Montreal

Canadiens

Matheson’s return to Montreal will put him close to his parents, Rod and Marg, and the old backyard ring where he learned to skate. Any time a player is traded, there’s going to be an adjustment period, but for Matheson his Montreal roots should make things a little easier. It’s also an opportunity for him to fulfill a childhood dream. “Any trade is basically having a hand grenade thrown into your life,” Rod said in regards to his son’s reaction to the news. “In a period of six weeks, Mike and Emily will sell a house, buy a house, they’ll move and they’ll attend a couple of weddings thrown into the interim. It’s an Action Jackson six weeks and that’s the first thing that hits you. But given some time, he’s saying: ‘I’m going to play for my dream team. This is the team I grew up watching.’ You can’t be sitting in the nosebleeds at the Bell Centre (as a kid) and be thinking you’ll be on that team one day. So to have it happen is quite surreal for all of us. He’s not the most emotional guy, so the excitement doesn’t sort of flow over. But you can see it in him and tell when he’s excited.”

The Canadiens acquired Matheson from Pittsburgh in the Jeff Petry trade. Matheson will bring 417 games worth of NHL experience to the rebuilding squad. He’s been through a lot over that time, including more than his fair share of struggles. He feels like the hard times helped shape him though and he also believes he learned a lot from the Penguins’ leadership group. “Watching them every day and what they do, their habits, having conversations about what it was like winning the Cup and what the locker room was like,” Matheson said. “What led to those sorts of things coming together. I tried to take advantage of that and advantage of the friendships that I had with them and will continue to have with them to really try to learn as much as possible and hopefully I can now pass that on.”

Robidas will bring with him a wealth of experience from his years playing as an NHL defenseman. Robidas had 57 goals and 258 points in 937 career NHL games with the Canadiens, Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, and Toronto Maple Leafs. He also worked with the Maple Leafs from 2015 through 2021, first as an assistant director of player development then as the director of player development. “We are very lucky to have someone of Stephane’s caliber join our coaching staff. His recent experience as an NHL player, and his outstanding hockey background, will be excellent assets for the development of our players,” said Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis. “Stephane perfectly matches the profile we were looking for in a candidate. In addition to being an exceptional individual, he is a very good communicator, and I believe that players will relate to him because of that.”

The Canadiens didn’t disclose the financial terms of the deal beyond stating that it’s a one-way contract. Montembeault had an 8-18-6 record, 3.77 GAA, and .891 save percentage in 38 games in 2021-22.

Pitlick had 15 goals and 37 points in 66 contests in 2021-22. Montreal got Pitlick off waivers from Minnesota back in January and so far he’s worked out well for the Canadiens.

Matheson had 11 goals and 31 points in 74 contests while averaging 18:48 minutes last season. He’ll likely see his playing time increase in 2022-23 now that he’s with Montreal. Losing Jeff Petry hurts for the Canadiens, but Matheson is younger at 28-years-old and locked up through 2025-26 with a $4,875,000 cap hit.

“You’ve got to give it time for the injection to have its intended effect, and then when he returns [to training], he’ll have a progression of rehab and return to activity along the way,” said Canadiens GM Kent Hughes. “We’re always in the same position with him in terms of watching how his knee responds and is there a point or particular exercise as he ramps up that triggers the inflammation again and makes it difficult for him to be a full-time goalie. I don’t know if I have that answer in terms of what the exact schedule would be for him [with respect to his offseason training]. From our perspective, whether he’s ready to go in September or October or November is less concerning than getting kind of a more permanent resolution to the situation, which is: Is he capable of being a full-time goalie in the NHL or not? When we get that, then we have clarity.” The team hopes that he will be on the ice for training camp

I"t’s a possibility [that he could miss training camp]. We don’t know 100 percent. I know he underwent a minor procedure, and it takes time to see how it responds to an injection,” said Canadiens GM Ken Hughes on Thursday. “We’re waiting to see how his body responds to that. There’s a risk that he won’t be ready come September.” Byron was limited to 27 games during the 2021-22 season.

Mesar supplied eight goals and 16 points in 37 games for HK Poprad of the Slovak Extraliga during the 2021-22 season. The Canadiens chose him with the 26th overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft.

Slafkovsky was chosen with No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. He will be worth monitoring at training camp, as he will compete for a spot with Montreal going into the 2022-23 campaign.