Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
We have an important announcement regarding the Montreal Canadiens’ organizational depth chart.
The Trois-Rivières Lions have cleaned house on their roster.
The affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens unveiled its qualifying offers on Wednesday, an important step in the offseason for the organization’s depth.
Under ECHL rules, each team was allowed to submit a maximum of eight qualifying offers.
The Lions used all of their available slots.
Eight players from the team’s end-of-season roster have therefore received qualifying offers.
Among the forwards who received offers are Isaac Dufort and Mathieu Bizier, while Logan Nijhoff, Ben Hawerchuk, and Nicholas Girouard round out the forward group.
On the blue line, three defensemen received qualifying offers.
Wyatt McLeod, Kale McCallum, and Jacob Dion were selected, meaning these are players we could see at the Montreal Canadiens’ training camp in September.
The remaining players have been released by the Trois-Rivières Lions
That means seven players were neither qualified nor signed and are now unrestricted free agents.
“The Trois-Rivières Lions have unveiled the list of players who received qualifying offers!
All ECHL teams were allowed to issue up to eight qualifying offers to players who were on their end-of-season roster.”
These qualifying offers remain valid until July 22.
The players who received qualifying offers also cannot be traded before that date.
It’s also worth noting that several players had already settled their future within the Montreal Canadiens organization, as we reported over the past few days.
Laferrière, Beauregard, Charron, Lapenna, and Fuller all signed before the deadline.
How many of the qualified players will accept their offers?
That’s the question, because between today’s list and the final roster, the Lions’ lineup could still change significantly over the course of the summer.
Also keep in mind that Montreal Canadiens prospects, as well as players from the Laval Rocket, are expected to join the group before the start of next season.
Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics