Montreal Canadiens: Denis Gurianov Lands On Waivers
The Montreal Canadiens made a series of no-risk moves that landed Denis Gurianov with the Habs at the end of last season.
First, the Canadiens traded away the contract of Shea Weber, who has played his last NHL game and remains on long term injured reserve (LTIR) for the duration of his contract. He was sent to the Vegas Golden Knights for Evgeni Dadonov last offseason.
Dadonov did not perform well with the Canadiens, as it was hoped he would bounce back a bit in the final year of his contract and turn in to a valuable trade piece for the Habs at last year’s trade deadline.
After putting up just four goals and 18 points in 50 games with the Canadiens, Dadonov was traded to the Dallas Stars for struggling winger Denis Gurianov. The Russian arrived in Montreal and scored five goals and eight points in 23 games to close out last season. Though he did not dominate, he was just 25 years old when last season ended and he had a 20 goal season a few years ago showing there was some potential for a breakout.
The Canadiens did not extend him a qualifying offer which would have retained his rights for this season, but they did reportedly have interest in signing him to a contract with a lower cap hit than his $2.9 million qualifying offer.
Gurianov remained on the open market for ten days, as the Canadiens tried to move out a veteran winger or two to make room for him. On July 11, Gurianov signed a one year contract with the Nashville Predators for $850,000.
The Canadiens eventually traded wingers Rem Pitlick and Mike Hoffman but it was not until August so the opportunity to sign Gurianov was long gone. It also seems like it probably would not have worked out for Gurianov in Montreal anyway.
Yesterday, the Predators announced their final roster and Gurianov was not part of it. Instead, he is now on waivers and will be assigned to the American Hockey League if he is not claimed by another team.
There was some debate in the offseason about whether the Canadiens should find a way to keep the skilled, but unproductive winger. It didn’t happen, and with him on waivers at the moment, it appears not to be a missed opportunity anyway.
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