Montreal Canadiens sign Veteran Defenseman Jeff Woywitka with one-year, two-way deal –NHL News Update
Having another backup defenseman on their line-up was extremely important for Montreal Canadiens, as they learned last season that anything can happen at any time, which would lead to needing a valuable recall from the minor leagues.
Montreal filled a gap by signing veteran defender, Jeff Woywitka, to a one-year, two-way deal, which would have him up and ready whenever the major league franchise was in need. The announcement was made by the club on Monday, August 15, of which the financial
terms and conditions were not disclosed according to Canadiens policy.
An example of last season woes is the loss of defenseman, Andrei Markov and Jeff Gorges, which had the team scrambling all around the minor league in order to find befitting replacements. Next season, it will be much easier if such a situation occurs again
since they will have an immediate substitution.
Jeff Woywitka, a former 27th overall draft pick during round-one of the 2001 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft by Philadelphia Flyers, has never really been able to find his consistent game performance in the major league so far.
The 27-year-old never played with his original draft team, but was signed on to St. Louis Blues, with whom he played his first 26 NHL games with during the 2005-2006 regular season, picking up only two assists and ending up with a plus-minus rating of -12.
Woywitka continued to play three more seasons with St. Louis and its minor league affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL), Peoria Rivermen, until finally moving on to Dallas Stars for the next two seasons.
In 2009-2010, Woywitka registered only three assists in 36 matchups with Dallas. Last season, the Vermilion, Alberta, Canada native, had the second highest scoring 63 games of his career when he contributed 11 points (2 goals, 9 assists) and finished with
a plus-minus rating of five.
Change of team just might be something Jeff Woywitka was looking for as he aspires to establish a name for himself in the North American league during the next season with Montreal Canadiens, who have aspirations of their own, which might result in a win-win
situation for both.
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