Huge Surprise on Waivers: Kent Hughes and the Canadiens Officially Have the Opportunity to Claim Evgeny Kuznetsov

The center player is now free to be claimed by all league teams.

Due to Kuznetsov's salary of $7.8 million, the Canadiens are one of the few teams with the salary cap flexibility to acquire him.

To do so, Kent Hughes would only need to place Christian Dvorak's contract on the long-term injured reserve list to remove his salary from the team's payroll.

Considering that Kirby Dach and Dvorak are injured and Sean Monahan has been traded, the team's center line is far from stellar with Alex Newhook, Colin White, and Jake Evans behind Nick Suzuki.

Adding Kuznetsov is nevertheless a matter likely to be considered by the Canadiens.

At 31 years old, he scored 55 points in 82 games last year.

Credit: Habs et LNH