HabsWorld.net -- 

As the Habs work their way down to a compliant roster by Monday’s deadline, they placed nine players on waivers on Sunday for the purpose of AHL assignment.  They are as follows:

Goalie: Kaapo Kahkonen

Defence: Ethan Samson, Maksymillian Szuber, Reilly Walsh

Forwards: Alex Belzile, Brett Berard, Hunter McKown, Sasha Pastujov, Samuel Poulin

None of these names should come as too much of a surprise.  While Berard and Pastujov were reasonably productive in three preseason games, they were also arguably outplayed by Florian Xhekaj and Owen Beck.  And with 13 forwards on one-way deals ahead of them on the roster, there may not even be a spot to compete for unless the team is content with carrying 14.

Acquired this summer via trades, this will be Berard and Pastujov’s first time on the waiver wire.  The same can be said for McKown (acquired via trade) and Samson (signed in free agency) but the first two are the ones who might have the best chance of being claimed.

The other five have all cleared waivers in the past.  Kahkonen and Belzile were in Laval last season while Szuber and Poulin were in Utah and Pittsburgh’s systems, respectively.  Walsh, meanwhile, signed with the Habs this summer after spending last season in the KHL.

There are two players of note not on the wire.  The first is Samuel Montembeault, which suggests he will be on the season-opening roster on Monday.  The other is Lucas Condotta, Laval’s captain.  He’s dealing with an injury and thus can’t be waived.  If he has to start the year on injured reserve, there won’t be any cap effect for the Canadiens since he wasn’t up with Montreal at any point last season.

The players on waivers today are available to be claimed through 2 PM ET on Monday.  The roster deadline is three hours later and between those two times may be when the bulk of the remaining cuts will be made.