Sammy Blais' time with the Toronto Maple Leafs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafshttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs] has come to an end. The Montreal Canadiens [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] claimed Blais off waivers from the Maple Leafs on Thursday. Seeing the Canadiens claim Blais is not surprising in the slightest, as they lost him through waivers to the Maple Leafs ahead of the 2025-26 season. This was after the Canadiens signed the veteran forward to a one-year, $775,000 contract this summer. Since no other teams submitted a claim for Blais, Montreal was able to assign him to AHL [https://thehockeynews.com/ahl] Laval. Drew Shore discusses Auston Matthews' return from injury. Blais will now provide the Canadiens with more forward options after being claimed back. This is undoubtedly a need for the Canadiens right now, as they are currently dealing with injuries to Patrik Laine, Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook. Montreal called up forwards Florian Xhekaj and Jared Davidson earlier in November to deal with these injuries. Xhekaj has one assist, five hits and a fighting major in two games, while Davidson has 10 hits in five games. Blais, meanwhile, played in eight games this season with the Maple Leafs, where he posted one goal, two assists, three points, 28 hits and a minus-2 rating. The Montmagny, Que., native is back in the AHL for now. He won the Calder Cup with the Abbotsford Canucks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/vancouver-canucks] last season, recording 40 points in 51 regular-season games and adding 19 points in 23 playoff games. His next AHL game will be the 200th of his career. He has 145 points in the 'A.' In the NHL, meanwhile, Blais has 265 career games, 28 goals and 46 assists for 74 points. He won the Stanley Cup in 2018-19 with the St. Louis Blues [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues], which drafted him in the sixth round, 176th overall, in 2014. Now, he will be aiming to make an impact with the Canadiens after being brought back. Overall, there is no risk in the Canadiens bringing back Blais with this waiver claim. He has an easily affordable cap hit and will also give the Habs more experience. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/6a98b924-8788-4d58-b46e-86615594e319.png] For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
