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The Canadiens have confirmed the news.
Samuel Blais, freshly claimed by the club, is off to the AHL. He will join the Rocket in Lehigh Valley and practice with the team tomorrow. The Habs had the right to send him down immediately because they were the only club to have tried to claim him at the waivers.
But that doesn't mean he's in Laval to stay all season, either.
The Canadiens claimed forward Samuel Blais in the waivers. He will join the Laval Rocket.
The Canadiens have claimed forward Samuel Blais off waivers. He will join the Laval Rocket. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/QrWWf19rpW
– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) November 27, 2025
Interesting stuff. And there are questions to be asked right now.
Did the Habs – who are on the road right now – find it easier to send him down to avoid doing the same thing with Jared Davidson, who is with the team right now?
I have a feeling that Davidson will be sent down when the Canadiens return home, and that Blais will be recalled when the club hits the road again. The Habs like that, having only 12 forwards up top when they play at home… and the club is coming back to Montreal soon too.
Perhaps the Habs prefer to place Blais in Laval on a temporary basis before he returns to town… And you have to wonder what that will mean for Florian Xhekaj, with the arrival of Alexandre Texier.
Texier and Blais are two recent additions who cost nothing… but they won't change everything for the Canadiens. And neither of them plays center…
In any case, if Blais plays games in Laval… it's certainly not Pascal Vincent who's going to complain.
Blais will bring leadership to the Rocket room and he's a good role model for the younger players too. We're talking about a guy who had his fair share of success in the AHL last season, and it's certain that he'll get an important role in Laval if he plays some games down there.
He'd be a great addition to the Laval line-up, after all. Remember that he won the Calder Cup with the Abbotsford Canucks last season and really, really knows the AHL style of play.
So I'll be curious to see what the Canadiens want to do with him.
The Habs may need him upstairs, but Blais could really help the youngsters downstairs too…
Extension
There are starting to be a lot of depth players in the Canadiens organization right now, and that's not a bad thing.
There will be an internal battle for the players who want to play… and that can only be a good thing.
