Montreal Canadiens: Who moves out for Noah Juulsen?
By Omar L
The Montreal Canadiens may have Noah Juulsen returning to the lineup soon which could force another move off of the roster.
Injuries on the Montreal Canadiens has been an interesting game of dominos going in either direction. The first fall involved the number of players forced out of the lineup. Shea Weber was already gone, but then it moved on to Tomas Plekanec, who is no longer a part of the organization, Nicolas Deslauriers, Paul Byron, Joel Armia, and Nikita Scherbak.
Now the dominos are falling the other way with those injured players returning. Deslauriers came back with a face mask which he recently removed for the first time. Weber returned against the Carolina Hurricanes leading the Montreal Canadiens to place Karl Alzner on waivers. Byron may make his debut when the team takes on the New York Rangers, and Victor Mete was a casualty of that.
Although his development was a key part in the decision, the Habs needed Mete’s spot to take Byron off of injured reserve.
Juulsen may be the next domino to fall. The 20-year-old skated with a cage on Friday since receiving surgery to repair a facial fracture after taking a pair of pucks to the face. There has yet to be a timeline for Juulsen’s return, but Deslauriers’ recovery could give an idea of when that might be as he was out for about four weeks.
Then things get interesting.
Do the Montreal Canadiens mess with their new fourth line? Or is it Charles Hudon or Matthew Peca? Marc Bergevin could find himself in another Jacob de La Rose situation as neither would sneak through waivers considering the skill they have and the contracts they’re on.
He may be placed in the position where he needs to take away one of Julien’s toys in Chaput. He’s played a style Julien appreciates but is one of the few on the team who doesn’t require waivers to be sent back down to the Laval Rocket.
The Habs have some time to work it out depending on how long Juulsen is out, however, the clock is ticking.
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