Waiver wire: Montreal claims goaltender from Florida


All of Montreal is in full panic mode for the health of Carey Price and Al Montoya. Especially with this move by Bergevin.

The Montreal Canadiens have claimed goaltender Antti Niemi off waivers from the Florida Panthers.

Niemi, a former Stanley Cup winning goaltender with the Blackhawks, has had quite a rough stretch since his last year with the Dallas Stars. He finished the 2016-17 season with a 3.30 GAA and a .892 save percentage. He was given a cheap deal from the Penguins, who were looking to full the hole Marc-Andre Fleury left after departing for Vegas. However this failed miserably as Niemi played in only 3 games, ending with a 7.49 GAA and a .797 save percentage. After being claimed off waivers by Florida he played 2 games for the Panthers, finishing with a 5.11 GAA and a .872 save percentage.

On the Canadiens side, this likely means one or both of Al Montoya and Carey Price are injured long term. It looks like 23 year old Charlie Lindgren will have to continue his god-like play as of late if the Canadiens want to stay in any sort of playoff talks.

Was this a good move by the Canadiens, or a useless acquisition? Leave a comment down below.