Canadiens Could Look To Waivers For Creative Solution To Injuries

The Montreal Canadiens have been hit with the injury bug and could look to waivers to get some much-needed reinforcements.

The Canadiens currently have 11 forwards in their lineup at the moment after the Canadiens announced long-term injuries to Jonathan Drouin, Juraj Slafkovsky, Joel Armia and Jake Evans.

It’s forced them to call up most of the Laval Rocket’s offensive forwards, leaving their AHL affiliate just as thin in depth as their main roster.

But, sometimes, with injury comes opportunity.

The Buffalo Sabres, who have had exceptional luck this season when it comes to the health of their forwards, were forced to put 28-year-old winger Vinnie Hinostroza on waivers today to make roster space to keep three healthy goalies on their main roster.

Hinostroza (BUF) and McCarron (NASH) on waivers

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 18, 2023

The Sabres held off as long as they could before being forced to make such a difficult decision, due to their strong depth at forward this year, and the stellar play of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in net this season.

Despite being waives, Hinostroza is a valuable bottom-six player who has had stints with the Chicago Blackhawks, Arizona Coyotes and Florida Panthers before landing in Buffalo.

He hasn’t been able to find his footing in Buffalo with only eight assists in just 19 games this season with the club, which is still respectable production; but the lack of goal-scoring could scare off a few general managers.

He’s potted 51 goals and 94 assists for 145 points in 353 games in his career, and his $1.7M cap hit until the end of the season could make him a pretty good bargain, especially if he can find his scoring touch.

Should the Montreal Canadiens put in a claim and provide Hinostroza with some quality playing time, which would be an outlandish notion, given how riddled with injuries the Canadiens have been, he could be an interesting piece the Canadiens could flip before the trade deadline for an additional asset.

They also have the cap space to make such a move, after putting Sean Monahan on Long-Term Injury Reserve earlier this week, and having Brendan Gallagher out until the NHL Trade Deadline.

It would be a creative way to make the best of an injured lineup and provide some additional asset value at the deadline; and hopefully provide some relief at both the NHL and AHL level from a player personnel perspective.

https://montreal.nationalhockeynow.com/2023/01/16/montreal-canadiens-updated-nhl-waivers-priority-canadiens-in-good-standing/