Montreal Canadiens news and notes
- “Big players, like Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton, need time,” said Todd McLellan when asked about Quinton Byfield’s breakout this season, and expects the process to be similar in Juraj Slafkovský’s case. [La Presse]
- Samuel Montembeault will get a second consecutive start when the Canadiens play the Los Angeles Kings tonight. [RDS]
- With close to a third of the season played, Johnny Kovacevic believes the Kings are the best team he’s seen this year. [RDS]
- Kovacevic says the penalty kill is working on being “proactive rather than reactive.” [La Presse]
- Brendan Gallagher is proud to have an NHL career that has lasted for 700 games. “I also look forward to the next couple hundred, hopefully.” [Montreal Gazette]
- Owen Beck will represent the Canadiens at Team Canada’s WJC camp. A breakdown of which NHL teams have prospects named to the preliminary roster. [Sportsnet]
- Rob Ramage’s tour of the European prospects included a stop in Zurich to check in on David Reinbacher’s progress:
- Dr. David Mulder listed Saku Koivu’s return from cancer as the highlight of his career. [Canadiens.com]
- Marie-Philip Poulin is trying to help her new linemates play the game at her pace. [Radio-Canada]
Around the league and elsewhere
- Todd McLellan’s work with the Los Angeles Kings has him an early favourite for the Jack Adams Trophy. [Daily Faceoff]
- Jacques Martin has joined the Ottawa Senators as a senior advisor. [TSN]
- John Klingberg will have hip surgery at the end of December, and is ruled out for the rest of the season. [Daily Faceoff]
- The options the Toronto Maple Leafs have available to fill their vacant spots on defence. [32 Thoughts]
- The Columbus Blue Jackets placed Elvis Merzlikins, Adam Boqvist, and Cole Sillinger on Injured Reserve. [Daily Faceoff]
- Columbus dealt Eric Robinson to the Buffalo Sabres for a seventh-round pick. [Sportsnet]
- How does Evgeny Kuznetsov plan to bring his season slump to an end? “Just play better and a lot of things will turn around.” [NHL.com]
- New York Islanders co-owner Scott Malkin is set to sell a 10% stake in the franchise, a club with a total valuation of $1.75 billion. [Forbes]
- Patrick Kane will make his Detroit Red Wings debut tonight. [Sportsnet]
- Ilya Kovalchuk is making his comeback:
