Why Michael Hage didn't sign to play for Canadiens in playoffs
· Yahoo Sports
Why Michael Hage didn't sign to play for Canadiens in playoffs originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Visit amunra-online.pl for more information.
Michael Hage could be playing for the Montreal Canadiens right now.
Instead, he chose after his college season at Michigan ended that he'd be returning for another NCAA season with the Wolverines.
With the Habs up against it in the Eastern Conference Final, the question is circulating about why Hage chose to do that:
Can someone explain why Michael Hage didn’t sign in Montreal? Had 52 points at Michigan and would CLEARLY be Montreal’s 2C right now behind Suzuki but felt the need to go back to school?
— World Hockey Report (@worldhockeyrpt) May 29, 2026
While none of this is simple, it's not totally shocking that Hage chose the path he did.
MORE: Mitch Marner is making the Maple Leafs miserable
Why didn't Michael Hage sign with the Canadiens?
Because Hage can still join the Habs next season, it's not shocking that he chose another college campaign first.
A loss in the Frozen Four had to have been painful, and he'd surely like to lead Michigan to a national championship instead.
It's easy to argue that a Stanley Cup should matter more, but that's a harder case to make when a player's most immediate high-end pursuit was a different trophy. It probably didn't feel that way in the moment for Hage.
It's also not as cut and dry as the post above suggests. Hage would've had to adjust to the NHL level, and it's not clear that would've been immediate. Some players fit in better than others.
In reality, Hage had two good choices, and he picked one of them. It's just not the one that had the potential to help Montreal right now.