Alex Barre-Boulet has been one of the AHL’s best, and he would be a good addition for the Montreal Canadiens as a star for the Laval Rocket.
For the Montreal Canadiens, Alex Barre-Boulet, in a sense, was the one that got away.
In recent years, the Canadiens have begun to dip their toes into the undrafted free agent market a bit more than usual. Over their first three seasons, the Laval Rocket’s roster has seen the occasional sprinkling of homegrown undrafted players, who mostly served in-depth roles with the occasional exception.
In a sense, Barre-Boulet is one such exception, though not for the Canadiens. A native of Montmagny, Quebec, the 5’09 center burst onto the scene in his overage season in the QMJHL. Coming off back to back seasons with at least 80 points, Barre-Boulet exploded for 53 goals and 116 points in 2017-18, leading the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada to the league finals, which they lost to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
Despite this, Barre-Boulet’s small stature and age turned most NHL scouts away, causing him to go undrafted in the NHL entry draft. In the off-season, Barre-Boulet picked up some interest from NHL teams as a more intriguing overaged prospect than normal. I’ve done a few posts in the past on these kinds of players, like trade deadline acquisition Aaron Luchuk and current Rocket forward Alexandre Alain.
While Barre-Boulet, to me, seemed like a no brainer acquisition for the Habs, he ended up signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning instead in March of 2018. The thing is, with most overaged prospects like Luchuk, their ceiling is usually quite low, as they are, in essence, a man amongst boys, being 20 years old in their final junior season. In Barre-Boulet’s case, however, his small stature led to higher interest than most, which he has confirmed so far in the AHL.
In his rookie season, Barre-Boulet posted 34 goals and 34 assists in 74 games with the Syracuse Crunch, tying him for the AHL lead in goals while being named rookie of the year.
This season, Barre-Boulet was playing at a similar pace, with 56 points in 60 games prior to the AHL season’s suspension and subsequent cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While he was invited to the Lightning’s training camp for the NHL playoffs, he and defenseman Cal Foote were left off the final roster, signalling an upward trend following Barre-Boulet’s performance in the AHL.
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The Crunch’s roster suffered this past season without 2018-19 leading scorer Carter Verhaeghe in the lineup, who spent this past season on Tampa’s fourth line. For the most part, Barre-Boulet was the sole driving force for the Crunch besides AHL veterans Gemel Smith and Cory Conacher. Tampa Bay’s roster is one of the stronger in the NHL, as evidenced by their impressive performance in this year’s NHL playoffs, following a shocking first-round exit last season to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Their lineup has been comprised of mostly mainstays for the past few seasons, leaving openings in the roster difficult to come across. While Barre-Boulet’s performance has been impressive, Verhaege’s spot is the only real one available, in my opinion, leaving me to wonder where his value lies in a potential trade.
Following the missed chance at acquiring Barre-Boulet, Montreal went out and got the next best thing. His two linemates in junior, and his former coach.
Alain posted an 87-point campaign alongside Boulet in 2017-18 and has since become a key part of the Rocket’s roster following the departure of AHL stars Riley Barber and Phil Varone. Joel Teasdale posted 34 points in 20 games with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies after being traded by Blainville, leading them to a Memorial Cup Championship.
Torn ligaments in his MCL and ACL put an end to his campaign this season in August of 2019, but now healed, he should look to join Alain on the Rocket and hopefully find some chemistry. Former bench boss Joel Bouchard was named coach of the Rocket last year, and his team first approach led Laval to a 30-24 record this year and a legitimate shot at a playoff spot.
Personally, I couldn’t see a better environment for Barre-Boulet to develop in, alongside his old linemates and coach in a league with a much higher skill level. While the Rocket’s performance was impressive this year, they were lacking in any real game-breaking stars, and Barre-Boulet has the potential to bring those qualities and give Rocket fans a homegrown star to cheer for.
His performance in the AHL has been self-explanatory for a 23-year-old undrafted free agent, and it marked a welcome trend in the league of undrafted players turned AHL stars, like Iowa Wild forwards Sam Anas and Gerald Mayhew.
While it’s unclear where exactly Barre-Boulet’s values lie in the Lightning organization, throwing a mid-range prospect like Jacob Olofsson or Lukas Vejdemo in a swap of prospect packages could work, and give the Rocket a legitimate star and point of interest for the first time since the days of Chris Terry and to an extent, John Scott.
While its clear the Lightning have an interest in Barre-Boulet, a trade for a player of similar skill level is plausible in my opinion, and something I think the Habs should pursue, as it’s a lower end trade and a perfect fit for this undrafted free agent turned AHL star.
With the Montreal Canadiens season now over, the off-season becomes their main focus, and I believe that this undrafted, homegrown center could be a solid acquisition.