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Monday was the annual charity golf tournament for the Canadiens, the unofficial kickoff to training camp. As is generally the case, there was some news of note that came from the event.
St. Louis Extended
While Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes received contract extensions last season, head coach Martin St. Louis had not. That left him heading into training camp in the final year of his deal. However, that’s no longer the case.
The Habs have inked the bench boss to a contract extension that runs through the 2029-30 season. Notably, it’s not technically a three-year extension either. Instead, the team ripped up the final year of St. Louis’ old deal, meaning he’s now entering the first season of his new pact. This almost assuredly means that St. Louis received a nice raise for his efforts. Notably, this doesn’t line up the contract expiry for all three individuals as Gorton and Hughes are signed through 2030-31.
While it doesn’t feel like St. Louis has been with Montreal all that long, he’s the fifth-longest-tenured coach in the NHL at the moment, behind only Jon Cooper, Rod Brind’Amour, Jared Bednar, and Andre Tourigny. If St. Louis makes it to the end of his contract, he’ll be the fifth-longest-tenured coach in franchise history.
Anderson The Alternate
With Brendan Gallagher being traded to Vancouver this offseason, there was a vacancy at alternate captain. While the club could have elected to share that role as they’ve done in the past with different home and away alternates, they’ve opted not to go that route. Instead, Josh Anderson will join Mike Matheson as the alternate captains for the upcoming season.
Anderson is entering his seventh season with Montreal. That also means he’s entering the final year of his current contract. It would be odd to see them go with a one-and-done option with an ‘A’, which suggests that the team views him as someone they’d like to keep around. To that end, Anderson noted that he’s sure talks about a possible extension will get underway soon.
Kreider’s Addition
Hughes noted today that he had been in recent talks with Anaheim GM Pat Verbeek about trying to acquire Kreider in a trade. However, the Ducks weren’t willing to part with an asset to get out of the contract and eventually worked out a mutual contract termination after Kreider cleared waivers (with some help from his agents on that front).
Kreider, who will wear #22 with Montreal, noted that the Canadiens were one of the most aggressive teams who pursued him in free agency. He spoke of the team’s culture and being impressed with their playoff run while acknowledging that getting to play for St. Louis, a teammate of his at the beginning of his career, was also a draw.
Three Goalies…For Now
One of the few storylines heading into training camp will be what the Habs do with their goaltending situation. They’re set to start the way the season finished with Jakub Dobes, Jacob Fowler, and Samuel Montembeault all in the mix. Hughes noted that they’re fine starting camp with three netminders but he’s not as comfortable with starting the season in that situation.
With Dobes coming off a great playoff performance and a new three-year extension, it’s safe to say he’ll be one of them. That means it will come down to Fowler (who is waiver-exempt) and Montembeault (who isn’t). If Montembeault bounces back in camp or the team decides that they want Fowler getting as many game reps as possible, then the veteran could reclaim the backup spot, at least to start the season.
Xhekaj Update
With Zach Bolduc re-signing on Sunday, the Habs are down to one restricted free agent, defenceman Arber Xhekaj. While Gorton didn’t want to say much about the situation, he expressed confidence that the blueliner will be signed and ready to go for the start of training camp. However, if a deal isn’t done, he won’t be on the ice when camp gets underway.
Earlier in the day, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported that progress has been made in terms of discussions and also indicated that it should be done by the start of camp, potentially as early as Tuesday. Xhekaj opted not to file for arbitration this summer when doing so would have guaranteed a contract at some point in late July or early August.
Guhle’s Status
In past weeks, it was noted that defenceman Kaiden Guhle hasn’t been participating in captain’s skates with the rest of the group and is instead skating on his own. Subsequent reporting revealed that he has undergone a corrective procedure over the offseason. However, that’s about as clear an update as there is.
It has been suggested that he could miss more than a month into the season. It has also been suggested that he just might have a delayed start to training camp. It may take a little while yet to see which timeline is correct or if he’s on a different one altogether.
