Today, the Canadiens placed a few players on waivers in what was the second to last round of cuts. Some "big" names were on that list, well...really what were once big names and are now just big contracts:
The Canadiens announced that Matthew Peca, Philip Varone, Karl Alzner, Xavier Ouellet and Dale Weise will be placed on NHL waivers today at noon (12 p.m.).#GoHabsGo
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 26, 2019
To be honest, I feel sad for Karl Alzner, he's a nice guy and everything but this is unfortunately a business and business decisions have to be made. Marc Bergevin is now all too aware how bad the contract he gave him was but there's not much he can do about it. You can bet he did try to trade him but no one seems to want to bite. In an ideal world, someone, anyone, would pick Alzner off waivers but with that Price tag, it's highly unlikely. I also don't see Weise and Ouellet going anywhere, looks like Joà«l Bouchard will have a few seasoned vets to work with.
After these guys were put on waivers, Marc Bergevin met with the media in Brossard and here's a recap of what he had to say:
On Jonathan Drouin: Following conversations this summer with Jonathan, Ducharme and Claude we decided to try him at right wing, we're looking for the best fit so that he can help the team.I expect more, Jo expects more and there's room for improvement. Overall, we need more, he's a skilled player and he's not up to par so far but he's not alone. I don't know where those rumours came from but most of the time they come out of someone's basement in Toronto so I do not pay attention to those.
On Guy Lafleur: All the best to him and we hope to see him back at the Bell Centre soon and healthy.
On final cuts: We still have decisions to make, probably Sunday. Kids did stand out and that's good news. The evaluation period for the youngsters is still going.
On Kotkaniemi: A slow start but this is the famous second year. Claude and the staff spoke to him and things will settle, he's going in the right direction.
Should some moves be expected: It's quiet for me and across the league right now, teams are just settling their rosters.
On today's cuts: Wanted to make those as soon as possible so that we have a good line-up and have good practices. Buyout window is closed so he (Alzner) will go to Laval. While, I'd like the team to stay healthy all year, it's just not going to happen. When we need someone to come up, if Bouchard says he'd help, he'll come up. If not, it will be someone else.
On Suzuki: His training camp this year is lightyears ahead of last season's. He still have a game to play before a decision is made.
On the ice, Claude Julien showcased some new lines:
#Habs practice:
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) September 26, 2019
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Lehkonen - Domi - Suzuki
Drouin - Kotkaniemi - Weal
Byron - Thompson - Armia
Hudon - Poehling - Cousins
Mete - Weber
Chiarot - Petry
Kulak - Fleury
Reilly - Folin
Kinkaid
Lindgren
I expect that Charles Hudon is still there because they wanted to have 5 full lines to practice and that no one had to rotate but I do feel time is running out for him. It doesn't look like he'll play on Saturday since he was on the 5th line and to be honest, he failed to impress anyone at camp. As for Ryan Poehling, it was nice to see that he practiced with the team thins morning, he's clearly on the mend! Would he be ready to start the season in Montreal? No one knows that yet but it sure wouldn't hurt him to go down to Laval for a bit and get reacquainted with the physicality of the game. Byron was also practicing today on the 4th line and that's good news for the Habs. He's used in a lot of different missions for this team and the Habs are better with him than without him.
After practice, the journalists asked Jonathan Drouin about his playing right wing during camp and he looked annoyed quite frankly. The reply came; "I'm back on left wing so we can stop talking about the right wing now." He might have said the right things this summer but so far, he's failed to meet expectations on the ice and that interview shows that he's still the same old Drouin. While Bergevin said he didn't know where the trade rumour came from, I'm starting to think there's no smoke without fire... Thing is though, I'm not entirely sure that Bergevin is ready to throw in the towel in this matter.
I was rather pleased to see Suzuki slated to play alongside Domi on the right wing and I'm curious to see what he'll be able to do on Saturday against the Sens. Same goes for Cale Fleury, I really hope those two guys make the opening night line-up, there's something about seeing rookies come up that's exciting.