Montreal Canadiens: Pierre-Olivier Joseph Available, Fits What Habs Need

The Montreal Canadiens still have plenty of decisions to make to cut their roster down to 23 before opening night. With just over a week to go until the regular season begins, cuts are going to become a daily occurrence soon.

But that doesn’t mean the Habs can’t be on the lookout to add another piece or two as well. As other teams, and let’s face it, much better teams, look to reduce their rosters, the Habs could benefit by adding a player that is cast aside.

If the Habs have a roster need right now it is on defence. They can use help just about anywhere, but are set in net with Jake Allen and Sam Montembeault and have enough veteran forwards to fill out a roster in a rebuilding season.

On the blue line, they have David Savard, Mike Matheson and Chris Wideman and then a bunch of question marks. Joel Edmundson was expected to fill a big role back there as well but he is injured and hasn’t participated in training camp at all yet.

Canadiens Kids Could Be Forced To Do Too Much

The Edmundson injury makes it possible that 20 year old Kaiden Guhle and 20 year old Justin Barron are both on the opening night roster for the Canadiens. That’s okay if they both look great from day one, but if they begin to struggle at all, it will be best to get them to the Laval Rocket immediately.

One player that is definitely available and could be a worthwhile pickup for the Canadiens is Pierre-Olivier Joseph. According to hockey insider Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Pittsburgh Penguins have offered Joseph around to the other 31 teams in the league.

Joseph, a Laval, Quebec native, is 23 years old and was a first round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. He hasn’t proven himself at the NHL level just yet, but has put up solid numbers at the AHL level over the past three seasons.

The 6’2” and 185 pound left shot defender put up 10 goals and 33 points in 61 games last season for the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins. Only eight defencemen scored more goals than Joseph at the AHL level last season.

Joseph is signed for two more seasons at a cap hit of just $825,000. The Penguins have too many defenders under contract to begin the season without putting someone on waivers. It sounds like they are trying to find a trade partner for Joseph, and the Habs should be interested if they can get him for cheap.

If not, they can just wait and see if he hits the waiver wire at some point. If he does, it would make a lot of sense to bring him home to play the upcoming season, and add a little insurance to the lineup in case one of the 20 year old defenders needs to spend some time in Laval.

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