On Friday, it was announced that defenceman Mark Streit had cleared waivers after the Canadiens had placed him on the wire on Thursday. He has been sent to Laval of the AHL.
With David Schlemko’s imminent and much-needed debut in a Habs’ uniform scheduled for as early as this Saturday against the Maple Leafs, the Canadiens were forced to make a roster move in order to activate him off injured reserve. The move is not a surprise as Streit struggled in the preseason and in his two regular season games this year. Though he has been sent down, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him on unconditional waivers in the coming days for a mutual contract termination, especially since he informed the team that he would not be reporting.
Streit is in his 13th NHL season. He was drafted by the Habs in 2004 in the ninth round with the 262nd pick. Streit started his NHL career with the Canadiens, playing 207 games between 2005-06 and 2007-08 and posting 109 points (25G, 84A). After playing for the Islanders, Flyers and the Penguins, he was signed as a free agent by the Habs this past offseason in apparent anticipation that he, along with some other new defenders, might by committee replace the Canadiens’ departed left-shooting defencemen, including the estimable Andrei Markov. It does not appear that Streit will be part of those efforts going forward.
This may be the end of a fine career for Mark Streit as he was used sparingly during the Pittsburgh Penguins’ successful Stanley Cup run last season, despite some devastating injuries on the Penguins’ blueline.