North of the border on Monday morning, the Montreal Canadiens took to the ice for practice before their game Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes. But former Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner was conspicuously absent.
It turns the 30-year-old has been placed on waivers.
Confirmed. Alzner to waivers.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) November 26, 2018
Alzner is in the second year of a five-year, $23-million contract with an annual average value of $4.6 million.
The Canadiens defenseman has played just eight games this season, averaging 17.5 minutes per game. He was notably scratched in the first game of the Canadiens season, breaking his 622-game ironman streak.
Alzner’s play has degraded in recent years, as documented here on RMNB and summarized in the tweet below from Micah Blake McCurdy:
Karl Alzner (rumours of waivers) is a shutdown defender who hurts his own offence more than his opponents, doesn't shoot well, is an average penalty killer, has a weak penalty differential, and a scandalous contract. pic.twitter.com/cPIE1fCrIl
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) November 26, 2018
Alzner left the Capitals after they were eliminated from the 2017 playoffs. As he left DC, Alzner discussed his future:
We had good teams in Washington, but we couldn’t quite get over that hump … I have an opportunity this year to get a chance to get over that hump with a new club so I took that.
The Canadiens did not make the playoffs in 2018.
