Montreal Canadiens: Where In The World Is Charles Hudon?
Montreal Canadiens 2020-21 season is well underway with the team starting off well, going 4-0-2 over a six game road trip to begin the season.
It’s an unusual season to say the least with games only being played against teams in Canada and baseball style series being played instead of the usual bouncing around from city to city that NHL teams have become accustomed to doing over the years.
It’s nearing February and we have only seen a half dozen NHL games from the Canadiens and their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, are yet to play a single game. Most of the AHL schedule has been released, but we are still waiting to hear when the Rocket will begin their season as other Canadian teams are still trying to find out if they can play home games this season.
One thing we do know is that Charles Hudon is not with the Montreal Canadiens nor he is attending Laval Rocket training camp. Hudon has become a bit of a fixture with the Rocket over the past few seasons, but he is not going to be showing up at the Bell Centre any time soon.
Hudon was a 5th round pick of the Canadiens back in 2012. He had an impressive career in the QMJHL with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens before turning pro. Once he graduated from the Junior level, Hudon became a key part of the Habs AHL teams.
He’s been there so long, he’s played on three different versions of the Canadiens AHL affiliate.
In his first season in the AHL, Hudon played for the Hamilton Bulldogs and scored 19 goals and 57 points in 75 games. He would score 28 goals and 57 points for the St. John’s Ice Caps the following season and last year, he had 27 goals and 35 points in just 46 games for the Laval Rocket.
In between minor league stints, he has suited up for 125 NHL games, showing some promise early in his career, but struggling at the NHL level for the past two seasons.
This season, with the Canadiens playing and the Rocket camp well underway, Hudon is not around.
The 26 year old who only played 46 of the Rocket’s 62 games, was 5th in the AHL in goals last season. However, he is a restricted free agent who did not come to terms with the Canadiens on a new contract for this season.
So, the Alma, Quebec native is playing for HC Lausanne in Switzerland right now. He signed a one-year contract with the team in NLA while the NHL was still in its offseason. In a bit of an odd wrinkle, Hudon’s contract does not have an out clause to allow him to return to the NHL this season.
This means he will stay in Switzerland until their season ends and then have a small window to return to North America, if he wishes. He is playing well, scoring ten points in 13 games with HC Lausanne, and did show a solid defensive game when playing in the Habs organization as well.
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The Canadiens will lose his rights next NHL offseason if he isn’t signed. It is possible he will sign a contract when the Swiss season ends and finish the year with the Rocket, but it looks like Hudon has probably reached the end of the road with the Canadiens organization.