After a two-part home stay, the Montreal Canadiens players will have the opportunity to bond during a long four-game trip.
The Habs flew to Buffalo on Wednesday. He will begin his journey of just over a week with a duel against the Sabers on Thursday. He will then spend four days in Saint Louis, punctuated by a duel against the Blues on Saturday. The final two stops will be in Minnesota and Winnipeg next Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.
“We’re going to face some good teams, but it’s also an opportunity to spend some time with each other,” said captain Nick Suzuki after the Canadiens’ 3-1 loss to the Wild on Tuesday at the Bell Centre. We also have group activities on the schedule. »
Chris Wideman will play the role of tourist guide during the stay in Saint Louis, he who is originally from the region. In particular, he must welcome members of the Canadiens to his regular golf club on Sunday.
“We can already see how eager he is to show us the city,” said defender Jordan Harris after training with the Canadiens on Wednesday.
The Canadian will try to find the path of victory. After winning his first two home games during the most recent stay in Montreal, he suffered two consecutive losses against the Dallas Stars and the Wild.
“They are two physical teams, who work hard and play the right way,” defender Kaiden Guhle said. It’s up to us to overcome the challenge of teams playing this way. I don’t think we had any bad games. The leaps just didn’t go in our favor. »
The Canadian could get reinforcements during his trip. The team hit the road with officially just six defensemen on its roster, after trading Corey Schueneman to the Laval Rocket. This suggests that Joel Edmundson could return to the game during the stay abroad.
Edmundson still hasn’t played this season. He injured his back following an on-ice collision with Suzuki a few days before the start of camp.
The 29-year-old Manitoban was expected to avoid contact in practice Wednesday. He led the stretches at the end of the session, a sign that portends an imminent return to play.
Forwards Joel Armia and Juraj Slafkovsky, both with upper body injuries, also accompanied the team. Armia was expected to avoid contact in training on Wednesday, while Slafkovsky was able to train unrestricted.
Slafkovsky had been sidelined since Saturday due to injury. He missed the last two games of the Canadian.
Separately, Wideman and forward Josh Anderson did not participate in practice. Instead, they enjoyed a day of treatments.
Beaudin joins the Rocket
The Canadiens have acquired defender Nicolas Beaudin from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for forward Cam Hillis and will report to the Rocket.
Beaudin, 23, played 23 NHL games with the Blackhawks and had two goals and four assists. He also had seven goals and 35 assists in 137 American Hockey League games with the Rockford IceHogs.
The Blackhawks selected the Chateauguay native in the first round, 27e in total, in the 2018 draft.
For his part, Hillis was a third round pick of the Canadiens in 2018, 66e in total. The Oshawa, Ont., native played one NHL game with the Habs in 2021-22. Hillis played with the Trois-Rivières Lions of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL).