in his career, some patience is required for a forward playing in a completely new environment as Juraj Slafkovský is. He also reminds everyone that an elite level of play was never the projection for Slafkovský. [TVA Sports]
- It’s all part of a nonlinear development path for the first overall pick:
- The best part of joining Nick Suzuki’s line for Juraj Slafkovský is playing with a quality slot-passer: Cole Caufield. [RDS]
- Declaring the best player of a draft — 2022’s or otherwise — is something better done a handful of years after the event. [La Presse]
- Sean Monahan isn’t a player the Canadiens should part with easily. [TVA Sports]
- Rather than force offence to come, Josh Anderson is going to commit himself to defence and hard work to help the team during his slump. [La Presse]
- There’s a lot of uncertainty in Montreal’s three-goalie tandem situation. [The Athletic]
- Jake Allen will be presented with the Molson Cup tonight for his play in October. [Canadiens.com]
- Joe Vrbetic was named the ECHL goalie of the week for his performance with the Lions de Trois-Rivières. [TVA Sports]
- Lane Hutson is the Hockey East player of the week. [GoTerriers]
Around the league and elsewhere
- Nicklas Backstrom’s leave of absence to address his injury situation will probably last the remainder of the season, general manager Brian MacLellan said. [Daily Faceoff]
- Frederik Andersen is out with a blood-clotting issue:
