It was only a matter of time before the Habs made a big list of cuts with minor league camps soon to get underway. That happened on Friday as Montreal trimmed down their roster by 19 players. They are:
Forwards
Peter Abbandonato, Cedric Desruisseaux, Justin Ducharme, Brandon Gignac, Cam Hillis, Jake Lucchini, Arsen Khisamutdinov, Shawn St-Amant, Kevin Roy, Joel Teasdale
Defencemen
Terrance Amorosa, Charles-David Beaudoin, Louie Belpedio, Josh Brook, Tory Dello, Cody Goloubef, Carl Neill, Xavier Ouellet
Goalie
Alexis Gravel
There aren’t really any surprises on that list. Belpedio and Ouellet are the most notable names but their placement on waivers yesterday signalled they were being cut at some point. Brook and Teasdale are both injured so their cuts are merely procedural. In the release, Goloubef was listed with those on an AHL contract so while there hasn’t been an announcement yet, it appears as if Goloubef’s tryout was a successful one. Most of the other players on this list are already on AHL contracts.
With well over 40 players remaining in camp, many more cuts will be coming at some point. Montreal plays both on Friday and Saturday so it’s likely that the next round won’t come until Sunday at the earliest.