Place des Québécois: Jean-Sébastien Dea criticizes the Canadiens (again)

When the Habs had the means to send White into the stands, they did. But why didn’t they recall Brandon Gignac, who was back in Laval after signing a contract with the Habs during the season, before?

Was it because the Habs really wanted to help the Rocket make the playoffs? Or is it because the Habs want their Quebecers to be in the AHL first and foremost, to ease their conscience?

But whatever. Whatever the reason, JS Dea wants to see the Habs make more room for Quebecers. He believed it in 2022 (he wanted to see the Habs do like the Rocket and have players from here) and he still believes it in 2024, if his words are anything to go by.

Here’s how he put it (to Kevin Raphaël) recently:

It doesn’t make sense that they didn’t keep him [Brandon Gignac] instead of Colin White (…) I wanted to talk about it because I think it’s a disaster.

Like they do every year, they always get someone on the waivers and it ends up costing a Quebecer a spot. – Jean-Sébastien Dea

It’s true that for the past three years, it’s been obvious. In 2021-2022, Dea’s year at Laval, Rem Pitlick and Kale Clague were taken in the waivers by Jeff Gorton. In addition, Adam Brooks was snapped up by Marc Bergevin at the start of the season.

So it’s not just Kent Hughes who’s being targeted here.

In 2022-2023? Kent Hughes brought in Chris Tierney several weeks before recalling Anthony Richard from Laval. And this season, of course, there’s the White (a former Hughes client) and Gignac situation, as we know.

We can also talk about Quebecers like Alex Belzile, who played in the AHL for a long time before finally getting a chance.

What Dea also said was that he would have liked Gignac, once in the NHL, to have had a real chance. He only had seven games, and according to JS Dea, he didn’t even have time to shake off the nerves before he was back down below.

In his eyes, it’s a two-tier treatment compared to other players. For example? Juraj Slafkovsky.

It took Slafkovsky two years to develop.

But imagine: you’re ahead of a guy who’s not a first-round pick, who’s played in the AHL his whole career, but in seven games, he’d have to stand out and score 20 – Jean-Sébastien Dea

So it’s also the fact that Gignac didn’t get a real chance that makes Dea angry. He would have liked Gignac to have been properly coached, since he would have given everything for the Canadiens this season.

As for White, he’ll soon be forgotten.

Despite all this, in another excerpt from the podcast shared on the podcast’s Instagram account, Jean-Sébastien Dea is of the opinion that it didn’t necessarily end badly with the Habs.

He was fed up with his situation and with the fact that the Habs wouldn’t offer him an NHL contract in the summer of 2022(following his comments about Quebecers in Montreal) after his 52-point season in Laval.

Even so, he’s not closing the door on a return to the Rocket.

He didn’t say in black and white that he wanted to come back, but he clearly mentioned that he’d be willing to go see the Rocket coach (Jean-François Houle or someone else) to tell him that he’d like to be a mentor for the youngsters.

He wouldn’t be upset if a youngster had to be recalled before him or if he didn’t necessarily have to get playing time on the power play: he’d be there to support the youngsters. His mind would be on playing in Laval, not on climbing to the top.

Would he accept a contract with the Rocket only, so as not to eat one of the Habs’ 50 contracts? We don’t know.

In any case, I didn’t expect to hear him say that after all he’d said before, and because last year he was mentally drained from the AHL. Kevin Raphaël pointed out that his time in Russia (2023-2024) has changed him and admitted that, yes, it has made him think.

I don’t know, however, if Dea, who says all this more than two months before July 1, will get a call from the Canadiens/Rocket on this subject. I have my doubts.

In gusto

– Hunting and the playoffs: Carey Price is in his element.

– Bruins: Patrice Bergeron’s culture. [ BPM Sports]

– To be continued.

– We can hear each other.

– Ouch…