Laval Rocket: AHL Trade Deadline Day is here
By Omar L
The AHL Trade Deadline is set for 3:00 PM Eastern Time and with where the Laval Rocket is in the standings, it’s possible they could make some moves.
The NHL Trade Deadline had a nice effect on the Laval Rocket from the moves made by the Montreal Canadiens. The biggest was obviously the Tomas Plekanec trade that had Kyle Baun leave the organization but had Rinat Valiev and Kerby Rychel join the fold. Since then, Valiev is up with the Habs while Rychel hasn’t taken a step back having the same impact on Laval as he did with the Toronto Marlies.
Now that the AHL Trade Deadline is approaching soon, there’s a chance further changes can come Laval’s way. However, the only transactions that can occur are between players on AHL only deals. Looking at the Rocket roster, that would apply to two individuals: Eric Gelinas and Jordan Boucher.
Gelinas was originally signed to a professional tryout ahead of Montreal Canadiens training camp but was cut midway. However, he showed enough good things in his play to earn himself a minor league deal as, at the time, the Habs’ blue line was full. He slowly made his way up the Rocket’s defence pool and has been playing on the top pair for a large portion of the season.
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With injuries to Matt Taormina and Noah Juulsen‘s promotion, the 26-year-old has made the blueline in Laval his. Besides his skating and ability to read plays well, his shot from the point has led to a lot of offence be it goals (nine) or assists from deflections (nine). Gelinas also effectively uses his size and tends to throw a big hit when the opportunity presents itself.
Boucher, on the other hand, has had a nice journey. He started out as a camp invite out of Clarkson University taking part in both the Habs’ Rookie Tournament and main camp in September. Similarly to Gelinas, he too was given a minor league deal but started his season in the ECHL with the Brampton Beast. Boucher started on the second line with Thomas Ebbing and quickly showed that he was too good for the ECHL scoring two goals and an assist in four games.
It took a while for Boucher to contribute offensively, but his overall play has improved since first joining the Laval Rocket. After scoring a goal and assist in the team’s 4-2 loss to the Rochester Americans, the 24-year-old has seven points in four games bringing his point total this season to 17.
Both Boucher and Gelinas are impact players and the type that team’s like to have in the fold for a playoff run. Laval also has the likes of Niki Petti, Stefan Leblanc, Yannick Veilleux, and David Broll on AHL deals, but Boucher and Gelinas are the two who teams will most likely inquire on.