Montreal continued its signing spree on Sunday night, announcing the signings
of a pair of players to two-way contracts. Michael Blunden, not qualified
last week and former Montreal goalie prospect Cedrick Desjardins have both
inked deals. Desjardins presumably will take over as the Hamilton
Bulldogs’ starting netminder.
Blunden, acquired last offseason in exchange for Ryan Russell, split the
season between Montreal and Hamilton. He tallied 8 points in 17 games with
the Bulldogs while picking up a pair of goals and assists in 39 games with
Montreal. He also recorded 104 hits which tied for 5th on the team despite
him not even playing in half the games. In 90 career games, the former
Columbus 2nd round pick has 4 goals and 4 assists. Financial terms of his
deal were not available at the time of writing.
Desjardins started his pro career in the Montreal system, working a minor
league deal into an NHL entry-level contract. His best year in the AHL
came with Hamilton in 2009-10 where he had a 29-9-4 record with a 2.00 GAA and a
.919 SV%, a year that earned him a nomination to the AHL’s second All-Star team.
Last year, he played 32 games with Lake Erie of the AHL (Colorado’s affiliate)
where his record was 16-11-5 with an impressive 2.11 GAA and a .932 SV%.
The 26 year old netminder won his NHL debut in 2010, defeating the Habs as a
member of Tampa Bay. Desjardins will earn $175,000 with the Bulldogs and
if called up to the NHL will earn $600,000.
