The Montreal Canadiens have locked up undrafted free-agent Joel Teasdale, signing him to a three-year entry-level contract.
Teasdale went through the 2018 NHL Draft, and would still be eligible for the 2019 Draft if he didn’t sign an NHL contract prior to the NHL season starting. Considering that he was drawing interest with Team Canada’s World Junior team, you would have expected teams to have interest in the Draft.
This way, the Canadiens have to sign him to an NHL contract, but they do so without having to use a draft pick.