Newsy Lalonde with the Montreal Canadiens just sounds right
But this isn’t about the nickname originally given to Edward Lalonde, who dominated hockey with the Canadiens through the early 1900s. It’s about Derek ‘Newsy’ Lalonde bringing a wealth of experience to Martin St. Louis’ bench
Lalonde started as an assistant coach at Ferris State University in 2003 and became one at the University of Denver in 2006. He climbed up to head coach of the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers in 2011, then to head coach of the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye in 2014, then to head coach of the AHL’s Iowa Wild in 2016 before joining Jon Cooper in Tampa from 2018 through 2022
Lalonde won two Stanley Cups with the Lightning and then took over the Detroit Red Wings’ bench for two-and-a-half seasons before spending this past one next to Craig Berube on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ bench. And now, after he was relieved of his duties by Toronto on Tuesday, he’s coming to Montreal to take over the role Trevor Letowski had been occupying since 2021
Expect the Canadiens to announce the change in short order. It’s happening in part because Letwoski, who originally served as Dominique Ducharme’s assistant before becoming St. Louis’ consigliere in February of 2022, wants to spend more time with his family
The Canadiens intend to keep Letowski in the organization in some capacity, and they’re thrilled to be bringing Lalonde into the fold
It’s unclear at this point what the terms are of Lalonde’s deal with the Canadiens, but St. Louis and assistants Stephane Robidas and Alex Burrows all have contracts set to expire at the end of this coming season
Extensions for them are likely coming between now and the start of the regular season
“If you’re holding an ace, play it.”
That’s how one agent we spoke with over the weekend categorized the nature of business in the NHL these days
It was also a line we thought applied perfectly to Kirby Dach’s situation with the Canadiens
Not that we’d suggest the Canadiens were dealt an ace when Dach played less than 60 games last season and less than 180 over the last three combined. They would’ve preferred he play in each one he was eligible to play in, for his development to follow a linear curve rather than the up-and-mostly-down one it’s been on since he tore both the ACL and MCL in his right knee in the fall of 2023
But because those injuries limited Dach to just two games that season — and because subsequent ones suffered kept him out of 25 games in 2024-25 and 45 games this past season — the Canadiens obtained an ace in contract negotiations and played it, tendering Dach his $4-million qualifying offer as a two-way contract that comes with a league-minimum salary in the AHL
Instead of signing it right away, Dach played his strongest card, filing for arbitration prior to Sunday’s deadline
No hard feelings on either side, just business
It’s likely — though not guaranteed — to be resolved before ever getting in front of an arbiter
That Dach has until July 15 to sign his qualifying offer will prevent both parties from having it drag, which was one of the reasons Dach filed for arbitration
The other was that the 25-year-old must do everything he can to protect himself from being easily buried in the minors in the most important year of his career to date — his last one as a restricted free agent
Now, it’s not as if the Canadiens offered Dach that two-way deal just to bury him in the minors. They clearly just want a contract for him that gives them more flexibility to either keep him or trade him
Both those options are on the table right now, as the Canadiens continue to search for ways to optimize their roster
In the meantime, there seems like an obvious compromise to be made here by both sides: Dach agrees to a lower dollar figure in exchange for a one-way contract, and the ugly business of going through with arbitration is avoided
We’d expect that’s where this goes, though we can’t guarantee it
Smart business done with Jakub Dobes
We predicted it would take longer for Dobes than it would for Ivan Demidov to have his contract extended, but we’d be lying if we said we thought it would just be one day longer
The 25-year-old, six-foot-four goaltender was a year away from becoming a restricted free agent with arbitration rights and a ripe target for an offer sheet, so we figured he might use that status — coupled with a performance that saw him near the top of the NHL in goals saved above expected from last trade deadline through the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs — to extract as much as he could out of the Canadiens
Making them wait a bit longer likely would’ve served that aim
But when the Canadiens largely pushed aside Dobes’ limited experience of just 78 NHL games (regular season and post-season combined) and offered him $16.05 million spread over three seasons, he wisely signed on July 2
We say “wisely” because Dobes surely knows he has strong competition around him. For now, it even includes Samuel Montembeault, who wrote a cautionary tale just one season into his own three-year, $9.45-million contract with the Canadiens
Montembeault’s rapid fall from grace — from fifth in goals saved above expected in 2024-25 to third-string goaltender in 2025-26 — showed Dobes just how fast things can change. And 21-year-old Jacob Fowler’s rapid ascent up the Canadiens’ pipeline was another reminder of that
So yeah, Dobes was wise to secure the bag once it was placed in front of him
It was smart business from the Canadiens to do it right away, too, because the price on the talented goaltender wasn’t likely to go down with time
Michael Hage should do what’s best for Michael Hage
That’s the message to the player from the Canadiens, and it’s absolutely the right one to be sending at this stage of his development
Hage, who was taken 21st overall in the 2024 draft, just turned 20 in April. He’s spent the last two seasons at the University of Michigan, and if he truly believes that’s the best place for him for one more, it’s exactly where he should remain come fall
Just forgive us for wondering whether returning to school is the best choice for his development at this stage
Don’t get us wrong; we’re not suggesting it would be bad for his development. We’d never argue against gaining more education or experience in college, and we don’t have a single objection to the reasoning Hage provided for his decision when we spoke with him at Canadiens development camp last week
“I think the biggest thing is over the past two years, how much I feel I’ve grown and developed as a player and person,” he said. “That was a big reason for me going back, trying to play in every situation, being a leader and just finishing what I started. I really do want to win at Michigan; that place means the world to me. So, that was a big part of why.”
That’s as sound as it gets
Hage adding that he sees himself as a centre and saying that returning to school will enable him to play in some situations he was sheltered from last season to better prepare him for the rigours of the role at the professional level was completely well-reasoned, too
Still, we think it’s good that the very first thing Hage said before all of that was that it’s his decision to return to school “for now,” leaving the door open for him to change his mind between now and when he must report to Michigan
Because the door to an impact role with the Canadiens is wide open to him right now and he appears physically ready to step through it and seize that role
That Hage could do it with a nurturer like St. Louis at the helm — and with Canadiens director of development Adam Nicholas right there to oversee his every step, and with Demidov as a linemate — is something he should strongly consider before finalizing his decision. Because it’s hard to imagine anything would be better for his development than that
But again, returning to Michigan won’t stunt Hage’s development. And if the draw to compete for a national championship and the Hobey Baker Award is that much stronger for Hage, then that’s where he belongs for now
