CANADIENS FACE TOUGH DECISIONS ABOUT SALARY CAP, TAXI SQUAD
Halfway through the Canadiens' training camp, we know which 20 players will be in uniform when the season opens Wednesday in Toronto.
Head coach Claude Julien hasn't deviated from the four lines and three defence pairs he unveiled on Day 1 of the camp and general manager Marc Bergevin must decide how to deal with the spare parts and the salary cap.
Montreal entered training camp with a 23-man roster that was a little more than Us$1.1-million over the cap. They have saved US$325,000 of that amount by swapping out Jordan Weal for Jake Evans, but they still have to figure out a way to save nearly US$800,000 and that means the team will probably start the season with a 21-player roster.
The three extra players at the present time are forwards Corey Perry (US$750,000) and Michael Frolik (US$750,000) and defenceman Victor Mete (US$735,000) and two of them would have to be moved, presumably to the taxi squad, to get under the cap.
The decision is made more challenging because all three players are subject to waivers. Players are seldom claimed off waivers at this stage of the season, but all three players represent value.
Perry and Frolik might slip through because they remained unsigned until a week before camp started. Mete will be attractive because he has played a top-four role in the past and he's affordable. The Canadiens might be willing to gamble on making him available because they have a reliable veteran in Xavier Ouellet and a group of young defencemen, including Cale Fleury and Noah Juulsen, in the pipeline.
Look for Weal and Ouellet to start the season on the taxi squad along with goaltender Charlie Lindgren.
Caufield happy with gold medal:
Some folks might have felt that Cole Caufield's performance at the world juniors was underwhelming, but the Canadiens' first-round draft choice in 2019, was happy with his play for the gold medal-winning U.S. team.
“I thought I did well,” Caufield said in a media video conference call Friday. “It would be hard to complain after winning the tournament.”
Caufield had five points in five games, but said numbers don't tell the whole story.
“Everyone is focusing on the numbers, but right now it's the least of my worries because we just won the gold medal,” he said. “I know people on the outside may be disappointed but, ultimately, there is only one team that wins the last game of a tournament and I couldn't be happier to have been part of that one.”
Caufield will return to action with the University of Wisconsin this weekend for a doubleheader against Minnesota. He has 10 points in 12 games with the Badgers.
Stars dealing with COVID-19: The condensed NHL schedule has become more condensed for the Dallas Stars, who are dealing with an outbreak of COVID-19.
The NHL announced Friday that the Stars' first three games will be rescheduled after six players and two staff members tested positive for the virus. The Stars' training camp has been put on hold while the team undergoes additional testing and contact tracing.
The league said the expectation is that the Stars won't play before Jan. 19, when they are scheduled to play in Tampa. The key word in that statement is “expectation.”
Staying healthy takes on a new meaning in the NHL this season and players must be extremely vigilant in following the COVID-19 protocol. The news out of Dallas should serve as a wake-up call, but nobody should think this will be an isolated incident. Shortly after the NHL announcement, the media received an email that read: “The Columbus Blue Jackets have held a number of players out of today's scheduled practice out of an abundance of caution and in accordance with NHL COVID-19 protocols.”
When you think of how often we have seen players miss games with “flu-like symptoms” in normal times, there's reason to believe we're in for a very challenging NHL season.
TV is the way to go: While the Canadiens and other teams are holding out hope that they will be able to open their arenas to fans at some point this season, Canada's TV networks confirmed their plans to offer wallto-wall coverage of the NHL this season.
Sportsnet, which holds the national TV rights, will offer 300 games, including 22 contests featuring the Canadiens. The other 34 Montreal games will be available on a regional package offered by TSN. There will be a similar split on the French side between TVA Sports and RDS.
If you're desperate to see an NHL game, there are some teams that are allowing fans in the building. Tampa Bay and Arizona are limiting attendance to about 3,500 fans, while Dallas and Arizona could have as many as 5,000 fans.
The San Jose Sharks won't be allowed fans and there's some doubt they will be able to play any games at home because California has become the epicentre for the virus in the U.S. and Santa Clara County is in a serious lockdown. The Sharks had to move their training camp to Arizona and are expected to play at least their first eight “home” games on the road.