MONTREAL, QC—The Montreal Canadiens acquired 28 year-old defenseman Karl Alzner from the Washington Capitals on Saturday, July 1.
The 6 foot and 3 inch tall, 219 pound native of Burnaby, British Columbia agreed to a five-year contract with a value set at $23.125 million. This averages approximately $4.6 million per year.
Before beginning his professional career with the Capitals in 2008, Alzner spent five seasons with the Calgary Hitmen (WHL). Washington selected Alzner as the fifth overall pick (first round) of the 2007 NHL Draft. During his debut NHL season (2008-2009), he played for the Hershey Bears (WHL), Washington’s development club, and was called up to play at the professional level for 30 games. He helped lead the Bears to a Calder Cup win, his first.
Alzner made his first appearance with the Capitals on November 26, 2008 in a match against the Atlanta Thrashers. He would continue to play with the Bears, while being called up to 21 games with the Caps, the following season, in which Hershey won its second consecutive Calder Cup.
In his nine seasons with the Caps, Alzner played in 591 games and posted 117 points (19 goals and 98 assists) and 177 penalty minutes. He played in 64 playoff games and totaled 11 points (three goals and eight assists) and 16 penalty minutes.
Upon his departure from Washington, Alzner has reportedly cited “I want to win… it was frustrating to keep getting stumped in the second round [of the Stanley Cup Playoffs].”
