Montreal Canadiens recall Karl Alzner from the Laval Rocket

After a stint in the AHL for the first time in years, the Montreal Canadiens have chosen to call up Karl Alzner from the Laval Rocket.

The Montreal Canadiens shocked many when they chose to place Karl Alzner on waivers initially. The veteran was hoping to bounce back from a poor debut with the team last season and found himself virtually pushed out of the lineup. When others looked to be solid options on the blueline, the Habs placed Alzner and his $4.625 million cap-hit on waivers.

The 30-year-old cleared and was later assigned to Laval Rocket. He played in 10 games scoring in his first game, slowly becoming a go-to guy on the blueline. Now he may get another opportunity to make things work with the Montreal Canadiens.

The call-up was in response to David Schlemko‘s situation. Montreal announced that the veteran is going on injured reserve thanks to an upper-body injury. Schlemko has battled with health since joining the team last season, and they’ll see after December 20th whether he’s fit enough to play. And on another note, if Marc Bergevin was attempting to display him for a trade in the future, that will have to be put on hold.

The question now is where Alzner will play. An easy option is exactly where Schlemko last was on the bottom pair next to Victor Mete. The two were paired together when they were both in the AHL as well making that a likely scenario.

Maybe Claude Julien tries to throw Alzner on the top pair with Shea Weber. Crazier things have happened, and if things start to go south with Jordie Benn, then it wouldn’t be surprising to see that as something the Habs try moving forward.

Either way, this is a massive positive for Alzner. The last couple of months had to have been tough, and he now has a chance to prove himself. It would be in everyone’s interest if he found a way to turn things around given the term left on his deal.