{"id":487507,"date":"2026-04-14T08:43:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T12:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=487507"},"modified":"2026-04-14T08:43:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T12:43:28","slug":"nhl-rumours-montreal-canadiens-prospect-has-some-unfinished-business-to-take-care-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/04\/14\/nhl-rumours-montreal-canadiens-prospect-has-some-unfinished-business-to-take-care-of\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Montreal Canadiens Prospect Has Some Unfinished Business to Take Care Of"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to a\u00a0Montreal Canadiens<\/a> edition of NHL Rumours, that come from the main men Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas on Monday’s edition of 32 Thoughts the podcast. It seems that one of the Habs top prospects decided on not turning pro. So, let’s check out the details.<\/p>\n

NHL Rumours and a Montreal Canadien Prospect Has More to Accomplish in College<\/h2>\n

Rumours: One of Montreal’s top prospects, Michael Hage<\/a>, has elected to stay at the University of Michigan for his junior season. There are a lot of reasons for this happening. But for the piece of mind of Hab fans everywhere, Friedman doesn’t think it is anything for them to worry about.<\/em><\/p>\n

Analysis: Having a player not elect to go pro can cause a rift between the player and the club. There is some precedence for such an occurrence. However, as the guys on 32 Thoughts alluded to, they think the relationship between the player and the Canadiens proud organization has not been affected.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maybe as your parents always say, stay in school<\/em>. Hey, doctors or lawyers need to stay in school. And lawyers have traditionally always been player agents. No connection, just saying, but likely agents, or representatives from Hage’s camp at the very least, do come later in our discussion.<\/p>\n

With the conclusion of the University of Michigan Wolverines<\/a> NCAA season, there was the potential that a top Canadien prospect was making the leap to the show. However, as we learned over the last day or two, that will not be the case. Before we get into the impact, let’s figure out how we got ourselves into this situation.<\/p>\n

The Canadiens are embarking on their 2026 Stanley Cup Playoff run, and the possibility of reinforcements is always intriguing.<\/p>\n

Hage has Had a Long 2025-26 Season<\/h3>\n

However, there was a possible factor in this regard causing him not to sign his entry-level contract. As Friedman suggested, it was known that Michael Hage is nursing injury. That is always likely having had a hard NCAA season, with his team going on a deep run. He also laced them up for Canada at the 2026 World Junior Championships, so it was a long season for the university sophomore.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the significance of this idea was that if the injuries were impactful enough, there wasn’t 100% clarity if he’d even suit up for Montreal through the remainder of the 2025-26 season. That would essentially make it a lose-lose situation. Literally the only reason would be to burn a season on his ELC. The advantage of such a thing isn’t what it once was. For instance, a team wouldn’t want to give a player a big shiny contract after only his rookie season potentially. Just imagine if Hage signs now, doesn’t play until next season, and it is in Laval. Then, he is not getting his NHL rookie season until 2027-28. Or, only one season in the NHL before looking for that prestigious first restricted free agency extension.<\/p>\n

There is another angle at this point, if Hage does end up being healthy. He could always opt to play against top competition at the World Hockey Championships<\/a> in Switzerland, the communities of Zurich and Fribourg, to be exact. Playing with professionals on a Team Canada would not be detrimental for his career development, or have him out-of-place, in terms of skill, by no means.<\/p>\n

Hey, Elliotte and Kyle even had their own spin on him staying in college<\/em>. For a 20-year-old man, would you rather playing in the AHL in Laval, Quebec? Alternatively, do you want to be living it up on the University of Michigan campus for one more year? Well, we do agree, Laval does have its upside. But let’s be honest, staying for one more year of college is always the safe (and fun) choice.<\/p>\n

The New World Order in the NCAA Sports Landscape<\/h3>\n

There is the obvious incentive of monetary benefit in this very new hockey (and all sports really) economic landscape. With the NCAA’s revenue-sharing decision<\/a>, as part of the lucrative Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals to be had, there ends up being a lot of money on the table. It wouldn’t be unheard of to expect top prospects to be making well into the six figures in the years to come. Gavin McKenna<\/a> was already a good example of this very thing<\/a> happening.<\/p>\n

The other perspective to look at it, is that it isn’t like there are a ton of Division I teams. The money at stake here originates from institutions with a very prosperous and long history. The Penn States and Harvards of the NCAA hockey world, will always be a successful enterprise. Why shouldn’t the hockey programs benefit, when they have given back so much over the years? That is in terms of academia and athletics, of course.<\/p>\n

Bringing it Back to Michigan for One More Year<\/h3>\n

The idea is that Hage actually has very understandable motivation for returning to Michigan for a third season. His club has some unfinished business. The Wolverines were knocked out in the NCAA Frozen Four<\/a> by Denver. The unfortunate part is that the Wolverines dominated the Pioneers in that elimination game. However, the Pioneers were bailed out by goaltender Johnny Hicks. Hicks made a career-high 49 saves in securing the victory for the eventual, and now three time, national champion University of Denver Pioneers.<\/p>\n

In any sense, Michigan wants revenge come 2026-27. They already have a great team there for next year. They feel as though not winning the NCAA Championship this year, is a form of unfinished business to motivate them for next season. Furthermore, Friedman referenced the idea that top NCAA teams will have the potential of picking up OHLers, as the transfer season begins now.<\/p>\n

We did want to mention the changing of the times that was made relevant. Back in the old economic landscape, perhaps teams would expect different decisions from players. Jack Johnson<\/a> is somewhat an example, but then again, he was a third-overall pick. It isn’t like he was at down lower at Hage’s draft pedigree. So, it would’ve been a different expectation from the Carolina Hurricanes camp, when he didn’t want to come to Raleigh. So they traded him. The point is, things are different nowadays. Players, and especially young ones, have much more say in what they do, compared to the old days.<\/p>\n

Image: \u00a9 Luis Santana\/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Press Wire<\/p>\n

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Canadiens Prospect Michael Hage Stats<\/h3>\n

The Oakville, Ontario product was originally drafted by the Habs in the first round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft (21st overall).<\/p>\n

Michael Hage is coming off a big 2025-26 sophomore season with the University of Michigan Wolverines. In 39 games, he was at an assist a game pace, along with 13 goals for 52 points total. That was an improvement from his freshman season, where he also had 13 goals, but just 34 points in 33 games. He also had his dynamic offensive abilities on full display for Team Canada at the most recent World Junior Championships. For those that have seen him play this year, it was clear he was dedicated to taking his game to the next level.<\/p>\n

Okay, What About the Big Picture?<\/h3>\n

Finally, the good news. The positive news for the Montreal Canadiens is that it might not have even made sense for him to go pro. The Habs are very healthy on forward. That is even to the point of having sit veterans like Zachary Bolduc<\/a> or Brendan Gallagher<\/a> lately. So in some sense, he wasn’t really needed at this time.<\/p>\n

Now of course, if you are injecting a top prospect into your lineup, there are expectations. You’d like to think wherever you insert him, that he is above replacement. Take James Hagens<\/a> as a recent example with the Boston Bruins. These are highly-skilled snipers, and should be in the lineup, especially over fourth liners.<\/p>\n

The Boston Bruins Have Signed Their Top 2025 Draft Pick<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n