The Montreal Canadiens did not manager to claim former Boston Bruins centre John Beecher, though it may not have been due to a lack of trying.
The Calgary Flames currently hold the No.1 position on the NHL’s Waiver Wire priority list, a reward for being the NHL team with the fewest points in the standings. They quickly claimed Beecher, a testament to the lack of options around the league.
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With all due respect to Beecher, it’s telling that a player with poor underlying numbers and a very limited potential was immediately claimed on waivers, though the fact that he’s a left-handed centre certainly improved the odds several NHL teams would be interested in his services.
Montreal Canadiens Waiver Option
On that note, Philip Tomasino, a 2019 first-round pick, has also entered the waivers conversation. He’s not a centre, and thus would not fill a pressing need for the Habs, but this is a situation where the team may want to find any port to survive their current injury storm.
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With the exception of his nine-game stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins to start the season, Tomasino has maintained respectable underlying numbers over the course of the last two seasons, managing to score 11 goals and 12 assists in 53 games last year.
Again, he’s far from an ideal target for the Montreal Canadiens, but given the injury situation, general manager Kent Hughes may want to err on the side of caution. It should also be noted that at just 24 years old, the speedy forward does fit into Montreal’s preferred age group.
If the Habs are interested in claiming the speedy forward, waiver-wire priority will once again be working against them, as they currently hold the 22nd spot on the list.
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In other words, roughly two thirds of the league will have an opportunity to claim Tomasino before the Canadiens can get their hands on him.
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