Montreal Canadiens claim physical forward on waivers

This season has been a wild ride for Sammy Blais to this point, as he joined the Montreal Canadiens, only to be waived by the team and picked up by their biggest rival in the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Then, in 8 games with the team, he would post 1 goal and 3 points, but with the team getting the likes of Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies healthy, there was simply no room for the 29-year old, with Toronto placing him on waivers on Wednesday.

To the surprise of no one, Montreal were linked to Blais after that move from Toronto, and on Thursday, they made it official, re-acquiring the 29-year old after losing him earlier in the season on waivers.

This is a solid move for Montreal, as they're a team dealing with injuries to the likes of Alex Newhook, Patrik Laine and Kaiden Guhle, and while Blais isn't likely to play a major role, his presence gives them plenty of depth up front in the organization.

It's unclear as of right now if they want to send him down to the American Hockey League or whether there's a role for him in their forward group somewhere, but either way, this was a no-risk move for the team to acquire him once more.

When the Canadiens get healthy, there's likely not going to be a major role available for him, but for now, the team need all the experience they can get, making this a good move for Montreal as they look to take the next step towards being genuine Stanley Cup contenders.