Montreal Canadiens: Making The Case To Sign Samuel Houde

The Montreal Canadiens have a number of CHL free agents that they have to make a decision on in the near future. Here, we make the case they should sign Samuel Houde.

The Montreal Canadiens have been busy at the NHL Draft for the past two years, and look to be busier than ever at the next one as they currently hold 14 picks for the 2020 NHL Draft. Adding a dozen or so prospects every year is a great way to build a team, but you eventually have to pick and choose which ones can stick around the organization.

National Hockey League teams are only allowed to have 50 players under contract at any time, so the Habs will not be able to sign every single player they have drafted in the past few years. Some players will simply have to go unsigned and become free agents or re-enter the draft.

The Habs had a quartet of CHL players that they selected in the 2018 NHL Draft that need to either be signed by June 1 or they will go back into the 2020 NHL Draft, whenever that is going to be held. It was supposed to be in Montreal at the Bell Centre in late June, but with the league on hiatus and likely just looking to get back into action then, we don’t know when the draft will be held.

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There was lots of talk that it will be pushed back to the fall, which would give the league time to finish out some sort of a postseason before they held the draft, as they always do. However, lately there has been more of a push to hold the draft in early June when there is no competition for television advertisement revenue. The league could capitalize on that open window and make the most income in a tough situation.

We still don’t know what the league is going to decide, but the deadline of June 1 to sign CHL players taken in 2018 can’t change if there might be a draft in a couple of weeks.

General manager Marc Bergevin made a statement back in February, that it was likely only one of the four CHL prospects that needed to be signed by June 1 would sign with the Habs. Cam Hillis came to terms with the Canadiens on his entry-level deal earlier this week. That would to be bad news for Cole Fonstad, Allan McShane and Samuel Houde, but I think Bergevin can still sign at least one more player from this group.

The Habs may not be able to sign everybody, as they can only have 50 contracts at once, but that is enough to have a full NHL roster, AHL roster and four extra players that would be in the ECHL if everyone is healthy.

Of course, there is almost never a time when everyone is healthy. But that is why the Habs should be looking to sign as many of these young players as possible. One of them that should be getting a lot of consideration for a contract is Samuel Houde.

Houde is a two-way centre who can also play left wing. He had 16 goals and 32 points in 54 games in his draft season and the Habs picked him in the 5th round. He remained with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens his entire Junior career and would score 16 goals again the following year but upped his point total to 43 in 64 contests.

This season, Houde was much better offensively, scoring 19 goals and 52 points in 44 games while serving as the team’s assistant captain. His offensive game really grew this season as a 19 year old. Yes, 19 year olds playing Junior typically see their offensive game improve, but not everyone can increase their point totals year-to-year like Houde just did.

He has decent size at 6’0″ and is versatile enough to slot in as a centre or move to left wing. The Laval Rocket have been decimated by injuries and their top players being called up to fill in for injuries to the NHL lineup. The organization hasn’t had the depth to keep up with these injuries and neither the NHL nor AHL team has played a playoff game for three consecutive seasons now.

Building through the draft is the best way to avoid the embarrassment of no playoff hockey at the NHL or AHL level for so long. Houde likely wouldn’t step into the Rocket lineup and be a top six player right away, but he has the offensive instincts and defensive smarts to develop into a reliable middle six forward for sure.

There are only so many players the Habs can sign without hitting the 50 contract limit in the near future. However, there are a handful of Rocket forwards that are RFA’s this offseason who are several years older then Houde and don’t have any more NHL potential. Let a couple of them go and bring in younger players.

You never know if a 19 year old can continue his growth and turn into a dependable depth player in the organization until you give him a shot. You know what the 24 and 25 year olds who are career AHLers are going to be in the next few years. The Habs should really consider giving Houde an entry-level contract before he heads back to the draft.