Former 1st Round Pick Available To Canadiens On Waivers

The Montreal Canadiens just acquired a former 1st round pick via trade, and another is currently available on waivers that many believe won’t clear.

With the Canadiens owning priority on waivers for another few days, they likely have the most interesting forward on waivers since the start of pre-season in Kieffer Bellows available to them today.

The 24-year-old Bellows seems to be caught in the numbers game at forward with the New York Islanders and is looking for a fresh start. The Montreal Canadiens are currently looking to inject more youth at forward within their organization, and Bellows, a known goal-scorer who is strong on the transition, is more like the type of player the Canadiens are looking to acquire moving forward.

General manager Kent Hughes is sure to be familiar with the 2nd-generation hockey player, as he played a full season at Boston University in the Hockey East division of the NCAA, the former player agent’s home turf.

Bellows looked to be in the process of taking off last season after he potted six goals and 13 assists for 19 points in 45 games, but this season seemingly couldn’t get the same kind of deployment under new head coach Lane Lambert. With a coach like Martin St. Louis, who prioritizes quick transition and opening up shooting lanes, a player like Bellows would be more inclined to thrive in such a system than the Islanders’ more structured and defensive style.

That being said, the Canadiens have their own forward crunch going on, and claiming a player like Bellow would further complicate it. However, with the Montreal Canadiens having sent down Corey Schueneman to Laval, and not yet having reactivated Joel Edmundson or Joel Armia, the Canadiens do have an available roster spot in case they wish to take a flyer on Bellows.

Be it the Canadiens or another team, it would be surprising to see Bellows clear waivers come 2 pm tomorrow.