With Mike Hoffman expected to make his Canadiens debut on Tuesday, the Habs needed to create a roster spot for him. That was done on Monday as they placed Alex Belzile on waivers.
The 30-year-old has spent most of his playing days in the minors, only seeing his first regular season NHL action last season when he played in a pair of games with the Habs, picking up an assist. Belzile also played in six playoff contests in the bubble in 2020, also recording a single assist. He had a pair of goals in five preseason contests which gave him a roster spot with the team coming out of camp although he has yet to suit up this season.
If Belzile makes it back to Laval, he should immediately jump into their top six having been one of the top scorers for the Rocket when he has been in the lineup – which hasn’t been a lot the last two seasons, just a total of 37 games where he had 28 points.
Teams will have until 2 PM ET on Tuesday to decide whether or not to decide to place a claim on Belzile. Once he’s removed from the roster at that time (by claim or by demotion), Hoffman will be added on. It appears he’ll play with Brendan Gallagher and Adam Brooks on the third line; Brooks’ presence on that trio at practice was necessitated by Jake Evans missing practice due to a day-to-day injury.