The waiver wire has handed the Canadiens a possible low-cost fix, and Stefan Noesen is the name sitting right at the top of the list.
New Jersey placed the 33-year-old winger on waivers today, opening the door for Montreal to add help to its fourth line without giving up a pick or a prospect. For Kent Hughes, that kind of chance doesn’t come around often, especially with a veteran who has plenty of NHL mileage behind him.
Noesen has played 484 career NHL games and has collected 175 points along the way. He’s coming off a strong 2024-25 season in New Jersey, when he scored 22 goals and finished with 41 points in 78 games. This season has been a different story so far: through two games, he has no points and is minus-2.
The cap hit is part of the equation too. Noesen carries a $2.75 million charge, which is not insignificant for a player who would almost certainly be asked to handle a depth role in Montreal. Still, the experience is real, and that matters when a team is looking for stability in its bottom six.
He wasn’t the only player to hit waivers. Brett Leason of the San Jose Sharks and Chase Stillman of the Detroit Red Wings were also placed on waivers, while Mackenzie Entwistle cleared without being claimed.
Leason is 27 and brings size at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds on the right wing. He was a second-round pick of the Washington Capitals in the 2019 NHL Draft. Stillman, meanwhile, is 23 and was selected 29th overall by the Devils in 2021.
For New Jersey, the decision to expose Noesen may reflect the rough start the club has had. The Devils are 1-2-0 through three games, averaging 2.0 goals per game while allowing 4.3.
Montreal’s own numbers show why a move like this would be worth considering. The Canadiens are scoring 4.0 goals per game, but they’re giving up 4.7, and that kind of traffic in their own end is hard to ignore. Noesen wouldn’t fix everything, but he could give Martin St-Louis another dependable veteran option on the fourth line.
And unlike a trade, this would not require Montreal to part with any assets. That’s the appeal here: a potential roster upgrade with no draft pick or prospect heading out the door.
There’s no sign yet that Hughes will file a claim, but Noesen is clearly a player worth watching. The Canadiens will see the Devils on November 18 in New Jersey and again on January 13 in Montreal.
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Canadiens Make A Desperate Lineup Shakeup After Back-To-Back Losses
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Jakub Dobes will back up Fowler in goal while Samuel Montembeault remains day-to-day, leaving the Canadiens to juggle a situation they would much rather have settled. Jayden Struble was scratched to create room for Engstrom, a sign that the club is still searching for answers as it looks to clean up its own end. [Read more 🡒]