The Montreal Canadiens will have to make some roster decisions sooner rather than later with Rafael Harvey-Pinard's conditioning stint set to end and Patrik Laine nearing a return.
The Montreal Canadiens will soon get some fresh reinforcements when Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Patrik Laine are ready to return to action. The former's conditioning stint in the AHL with the Laval Rocket will soon be over and the latter will finally be able to make his long-awaited regular season debut with the Habs.
Right now the Canadiens are running with a 22-player roster, meaning there is one free spot open but with two players set to return, something will have to give. While, the big Finn's roster spot is guaranteed, the same cannot be said for the Quebecer or gritty left winger Michael Pezzetta.
The feisty forward has only played three games so far this season and it's not because of anything health issues, bluntly put, he is surplus to requirements even when the Canadiens are struggling mightily.
With a Canadiens' offense that struggles to put points up, it appears likely that Harvey-Pinard comes out on top. In 83 career-games, he has put up 31 points which equates to 0.37 points-per-game. Meanwhile, Pezzetta has a total of 38 points in 178 games for a 0.21 points-per-game average. Whoever is cast aside will have to go through waivers and which of the two is more likely to be claimed?
Pezzetta is on an expiring deal with a $812,500 cap hit while Harvey-Pinard also is on an expiring deal but carries a $1.1 M cap hit and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Considering a team that claims a player cannot send him straight down to the AHL, is it likely that either would be claimed at this point? I doubt it, but Kent Hughes is not big on rolling the dice on waivers, after all, the Canadiens spent almost all of last season with three goalies on
The other solution could be to send a defenseman down to Laval, but the only ones that are currently waiver exempt are Lane Hutson, Arber Xhekaj and Kaiden Guhle. At this stage, none of them deserves to be sent down.
Would it make sense to send a waiver exempt forward down in order not to risk losing Pezzetta or Harvey-Pinard? Perhaps, but it wouldn't be fair. When your forwards are not performing, there should be someone there to take over their roster spot, some internal competition. It's already been established that Pezzetta isn't a threat.
Besides, the waiver exempt players are Juraj Slafkovsky, Joshua Roy and Emil Heineman. There's no way the former first overall pick will be sent down, Heineman has been playing his heart out and as for Roy, he has earned his call-up and certainly has more of an offensive upside than Pezzetta and likely Harvey-Pinard as well.
Decisions, decisions...there's a reason why the Canadiens' brass are paid the big bucks. Could it be the Canadiens are indeed in on the David Jiricek derby and that's how space will be created? Never say never I guess...
