The Canadiens announced Sunday they have placed forward Alex Barré-Boulet on waivers for the purpose of a loan to the AHL’s Laval Rocket.
Other NHL teams have until noon Monday to claim Barré-Boulet, otherwise he will report to Laval.
The Canadiens signed Barré-Boulet to a one-year, one-way contract worth US$775,000 on July 1 when he was an unrestricted free agent. The 27-year-old played 36 games last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, posting 6-3-9 totals, and also played 23 games with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, posting 4-15-19 totals. Barré-Boulet finished second in AHL scoring during the 2022-23 season with the Crunch when he had 24-60-84 totals in 69 games with the Crunch.
Barré-Boulet played in the first two games this season with the Canadiens before being made a healthy scratch for Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre. The 5-foot-10, 174-pounder from Montmagny was never selected at the NHL Draft despite posting 53-63-116 totals in 65 games during his final junior season in the QMJHL with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. In 70 career NHL games, Barré-Boulet has 12-6-18 totals.
The Rocket lost 3-1 on the road to the Springfield Thunderbirds on Saturday night after opening the AHL season with a 5-2 road win over the Providence Bruins on Friday night. Jared Davidson scored for the Rocket in Springfield. The Rocket’s next game with be their home opener at 7 p.m. Friday at Place Bell against Syracuse.
The Canadiens, who have a 2-1-0 record to start the season, practised Sunday morning at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard and will be back in action Monday when the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., Prime, RDS).
Defenceman Jayden Struble, who has missed the first three games with an upper-body injury, took part in Sunday’s practice. The only player who didn’t practise was defenceman Mike Matheson, who took a therapy day. Matheson leads the Canadiens in ice time, averaging 26:08 through the first three games.
The Los Angeles Kings will be at the Bell Centre on Thursday (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS) before the Canadiens travel to New York to face the Islanders on Saturday (7 p.m., CITY, SNE, TVA Sports).