The Habs just made some WILD moves...

Things just completely flipped on its head for Montreal. Yes, we got the insane report about Nick Suzuki, but it's the other decisions in the meantime that Montreal has made at practice, specifically pertaining to who is filling Suzuki's spot, not only on the top line, but also on the power play. They made a move calling up Owen Beck from Laval. And speaking of the power play, not only was Suzuki replaced, there were some other little tweaks and changes. And to cap it all off, we have New Habs trade reports as Elliot Friedman drops his latest little bit on what he thinks Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens are planning. This day was not what I expected to get a ton of crazy news prior to this Friday game versus Chicago, but Jesse, it's coming out, I don't know, hard and fast today. Like, it's a bit crazy. The Habs quickly recalled Owen Beck and were like, wait a minute, does that mean Florian is maybe not actually ready to go? And no, it's because Nick Suzuki is gonna be out for two to four weeks. The Ironman streak is over. It hurts me to say it. um look i it's been one of my favorite things watching this iron man streak go on he blocked a shot uh with his hand and i think that's what it's going to be but i don't know how you feeling about this day so far it feels like it kind of caught me off guard a little bit yeah blocked a shot off his left hand we weren't expecting this because we're used to seeing Nick Suzuki as a staple in the Montreal Canadiens lineup every single night and this is a tough loss again our points leader on the team with Ivan Demidov outside of the lineup as well we didn't get the to see in the obviously again it compounds but i just love the mentality from the team right now where Martin St Louis is saying we just need to fall back on our collective game and and maybe again like is it really more offense at the Montreal Canadians game right now or is it more just kind of coming back to their collective game because i just love the idea this is a huge loss they know what but you're a Slavkovski he said in the day like for us nothing's changed we just have to go out there and we need to we need to work hard and Cole Caulfield mentions like yeah Me and Slav were probably going to need to carry a little bit extra weight. We saw flashes in the last game where maybe Uri Slavkovski is now ready to take on a little bit more of that leadership role. So again, we're looking for the silver linings of what's a tough loss here, but maybe some of the other boys can pick up the slack and maybe carry that over when Captain Nick Suzuki is back. I completely agree. And you know, this is a good chance for them. Like we saw Slav kind of take that initiative already, right? Like to just take it and run, you know, your captain's out, you got to step up. And after Owen Beck was sent to Laval, he was brought right back up, right? like he was sent right back down with Reinbacher and you wonder like is this just because he's kind of like a Nick Suzuki super light you know like i don't know like partly maybe and to be fair he of course was the guy that was just on the roster as you saw he was sent down but yeah it's it's going to be tough to be without our leading scorer our best player so far this season i don't think it's crazy to say 12 points so far this year five goals seven assists 54% on the dot something that's going to be missed a lot too especially with Oliver Kapanen now reportedly taking his place he was skating between Caulfield and Slavkovski on that top line we know one thing with Kapanen he's solid on face-offs he's not quite 54% but as you can see here from our commentary Kapanen was the one skating between them and it's a bit interesting I'm not hey I don't know what to expect yet Jesse I thought my immediate gut reaction when I saw the injury report was oh this is Newhook, they say Newhook written all over it, Newhook with Caulfield and Slavkovsky it's a fast and kind of physical line that can go a bit north-south um but we know Caulfield and Slavkovsky like to play a bit east-west but Kapanen so far this year hasn't really taken face-offs he hasn't gotten a point i mean i know he's kind of a bit of a replacement right hand shot center with a bit of defensive upside i mean do you think this replacement is what you would have done because this is just one more thing today that i think i i saw it i was like uh i was like really this is what we're doing i don't mind it though give him a shot with other talented players and we know he succeeded with skilled players on his wings in the past I support it I think it's the right decision again because Oliver Kapanen is bringing that defensive and offensive game which again is not the level of Nick Suzuki but not every player in the NHL could play that 200 foot center game and Josh I've been a little bit disappointed almost seeing Kapanen we know the injuries and everything else but last game he was on the fourth line on the right wing and I'm a big believer again I'm a huge Alex Newhook anybody on the channel will know I love Alex Newhook but I really think that Oliver Kapanen should be back at the center position obviously not at the 1C but I truly could see him back at that 2C again we had a great season last year and who was the one playing 2C for basically all of it it was obviously Oliver Kapanen he just does a little bit of everything on the ice admittedly it's huge really um you know shoes to fill at this point in time but I feel like it's a player where again with Cole Caulfield and and Slavkovsky again he's played with other skilled players in the past he knows it's often just about making that room and creating that space but he brings that both sides of the equation and we know again this is where the depth is going to be questioned because when Kapanen was injured to begin the season we're kind of wondering okay once Kapanen comes back and a fully healthy roster is it Doc or is it Texier that comes out of the lineup now the entire season we haven't needed to make that decision because again we're looking at that roster Pat Hughes is playing chess he's knowing that injuries are going to happen it's looking tough and some tough decisions make but injuries are happening and we don't want them to happen to the degree that we have them but again like we have an extremely i would say there's a lot of depth on this team all the same so it's really about falling back on that at this point in time and paying attention to those details which i think is the greatest focus for the Montreal Canadiens anyway right now yeah and staying resilient i mean it's something that luckily we've seen a whole lot from this team over the past few years and what better time than now it's a team that has luckily again last year we talked a lot about the stars being healthy is what helped us kind of have such a good performing season they stayed on the same lines together and now this year hey yeah a little tough injury here or there but you know what nothing is that serious two to four weeks for each of them demi's gonna be back like very soon like and you'll see Suzuki right after him like you know it's hopefully gonna all be okay but in the meantime you're right like these guys are gonna step up it's a good opportunity but also you're gonna have to tweak it if you're a coach you got to figure out what the best plan is and right now we saw some pretty interesting notes on the power play as Noah Dobson has now changed his role and is now up on the PP1 it was Slavkovsky, Caulfield, Kapanen, Hudson and Dobson of course the removal of Zachary Bolduc from this first power play unit he did have that goal the first time he was there and the first power play hasn't really got it going in the last few games naturally you want a center on that top power play to replace Suzuki they picked the right-handed center in Oliver Kapanen sure again he's had power play success in the past but then you put Noah Dobson at the point which I find really interesting I mean we haven't seen this look like ever right we see it like four on four and stuff but this look with Dobson and Hudson both on the top power play it's something Montreal hasn't really explored we've ran the the four forward power play group for basically this whole time yeah you might have seen like a little glimpse here or there but this is one uh very interesting one for me where yeah i mean like montreal is looking for a change they're looking for a spark on that special teams that power play i mean like he hasn't had a power play point yet this year and the Habs have just not really done that great in the power play we ran even a few different top units we had Kreider up there they didn't have any goals when they were up there so like how you feeling about switching something up here i again just another thing where it's like it's an interesting change but i don't mind a new look because i know Dobson is able to create offense on his own yeah it's an interesting decision just given the fact that many power plays in the league are really going towards the five forwards we saw the four forwards in overtime uh with the sharks again just very recently here uh but again keeping in mind Noah Dobson's a very offensively capable player given that there are some injuries right now i'm here for and i think that part of it's sparking the power play but also sparking Noah Dobson where it's fair to say we expect a little bit more from him offensively all the same really early in the season they're strong analytics i think if the canadians are getting points right now with how they're playing i think the points are going to actually come in droves really later on as they just continue a good baseline of play the analytics tend to really lean to that direction as well um so again we know that there's just that chemistry with Hudson with with dobson there we need to keep in mind hudson's kind of that hybrid semi forward on the power play as it is so it's really for all intensive purposes maintains that structure of what you typically expect from a power play um but again just shows that depth and that flexibility again we have an injury and we got a guy like Noah Dobson, who yeah he's a d-man but he's also a spectacular offensive talent and to give him an opportunity to really shine on the PP1 I think is exactly what we need there yeah I completely agree and reminder this guy has had seasons where he's had a ton of power play points and zero goals this year but on his career he's averaging a goal every seven or eight games so he's due he really is due and even last year 10 goals he hasn't been below 10 goals in a long time and I wouldn't anticipate that stopping this year you know some people wondering if that thumb is still bothering him hey who knows here's a chance to let him just rip some one-timers I don't mind to get pucks on the net man get some rebounds down there that's what Slaf is for and that's when we see a lot of success so I'm excited for that leave your thoughts on that down below final thing though we still gotta dive into some trade talks real quickly at the end of this one Freeman says the Habs are not done yet this is a very important one especially with all kinds of links to like Shane Larkin going around, like the 10-team thing, but none of them are Canadian. I still don't really think that Larkin thing's likely, but, you know, people like Pierre LeBrun saying, hey, you know, some people in his camp maybe wanted to go to Montreal, maybe we'll wait on that for another day. But it's still noise, worth saying. But Freeman on Oilers Now was talking about the Habs, saying, you know, I still look at Montreal, I don't think they're done yet. Just the question is timing. Now, all that to say, I don't think now is the time for a panic move. I think that would be a mistake, you know. Uh-oh, Suzuki's out. Demi is he is he close to returning yet okay we got Bo and Matheson back but like a panic move is never a good idea I don't think especially when you're only going to be without your guys for like two or three weeks but the true story is we got cap space 3.8 million under right now and we have players that could be moved out with money again I hate to bring his name up all the time but like in terms of guys who maybe don't have a long-term future that also have a decent cap hit Kirby Doc like it just is what it is you know and we've heard other names show up or in trade rumors but i love that we're hearing this right that montreal's probably not done it's something we've been kind of waiting we haven't really heard much from kent hughes but when freeman's out there he's he's hearing some noise in the background jesse and it just tells me that kent hughes is continuing to scout all those little deals that maybe we haven't even heard about yet yeah kent is definitely staying very active on this front quick note on larkin he obviously missed a huge opportunity to become to be part of the best up-and-coming team in the nhl um here and i think obviously if he doesn't recognize that opportunity by now i think the Habs are more than happy to move on. The right players are definitely going to recognize the opportunity that's in front of them with the Montreal Canadiens here. Of course, some injuries is definitely factoring into everything, but the thing we know from Kent Hughes is the reason he's taking his whole time is he's not about panic moves. He's about making moves on his time when it's really best for this team. While still having some surprise, I know some people only say that trades happen at trade deadline. Jadon Struble was just traded very recently here. trades do happen at all times, major players in motion uh right now here but we got to think of guys like Luke Middleton who's obviously raising up his value a lot again i really like a player i'm woeful of like kind of trading a player before i truly know their full value being said we have to say that the decor for the Montreal Canadiens definitely leans a lot more towards offense and that's more of like what Luke Middleton really provides i think at a certain point and obviously with Pifford and the like on the rise there as well i think it's just a lot of guys playing a similar type of game so he definitely looks like an intriguing trade chip to me um obviously guys like Adam Angstrom you got to feel like potentially being even actively shopped again he provides a lot of value but when you make a fifth overall pick make a type of selection and investment like you do David Ronbacher that means something um at the end of the day and of course the roski how does he factor um into all this as well we're seeing what he's doing in the AHL i'm not too quick to trade him knowing that he's going to be available to us fairly soon but obviously it this becomes more intriguing for other teams as you can potentially impact them as well in the very near future um so again i think that when Friedman said this is not really without merit it's like Kent Hughes is working the phones he's looking to make things happen in novel ways that you know obviously to improve this team and that's one thing we truly appreciate about Kent Hughes i think the timing is going to be perfect it's going to be what we need but i see this team going into the playoffs being even more improved than they are right now i completely agree and yeah you mentioned the Strubel trade i'll bring back the McCarry trade right like and whenever the timing is right like that's it i mean and the thing is we know Kent Hughes is not going to rush into something bad so leave your thoughts on that down below and you guys have been talking about trades in the comment section by the way i wanted to highlight a couple of them to be clear to everyone that Larkin's not coming to Montreal however maybe Montreal could be involved in the three-way trade with Larkin going to Minnesota maybe you get Joel Eriksson hey i like Joel Eriksson not a horrible idea but it's very interesting ideas there and then we have other people saying having a solid top drawer goalie, Connor Hellebuck sitting in the wings. I don't know about that one, but I love the fact that fans are talking about trades as well. I think a lot of people know that Montreal is there. They're in on so many players, whether it's Mick Tavish, who ended up going somewhere else, or Matt Nieders, who ended up going somewhere else, maybe Larkin, Marchenko, something's going to happen. Again, it is just timing. And thankfully we can be pretty patient, but I know a lot of fans want to see wins on the ice. Without Suzuki, it's harder, but definitely not impossible. Leave your thoughts on all that down below. That'll do it for this episode make sure you're subscribing for daily hockey content we're pushing towards 28 700 you guys have been supporting us like crazy wanted to thank every single one of you i'm josh goss my co-host jesse quality we'll catch y'all in the next one