Montreal Canadiens: Blair Betts Is the Player the Habs Were Missing

Remember how everyone was clamoring for Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier to sign a big bottom-line centreman? You know, one with size and a good defensive skill set that could alleviate some penalty-killing pressure from Tomas Plekanec?

Paul Holmgren must secretly be a Montreal Canadiens fan.

Blair Betts was waived by the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday. Almost immediately, Habs fans were screaming for Gauthier to claim him.

Betts is 6'3" and 210 pounds. He was eighth overall in the NHL in time on ice on the penalty kill last season with the Flyers (271:46) and the second-leading forward in that category behind Todd Marchant.

His 50.3 faceoff percentage bested all Habs centres last season.

Betts has also worked with Habs defensive coach Perry Pearn when the two were with the New York Rangers' organization. I'm sure Perry had a lot of nice things to say and made the GM's decision even easier than it already was.

Most importantly, he is a much better option than Andreas Engqvist, who seemed to not have any interest in impressing the team's fans or management. The only reason Engqvist briefly got the job was because the brass didn't really have anyone else to give it to.

Thankfully, that is no longer the case.

I have been waiting all offseason for a depth move at the forward position. I cannot help but laugh that it finally came the day before the season opener.

I suppose the GM has more savvy than most of us do. After all, it's usually top-six talent that teams are looking for—something that the Habs have an abundance of.

It makes sense to think that teams would shed the less offensively inclined players toward the end of preseason play. In the Flyers' case, they picked up what they see as an upgrade to Betts in Maxime Talbot earlier this offseason.

Betts has had injury problems. Some suspect this is the reason why he was waived, although it didn't look like he was suffering any ill effects during preseason play.

I'm sure, at the end of the day, it's the kind of risk that the Montreal Canadiens would be willing to take, considering his price tag ($700,000) and the fact that they don't have much else to work with.

And Pierre Gauthier will surely be sending a thank you card Paul Holmgren's way.

Jason is on Twitter: Follow @jhytel