Habs Sign Alexandre Texier, Recall Adam Engstrom

With the Habs set to head out on a West Coast road trip, they have added some reinforcements.  The team announced Sunday that they’ve signed forward Alexandre Texier to a one-year deal and recalled defenceman Adam Engstrom from Laval.

Texier had been with St. Louis this season but after seeing minimal playing time, he was placed on waivers on Thursday.  Upon clearing, he declined to report to the minors, landing him back on waivers on Saturday for a mutual contract termination.  Upon clearing earlier today, his deal, which carried a $2.1 million cap hit, was voided, making him an unrestricted free agent.  Hours later, he signed with Montreal for less than half that amount as his full-season cap charge will be $1 million.  By waiting until after 5 PM ET, the deal will officially hit the books on Monday.

Texier, a 6’1 forward, was a second-round pick by Columbus back in 2017, going 45th overall.  He was a centre when he was drafted but has spent the bulk of his pro career playing on the wing, a role he’ll likely reprise with the Habs.  The 26-year-old spent parts of five seasons with the team (not including a one-year stint in Switzerland for family reasons in 2022-23) with his final year in 2023-24 being his best.  That season, he put up 12 goals and 18 assists in 78 games while averaging a little more than 15 minutes per night of playing time.

However, instead of re-signing him that summer, the Blue Jackets opted to trade Texier to St. Louis for a fourth-round pick; he quickly signed a two-year, $4.2 million deal after that.  However, things didn’t go as well with the Blues.  Last season, injuries limited him to just 31 games although he still managed five goals and six assists in more of a limited role.

Those limitations carried over to this season.  Texier has played in just eight games, all but one of those coming in October.  Since then, he had been a healthy scratch with head coach Jim Montgomery preferring other options instead of him.  Texier had an assist in those eight outings while barely logging ten minutes per night of ice time on the fourth line.

While the last couple of seasons haven’t gone particularly well, Texier has shown middle-six upside in the past.  With the Habs missing Alex Newhook, Patrik Laine, and Kirby Dach (who was placed on IR today to make room for this move), having someone who has a bit of experience and a bit of NHL success will still be a welcome addition.  They’ve had to dig deep into their prospect pool so far with four different forwards coming up from Laval with varying degrees of impact.  One of the three currently with the team could be sent back down but as of yet, that hasn’t happened.

Notably, Texier still has another season of RFA eligibility remaining.  If he winds up being a fit with the Habs, they can tender him a qualifying offer (with arbitration rights) to keep him in the fold for 2026-27 as well.  And if not, he can be non-tendered and become an unrestricted free agent once again.

Meanwhile, there was an expectation that someone would be coming up from the Rocket to serve as the seventh defenceman on their upcoming trip.  That role has typically been filled by Marc Del Gaizo, someone who has NHL experience but isn’t a prospect so if he sits, it’s not a big deal.  This is the first time they’ve gone a different direction with Engstrom getting the first recall of his career.

It’s fair to say that Engstrom has earned it.  He put up seven points this week, punctuated by a five-point effort on Saturday against Belleville, moving up to a share of second in AHL blueline scoring for his efforts.  A third-round pick by the Habs in 2022, Engstrom has five goals and nine assists in 18 games this season after putting up five tallies and 22 helpers in 66 outings in 2024-25.

It will be interesting to see if the Habs get Engstrom into a game and give one of Jayden Struble or Arber Xhekaj a game off.  A left-shot blueliner, Engstrom has experience playing on both his on and off-side, giving Martin St. Louis a bit of extra versatility to work with.  On the other hand, with Laval off until Saturday, it’s possible that this is just a chance to get him into a few practices with the big club to assess his development without worrying about him missing much playing time with the Rocket.  Like Texier, his recall was registered after 5 PM ET, meaning he’ll start counting against Montreal’s cap on Monday when he and Texier are expected at practice.