Hockey

Samuel Blais: the Canadiens didn’t expect the Maple Leafs to ask for him
Félix Forget
Samuel Blais: the Canadiens didn’t expect the Maple Leafs to ask for him
Credit: Getty Images

Yesterday afternoon, the Canadiens made their final cuts to their roster for the start of the season. Florian Xhekaj, Owen Beck and Adam Engström were dealt to Laval, while Samuel Blais and Kaapo Kahkönen went to the waivers.The club had hoped to send both guys to Laval,but while Kahkönen went unclaimed, Blais did not: the Québécois was claimed by the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he will reunite with his former coach in St. Louis, Craig Berube.

In an interview with TSN 690, Kent Hughes admitted that he hadn't expected Toronto to ask for Blais,despite the link between Blais and Berube.

In fact, as Hughes explains, the Maple Leafs could have signed Blais on July 1. And given that they didn't (opting instead for Michael Pezzetta), he didn't necessarily expect the Toronto outfit to jump at the chance.In Hughes' eyes, it's probably more because of the injuries in Toronto that Blais is currently a Maple Leaf.Of course, it's debatable whether the decision to put Blais up for waivers rather than keeping him in town was the right one. It's easy to wonder, after the fact, but the Habs lost a fine piece of depth who had a good camp.He would have been relegated to a 14th forward role, of course. But at least he would have stayed with the team,so it's safe to say that the Habs missed out on this one. It's not likely to have a huge impact on the rest of the season, we agree… but it's still a shame to see Blais with a division rival right now.

'Overtime'

– Interesting.

– Samuel Montembeault: 18th best goalie in the NHL, according to The Athletic‘s experts. [The Athletic] – Big win for Dodgers,

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