The Canadiens continue to trim their roster with the regular season now a week and a half away. On Sunday, the team announced that centres Lias Andersson and Phillipe Maillet were placed on waivers.
Both players suited up in Saturday’s loss to Toronto which is why they were not included in the batch of players waived on Saturday or cut following the game. The four players placed on waivers yesterday – blueliners Nicolas Beaudin and Brady Keeper plus forwards Lucas Condotta and Mitchell Stephens – all passed through unclaimed and have been sent to Laval.
Andersson is well-known to Jeff Gorton and Nick Bobrov as they’re the ones that drafted Andersson seventh overall back in 2017 while he was with the Rangers. That almost certainly played a role in him signing a one-year, two-way deal with the Canadiens back in July. However, he has yet to establish himself as a full-time NHL player and evidently didn’t make enough of an impression in training camp to stick around. Last season, the 24-year-old had 31 goals and 28 assists in 67 games with AHL Ontario.
As for Maillet, he last played in North America in 2020-21, making his NHL debut in a pair of games with Washington. The 30-year-old has spent the last two seasons in the KHL with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Last season, he played in 66 games, notching 22 goals and 31 assists, finishing tied for 13th in league scoring.
At first glance, it seems likely that Maillet should make it through waivers unclaimed but Andersson’s situation isn’t as certain. While he passed through last season, he’s coming off a strong year in the minors and has the draft pedigree that might warrant another look from someone. Teams will have until 2 PM ET on Monday to claim either player.