August 15th at 5:00 PM ET is an important time on the NHL calendar as it’s the time when unsigned college seniors have to either be signed or become free agents. It’s the latter for now-former prospect Jack Smith, whose rights will be relinquished by the Canadiens once Smith files the necessary paperwork to become a free agent.
After acquiring him earlier this month, the Habs have signed winger Sasha Pastujov to a one-year, two-way contract, per a team announcement on Thursday.
Last season was an up-and-down one for Alex Newhook in large part due to injuries. Now, entering a contract year, will 2026-27 be his breakout campaign?
Amid reports that Vinzenz Rohrer was hoping to stay in Switzerland for the upcoming season, he will get his wish. The Habs announced Sunday that they’ve loaned the forward to EV Zug for the 2026-27 campaign.
On top of trying to fill a longstanding need in the form of a second offensive centre, the Habs are also trying to find a winger to fill a role as well. Their prospect pool provides hope that eventually, the answer could come from within.
Starting the first season of his eight-year deal, expectations were a little higher for Juraj Slafkovsky in 2025-26. Fortunately for him and the Habs, he was able to live up to them with a career year. Does he have another one in store for 2026-27?
The Habs have taken care of another one of their restricted free agents. The team announced on Monday that they’ve signed defenceman Maksymilian Szuber to a one-year, two-way contract.
The calendar has flipped to August as we hit the unofficial midpoint of the summer. By now, we typically have a good sense of where things stand for the Habs but this time around, there are still plenty of questions remaining.
Quality right-shot defencemen are hard to come by which is why the Habs paid big to land Noah Dobson last year. Meanwhile, they’ve been trying to stock up their prospect pool in the hopes of getting a player or two from there down the road.
The Habs made a minor trade on Monday, announcing that they’ve traded winger Sean Farrell to Anaheim in exchange for winger Sasha Pastujov.