Montreal Canadiens: Yannick Veilleux Signs Well Deserved Contract With Laval Rocket

The Montreal Canadiens are still on hiatus, but their management team is getting some work done. They signed some organizational depth, bringing Yannick Veilleux back for another season.

The Montreal Canadiens season remains on pause and we wait to see what the schedule and format will look like when they finally return to action. While the players sit idly waiting to hear news on when they will be back on the ice, the Habs management team has been working behind the scenes.

Today, they announced that they have locked up some organizational depth for next season. Yannick Veilleux has agreed to terms on a one year contract extension with the Laval Rocket for next season.

Veillieux was originally drafted in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL Draft by the St. Louis Blues. He hasn’t played an NHL game, as he has bounced between the AHL and ECHL for the past seven years after a great Junior career in the QMJHL with the Shawinigan Cataractes and Moncton Wildcats.

The St. Hippolyte, Quebec native had a previous stint with the Habs farm team back in 2016-17 and 2017-18. He proved to be a decent depth piece who used his 6’2″ and 205 pounds to win battles and put pressure on opposing defenders.

This season, Veilleux started the year in the ECHL with the Kalamazoo Wings where he scored 19 points in 22 games. He was signed to a tryout contract with the Laval Rocket midseason after the Habs system was decimated by injuries. The 27 year old winger made the most of it, scoring 12 goals and 20 points in 26 games with the Rocket.

The Rocket used 27 different forwards this season, so adding as much depth as possible for next season is a must. Veilleux’s contract, like Liam Hawel’s a few weeks ago, is an AHL only deal so it does not count towards the limit of 50 contracts that the Montreal Canadiens are allowed to have for the 2020-21 season.

This is basically free depth for the Rocket organization. Veilleux is from the area, familiar with the team and scored at an impressive pace when he returned to the Rocket last season. He should fit right in on the wing for Joel Bouchard and the Laval Rocket next season.