The Habs played strong first and third periods on way to an important 4-2 win against the North Division’s top team in Toronto. Jake Allen was solid when he needed to be and new defensive pairings confirmed that Shea Weber and Joel Edmundson needed to be split up.
After losing Victor Mete on waivers today, the Habs turned to the trade market to add another blueliner, acquiring Erik Gustafsson from Philadelphia in exchange for a 2022 seventh-round draft pick.
As expected, Victor Mete is on the move. After being placed on waivers by the Habs on Sunday, he was claimed at noon EST today by Ottawa.
The week got off to a great start for the Habs who did the unthinkable by winning a game in overtime. Unfortunately, things went off the rails from there as they dropped three straight to reach the trade deadline on a losing note.
With the Habs likely to lose Victor Mete on waivers, they moved quickly to find a replacement, acquiring Jon Merrill from Detroit in exchange for Ottawa’s 2021 fifth-round pick and Hayden Verbeek.
It hasn’t been a great season for Victor Mete as he has spent most of the year in the press box. He now has an opportunity to potentially land elsewhere as the Habs placed him on waivers on Sunday.
After two straight losses, the Habs were back in action on Saturday night hoping to end their week on a winning note against Winnipeg. Instead, they couldn’t get anything going offensively and folded in the second half of the game, ultimately falling 5-0.
With the trade deadline approaching, cap and roster flexibility are still going to be important for the Habs, even with Brendan Gallagher’s LTIR placement. With that in mind, the team once again placed Paul Byron on waivers on Friday and he passed through unclaimed on Saturday.
Following a dominant season at the University of Wisconsin, Cole Caufield has received the top individual award, being named as the Hobey Baker Award recipient for the top NCAA player in the country.
The Habs likely deserved a better outcome if one considers the entirety of Thursday night’s game. However, another slow start had them playing catch-up from the get-go and for a second straight night, they just didn’t have enough offence to overcome the bad start, falling 4-2 to Winnipeg.