Waivers for the past three years: Canadian more than well represented

Once in a while, I like to go to Cap Friendly and check out the Canadiens page. There’s so much info on there that you always end up seeing different angles to approach the Habs.

And there’s an interesting one: the Montreal Canadiens don’t have many players who are signed by the club as free agents after several years in the NHL.

Yes, there are guys signed (Lucas Condotta and Brandon Gignac, among others) and yes, Arber Xhekaj was signed because he wasn’t drafted. But what I’m talking about is a free agent with massive NHL experience who signed in Montreal and is still there.

And apart from Chris Wideman (…), only David Savard is still here. Crazy, huh?

There are several guys who were drafted or acquired by the club. Of course, the draft, the free agent market and transactions are the three most popular ways to go after players.

But there’s another way: waivers. And the Habs have acquired two important players through the waivers: Samuel Montembeault and Johnathan Kovacevic.

Chris Johnston (The Athletic) has written an article on the best waivers over the past three seasons, and the Habs have two of the NHL’s top six picks.

Of course, there’s nothing left to say about the acquisition of the Quebec goaltender. Monty has become the team’s #1, which is more than we expected from him.

And what about Kovacevic? To become a reliable defenseman like he is, that’s pretty much the optimal realistic scenario for a waivers player like him. I say “realistic” because it’s not realistic to think that they’ll all be Samuel Montembeault, let’s say.

Since Kent Hughes is careful with his waivers (with Cayden Primeau, in particular), it’s safe to assume that the Habs won’t necessarily be on the wrong side of this list too often.

Remember that, in the past, the Habs have also had success with Paul Byron. Marc Bergevin may have given him too much money on his last contract, but Byron is still useful to the Habs, even in retirement.

In gusto

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on @LangloisMario ‘s @985Sports

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