Montreal Canadiens add depth with Sam Vigneault and Corey Schueneman
By Omar L
The Montreal Canadiens organization is getting deeper as the Laval Rocket signed Samuel Vigneault and Corey Schueneman to AHL deals.
It was tough when the AHL was forced to officially end the 2019-20 season without declaring a Calder Cup champion. However, with sights moving on to the 2020-21 season, the Laval Rocket are continuously adding more support to their roster. It’s already started with the Montreal Canadiens signing prospects Jesse Ylonen, and Arsen Khisamutdinov and Laval have furthered that effort by adding Samuel Vigneault and Corey Schueneman to the fold.
Vigneault is a 24-year-old centre whose frame is one of the first things that stand out at 6’5″ and 202 pounds. The Quebec native played 57 games with the Cleaveland Monsters, putting up 11 goals and 5 assists for 16 points. The Quebec native was an undrafted free agent from Clarkson University and signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets but was unfortunately left unqualified.
He has hockey sense and is a powering centre when he can be, but it’s the lack of skill that has held him out lower levels. That said, Vigneault is too good for the ECHL as he easily put up 6 points in 3 games playing for the Jacksonville IceMen last season.
Schueneman is the same age as Vigneault but is a left-shot defenceman with less AHL experience. In total, he has 50 games in the minors under his belt, all played with the Stockton Heat. He also played 4 games with the Kansas City Mavericks scoring 2 goals and adding an assist.
Offence may not be the best thing to look at for defenceman, but something that is encouraging was he was able to duplicate his production from his NCAA years at Western Michigan University. Schueneman put up 3 goals and 18 assists in his final season as captain in college and put up the same state line in Stockton.
It’ll be interesting to see where both players fit in the Rocket’s system. Both are likely depth options, and Vigneault, in particular, could get special team duties with his wingspan and ability for net-front presence assignments.