Montreal Canadiens: Three Teams Who Could Claim Paul Byron

Montreal Canadiens winger Paul Byron finds himself on waivers this morning.

It was a bit of a surprising announcement to see the Habs veteran hit the waiver wire yesterday afternoon, but he is now free for the taking.

Well, certainly not free. He does have a $3.4 million cap hit for the rest of this season and the following two years as well. But the acquisition cost would be free as any team in the league can put a claim in on him today and get the player for nothing in return.

It will be interesting to see if anyone decides to take Byron from the Canadiens. The 31 year old is not off to best offensive start, but he still provides plenty of value to a team. He is an assistant captain, proven leader, solid penalty killer and still one of the fastest players in the game to this day.

There is no question that Byron still belongs on an NHL roster. the only problem is trying to fit his rather large cap hit into a team’s salary structure. He is playing on the fourth line for the Canadiens right now, and though they are a defensively sound and fast trio, Byron, Jake Evans and Artturi Lehkonen are not producing much offence.

Byron has not scored yet this season and has three assists in 14 games. Still, he provides value as a veteran who plays a terrific defensive game and can help lead a team’s penalty kill while providing invaluable mentorship to young players.

There are plenty of teams that could use Paul Byron in their lineup, but not all of them can fit in his contract. There are a few teams who have the cap space and the need for a player like Byron.

Here are the three teams most likely to claim Paul Byron off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens today.