dlbalr

Today's waiver list via PuckPedia: VAN: Brannstrom NYR: Robertson NYI: Skarek, Hogberg, Hutton, Bolduc, Karlstrom, Foudy, Fasching, Engvall OTT: Jenik, Gaudette VGK: Rondbjerg, Laczynski, Aston-Reese TOR: Rifai, Murray STL: Tucker, Schueneman BUF: Reimer, Rousek, Clague PIT: Imama, Aho BOS: Patera, Bussi, Sweezey, Viel, Brown CGY: Schwindt, Cooley, Pelletier DET: Holl, Lagesson, Rafferty, Snively, Dries WSH: Shepard EDM: Lavoie, Caggiula, J Brown, Rodrigue WPG: Anderson-Dolan NSH: Del Gaizo NJD: White, Foote, DeSimone, Bowers CHI: Phillips CAR: Suzuki, Smith, Josiah Slavin UTA: Villalta LAK: Studnicka, Copley, Fagemo TBL: Ylonen, Santini, Goncalves

Not every name is out there yet of the 59 players on waivers but it doesn't look like any Montreal players are in that group. That suggests Barre-Boulet is making the season-opening roster at least.

He struggled at the beginning of the preseason but has looked better in each game. He's probably not making the opening roster but he might get a shot as a recall at some point.

Their second power play might have been their best of the preseason. Admittedly, that's not saying a whole lot but they had zone time and some chances.

That's a pretty strange list they've come up with. Hathaway signed a contract extension recently, Deslauriers can't keep up, Blais is an unrestricted free agent at the NHL level, and Greenway fights like once a year. Laberge, meanwhile, has six career minutes played in the NHL at 26, why would any site think he'd even make the team?

Not sure about Tuch being in there. He's still not listed on Montreal's roster and wasn't announced as a recall. That said, he was a scratch for Laval today so it would make sense that he's up.

The NHL has quietly voided Montreal's re-assignment of Jacob Perreault from last weekend. Perreault was injured heading into training camp but technically, injured players can't be assigned to the AHL. Accordingly, until he's cleared to return, he must remain with the Canadiens, at least on paper. He has been returned to Montreal's roster per the NHL's Media Portal. This means that he will have the same salary cap treatment as David Reinbacher and must start the year on season-opening injured reserve. Since Perreault didn't spend any time on an NHL roster last season (either with Anaheim or Montreal), he won't carry any salary cap charge while he's on there.

Nothing from the team yet but Gignac, Condotta, and Trudeau have been recalled.

I needed a filler piece since nothing had been posted since Tuesday's postgame so this worked for a topic idea. There's grounds for termination if a player doesn't report. But do those grounds hold up if a player can't report? Vegas quietly indicated that they were willing to try it while the NHLPA quietly indicated they had every intention of grieving it if the Golden Knights went that route. The reality is that the CBA doesn't have a distinction between the two. Vegas easily could have opted to terminate and started the season in the exact spot they are now and wait to see how a grievance midseason would have played out. Those usually end in settlements anyway, often without any sort of serious cap penalty so it wouldn't shock me if this would have been the eventual outcome. They just got it out of the way now instead going through the hearing and the negative optics associated with it.

That's actually what they've agreed to. Lehner will still be paid in full (satisfying the NHLPA) but the cap hit will come off. Since Lehner didn't report, Vegas had cause to terminate the contract. The underlying issue of why he didn't report (and didn't probably isn't the right word here but rather couldn't) is what makes this a unique case and probably not a precedent-setter.

The big thing is the cost factor. Teams now send their players on the road on the day of a game to eliminate hotel costs. Some teams used to subsidize others coming in (Montreal did this with Florida, I believe for a while) and the switch to all closer opponents was to eliminate that. Granted, there are enough close-ish opponents that this could work for Montreal. But for Western teams (assuming the same principle is applied league-wide), that could be trickier.

I had the same thought. Do a dumb hit, wait for Xhekaj to lose it, score on the power play. Overly simplistic, sure, but it's not a far-fetched game plan for someone to think about if they're down or looking for a spark.

If revenues stay on their current trajectory, it might be above that actually. There's a CBA-legislated 5% increase maximum but the CBA ends in September 2026. If revenues grow quicker than that 5% restriction, 2026-27 could see a bigger than usual jump (I could see it hitting $100M then) with 2027-28 getting a top-up beyond that.

Considering the various specialists were not all of the same opinion regarding not needing surgery, this is a legitimate possibility.

Which doesn't mean anything unless they already plan to add another $8-$9 million to spend what will be left of Price's LTIR pool. I don't see them doing that let alone adding even more money beyond that.

That feels like kind of the best-case scenario at this point, doesn't it? That said, here's a report of probably out longer:

Defenceman Eric Gelinas has signed a PTO with Laval. That's one I didn't see coming (or want). He couldn't defend to save his life the first time he played for them. Full roster:

From your list, Riley McKay is gone (Henderson) and so is Brady Keeper (who was supposed to be going to Slovakia last I heard).

Both players passed through unclaimed today, paving the way for them to go to Laval.

He went mid-draft in one I did yesterday (I want to say early-200 range). I don't think people will be getting him late-round for long based on his preseason.

He played huge minutes on the power play in his first season with the Habs, literally with a higher PP ATOI than anyone on the team (forward or d-man).

Good chance that's the case. Assuming it's a suspected ACL injury, those are quite swollen for a few days (I speak from unfortunate experience on this one).

There's no buyout/termination option available to the Habs at this point, nor could he be waived due to the injury. He'll be staying on the roster.

He'd go on season-opening IR. In doing so, he'd only count against the cap for the portion of time spent on an NHL roster last season. In his case, that's zero so he'd have no cap hit. Montreal can't send him down until he is cleared to return so the AHL IR isn't an option.

Condotta and Gignac are on waivers today: https://www.habsworld.net/2024/09/habs-place-lucas-condotta-and-brandon-gignac-on-waivers/