Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Joe Veleno: According to Tony Marinaro, the Habs have abandoned the project

Originally posted on Dose.ca | Last updated Jul 7, 2025 4:54 PM ET

Joe Veleno’s name has been circulating in Montreal for a few days now.

But that doesn’t mean he’ll be playing for the Canadiens next season.

In fact… we can forget it, according to Tony Marinaro.

In a tweet, Marinaro reports that Habs officials have evaluated the possibility of bringing him to town. Veleno has some interesting qualities, he’s young… and signing him to a respectable contract wouldn’t have been the biggest risk on earth.

But according to Marinaro, the Canadiens have decided to pass on Veleno.

Veleno’s camp has been in talks with the Habs, Avalanche and Predators since last week.

Contrary to reports, I have been told that the @CanadiensMTL did NOT make a formal contract offer to Joe Veleno.

Last week, Joe Veleno’s representation, had talks with at least 3 teams: Colorado, Montreal & Nashville.

Told the Canadiens staff studied his game, discussed it &..

– Tony Marinaro (@TonyMarinaro) July 7, 2025

Clearly, the Habs felt it best to move on to another call.

They didn’t seem to think it was best to bring him to Montreal (even on a small contract), and perhaps that’s because there are already plenty of forwards in town right now.

After all, the Canadiens are counting on…

Nick Suzuki
Cole Caufield
Juraj Slafkovsky
Patrik Laine
Alex Newhook
Kirby Dach
Jake Evans
Brendan Gallagher
Josh Anderson
Samuel Blais
Zachary Bolduc
Ivan Demidov

Already there are 12 guys who could be in the line-up from the first game of next season. And there are also some prospects in Laval who will be fighting for a spot: Owen Beck, Joshua Roy, Oliver Kapanen…

Perhaps, in the end, the Canadiens felt they already had the resources to complete their bottom-6 , even if another left-handed center wouldn’t have hurt. The argument is different for the top-6, because Kent Hughes is still looking for a good quality player… but hey.

Obviously, Joe Veleno in Montreal… forget it.

Overtime

– Hiring in Tampa Bay.

Ex-#Isles Jeff Tambellini, the son of ex-Islander Steve Tambellini, hired as Lightning assistant GM, taking new Islander GM Mathieu Darche’s former job.

– Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) July 7, 2025

– A new role for Joel Bouchard.

The @TBLightning have named Joel Bouchard as general manager of the Syracuse Crunch.

He will also remain head coach of the team.

: https://t.co /meoqqkKlnc pic.twitter.com/GeAsncXR98

– Syracuse Crunch (@SyracuseCrunch) July 7, 2025

– Right.

The valve is exploding in New York. https://t.co/hD3OMvwVOH

– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) July 7, 2025

– Whew.

Pacers confirm Tyrese Haliburton will miss entire 2025-26 season with torn Achilles heel.

Full details: https: //t.co/Eyb6tKonf2 pic.twitter.com/VoUCcNWgON

– RDS (@RDSca) July 7, 2025