The Montreal Canadiens have been pretty fortunate when it comes to waiver claims over the years. Usually when a player is placed on waivers, their chances of becoming full-time NHL players is quite low.
However, the Canadiens have been able to add some value to the organization recently by grabbing a player off waivers. Paul Byron has been the most successful, as he not only became a regular, but he also became a 20 goal scoring threat and a fantastic penalty killing winger.
Last season, the Canadiens picked up Rem Pitlick for free and he scored 26 points in 46 games with the Habs, while earning a brief promotion to the team’s first line. Though he couldn’t find a roster spot on the deep Minnesota Wild team, he proved to be an NHL contributor with the Canadiens.
Samuel Montembeault also added plenty of value after being claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers. With Carey Price out for most of the season, the Habs needed someone to play net, and Montembeault turned in some memorable performances in his 38 games last season.
The Canadiens head into the 2022-23 season looking like a non-playoff team. They have plenty of holes in the lineup that will make it unlikely they are playing in the postseason. Up front, they actually have plenty of veterans to choose from and some younger players like Juraj Slafkovsky, Jesse Ylonen and Rafael Harvey-Pinard knocking on the door as well.
It is the blue line, and goaltending situation, that will ensure this team isn’t a contender. Veteran defenders Mike Matheson, Joel Edmundson and David Savard are going to be asked to play a ton of minutes this season. Beyond them, it thins out pretty quickly unless the team turns to top prospects like Kaiden Guhle to play big roles this season.
It would make more sense to find another veteran, or two, to fill out the lineup on defence and protect the younger players from needing to play more than they are ready to handle in the NHL this season.
Who could they add to eat minutes on the blue line in a losing season? Well, they could turn back to the waiver wire and possibly pick up one or two of these three defenders.