Karl Alzner opts out of NHL’s return

Karl Alzner was going to be on the bubble for earning a spot on Montreal’s roster for their upcoming series against Pittsburgh but his fate has been decided as he has opted out of playing.

This season was not a particularly fun one for the veteran as he spent the majority of the season with Laval, getting into 53 games with the Rocket where he had a goal and 12 assists.  He did see action in four games with the Habs this season, averaging just 13:55 per night.

Given Montreal’s current defensive depth, he had a shot at making the roster for the Pittsburgh series in a 9th or 10th role.  However, with no real chance of playing, he has decided to sit out.

Alzner still has two years left on his contract with a $4.625 million cap hit.  GM Marc Bergevin will have to make a decision on whether or not to buy the deal out this offseason as there won’t be any compliance buyouts available.  At the very least, this will ensure he’s healthy heading into the offseason so there won’t be any risk of him getting injured and taking that option off the table.

He joins Travis Hamonic, Sven Baertschi, Roman Polak, Mike Green, and Steven Kampfer as players that have opted out so far around the league.

Training camp gets underway on Monday and the Habs will release their camp roster in the near future.