Lernout was not qualified by the Canadiens prior to Tuesday's deadline, Eric Engels of Sportsnet.ca reports.
The 6-foot-4 blueliner will likely have a new home for the 2019-20 season after Montreal elected not to extend Lernout a qualifying offer. The 23-year-old collected nine points in 74 games with AHL Laval in 2018-19, failing to appear in an NHL game a season ago after playing 18 games for the Canadiens in 2017-18.