Another Thursday, another instalment of Crave’s Montreal Canadiens documentary The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens. This week’s episode focuses on the action post-4 Nations Face-Off break, the trade deadline, and the race to the playoffs.
There are quite a few interesting segments in that episode, one of which has to be the contract talks about Jake Evans. You can hear GM Kent Hughes discussing with executive vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton, and mentioning that deferring money on the contract could be one way to bridge the gap between the parties. If you look at Evan’s contract, you can see that it includes a signing bonus in the first year and that the actual dollars paid are higher in the first two years and then diminish in the last two. In the final year of the contract, the actual cost is just $2,130,000 even though the AAV is $2,850,000, making it easier to move the player if that’s what the team decides to do.
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Of course, you also get to hear Evans’ reaction to the contract, and he confesses he told his parents a day early, as it was pretty much a done deal, stealing his brother’s thunder on his birthday in the process. Unsurprisingly, the homegrown player mentions that he preferred to sign in Montreal than gamble for more money elsewhere and end up on a team where he’s not appreciated.
Speaking of gambling, we also see a bit of the second annual Casino Night hosted by Captain Nick Suzuki for the Montreal Canadiens’ Children Foundation, something Evans’ wife looks up in the car as the Evans give Alex Newhook a ride to the event and they realize they don’t know which cause it’s for. While the event is first and foremost a fundraiser, it also serves as a team-building activity, which is evident from seeing the players enjoying themselves together.
The funniest moment of the episode probably comes when overtime scoring hero Cole Caufield leads a line dancing train in the locker room after a win over the San Jose Sharks. The man of the match leads, and Alex Newhook, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Jayden Struble follow, copying his every move while Lane Hutson laughs in the background.
Of course, the episode is not all fun and games; it also covers Kaiden Guhle’s lacerated quad injury and the healing process. It really transpires in the interview just how devastated he was by yet another injury. Just like Martin St-Louis does his best to keep the players involved when they suffer an injury, Hughes also seems to pitch in in that department, going to see Guhle after a practice to pick his brain about a player he’s thinking about acquiring. Who? That doesn’t cut, but there’s a discussion about a 5-foot-11 player of around 185 pounds.
The trade deadline segment is interesting, as you see Emil Heineman, Lane Hutson, and Jared Struble all watching the TSN trade deadline show together and being quite philosophical about it. Struble says it best when he says it’s something players don’t control, but he does squeeze in there that Hutson’s not moving for sure. As for Heineman, he sounds like he’s more than used to it by now, having been traded twice already at the time the footage was shot (he got traded again in June to the New York Islanders in the Noah Dobson deal).
Interestingly, we also see that the coach decided not to let his players worry about it on their own for too long, scheduling a practice during the last few hours. Another funny moment is seeing St-Louis’ dad explaining that trade deadline deals aren’t great, trading vets for low draft picks isn’t all that rewarding. The coach actually steps in, telling his dad that he has said enough.
Ultimately, the Canadiens didn’t move anyone, and the gamble paid off even though they let some free agents walk away for nothing. The chemistry on the team seemed too good to mess up, and it was apparent once more when the coach let rookie blueliner Hutson read the starting lineup. The youngster’s enthusiasm was great to see. In his interaction with the media, he looked much more reserved and almost shy, but in the room? He shines just as bright as he does on the ice.
There are just two episodes left in this second season, which will take us right up to the start of the preseason. Don’t despair, Habs fans, the puck will soon drop on new epic games.
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