Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Training Camp, Joel Armia, Tyler Toffoli, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Cayden Primeau, Sami Niku

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — On Saturday, the Canadiens began their pre-season schedule with a 4-1 loss against the Maple Leafs. Toronto dominated the game from beginning to the end, especially in the second period where it took Montreal 18:38 of play before registering a shot on goal.

“We looked like a team who flew in this afternoon and played our first pre-season game,” Nick Suzuki said. The Habs landed in Toronto at 3:35 pm Eastern time for a 7:00 pm puck drop.

“There was nothing good today. We tried to play a good game but today was not our day,” Alexander Romanov said. Dominique Ducharme saw some good moments during the match, and felt at moments that his team looked like it ran out of gas.

Pre-season games are important for players that are fighting for a roster spot, and none of them caught the attention of Ducharme. “I find that none of them stood out. We want those that want to make themselves a spot, they need to take opportunities like these,” said the coach.

Intrasquad Game and Cuts

The annual Red versus White scrimmage took place on Sunday in front of 7,500 fans at the Bell Centre. The teams played two periods of 30 minutes, followed by five minutes of three-on-three, and a shootout.

Team Red came out with the 5-2 victory over team White. Joel Armia was the best player on the ice, scoring once, and setting up Joshua Roy for a pair of goals.

“[Armia] looked really good out there, really good hands out there. He put on a show out there, that was pretty fun to watch,” Christian Dvorak said.

“He communicates a lot, he gives me advice, and if we get on the bench and I did something that I have to modify, he will tell me, and he’s there to help the young players,” added Rafael Harvey-Pinard.

Roy was informed after the scrimmage that he’s been cut from training camp and will return to the Sherbrooke Phoenix in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). “I’m really happy about my two weeks here. I think I made a very good impression. I’m leaving here a winner, having played and practiced with pros. It’s incredible moments, and it’s only good for me to take examples from them,” said Roy.

Xavier Simoneau and Joe Vrbetic were also cut from training camp on Sunday. Simoneau will return to the QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs, while Vrbetic will report to the North Bay Battalion in the Ontario Hockey League.

Top Line Reunited

Even though Ducharme warned of experiments are to be expected throughout the camp, it appears that the team’s top line in the playoffs of Tyler Toffoli, Suzuki, and Cole Caufield will remain intact.

On Saturday, the trio scored Montreal’s only goal. “I thought we generated a lot of great  chances, two breakaways, I think we had a 3-on-0, those are going to go in, in the regular season. We just got to work on the kinks,” Suzuki said.

#Habs Nick Suzuki with the pass to Tyler Toffoli for goal vs #Leafs

Assists: Suzuki, Romanov@AllHabs @RocketSports #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/sygVWRMrMX

— Chris G (@ChrisHabs360) September 26, 2021

Toffoli was given the day off on Sunday, and Caufield participated in the intrasquad warm-up before being pulled out for precautionary reasons, and is listed as day-to-day.

The sequence from warmups where it appears caused Cole Caufield to feel discomfort.@AllHabs @RocketSports #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/4JvQb5XE1J

— Chris G (@ChrisHabs360) September 26, 2021

Primeau Shaking Off Rust

Cayden Primeau obtained the start on Saturday in Toronto, and allowed three goals on 21 shots in 33:38 of action. “I felt good at times, other times I felt a little sloppy, but it’s a good game to get under the belt, and it’s only up from here,” said the 22-year old goalie.

Primeau is destined to play with the Rocket this season as soon as Carey Price is healthy to return in action. Last season, he posted a 1-2-1 record with Montreal, registering a .849 save percentage, and 4.16 goals against average. In Laval, Primeau registered a 11-4 record, .909 save percentage, and 2.10 goals against average in 16 games.

“Reading the puck more, and understanding plays,” Primeau answered when asked about his off-season priorities. “Looking at video, talking to people, trying to understand the game some more.”

Sam Niku Contract

On Friday, the Canadiens signed defenseman Sami Niku to a one-year, two-way contract. The agreement is worth $750,000 in the NHL, $425,000 in the AHL, and comes with a guaranteed salary of $475,000.

Niku became an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday, after the Jets and Niku agreed to terminate the contract that ran through the 2021-22 season. “He has some offence in him, and a good vision,” Ducharme said on Saturday about the Finnish native.

The 6-foot-1 defenseman was Winnipeg’s seventh round draft pick in 2015. In 54 career NHL games, he has tallied two goals and eight assists. The 24-year old has scored 22 goals and added 58 assists in 114 career AHL games. Niku won the Eddie Shore Award in 2017-18, as the AHL’s best defenseman.

Bell Centre Capacity

The regular season will begin with varying level of fans in attendance across the league’s arenas. In Montreal, the Bell Centre is allowed to host 7,500 fans, split in sections of 500 individuals. There’s no short term plans for that amount to increase.

“A lot of hospitals are already at maximum capacity, and there’s actually a shortage of health workers in Quebec, and those still present are exhausted. In addition, we’re recording more than 600 cases per day for several weeks, and a daily increase in hospitalization,” a spokesperson from Quebec provincial health authorities told TVA.

The spokesperson and Isabelle Charest, Quebec’s minister in charge of sports, confirmed that there has been no discussions with the Canadiens organization about increasing the maximum.

Coming up this week

There are three more exhibition games on the schedule this week for the Canadiens. On Monday, the Maple Leafs are in town, before the Habs head to Ottawa to face the Senators in a home-and-home series starting on Friday. Cuts from the training camp roster are expected following Saturday’s match.

Brendan Gallagher is scheduled to join his teammates for practice on Monday after missing the start of camp for family reasons, and is expected to be in the lineup for Friday’s game.

Joel Edmundson has been skating on his own and is expected to join the rest of his teammates by Tuesday.

Mike Hoffman is expected to miss up to four weeks with a lower-body injury that he suffered prior to the start of training camp.

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By Chris G., Senior Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
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