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Montreal Canadiens

Veteran Defenceman Available To Canadiens On Waivers

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Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are actively looking for a veteran right-shot defenceman as a stopgap in their lineup, and one is currently available on waivers.

Andrej Sustr was a player identified early on in the preseason that could have been an eventual sneaky waiver pickup for the Canadiens, who remain in the hunt for a right-shot defenceman to add to their inexperienced lineup.

The Minnesota Wild have gotten off to a terrible start this season and are looking to turn their season around in a hurry. With eight D on the roster, the Wild wanted some flexibility and put veteran Sustr on waivers on Friday afternoon. The veteran defender hasn’t yet played a game in the 2022-2023 season, but does have 361 games of experience in the NHL, and another 46 games of playoff experience under his belt.

The 31-year-old is seemingly exactly the kind of defenceman that general manager Kent Hughes has been looking for to come down the wire. A seven-year veteran in the NHL, Sustr has played on some very good teams in the past, especially with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and would be a perfect stop-gap option for the Canadiens should they feel their younger defencemen need more season in the AHL. He would be able to slot in on the Montreal Canadiens’ bottom pairing or be used as a 7th defender to ensure that prospects like Justin Barron spend the better part of the year in the minors, barring a significant case of the injury bug.

The 6’7, 217lbs rearguard only has one year remaining on his current contract, which pays him just $750,000 per season, making him the ideal waiver-wire target for Hughes, as he is making league-minimum salary and could be buried in the AHL to help the other youngsters in Laval should things not work out in Montreal.

We’ll see if the Montreal Canadiens are tempted to go this route, given how vocal management has been about acquiring a veteran presence on the backend.