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Rem Pitlick

Armia, Evans, Slafkovsky Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Montreal Canadiens have moved three forwards to injured reserve, giving the designation to Joel Armia, Jake Evans, and Juraj Slafkovsky. All three will be out indefinitely, while additional testing is performed. In their place, Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Rem Pitlick have been recalled.

Sean Monahan has also been moved to long-term injured reserve as he continues to rehab, though the team does not he is “progressing well.”

Armia is dealing with an upper-body injury, potentially one suffered on a hit from Jacob Trouba on Sunday. The Finnish forward played over 18 minutes in the game, but now is obviously dealing with something that will keep him sidelined. Armia has just seven points so far on the season and has been a healthy scratch several times, as he struggles to reach the heights that he was playing at a few years ago.

Slafkovsky also played in that game, but saw just over nine minutes of ice time. The top prospect is dealing with a lower-body issue. It hasn’t been quite the season many expected of the big Slovak, as Slafkovsky has just four goals in 39 games. He has shown flashes of high-level scoring ability but is too often overmatched by the speed of the NHL. Several times this season he has been caught with his head down by a heavy check, something he will have to adapt to moving forward.

Evans, meanwhile, may be dealing with the worst injury of the bunch. It at least looked that way when he crumpled at center ice on Saturday, piled on after a faceoff scrum. The 26-year-old forward was playing the best hockey of his season but is now dealing with a lower-body injury that kept him out of Sunday’s game.

If you are a proponent of the “tank,” then losing three regular forwards might be time for celebration. But the Canadiens are also trying to build a culture under head coach Martin St. Louis, and losing Slafkovsky in particular doesn’t help that move forward. The team’s depth will be seriously tested, though Harvey-Pinard and Pitlick are capable replacements.

Montreal Canadiens Loan Rem Pitlick To AHL

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The Montreal Canadiens announced that they have loaned forward Rem Pitlick to the Laval Rocket, their AHL affiliate. In a related move, the team has also recalled forward Anthony Richard from Laval. Pitlick has bounced around between Montreal and Laval plenty this season, while this will be Richard’s first call-up since clearing waivers and being assigned to the Rocket back on October 5th.

Pitlick, 25, has done his best to ensure the shuffle hasn’t held him back too much this season. The forward has six points through nine games with Laval thus far, though he has just one point, a goal, in 14 games with Montreal. Still, the former Nashville Predators draft pick hasn’t been able to repeat his production from last season, where he had 15 goals and 22 assists over 66 games between Montreal and the Minnesota Wild.

Also a former Predators draft pick, Richard, who turns 26 on Tuesday, has dominated the AHL thus far this season, recording 31 points in 26 games, on pace to eclipse his previous career-high in the league of 47, recorded over 73 games back in 2018-19. Should he get into action for the Canadiens, it would be the Quebec native’s first action with the Canadiens and first NHL games since he played a single game with the Predators in 2019-20.

Montreal Canadiens Place Mike Hoffman On Injured Reserve, Recall Rem Pitlick

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The Montreal Canadiens announced today that forward Mike Hoffman has been placed on injured reserve. In a corresponding move, the team has recalled forward Rem Pitlick from the Laval Rocket, Montreal’s AHL affiliate.

Additionally, the team announced that forward Brendan Gallagher is currently being evaluated for a lower-body injury and won’t play in the Canadiens’ game against the Calgary Flames tonight.

Hoffman, 33, has been out with a lower-body injury for more than a week now. The veteran sniper has gotten off to a so-so start for the Canadiens this season, scoring eight points in 16 games. In Hoffman’s absence, the Canadiens will hope that Evgenii Dadonov can heat up after a slow start and fill in for some of the goal-scoring they’d have expected a healthy Hoffman to provide.

With Gallagher out, the Canadiens needed to create space on their roster to recall a forward to replace him, which led to Hoffman’s placement on injured reserve. The forward they called up is Pitlick, who has had a rough start to the 2022-23 campaign, having gone scoreless in seven NHL games this year.

Pitlick looked like a savvy waiver claim last year as he scored 37 points in 66 games last season, a 46-point pace. But so far this year Pitlick has been squeezed by the Canadiens’ glut of middle-six forward options and has spent time in the AHL as a result.

Now back on Montreal’s roster with a chance to get some game action, Pitlick will hope to re-capture some of the luck and quality play that defined his performance last year.

Rem Pitlick Returned To AHL

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The Montreal Canadiens have sent Rem Pitlick back to the AHL after just a couple of days and no game action, as Mike Matheson is expected to make his return soon. Even if he’s not ready for tomorrow’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Canadiens are at home for the next two and don’t need the extra body traveling with them.

Pitlick, 25, was held scoreless through seven games before eventually finding himself on waivers. The shiny new two-year contract he signed with the team in July didn’t save him from being sent down, meaning the Canadiens are now paying him over $1MM to suit up for the Laval Rocket. The shifty forward has three assists in three AHL games, after scoring 26 in 46 matches with Montreal last year.

Matheson, meanwhile, hasn’t played yet for Montreal after being acquired in the offseason from the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was in a regular jersey at practice on Wednesday and should be back soon. What that means for the Canadiens defense isn’t clear. Eric Engels of Sportsnet recently wrote how it could actually affect fan favorite Arber Xhekaj, as he, Jordan Harris, and Kaiden Guhle are the only waiver-exempt defensemen on the roster. Activating Matheson would give the team eight blueline options, and reduce the amount of flexibility up front.

Getting a change on the back end might not be the worst idea for a team that has given up 15 goals in its last three games. Even with the Columbus Blue Jackets missing half their lineup, Montreal still managed to give up six goals last night in a loss. Xhekaj and Johnathan Kovacevic each played fewer than 16 minutes in the game.

Rem Pitlick Clears Waivers

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Nov 8: Pitlick has cleared waivers (along with Dylan Wells, who was waived by the Chicago Blackhawks) and can now be assigned to the minor leagues.

Nov 7: The Montreal Canadiens have too many forwards. Even with Evgenii Dadonov on injured reserve, the team was still carrying 14 legitimate NHL options. The team has been exploring trade options for some of the bigger names, but to this point, nothing has materialized. Today, they’ll reduce the number by at least one.

Rem Pitlick will be placed on waivers, likely with the purpose of sending him to the minor leagues if he clears. He last played on November 3 against the Winnipeg Jets, a game in which he took two minor hooking penalties in just over ten minutes of action. That moved him out of the lineup entirely, missing Saturday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights as a healthy scratch.

Pitlick, 25, was a bit of a revelation for the Canadiens at the end of last season, scoring nine goals and 26 points in 46 games after the team claimed him from the Minnesota Wild. He hasn’t been anywhere near the same player this season and has been held scoreless through seven matches. The unfortunate part for Montreal is that late-season performance earned Pitlick a two-year contract in the summer, worth $1.1MM each season. That kind of a deal will make any team considering a claim hesitate, given his poor start.

Still, perhaps there will be a club that sees the young forward as an NHL option. If he isn’t claimed, the team could send Pitlick to the minor leagues to get back on track and recall him at some point in the future. His entire cap hit could be buried with the move.

Canadiens Sign Rem Pitlick

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After non-tendering him earlier in the week, the Canadiens have decided to bring back Rem Pitlick, announcing that they’ve re-signed the forward to a two-year contract.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports (Twitter link) that the deal carries an AAV of $1.1MM.

The 25-year-old bounced around a bit last season.  He spent the preseason with Nashville before being waived and claimed by Minnesota.  Pitlick was relatively productive with the Wild as he had 11 points in 20 games but found himself back on the wire back in January.  Montreal was dealing with several injuries and missing quite a few players due to a COVID outbreak so they scooped him up.

With the Canadiens, Pitlick had an opportunity to play a much bigger role and made the most of it, picking up nine goals and 17 assists in 46 games while averaging over 17 minutes per game.  However, GM Kent Hughes acknowledged during his press conference (Twitter link) that they didn’t want to risk an arbitration hearing with Pitlick which resulted in his non-tender on Monday.  Even with that, he gets a small raise on the $917K he made last season and a bit of job security with the two-year term.

Following today’s earlier swap that saw Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling go to Pittsburgh, the move freed up a roster spot up front and enough cap space to bring Pitlick back.  Now, following Pitlick’s addition, the team has a little over $1.2MM in cap space remaining, per CapFriendly.  That won’t be enough to sign the recently-acquired Kirby Dach so it appears that Montreal may need to make another move to trim money at some point this summer.

Snapshots: Drouin, Laughton, Lindenwood

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The Montreal Canadiens won’t have forward Jonathan Drouin in the lineup tonight, as he’s returned home due to a close COVID-19 contact, the team announced. Drouin’s battled through injury this year, missing around two months with a wrist injury, but has been fairly productive with 20 points in 34 games when in the lineup. It’s another tough break for Drouin, who’s put up points over the past few seasons but can’t stay in the lineup. Waiver claim Rem Pitlick could get an elevated role in the Montreal lineup while Drouin is out.

More from around hockey on this Thursday night:

  • Philadelphia Flyers forward Scott Laughton “didn’t get great news” during his latest doctors’ appointment, said head coach Mike Yeo today. The forward has been out with a concussion for roughly two weeks, and it’s looking increasingly likely that he won’t return this season. The team has shut him down for the time being as he focuses on his recovery. If it is the end of the year for him, he finished 2021-22 with 28 points in 54 games.
  • Division I college hockey is officially coming to the St. Louis area. Lindenwood University officially unveiled its program today, after more than a year of rumors surrounding the school. In its first season, the school will be coached by former St. Louis Blue Rick Zombo.

Montreal Canadiens Claim Rem Pitlick

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The Montreal Canadiens have added a little bit of forward depth, claiming Rem Pitlick off waivers from the Minnesota Wild. It’s the second time that Pitlick has been claimed this season, after the Wild took him from the Nashville Predators at the beginning of the year.

It’s certainly an interesting claim for the Canadiens, who have been ravaged by injuries this season and don’t have a lot to play for down the stretch. Pitlick, 24,  is a capable offensive player with 11 points in 20 games for the Wild this season but wasn’t being used very much in the more competitive matchups. In fact, in three of his last four games for Minnesota, Pitlick had seen less than seven minutes of ice time.

That likely won’t be the case in Montreal, where he’ll suddenly be among many other forwards that have as little NHL experience as him.

It’s also a familiar name for the Canadiens organization, given they selected his brother Rhett Pitlick in the fifth round of the 2019 draft. That Pitlick, still just 20 years old, is in his freshman season for the University of Minnesota.

Adding relatively young talent through whatever means is necessary for the Canadiens as they look to turn around a franchise that hit rock bottom this season. Even if Pitlick doesn’t turn out to be more than he has shown to this point, he is still an asset that they grabbed for nothing more than the low cost of a waiver claim.

Unfortunately, despite him being 24, Pitlick is likely headed for unrestricted free agency in the summer. With just 31 games played to this point in his career, he’ll qualify for Group VI UFA status should he fail to play in 49 more this season (the Canadiens have 48 remaining).

Rem Pitlick Placed On Waivers

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The Minnesota Wild have placed Rem Pitlick on waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The 24-year-old forward was claimed off waivers by Minnesota earlier this season, meaning the Nashville Predators could potentially send him directly to the minor leagues if they are the only team to put in a claim this time around.

Through 20 games with Minnesota, he actually has six goals and 11 points, but has seen his ice time drop to just a handful of minutes over the last while. In Saturday’s game against the Washington Capitals, Pitlick played just 5:35 and seemed obviously on his way out of the lineup. With Joel Eriksson Ek approaching a return and Kirill Kaprizov avoiding major injury, Pitlick’s time in Minnesota could be over.

Should he clear, the team could send him to the minor leagues but not the taxi squad. Since he was on the active roster for most of the season, he isn’t eligible to be placed there despite his salary being under the $1MM threshold. Pitlick is on a one-year, two-way deal that carries a cap hit of $917,831 and will be a Group VI unrestricted free agent at the end of the year unless he plays in an additional 59 games this season.

Injury Notes: O’Reilly, Wild, Schenn

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St. Louis Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly is likely to return to the lineup Sunday night when they take on the Anaheim Ducks, per Blues writer Chris Pinkert. The 30-year-old center missed the team’s last four games while in COVID-19 protocol. He’s likely to return to top-line duties between David Perron as well as Brandon Saad, who’s also missed time while in COVID-19 protocol this season. Prior to departing the lineup, O’Reilly had five points in five games while averaging 19:13 of ice time per game.

Other injury notes from around the league:

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