On Friday, the National Hockey League (NHL) recognized Montreal Canadiens players Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov, and Jakub Dobes for their individual performances in 2025‑26.
Cole Caufield
A week after winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, the NHL named Cole Caufield to the 2025‑26 Second All‑Star Team. He finished second in the voting amongst left wingers behind Dallas’ Jason Robertson. Caufield received 80 first place votes and 564 points, while Robertson received 95 first place votes and 716 points. As a result, it is Caufield’s first career selection to the NHL’s All-Star Team.
This season, Caufield finished second in the Rocket Richard Trophy race with 51 goals, two goals behind Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon. This season, he set personal bests with 51 goals, 88 points, 12 game winning goals and plus-29 rating, while tying his personal high 37 assists. During the playoffs, he recorded 13 points and a minus-10 rating in 19 games.
Additionally, Nick Suzuki received 16 third place votes and finished fourth amongst centers. Meanwhile, Lane Hutson finished fifth for defencemen with 16 first place votes, 315 total points.
Rookie Team Selections
Also on Friday, the NHL named Demidov and Dobes to the 2025-26 NHL All Rookie Team. In the race, Demidov received 195 votes, four more than Anaheim’s Beckett Sennecke. Between the pipes, Dobes ran away with the selection, earning 151 votes, while runner up Minnesota’s Jesper Wallstedt received 44.
This season, Demidov played in all 82 games and led all rookies with 43 assists and 62 points. He also scored 19 goals, a plus-3 rating and recorded 20 power play points, while averaging 15:30 ice time. In the postseason, he scored three times and added six assists in 17:03 average ice time.
“I would say how the game goes and all the stuff around. I learned probably everything from the game and around the league, the stuff like flights and all those categories. Everything is new, everything is interesting,” Demidov described the lessons from his rookie season.
In goal, Dobes led all rookies with 29 wins in 43 games played. From rookies who played in at least 20 games, he finished second with 2.78 goals against average, and third with .901 save percentage.
The 25-year-old grabbed the team’s number one role in March and led the Canadiens through the final stretch of the regular season and all the way to the Eastern Conference Final. In 19 postseason appearances, he had 9-10 record, 2.66 goals against average and .908 save percentage.
Vacancy in Laval
On Thursday, the Seattle Kraken hired Pascal Vincent as an assistant coach to Lane Lambert. Vincent just completed his second season behind the bench of the Laval Rocket.
“I’ve been hired and worked with a few teams in the past. It’s always special. But this time, there’s something different and better about this one. The city of Seattle is great, the arena is amazing, and the fans are loud. It’s hard to tell you exactly why, but it feels right. It feels like I’m coming home somehow,” Vincent said via the press release.
Originally, Vincent joined the Rocket on July 16th, 2024 to take over the role vacated by Jean-Francois Houle. In two seasons, Laval had 89-42-13 record, won the North Division both years, and claimed the MacGregor Kilpatrick as the regular season champions in 2024-25. On an individual basis, he won the 2024-25 Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award for coach of the year, and coached the North Division in this season’s All-Star Classic.
“We would like to sincerely thank Pascal for his work and contribution to the Rocket and wish him all the best in his next professional chapter in Seattle,” said Jeff Gorton via statement. “He was highly committed to our success and made valuable contributions over the past several years. A native of Laval, Pascal was greatly appreciated and respected by the players, his staff members, and the fans. We are grateful for his dedication, leadership, and hard work during his time with the Rocket.”
Following the departure, the search for a new head coach for the Rocket has begun.
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