The Montreal Canadiens will have to keep waiting on Michael Hage.
After some hope that the 20-year-old forward might surprise everyone and join the club, the decision is now set: Hage is heading back to the University of Michigan for a third NCAA season, with only the possibility of a game or two late in the schedule if circumstances allow. For Kent Hughes and Martin St-Louis, that means one fewer top-six option for this year’s roster.
Hage had recently been seen on Michigan’s campus, a clear sign that his college path was continuing. The kind of last-minute change of heart that can occasionally happen - the Logan Cooley-type scenario - never came together in Montreal.
There’s also a bigger picture here for the Canadiens. Players who stay in college for four seasons can sometimes reach free agency, and some never end up playing in the NHL for the team that drafted them.
Hage’s ability isn’t the issue. The question is what happens while he keeps sharpening his game in Ann Arbor.
That matters because while Hage is working on his defensive play and faceoffs at Michigan, other young players, including Ivan Demidov, are already getting real NHL minutes at 20 years old. That could keep widening the gap between two prospects from the same draft class.
For now, the situation looks settled until Michigan is either eliminated or wins the national championship, according to Nicolas Cloutier.
Hage, listed at 6-foot-1 and 199 pounds, was taken 21st overall by the Canadiens in 2024. He had 52 points in 39 games last season, good for fourth in NCAA scoring, after putting up 34 points in 33 games the year before.
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Canadiens Former First Round Pick Facing A Huge Season
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Canadiens Just Took A Chance On A Prospect At A Crossroads
A fresh look at Sam Poulin comes with the familiar appeal of a player who still feels like he has more to show. Montreal added the former first-round pick after a career spent mostly in the AHL, where he put up solid numbers in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Bakersfield and kept working toward a longer NHL opportunity. For a Canadiens team always balancing immediate depth with the longer view, Poulin is the sort of low-risk swing that can make sense if the right fit is there.
Poulins path has already included a notable stop in Edmonton after a trade in December 2025, adding another layer to a career that has never quite settled into one lane. He has only a handful of NHL appearances to his name, which is part of why this Montreal contract matters as much as it does, even if the real question remains the same as it was in Pittsburgh and Edmonton: whether the Canadiens are getting him at the moment he is ready to turn all that minor-league production into something more at the top level. [Read more 🡒]