They earn very well, but they don’t have that much to offer. The Canadiens players who could be lifting the marks by next Friday are no gems and not that many. Even Josh Anderson at 6’3” and 225 lbs looks attractive but there are hidden flaws that are disappointing, especially when you put him alongside a salary of over 6 million a year. He’s got the qualities and physique of a power right winger, but he’s not Mr. Regularity and he’s unlikely to top 30 points on the front row this season. So would you give Josh a first-round pick? Me neither.
Christian Dvorak might be the one who could change his address, but it would be surprising if the Canadian gets a lot, even if his salary of just over three million isn’t scary. A record of 9 goals and 16 assists this season doesn’t take anything away, but let’s give him the fact that he can work very well and help defensively.
Joel Edmundson may be a long-distance giant at 6′ and 5”, but he’s often absent and in the tight space of the playoffs that’s never reassuring.
Yes, he won the trophy in St. Louis three years ago, but in his eight-year career he never played a full season and last year he only played 24 games. Montreal picked him up for a fifth-round pick in 2020. I very much doubt that its value is as high as some make it out to be.
YOU DON’T DREAM
I have the same doubts about the attraction that Jake Allen can generate, who, especially in a playoff race, can only be second, if not third, goaltender in an organization. For the last two years, he has been a surprise box on the net, capable of the best and almost the worst. He’s not as reassuring as he was when he first arrived in Montreal. If Kent Hughes can get Allen a good bargaining chip, he’s a real magician and I’d take a lottery ticket with me.
Likewise, I wonder where we could sneak Evgenii Dadonov with his 4 small goals, 18 points. The gift Shea Weber received from Vegas last year turns 34 in three weeks and appears to be out of gas. A few stutters now and then, but nothing to text his mom and especially not to seduce a GM looking for backup ahead of the big spring tournament.
Mike Hoffman is no longer Mike Hoffman. For several years he was, and it was obvious, considered a one-dimensional gamer. In the year of his 70 points with Florida, there was also a sad -24 on his tally. He’s 33 and only made the playoffs four times in his career more than 10 years ago. I don’t think Hoffman offers a style that leads to the highest honors.
Sean Monahan is an excellent middle player but of questionable health or toughness. Is he at his wits end yet? It does not look good. He’s only played 25 games this season, and we’re beginning to better understand why the Calgary Flames let him go for such vague considerations as the future.
So, as we get closer to the famous March 3rd, we realize that Kent Hughes doesn’t have much to offer as a seller as he is and with this plateau he won’t be able to further improve his draft positions.
In the package we cannot take into account Brendan Gallagher who is having a terrible season. Jonathan Drouin isn’t faring much better, although he has shown great things since Star Weekend.
David Savard? Joel Armia? I’m not sure if the phone rings that often.
THE DAMPHOUSSES IN HOCKEY
Denver Damphousse turns 18 in two weeks. You guessed it, he’s Vincent’s son and he was born when dad was playing in San Jose. Today, Sohn, who is 6ft 3 and plays fullback, plays for the Kent School in upstate New York.
Though Vincent had a 1,200-point career as a center player, his second son Bo, 15, is a full-back like his big brother. Bo is only 15 years old, already 1.80m tall and plays for the Lac St-Louis Lions, M18 AAA.
And the third “little” Damphousse is Xavier, 8 years old, who is in his second year as a novice. At which point? Vincent said to me, “He follows the puck there…”
FROM THE ENCLAVE
- 1 goal, 5 assists, Connor Bedard participated in all of his Regina team’s goals against Medicine Hat. The news made the rounds in the hockey world. Did you know he was awarded the second star?
- Of the NHL’s 32 head coaches, 20 are former league players.
- Rue Chasle de Valleyfield, which runs alongside the Canadian Tire store, will change its name to Rue Michel Choiniere. The merchant, owner of the department store, died a few weeks ago. He was a key player in the development of the sport in his community, particularly in the town’s regattas and the Special Olympics.
- In the same vein, the town of Valleyfield names the country Denis McSween what used to be Charpentier Park. Denis has evolved in more than five years in the organization of Expos and is very proud of his city’s gesture.
- The very first televised hockey game was not Detroit-Montreal in 1952, but a game between the Canadiens and the Rangers at Madison Square Garden in New York on February 25, 1940. Rangers 6, Montreal 2.
- Mohammed Ali had nine children with five different women.
- The defender Stop Makar Colorado is the most played player in the NHL, averaging 27 minutes per game.
- At the Canadian Mike Matheson is the most and longest in a game on the ice. He’s there an average of 23 minutes 42.
Photo courtesy of Kim Clavel
Kim Clavel took advantage of his vacation in recent weeks to travel to Panama to the residence of an idol, one of the greatest boxers of all time, Roberto Duran, now 71 years old. A happy meeting.
