The Montreal Canadiens recall Brett Kulak from the Laval Rocket

The Montreal Canadiens have used up the final spot on their 23-man roster to add another AHL player in Brett Kulak from the Laval Rocket.

And with that, the number of players on the Montreal Canadiens roster hits 23. AHL call-ups have been a pattern over the last few weeks. Kenny Agostino and Michael Chaput were the most recent as injuries to the team’s main contributors left open spots.

Noah Juulsen was the latest player to have a visit from the injury bug as two pucks to the face resulted in a facial fracture. There isn’t a clear date as to when he will return, but Brett Kulak is now getting an opportunity to show his stuff.

The Montreal Canadiens originally acquired Kulak from the Calgary Flames in exchange for the Kerby Rychel. Both players were in similar positions over the summer being restricted free agents with a future path that was up in the air. But Kulak has made a decent name for himself in the AHL with the Laval Rocket, especially after Gustav Oloffson went down with an injury.

The  24-year-old has played 19 games for the Rocket scoring 3 goals and 8 assists in the process. Although he’s in the minors now, Kulak does have experience playing in the NHL. He has a total of 101 games played with the Calgary Flames dating back to the 2014/15 season, and this could be his chance to add a few more to his resume.

The Habs announced that he will be joining the team in Buffalo ahead of their game against the Sabres. Whether Kulak plays or not is still up in the air. Claude Julien didn’t hold back on his criticism of the team’s defence in their loss to the Devils on Wednesday.

Carey Price was hung out to dry for a good deal of those goals against and it won’t do them any good to do the same to Antti Niemi. Especially considering how well the Sabres have played this season. Kulak may not be the go-to option, but he could easily be an improvement and it’ll be interesting to see how he plays if/when that comes.