It's something many Habs fans have been asking, so we decided to ask head coach Martin St. Louis that question.
The question I hear most from Canadiens fans this season is: “Why isn’t Lane Hutson on the first power-play unit?”
After the Canadiens practised Friday at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard, I decided to ask head coach Martin St. Louis what he would say to those fans.
“What do I say?” St. Louis responded. “Do I know he can be efficient on the power play? Yes. Is that going to happen some day? Maybe. But I’m coaching a team, I’m not coaching one player.”
The Canadiens’ power play hasn’t been bad this season with Hutson getting limited ice time on the second unit. They ranked 11th in the NHL on the power play heading into the weekend with an 11.5 per cent success rate.
While there are many fans who would like to see Hutson replace Mike Matheson at the point on the first power-play unit, I’d like to see the two defencemen together on the first unit.
I asked St. Louis if Matheson and Hutson might see time together on the first unit as the season progresses.
“Anything’s possible,” the coach said. “I like our percentage on the power play, but I don’t think it’s a true reflection of how we’re actually doing on the power play. I think we can do a better job.”
While Hutson is a gifted and unique offensive player with 11 assists in 19 games this season, he doesn’t have a big shot and is still looking for his first NHL goal. Matheson won the Canadiens’ hardest-shot competition two seasons ago with a blast of 100.9 m.p.h. (Arber Xhekaj won it last season at 107.2 m.p.h.). Matheson scored 11 goals last season, including five on the power play. He has only one goal this season (on the power play) and 12 assists.
I think it’s important to have a big shot — or at least the threat of a big shot — from the point on the power play, and I asked St. Louis if he agrees.
“You look at a Fox … does Fox have a big shot?” St. Louis said about New York Rangers defenceman Adam Fox, who is on his team’s first power-play unit. “Does Fox have a bomb? I don’t think he has a bomb, I think he has a good shot. I don’t think he has a bomb. But he’s got other things.”
The Rangers’ power play ranked eighth in the NHL heading into the weekend with a 23.9 per cent success rate and Fox has yet to score a goal, but he did have 16 assists, including seven on the power play.
“It’s rare that you’re going to have a perfect (player), got everything,” St. Louis said. “Some players do. So whatever player’s there, they’re going to play into their strength and they got to bring something or else they wouldn’t be on the power play.”
I’d still like to see Hutson setting up Matheson (and others) for one-timers on the first power-play unit.
Laine getting close
The Canadiens’ power play — and their offence in general — should get a boost when Patrik Laine finally plays his first game with the team after suffering a sprained left knee during the pre-season. Laine was acquired in an off-season trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
After Laine suffered his injury during a 2-1 pre-season loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sept. 28 at the Bell Centre, he saw more than one doctor and got different medical opinions before deciding not to have surgery. The Canadiens then announced they expected him to be out 2-3 months.
Laine started skating again on Nov. 6 and took part in full practices with his teammates Thursday and Friday while wearing a non-contact sweater.
“It’s exciting,” teammate Brendan Gallagher said about having Laine back on the ice. “When he first got injured, the original diagnosis was pretty grim and then to find out that we were going to have a chance to see him again (this season) was exciting.
“It’s good to see him getting closer and closer,” Gallagher added. “He’s a guy that scores goals. He’s a talent that not a lot of players in the world have. We’ll try to use it the best we can. I’m sure it’s not going to be easy for him coming back right away and I hope that we’re able to temper expectations. But for him, I’m sure he’s very excited and as a group we’re excited as well.”
Big adjustment for Hutson
One of the big adjustments for Hutson as a rookie this season will be playing an 82-game NHL schedule after never playing more than 39 games during his two seasons at Boston University. During 77 games over two seasons at Boston University, Hutson posted 30-67-97 totals.
Cole Caufield had to make the same adjustment after he won the Hobey Baker Award as the best player in the NCAA in 2020-21 after posting 30-22-52 totals in 31 games.
“Life’s kind of different, too,” Caufield said about making the adjustment to the NHL. “You feel like you don’t have as much time to relax and stuff. Honestly, just taking care of yourself a little bit more. Sleeping. But you find yourself kind of so busy that you don’t really think about it, which is kind of weird.
“You just got to find your own routine that works,” Caufield added. “I know he takes care of himself off the ice. Just stay on top of your eating to keep your body heavier with all the games when you’re losing a lot of calories. He’s been doing pretty well so far and it’s a long season. I know he’s going to keep working on it and he’ll be fine.”
Good sign for Habs’ rebuild
The Canadiens are No. 1 in TSN’s annual NHL team ranking of players under the age of 24.
The top five rated players by TSN in the Canadiens’ organization who started the season at age 23 or younger are, in order, Caufield, Ivan Demidov, Juraj Slafkovsky, Hutson and goalie Jacob Fowler.
“It’s an embarrassment of riches,” Craig Button, TSN’s director of scouting, said on the TSN website, “and a reason to be patient with the franchise rebuild.”
Xhekaj earning regular spot in lineup
Canadiens assistant coach Stéphane Robidas knows what it’s like to be a young defenceman trying to earn a regular spot in the NHL.
Robidas was never selected at the NHL Draft, but went on to play 15 years in the league, including three seasons with the Canadiens.
After practice Thursday, the Canadiens gave St. Louis a day off from speaking with the media (which he must have enjoyed) and instead made Robidas available.
“At first you want to establish yourself, so you want to be an everyday player,” Robidas said. “Once you’re an everyday player, now you gain a little bit in confidence. Every time if you play a game, two games, three games and you’re out (of the lineup), it’s hard. It’s hard on your confidence and I totally get it. But that’s where as a young player you got to establish yourself and I find you got to have an identity and you got to gain the trust of your coaches.”
That’s what the Canadiens’ young defencemen, including Arber Xhekaj, are trying to do now.
“Once you do that, now you get rewarded with ice time and now you’re confident,” Robidas said. “It’s all linked together. I think every player is different, but it’s good to see Jacko getting rewarded for that right now.”
After being sent down to the AHL’s Laval Rocket for 17 games last season, Xhekaj was made a healthy scratch three times in the first 11 games this season with the Canadiens. But Xhekaj has been in the lineup for each of the last eight games.
Robidas noted that Xhekaj has done a lot of video work with Adam Nicholas, the Canadiens’ director of hockey development, has improved his intensity and is making good decisions both with and without the puck.
Must-see TV?
Last Friday’s disappointing boxing bout between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul attracted 108 million viewers globally, according to Netflix, making it “the most-streamed sporting event ever.”
It was reported Tyson, the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion, earned US$20 million for the fight, which he lost by unanimous decision to the 27-year-old Paul.
Mon ami Anthony Martineau of TVA Sports asked Xhekaj what he would do if Paul offered him a fight.
“For 20 million, I would go,” Xhekaj said with a laugh. “But I’m probably too fresh for him.”
What does a coaching consultant do?
I was surprised the Canadiens didn’t hire an assistant coach with NHL experience to replace Alex Burrows after he stepped down from his position last summer for family reasons.
Instead, the Canadiens hired Roger Grillo as a “coaching consultant.”
Grillo was an assistant coach under head coach Mike Gilligan at the University of Vermont when St. Louis was a player there for four seasons, starting in 1993-94. Grillo left for Brown University after St. Louis’s final season at Vermont in 1996-97 and was head coach there for 12 seasons until 2008-09. He joined USA Hockey as a regional manager of the American Development Model in 2009, before being named to director of player development in 2022.
So, what exactly does Grillo do as a “coaching consultant” with the Canadiens?
“Roger’s an older guy,” St. Louis said about the 60-year-old Grillo. “We have a young staff, so Roger’s an older guy and has a lot of wisdom. I think he’s helped us in staying organized in the war room. Whether it’s in the practice and how we log everything … I feel we have a lot of content with our thoughts, our ideas, or how we do things. I feel Roger is kind of the jar that holds that … kind of keeps it all together.
“That’s what I was envisioning,” St. Louis added about the decision to hire Grillo. “Having a jar that could keep it all together.”
The music man
After the Canadiens beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 at the Bell Centre Monday night, Stevie Wonder’s song Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours), was blaring in the locker room while the media waited outside for the door to open.
After Joel Edmundson was traded to the Washington Capitals in the summer of 2023, Caufield took over as the DJ in the Canadiens’ locker room. I asked Caufield if Wonder’s song is the team’s new theme song this season.
“That’s Army’s walk-out darts song in the summer, I think,” Caufield said about teammate Joel Armia. “That was actually pretty electric. Playing darts, he walks out to that in Finland, so that’s pretty electric. Darts is his thing.”
When I mentioned Caufield’s comments to Armia after practice Friday he laughed.
“I started (playing darts) this summer,” Armia said. “I got a dart board at home. Just for fun, nothing serious.”
Caufield also plays darts, but hasn’t played against Armia yet.
“I actually just found out he plays darts,” Caufield said. “Now I’m kind of scared that he has a walk-out song. But I’m ready to play him.”
When Armia was asked if he would want to play darts against Caufield, he said: “Yeah, hopefully.”
If this happens, the Canadiens have to videotape it.
Tough guy
Caufield had a nice multicoloured bruise on his chin after Monday’s game, making him really look like a hockey player.
“It’s nice, eh?” he said with a big grin. “It’s actually trending in the right direction, which is huge.”
What happened?
“It was an elbow about a month and a hook (to the face) ago and then they lasered it in Buffalo, which was probably the worst decision,” Caufield said.
Hockey players are a different breed.
Uncertain future for Armia
This is a big season for Armia since it’s the final year of his contract with a US$3.4 million salary-cap hit.
It’s almost certain that GM Kent Hughes will be looking to trade the 31-year-old Finn before the March 7 NHL trade deadline.
“I’m just going day by day,” Armia said after practice Friday. “Enjoy every day coming to the rink here, working and playing games. If you think ahead it doesn’t do any good for you.”
Armia has 2-6-8 totals in 19 games and has been part of a very effective fourth line in recent games with centre Lucas Condotta and Emil Heineman. It’s a similar role to what Armia played in the Canadiens’ 2021 playoff run to the Stanley Cup final when he was with Corey Perry and Eric Staal.
“It’s similar, for sure,” Armia said. “Everybody on our line works hard and plays a simple game. We try to win pucks down low and try to quick-strike it to the net and I feel like that’s causing chaos and keeps the momentum for our line. I think we have a good chemistry.”
Armia has also been helping Heineman adjust to life in the NHL as a rookie.
“He’s a young European kid,” Armia said about his 23-year-old Swedish linemate. “I feel like I can kind of relate to him with what I was going through when I started my NHL career. I started my career in the American league and then got a couple of chances to play in the NHL.”
What was the biggest adjustment for Armia when he first started in the NHL?
“For me, it was probably the speed and the battle level, for sure,” he said. “It’s tough coming from the European leagues. The rink is bigger. Some guys do better, some guys it takes a little bit of time. But I feel like it would be good for the European rinks to go to the smaller ice like the NHL ones. It would make guys more ready to come over here and be ready right away.”
Morning skates at Bell Centre
Before St. Louis was named head coach, the Canadiens held their morning skates on game days in Brossard instead of at the Bell Centre.
St. Louis changed that at the start of the 2022-23 season, moving the morning skates to the downtown arena.
When former Canadiens defenceman Brett Kulak was at the Bell Centre Monday to play against his former team, mon ami Martineau of TVA Sports asked him about St. Louis moving the morning skates downtown.
“Two years ago, some guys asked when we were going to start holding morning workouts at the Bell Centre rather than in Brossard,” Kulak said. “I told them that as long as Carey (Price) was going to be there (living on the South Shore), they were better off being patient. He had the power.”
Price and several other Canadiens used to live in Candiac, but now I believe David Savard is the only player still living on the South Shore.
When I mentioned Kulak’s comment about Price and morning skates to captain Nick Suzuki, he chuckled.
“I think Marty had a lot to do with it,” Suzuki said about the morning skates moving to the Bell Centre. “We had talked about it previously that we have a lot more guys living (downtown) so it wasn’t that big of a deal. I like morning skates at the Bell Centre. Most of the guys live downtown, so it’s easier for them.”
