Nick Suzuki’s ironman run is over, and the Canadiens are suddenly dealing with a rare kind of inconvenience: life without their captain.
Chris Johnston said Suzuki will miss 2-to-4 weeks with what Montreal is calling an upper-body injury. That means the first NHL games he has ever sat out are now coming.
Suzuki had logged more than 500 straight games since entering the league, so this is a major shift for both player and team. Johnston stressed that the injury does not sound like it will turn into anything long-term, but for a Canadiens club that has had an uneven start, it’s an early dose of adversity.
In Winnipeg, Connor Hellebuyck’s suspension is about to run its course, but the bigger question is what comes next. Johnston said Thursday is the final day Hellebuyck remains suspended, which stops the money from disappearing. He has already lost more than $900,000 in salary because of the situation after he refused to show up.
Even with the suspension nearly over, Johnston said his immediate future is still unclear. The Jets have spent months trying to work through a trade, but no deal has been reached.
With the Heritage Classic set for Winnipeg this weekend and a sellout crowd outdoors at Princess Auto Stadium, there is a strong sense nobody wants this to overshadow the event. Johnston added that he does not expect to see Hellebuyck show up in Winnipeg, but the situation is still being sorted out behind the scenes as the suspension expires.
Dylan Larkin’s trade list is another story entirely, and now it’s public enough to tell you exactly what he’s after. Johnston said the 10-team list is unusual in how visible it has become, but the message is straightforward: these are the places Larkin would approve a deal to.
The common thread, according to Johnston, is winning. Larkin views every team on the list as a place where he could chase the Stanley Cup.
Johnston also noted that none of the 10 teams are in Canada, though he called that a secondary factor. More notable, he said, are the teams left off the list.
He pointed to the LA Kings as a style fit that doesn’t line up with Larkin’s thinking, and said the Boston Bruins could make sense from a hockey standpoint even though Larkin is not currently interested.
Montreal, though, is the team Johnston singled out. He said the Canadiens have not given up hope that Larkin could eventually broaden the list beyond the current 10.
Montreal has been looking for help in its top six for the last year and a half and has been aggressive in those efforts. Johnston added that the Canadiens have the kind of assets - picks, prospects and young roster players - that could make a deal of that scale possible if Larkin ever became open to it.
He also mentioned that New Jersey, Washington and the Utah Mammoth are among the clubs on the list, even if they might not have been expected.
The night in Ottawa around Brady Tkachuk’s return brought plenty of emotion, but only two fines came out of it. Johnston said there was nothing in the game that rose to the level of a dangerous hit or a suspension. The league instead issued maximum fines to Nick Cousins and Matthew Tkachuk.
Cousins was fined a little more than $4,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct after grabbing players off the bench while he was not on the ice. Matthew Tkachuk received a $5,000 fine for punching Dylan Cozens a little bit while Brady was holding him in the scrum. Johnston said that was the extent of the supplemental discipline, and that in the NHL’s view the night stayed just short of crossing the line.
In Other News...
Jets Prospect Shuffle Suddenly Matters For Winnipeg Depth
The Manitoba Moose opened a six-game road trip with a stop against the Grand Rapids Griffins, but the bigger development for Winnipeg came from the roster movement around the affiliate. The Jets recalled forward Brayden Yager from Manitoba, giving the organization another look at one of its young forwards and continuing a season in which the Moose have been an important pipeline for depth help.
Elias Salomonsson also rejoined Manitoba after being loaned back from the Jets, a move that keeps the blue line in flux as the Moose settle into the trip. With players like Nikita Chibrikov and Henry Thrun drawing attention for their recent work, the affiliates day-to-day performances are carrying more weight than usual for a Winnipeg team that has already shown it will dip into those options when needed. [Read more 🡒]
Jets Prospects Put Manitoba In A Tough New Central Division Spot
The Manitoba Moose got another hard look at where they stand in the Central Division race, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Grand Rapids Griffins in a game that featured plenty of Jets prospect intrigue. It was the Mooses second loss of the season, and both defeats have come against Grand Rapids, a matchup that has quickly taken on an outsized feel for Manitoba as it tries to sort out the early-season pecking order.
Manitoba made some lineup tweaks before puck drop, assigning Walker Duehr to the team and inserting Fabian Wagner into the lineup, but the night still turned into a tight special-teams test between two of the AHLs best units. Even with notable performances from several Jets prospects, the Moose came up just short in a game that again left Grand Rapids with the edge and Manitoba looking for answers the next time these clubs meet. [Read more 🡒]
Brady Tkachuks Ottawa Return Turned Ugly In A Game Jets Fans Noticed
Brady Tkachuks return to Ottawa had all the edge youd expect from a former franchise face walking back into a building that has not forgotten him. The Senators turned the night into a one-sided statement, rolling to a 5-1 win over Florida behind goals from Tim Stutzle, Claude Giroux, Shane Pinto, Warren Foegele and Stephen Halliday, while the Panthers three-game winning streak came to an abrupt halt.
For Winnipeg fans keeping an eye on potential postseason noise in the East, the uglier subplot mattered just as much as the score. Ottawa also had to absorb an early scare when Linus Ullmark left in the third period after making a pad save, though the group barely missed a beat from there, and the tension around Tkachuk only kept building as the game wore on. [Read more 🡒]