In this edition of the Montreal Canadiens News & Rumours, general manager (GM) Kent Hughes has his work cut out for him as the rebuild continues. The Canadiens are in the thick of a playoff race for the second Eastern Conference wild card position and have choices to make regarding callups. There is also good news on the injury front as a young defenseman nears a return. Also, there have been words of praise for Ivan Demidov and his future from some unlikely sources.
Rocket All-Star Nod
Recently, Joshua Roy and Logan Mailloux received the nod to the American Hockey League (AHL) All-Star Game. Unfortunately, Roy was injured and will be out for several weeks. Because of this, someone needed to replace him. In his stead, Canadiens prospect Owen Beck has been chosen to represent the Laval Rocket at the annual classic.
Beck, who was called up to play a couple of NHL games, has returned to Laval in time for this honour. His rookie professional season is going well, as he has nine goals and 25 points in 38 games while showing flashes of becoming an impactful middle-six centre at the next level.
Lavallagher Returns to Montreal
With Emil Heineman still out with an injury, Montreal needed some added forward depth as they continued their homestand. Because of that, Montreal announced the recall of Rafael Harvey-Pinard from Laval. Pinard, who was given the nickname “Lavallagher” during his first season in Laval because his play resembled that of Brendan Gallagher’s, was penciled in to be on the NHL roster at the start of the season, but a serious injury forced him to miss significant time and then be assigned to Laval. He has scored four goals and recorded 11 points in 24 AHL games this season.
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The 26-year-old is likely going to be just the latest callup who will get a few games before management moves on to the next player. Something that is likely being done as an assessment tool to judge each player’s progression or if there is a future fit for them in the organization.
Canadiens Send Struble for Conditioning
The Canadiens assigned defenseman Jayden Struble to the AHL…
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