Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
The Montreal Canadiens, fresh off of a 5-4 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators recalled two players from the Hamilton Bulldogs: defencemanNathan Beaulieuand center Joonas Nattinen.
Both players are expected to be at practice in Toronto today. The recall of Nattinen is not overly surprising. Nattinen is not recalled to score goals. He will be there to win faceoffs and to provide more depth to a group of forwards that is missingRyan WhiteandAlex Galchenyuk.
It may also mean that the Canadiens will be able to useGeorge Parrosmore situationally since he won’t be the 12th forward out of 12 on the roster.
The surprising bit of news is the fact thatNathan Beaulieuhas been recalled. It has been a matter of time for the Canadiens to get help on their back end but it now becomes a numbers game.
Beaulieu will be the eighth defenceman on the roster, and they are all healthy.Francis Bouillonwas already a healthy scratch and maybe – just maybe – the management of the team has realized that they do have players who can be more successful thanDouglas Murray.
I mentioned yesterday that Michel Therrien has made questionable decisions so far this season. Either he made the move to add more depth to his disposal, or general managerMarc Bergevinhas forced his hand.
The only thing more interesting than the two players who were recalled will be if they draw into the lineup in Toronto on Saturday and whose spots they take.
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