from Matt Cudzinowski of Canadiens.com,

Fresh off signing a one-year, two-way contract with the Canadiens, we caught up with defenseman Xavier Ouellet, who is set to relocate to Montreal in the next few weeks.

This has to be a really special time in the Ouellet household. Between signing with the Canadiens and celebrating your daughter's first birthday on Sunday, there's a lot going on.

XAVIER OUELLET: It's really exciting. I have a lot of support back home. To have this opportunity, I feel like it's a perfect fit for what I needed personally and also for my professional career. It just seemed to make sense to me and I'm extremely excited about that challenge.

How much are you looking forward to moving back home?

XO: I keep saying that we're going to have a lot of babysitters, so it's good for us, too. (Laughs) I have my mom, my little sister and a couple of friends who we can call. Everyone is so excited to have us a little closer and they can be a part of our daughter's childhood. I think it's going to be good for my family. I feel like things happen for a reason. Things didn't go the way we hoped in Detroit. Now, a new opportunity opened up. The main criteria in my decision [to sign with Montreal] was the opportunity I'm being given hockey-wise and what I can bring to this team.

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