Florida Panthers Claim Montreal Defenseman

The Florida Panthers have claimed Montreal Canadiens defenseman Noah Juulsen off  waivers. The 23-year-old wasn't expected to make it through and it looks like the Panthers have won the sweepstakes.

All the best to Noah Juulsen, who is getting a great opportunity to resume his NHL career in Florida. He's been through some really tough times and is bouncing back. For what it's worth, thought he looked really good in the Red-White scrimmage yesterday.

— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) January 11, 2021

The former first-round pick was caught in a numbers game in Montreal and was surprisingly waived. As a right-handed shot with an edge, defenseman like Juulsen are a prized commodity so it was a bit head scratching move when the Habs waived him.

Last season the BC native was unable to see any minutes with the big club and the Canadiens now move on. In 44 career games, Juulsen has chipped in with eight points and was a plus 6. With Russian star Alexander Romanov able to play both sides and Victor Mete also in the way, unless Juulsen turned into Shea Weber 2.0 overnight, he was ending up out of the picture. 

For the Panthers they add another young defenseman to their mix. The Cats made headlines last night as it sounds like they are focusing on developing younger defenseman and are moving them up the depth chart with ease. This means the likes of Keith Yandle and others will see less playing time this season.

SONNNK: What Are The Florida Panthers Doing!?!? 😱😱https://t.co/erImViKpQb

— NHL Trade Rumors (@NHLTradeRumors) January 10, 2021

Photo credit: Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire

We have claimed defenseman Noah Juulsen off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens. ⬇️https://t.co/zReJzumvUS

— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) January 11, 2021