The Montreal Canadiens training camp roster, which once stood at as many as 74 players, continues to be reduced.
The Canadiens made a handful of cuts early on when Cedrick Guindon, Jared Davidson, Daniil Sobolev and Antoine Coulombe were cut. They also released Riley Mercer from his professional tryout and sent Joshua Roy and Riley Kidney back to their Junior clubs for one last season which promises to be dominant for each of them.
Then, last night, the Canadiens released 23 players from their training camp. With the Laval Rocket set to begin their own training camp tomorrow, these nearly two dozen players will be heading there to compete for an AHL job.
Nate Schnarr the latest to be cut by Canadiens
Today, it was announced that one more player was going to be joining the Rocket training camp. At least, as long as he passes through waivers, which seems likely.
Nate Schnarr, who was acquired from the New Jersey Devils organization last season for Andrew Hammond, was placed on waivers.
Schnarr would close out the season with the Rocket, scoring four goals and ten points in 20 regular season games. He also added two goals and four points in 11 playoff games for Laval, helping the team reach the Calder Cup semi-finals.
The 6’4” and 202 pound centre will now compete for a job down the middle of the ice with the Rocket. At 23 years of age, there is no guarantee that Schnarr passes through waivers, especailly considering he scored over 100 points in his final season of Junior back in 2018-19.
But, at this time of year, every team in the league is looking to reduce the numbers of players at training camp, so it seems likely that Schnarr will be on the ice in Laval tomorrow with many of his past, and future, Rocket teammates.
The Canadiens training camp roster now stands at 43 players, and will need to be reduced by 20 more in the next ten days. The Habs have five preseason games remaining in the next eight days.
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