Habs Cut Three Players, Waive Two Others

With season-opening rosters due on Monday, Sunday is a busy day in the NHL as teams make cuts and send many, many players to waivers.  The Habs were active on both fronts, sending three players to Laval while placing two more on the waiver wire.

The three players who were sent down without needing waivers were defenceman Adam Engstrom and forwards Owen Beck and Florian Xhekaj.

Engstrom had a strong showing in training camp but with their top seven getting through without any major injuries (Kaiden Guhle and Noah Dobson both dealt with minor issues but played on Saturday against Ottawa), there simply wasn’t a spot for him.  Rather than play sparingly with Montreal, he can go back to the Rocket and play an all-situations role as their number one defender.

A lack of space in the lineup also impacted Beck and Xhekaj who had good camps themselves.  But with Oliver Kapanen winning the battle for the open spot down the middle, the options were either keep one of them as an extra forward or have them playing regularly in Laval.  Beck spent most of last season down the middle but the Canadiens used him on the wing; it will be interesting to see if he lines up on the wing a bit more often this year to work on that positional versatility.  Xhekaj, meanwhile, had 24 goals in his rookie campaign in 2024-25 despite limited playing time.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see him take on a bigger role higher up the lineup when Laval’s season gets underway next week.

As for the Habs landing on waivers, those would be goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen and winger Samuel Blais.

Kahkonen signed with Montreal on the opening day of free agency, signing a one-year, $1.15 million contract.  Notably, that’s the maximum amount that a team can pay a player to play in the minors without any lingering cap charges.  (That’s probably not a coincidence.)  After a couple of early-season waiver claims, Kahkonen spent last season with three different AHL clubs, notably with Charlotte down the stretch and in the playoffs where he helped lead them to the Calder Cup Finals (beating Laval along the way).  As expected, this means that Jakub Dobes – who is waiver-exempt – will remain as the backup with the Habs.  If he clears, Kahkonen and Jacob Fowler will comprise the tandem for the Rocket.

As for Blais, he also signed with the Habs on July 1st, inking a one-year deal worth the league minimum, a nice bounce back after spending last year on an AHL deal with Abbotsford (who beat Charlotte for the Calder Cup title in June).  At the time he signed, he looked like a possible replacement for Michael Pezzetta (also waived today by Toronto) as the 13th forward but the mid-July addition of Joe Veleno lowered him on the depth chart.  If he clears, he counts as a veteran for roster purposes in Laval; teams can only dress six veteran skaters in a game.

These players will be on waivers until 2:00 PM ET on Monday with season-opening cap-compliant rosters due three hours later.  Barring any additions by the Habs by then (either by trade or by claiming one of the other 41 players waived today), they’ll go into the season with an open roster spot and just over $5.5 million in cap space.