Michael Hage’s injury complicates his contract situation

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Michael Hage’s injury complicates his contract situation
Credit: Jaime Crawford/Getty Images

It's official: Michael Hage saw his college team eliminated after Michigan's loss last night at the Frozen Four.

All signs point to the player having nothing left to prove at the collegiate level, and he is expected to make the jump to the pros for the next chapter of his hockey career.

And that could happen at any moment at this point.

Obviously, if he were to sign with the Laval Rocket to start with, it would be easier to find him playing time. The situation would be less of a distraction.

But right now, that doesn't seem to be the scenario the player wants… nor even the club, if only to let him experience the playoff atmosphere in Montreal. And that's even though the door is open to all scenarios.

That said, another factor complicates the situation: his health.

You can tell just by looking that the Canadiens prospect has been doing better for the past two weeks, but his energy on the ice wasn't the same last night. His shifts were also short, as Nicolas Cloutier of TVA Sports noted.

Under these circumstances, does the Canadiens want to call up Michael Hage right now as part of a big push for the playoffs?

The Habs already have healthy forwards on the bench; bringing up an injured prospect could go over poorly. I don't know how Martin St-Louis would handle the situation.

Everyone will have an opinion on the matter, including the player himself. And I imagine he wants to burn a year off his contract to make his NHL debut quickly.

A story to watch, then.


In brief

– The Rocket are playing tonight.

– Paul Wilson congratulates Cole Caufield, Marc Bergevin, and Trevor Timmins.

– Read this.

– Interesting.

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