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Montreal GM talks about role in facilitating Karlsson trade, and Jeff Petry + Casey DeSmith

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The Montreal Canadiens took on an interesting role last week when they inserted themselves in the trade between Pittsburgh and San Jose. The Habs got to shed the contracts of Mike Hoffman (to SJ) and Rem Pitlick (to Pittsburgh) and also the added bonus of picking up a 2025 second round pick from the Pens (plus fading minor league prospect Nathan Legare) for their troubles. But to make it work, Montreal had to absorb Casey DeSmith and 75% of Jeff Petry’s contract in return from Pittsburgh.

Now Montreal is working and halfway down at wiggling out of the former Penguins that they had to take.

Yesterday, as you may have heard, the Canadiens sent Petry to Detroit in exchange for defenseman Gustav Lindstom and a conditional fourth round pick. Montreal also picked up the tab to retain $2.3 million annually for Petry’s contract. The latter move is smart and makes sense, considering MTL wants to get the best benefit possible on the Carey Price LTIR situation for the next two seasons and keeping some money can assist to that goal.

It was weird in the first place that Petry didn’t have Montreal blocked on his 15-team no trade list and would get dealt back in August 2023 to a team where he requested a trade away from in January 2022 and was eventually traded to Pittsburgh last summer.

As it turns out, Montreal general manager Kent Hughes knew he was going to quickly flip Petry all along and was very open to let the veteran defender know that he wouldn’t have to come back to play for the Canadiens again. From this writeup in the Montreal Gazette about how the Canadiens did right by Petry, here’s Hughes’ thoughts:

“I’m a believer in general — whether it be players or people — that you try to do the right thing,” Hughes said during a video conference after Tuesday’s trade was announced. “Certainly in this case, when I called Jeff (after re-acquiring him from the Penguins) I said: ‘Listen, I know you didn’t go to bed expecting to hear from me this morning. I was probably one of the last people you expected to.’ I know they were as a family uptight. They’ve got four young boys and they were about to start school in two weeks.”

“So I gave him my word. I said: ‘Listen, we saw an opportunity here to facilitate the trade between Pittsburgh and San Jose and to help ourselves. But we’re mindful that you’ve got a family and your own career and Montreal’s probably not the place you’re expecting to play.’ I promised him that we would work expeditiously to get him moved and that we wouldn’t drag this out trying to maximize every last piece of value in the trade. It probably took a little longer than we anticipated.”

According to Allhabs.com, Hughes was proactive to reach out to Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh to see if Montreal could help make the Karlsson trade happen. Surely the opportunity to pickup an extra second round and prospect in Legare was something Hughes was hunting down for his own benefit in getting involved.

There’s also, perhaps not a bombshell detail but an interesting note that as expected, Petry was not willing to be traded all the way out to California to play for the rebuilding Sharks that are also thousands of miles away from his family’s preferred home-base in Michigan.

[Hughes] disclosed that he was in the car when he contacted the Penguins’ GM, Kyle Dubas, the Saturday before the trade was confirmed, to find out where negotiations stood with the Sharks for the acquisition of Erik Karlsson.

It was during this conversation with his counterpart from Pittsburgh that Hughes learned Montreal was not on Petry’s no-trade list, allowing for a possible three-team trade, as the veteran had initially refused a trade that would have sent him directly to San Jose.

The Canadiens’ general manager also confessed that the goal was not to bring Petry back to Montreal, who had requested a trade from the organization just a year earlier.

Hughes’ openness details a lot of what was going on. The Pens weren’t able to move Petry to San Jose, as many suspected would be logical given the situation with the no trade clause. But to make the math work, Pittsburgh had to part with the high-priced Petry to fit the even more high-priced Karlsson. Petry and Montreal both didn’t particularly want one another and Hughes all along planned on accommodating Petry with a second trade.

In the end, it worked out for all parties. The Pens got Karlsson. Montreal got a second and fourth round draft pick out of the deal – and while they had to retain salary on Petry to make him appealing to Red Wings, they could spare the space given the Carey Price LTIR situation. Petry also won to end up with the Red Wings, in a city where his father was a great pitcher for the Tigers and in his home state.

All of this information wraps up that side of the saga, but it looks like there is one more domino to fall. That would be the other veteran that Montreal picked up in Casey DeSmith. The Habs are enamored with Samuel Montembeault and also have Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau in the fold.

Similar to bringing on Petry, Hughes doesn’t want or see a need to have DeSmith either and has made it clear they will look to trade the former Penguin goalie for his second trade of the off-season.

“I told Casey to be patient,” Hughes said. “The idea is not to bury him in the AHL, so we’ll continue looking at opportunities to either trade him or maybe change a few things, but it might take some time because the goalie market doesn’t move very quickly.”

It sucks for DeSmith to remain in a limbo, but at least now it’s out there that a capable backup at a reasonable price could be had for a team that is looking for one.

It was understood that given the complexities of the salary cap situations and contractual clauses involved that the Erik Karlsson trade would be one of the most intricate and detailed transactions of the NHL’s salary cap era. 12 assets and two retained contracts changed hands in the initial three-team trade. Now with Petry’s second trade, add three more assets and another retention to the mountain. The possibly impending DeSmith trade will only further the indirect listing of this move from there, like the ripple effect spanning out after throwing a stone into a pond.

In the end, Montreal played the part of the broker and have found a way to bring on a few more assets for their troubles. The Karlsson trade is complete, but the after effects and delayed shockwaves from the complicated move are still being worked out even after it was announced.

 

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Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

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September 13, 2024

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GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.

The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.

Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.

In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.

The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3

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September 13, 2024

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TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.

Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.

Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.

Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.

He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.

The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.

Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.

He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.

George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.

Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.

In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.

St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

ON DECK

Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.

The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Stampeders return to Maier at QB eyeing chance to get on track against Alouettes

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September 13, 2024

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CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.

It won’t be an easy assignment.

Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.

“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”

Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”

Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.

After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.

“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”

Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.

“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.

A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.

“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”

But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.

“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”

Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”

“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.

Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.

“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”

While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.

“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”

The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.

“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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