Headlines: Kostitsyn Rumors, Mitchell, Kessel, Ryan, Holland, more

All Habs Headlines: Wednesday June 17, 2015
	On this day in hockey history… 1975 — Montreal traded goaltender Wayne Thomas to Toronto, in exchange for Toronto’s first round pick in the 1976 draft that ended up being Peter Lee. 1977 — Toronto Maple Leafs fired coach Red Kelly. 1989 — The Quebec Nordiques select Mats Sundin first overall. 1995 — Scotty Bowman became the first coach in NHL history to appear in the Stanley Cup Finals with four teams, he had appeared with St. Louis, Detroit, Montreal, and Pittsburgh.
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► Put the brakes on the Kostitsyn rumours

• Three weeks ago a seventeen-year-old blogger shared his personal opinion that the Canadiens should invite Andrei Kostitsyn to training camp in the fall. It is true that Kostitsyn is seeking a return to the NHL after playing for Sochi HC for the better part of the 2014-15 season.
• On Monday, the Russian website Tribuna.com reported that Sergei Kostitsyn will soon sign a contract with a NHL team. The site also wrote that the Canadiens have interest Andrei Kostitsyn.  The website Elite Hockey Prospects added the news as a rumour to their website. The rumour was quickly spread by social media with the utility of Kostitsyn being hotly debated.
• Unfortunately, few stopped to check that Tribuna’s source for the elder Kostitsyn’s news was simply the wishful meanderings of the previously-mentioned young blogger.
• We wish the Kostitsyn brothers well as they engineer their possible return to the NHL. But it is folly at this point to connect either of them with the Canadiens.

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According to a source Sergei Kostitsyn is close to signing a deal in the #NHL #KHL #AkBars

— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) June 16, 2015

► Mitchell will return

• The Canadiens have signed centre Torey Mitchell to a three-year contract extension with an average annual value of $1.2 million.
• The former fourth round pick was acquired at the trade deadline from the Buffalo Sabres for a seventh round pick and forward Jack Nevins. Speculation is that Bergevin gave an extra year on the term in exchange for a lower salary to create more cap wiggle room this offseason. If there is a problem with this deal is that it could take a roster spot from some young players that are poised to crack the Canadiens lineup this season.
• Mitchell’s best season was in 2010-11 when he logged 23 points in 66 games. He had a very good collegiate career with close to a point per game in two of his the three seasons that he spent at the University of Vermont. He averaged 35 points in about 40 games per season.

► Kessel willing but not welcome?

• It seems that it is unlikely that Leafs sniper Phil Kessel will be coming to Montreal even though the Canadiens are on Kessel’s list of approved teams. According to Renaud Lavoie of TVA sports the chances of the Canadiens acquiring the five time 30-goal scorer are slim. In his opinion, Montreal will not take that route.
• Kessel is a pure goal scorer but, in my opinion, the negatives outweigh the positives. There is already an apparent lack of effort at age 27 and that can only get worse as his skills begin to decline.
• It would also be comical to see the clash between Michel Therrien and the American. It’s hard to conceive that Kessel would be effective playing in a chip-and-chase grind it out kind of style. In an episode of 24CH this past season Therrien told his players to shoot at the goaltender’s pads to generate rebounds. This doesn’t sound like it would fit with Kessel’s game.

► Jacques gets a sky box

• The Pittsburgh Penguins have named former assistant coach Jacques Martin as special assistant to the head coach. The Penguins described the role this way, “Martin will travel with the team and serve as an ‘eye in the sky’ observing and analyzing the team from the media level while working directly with Coach Johnston and his staff.”
• Was this a way to remove him from behind the bench but to still keep him as a part of their organization? Martin has 17 years of head coaching experience, nine of which were with the Ottawa Senators. He won 341 games with the Sens.

► Lightning injury excuses

• No sooner did the final buzzer go on Game 6 in the Stanley Cup final when members of the Lightning were rushing to the microphones to share details of their injuries. It was revealed that centre Tyler Johnson was playing with a broken wrist and goaltender Ben Bishop was playing with a torn groin.
• The broken wrist was likely the reason why Johnson wasn’t taking face-offs and was moved to the wing during the last couple games of the Stanley Cup final. The 5-foot-9 forward had 23 points in 26 playoff games.
• It was pretty obvious that Bishop had a groin injury since he was wincing every time a shot was directed towards his left side. Bishop had a .921 save percentage and a 2.16 GAA in the playoffs with 13 wins.

► Hurricanes sign Ryan

• The Carolina Hurricanes have signed one of the most coveted players to come out of the SHL in a while. Derek Ryan and the Hurricanes have reached an agreement on a contract that will pay the 28-year-old forward $600,000 on a two-way contract.  If Ryan is demoted to the AHL he will receive $150,000.
• Ryan had a fantastic year in 2013-14 playing in the Austrian Hockey League picking up 38 goals and 84 points in 54 games. Last season he moved to the SHL, where he picked up 60 points in 55 games and won the SHL MVP award.
• Ryan played his junior hockey with the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL were he earned 167 points in 216 games in three years. Ryan was never drafted by an NHL club and went straight to University after being passed over. He had over a point per game in three of his four years at the University of Alberta.

► Holland to Europe

• Former Canadiens prospect Patrick Holland signed a one-year contract with HPK in SM-liiga (Finnish Elite League.) Holland was traded at the start of the 2014-15 season along with goaltender Peter Budaj to the Winnipeg Jets for Eric Tangradi.
• Holland can play both centre and wing. He was acquired by the Canadiens as part of the Mike Cammalleri trade in 2012.
• In St. John’s, Holland had two points in 21 games with a brief four game assignment to the ECHL.

 

► Free agent targets

• Corey Desormeaux looks at free agent solutions for the Habs scoring woes.

► Cheer for Weise

• It okay to root for Dale Weise no matter what his role.

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