Why The Montreal Canadiens Should Absolutely Claim Aaron Dell Off Waivers

The Montreal Canadiens are the worst team in the National Hockey League this season.

That is not up for debate at the moment. Just look at the standings. There they are, staring up at the 31 other teams in the league from the lowest spot possible.

You could make an argument that the Arizona Coyotes are a worse hockey team, and that may prove to be true by season’s end, but right now there is no denying that the Canadiens are the worst. And it seems to be getting worse.

The Canadiens had their closest thing to a hot streak last week when they beat the Dallas Stars and then lost in overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche. Four points in the standings in three games is as good as it gets for the 2021-22 Canadiens.

But even in those games, the Canadiens were thoroughly outplayed by their competition. Just look at the shots. In the Habs 5-3 win over the Dallas Stars they were outshot 51-22. They allowed 53 shots in the overtime loss to the Golden Knights and the Avalanche fired 46 shots on goal before beating the Habs in overtime as well.

In each of their last two games, the Habs have fallen behind 3-0 before the end of the first period. While the team is obviously not making the playoffs, getting completely caved in is a tough spot for goaltenders, especially a young goaltender.

Canadiens prospect Cayden Primeau was expected to be the starting goalie for the Laval Rocket in the AHL this season. With Carey Price injured for the whole season to date, and Jake Allen on injured reserve for what will be about a two month stint, Primeau was called into duty.

It hasn’t been pretty.

Primeau has had seven starts for the Canadiens this season and has put up a GAA of 4.60 with a .879 SV%. He has been pulled in three fo his last four starts, although the game he wasn’t pulled in was a terrific 43 save performance in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche who are the highest scoring team in the league.

Primeau is a great prospect, but at 22 years old he needs more time to develop. He has had great stretches of hockey each of the past three seasons with the Laval Rocket, but every hot streak seems to be interrupted by Covid shutdowns, injuries or call ups where he just sits on the Habs bench for a while before getting the odd start.

He has shown promise, but he has also shown this season he is not yet ready for the NHL. With Price and Allen still out long term, the Canadiens have no choice at the moment but to use Primeau, since Samuel Montembeault can’t play every game and he was battling his own wrist issue.

That is why the Canadiens need to claim Aaron Dell off waivers today.

The playoffs are not even a fantasy at this point, they are just non-existent in Habs fans minds. A team this bad defensively with zero chance of a playoff berth doesn’t need a 22 year old prospect in net. It needs a journeyman who is just happy to still be in the NHL, but is bad enough to lose most games so the team can have the best chance at a first overall pick.

A journeyman that can lose hockey games is Aaron Dell. The 32 year old has played 12 games this season for the Buffalo Sabres, winning just one, with a GAA over four. Last season he played seven games for the New Jersey Devils and won one of them while posting a GAA over four.

Dell is serving a three game suspension for taking out Drake Batherson, but he’ll be back in action in no time.

Dell wouldn’t help the Habs win games this season, but they aren’t even trying to do that anyway. Claiming him would allow the Habs to send Primeau back down to the Laval Rocket and let him stay there for months while starting most of their contests and developing his game. Long term development is what is important for this team now and that would happen best for Primeau in the minors.

Primeau has a chance to be the starting goalie of the Canadiens in the future, while there is no chance Montembeault or Dell would hold that position on a playoff team. Primeau might in a couple of years and the best way to prepare him for that is with a long stretch of games in the AHL this season.

Claiming Dell gives the Habs a goalie tandem of Montembeault and Dell for the next six weeks or so until Carey Price or Jake Allen return from injury. If they both come back healthy, Montembeault can be traded for a late draft pick and Dell can go to the minors and watch Primeau play every night.

But the key is Primeau playing every night in the AHL and the quickest way to get him there is by adding a veteran at the NHL level. That could be Aaron Dell for free.