Andrew Hammond’s tenure with the Habs has come to an end fairly quickly as they have moved him to New Jersey in exchange for AHL forward Nate Schnarr.
The Habs picked Hammond up last month from Minnesota to serve as a veteran option to allow Cayden Primeau to go back to Laval. He did quite well in his limited action, posting a .920 SV% along with a 2.40 GAA in four appearances (three starts). Unfortunately, he was injured in his last start in Calgary and will be out for another week or two.
Interestingly enough, New Jersey is picking him up to fill the same role he had with Montreal as they’re missing both Mackenzie Blackwood and Jonathan Bernier, pressing prospect Nico Daws into action earlier than they’d have liked. With Jake Allen returning and Carey Price skating, Hammond became expendable.
As for Schnarr, he was a third-round pick of Arizona back in 2017 (we had him mocked to Montreal in the second round that year) and was moved to New Jersey as part of the Taylor Hall trade. He has spent his entire career in the minors but is having a good season with 13 goals and 13 assists in 43 games with AHL Utica. A pending restricted free agent, the 23-year-old is likely to play for Laval down the stretch where he should give the Rocket a bit of a boost.