The Canadiens are expected to sign Despres and send him to AHL Laval, Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette reports.

EDGE Analysis

Despres was in Montreal's camp on a professional tryout and apparently did enough to warrant continued interest. He had been a top-four blueliner for Anaheim before suffering a concussion one game into the 2016-17 season. He skated for Bratislava Slovan of the KHL last year.