Canadiens Notes: Rookie Camp, TV Changes

On Friday, the Montreal Canadiens announced the list of 23 players invited to Rookie Camp. The roster includes 13 forwards, seven defensemen and three goaltenders. The organization drafted 10 of the 23 players. Four of them came from the 2026 NHL Draft:

Wesley Royston
Parker Trottier
Jean-Samuel Daigneault
Brayden Klimpke

Rookie Camp will be led by newly appointed Laval Rocket head coach Daniel Jacob. He will be joined by his staff. The players will have on-ice sessions at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard on September 11 and 15. Between the on‑ice sessions, the team will travel to the Slush Puppie Centre in Gatineau. They will face Winnipeg’s prospects on September 12 and Ottawa’s prospects the following day.

New French TV Rights Deal

Previously, on April 2, Rogers and the NHL announced a 12-year agreement for the national media rights to NHL games on all platforms in Canada through the 2037-38 season. The agreement covers national rights across all platforms, including TV, digital, and streaming, for all national regular season games, in all languages.

Later, in July, Rogers and Prime video announced a 12-year sublicensing agreement for Prime Video to exclusively broadcast Wednesday night regular-season national NHL games in English and French. On Thursday, Rogers and Quebecor entered into a 12-year agreement for French-language national NHL games.

As a result, the new deals significantly change how French‑speaking Canadiens fans will watch games going forward. RDS will broadcast 45 games (down from 60), TVA Sports will carry 32 (up from 22), and Amazon will broadcast seven games in French.

By comparison, the changes to English‑language distribution are less significant. TSN will continue to broadcast 50 games, Sportsnet 27 games, and Amazon will pick up seven contests. Amazon began carrying games in English last season with national Monday night broadcasts.

As part of the new agreements, Amazon will broadcast two First Round playoff series and one Second Round series per year in both languages.

Finally, radio coverage remains unchanged, with TSN 690 (English) and Cogeco Media (French) continuing to broadcast all 84 games and the playoffs.