The Montreal Canadiens announced a surprising roster move this morning when they sent Cale Fleury down to the Laval Rocket.
The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Buffalo Sabres last night after a difficult start to their night. They were outshot 9-0 early on but rebounded to take over the contest and won the game 3-1 after falling behind 1-0. Two young players were watching that game from the press box which caused some frustration among Habs fans.
Cale Fleury and Jesperi Kotkaniemi were healthy scratches, watching from high above the ice as their teammates celebrated a victory on the road in Buffalo. With the team far behind in the playoff race, many fans wanted to see the young players on the ice.
We don’t know who the healthy scratched will be when the Habs play a pair of afternoon games this weekend, but one of those young players will definitely not be among them.
Cale Fleury was demoted to the Laval Rocket this morning. Fleury has played 41 games with the Canadiens this season, scoring a single point in the process. The big, physical, right shooting defender has played a steady defensive style for the Habs, mostly on the third pairing.
The 21-year-old had 23 points in 60 games for the Rocket last season as a rookie. He was drafted by the Canadiens in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft and has exceeded expectations thus far by making the NHL roster out of training camp in September.
With the addition of Marco Scandella to the Habs blue line earlier this month, Fleury has been pushed to the sidelines for the past four games. The Canadiens management team is still trying to make a final push for the postseason, as unlikely as that scenario actually is, it is a bit early to throw in the towel on the season.
With that in mind, they have elected to use veteran players over their rookie defender. With Fleury out of the lineup since a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on January, 15th, they chose to send him to Laval where he will play more often.
Fleury will play a huge role on a Laval team that is fighting for a playoff spot in the AHL. It makes more sense to have a 21-year-old defenseman playing big minutes with an AHL team than it is to have him watching games as a healthy scratch in the NHL.
This arrangement may not even be all that long term. With the trade deadline coming up in just over three weeks, the Habs could move a defenseman in a trade and need to call someone up from the Rocket roster.
Their first call would surely be to Fleury. Either Fleury is back in the NHL and playing regularly by the end of the month or he plays a huge role for the Rocket in a postseason push.
For now, it makes the most sense to have him play a big role for the Laval Rocket.