Arpon Basu

6 days ago | nytimes.com | Arpon Basu

As the Montreal Canadiens work on organizing their financial structure for the coming seasons in a rising salary-cap world, there are two players' contracts they will need to plan for that are somewhat abstract. The first is Lane Hutson, and the second is Ivan Demidov. The Canadiens are still a year away from needing to worry about Demidov's contract, and he still has a lot to prove. But in Hutson's case, he could sign a new contract as of July 1, and he has already proven a lot at the NHL level.

3 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Arpon Basu

Montreal Canadiens management made it clear from Day 1 that this season was about collecting information. The desire to be in the mix, to play meaningful games, the playoff appearance - all of it was to collect information and identify the long-term holes that require filling. That day, general manager Kent Hughes began a new phase of the rebuild centred on team-building, not simply indiscriminate asset acquisition.

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Arpon Basu

MONTREAL - Throughout their regime, going on more than three years now, Montreal Canadiens executive vice-president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton and general manager Kent Hughes have tried their best to toe the line between transparency and protecting proprietary information. In other words, they want their fans to be informed while preventing the other 31 teams in the NHL from knowing too much about their plans.

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Arpon Basu

Nick Suzuki made it sound like the decision was out of his hands. A year ago, Suzuki opted not to play for Team Canada at the men's world championship despite the Montreal Canadiens missing the playoffs. He was left off the Canadian team that won the 4 Nations Face-Off, a tournament he said was a bit difficult for him to watch on television, knowing he was in the running to make that team, especially with the early games being played at his home rink.

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Arpon Basu

BROSSARD, Que. - The Montreal Canadiens' season was at a crossroads when the team headed for the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, at which point the team's young captain decided to do something. Nick Suzuki knew that Canadiens management was strongly considering selling off veterans on expiring contracts at the trade deadline, names that included Jake Evans, Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak and David Savard, and he wanted to convince general manager Kent Hughes to give the team one last chance.