Montreal Canadiens: Samuel Fagemo Would Be Sensible Waiver Claim
The Montreal Canadiens finished 28th overall in the NHl standings last season. That means they were fifth last which gave them the fifth overall draft pick and they also sit fifth in the waiver priority order.
That means this time of year, when waivers are quite busy, the Canadiens management team will keep a close eye on players that come available for free on waivers.
A year ago the team claimed Johnathan Kovacevic from the Winnipeg Jets off waivers and he turned out to be quite a steal. A year earlier they grabbed Sam Montembeault when the Florida Panthers tried to pass him through waivers to send him to the AHL, and he played some great games for the Canadiens over the past two seasons.
This season, we may not see the Canadiens claim anyone as they already have enough NHL bodies on their roster. However, if they do look to add some depth to their organization for free, plucking Samuel Fagemo later today would make a lot of sense.
The 23 year old winger is a skilled offensive player that has a deadly, dangerous shot. He played almost all of last season in the AHL with the Ontario Reign where he scored 23 goals in just 56 games. He added nine assists to finish with 32 points.
A year earlier he scored 27 goals in 63 games, showing he can put pucks in the net at the AHL level. He is yet to prove he can do it at the NHL level, as he has only played 13 games in his career with the Los Angeles Kings.
Finding a spot on the Canadiens roster would not be impossible, but some veteran would need to have a tough conversation with management. With wingers like Cole Caufield, Alex Newhook, Juraj Slafkovsky, Josh Anderson, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Brendan Gallagher, Tanner Pearson and Jesse Ylonen likely taking up all eight spots on the wings, Joel Armia and Michael Pezzetta are already likely odd men out on opening night.
To create a roster spot for Fagemo, the Canadiens would need to waive and send down a player like Armia or Pezzetta, but we kind of know what to expect from those guys while Fagemo has the potential to turn in to a reliable goal scorer.
The Canadiens have not been able to claim they have too many goal scorers on their team for decades, so passing on a goals to keep Armia and Pezzetta is not a wise move. Of course, it won’t be long before someone is injured and another player is needed anyway, so adding depth to the lineup now just fills an inevitable void in the near future.
At their current position in the rebuild, it would make a lot of sense for the Canadiens to grab Fagemo now and worry about figuring out how the roster numbers shake out next week when the rosters need to be cut down to 23.
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