Nov. 7: The Canadiens announced they’ve loaned Del Gaizo back to Laval. As expected, he did not draw into the lineup against the Devils and was only on hand for injury insurance.
Nov. 5: The Canadiens announced the recall of defenseman Marc Del Gaizo from the AHL’s Laval Rocket. With two open roster spots, the Habs don’t need to make a corresponding transaction.
Montreal has both of those roster spots because it’s only carrying six defensemen while Kaiden Guhle is on injured reserve. Del Gaizo was last summoned on Oct. 21 to serve as injury insurance while the Habs went on a lengthy road trip. He was rostered for four games but did not play in any of them before being returned to the AHL last week.
With the Canadiens traveling to New Jersey to play the Devils tomorrow, and Laval being off until Friday, there’s no harm done in adding Del Gaizo for the mini-trip since he won’t miss any time in the minors. He’ll presumptively be returned to the Rocket on Friday as long as Montreal’s top six defenders escape the game without an injury.
The left-shot defenseman is in his first season in the Montreal organization. He signed a one-year, two-way deal with a $475,000 guarantee after becoming a Group VI unrestricted free agent last summer. He was coming off a career-high 46 appearances with the Predators, who drafted him in the fourth round in 2019, but has yet to suit up for the Habs this year. In six games for Laval, the depth rearguard has one assist and a +2 rating.
The only harm done by recalling Del Gaizo is burning additional time off his waiver exemption. Montreal passed him through during training camp in September. After he cleared, he can remain on the Canadiens’ active roster for up to 30 nonconsecutive days or play in 10 games before he needs to clear waivers again to return to Laval. Today will mark his ninth day toward that count.