Montreal Canadiens Wisely Lock Up Corey Schueneman

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 19: Corey Schueneman (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 19: Corey Schueneman (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

Montreal Canadiens announced today that they have signed a contract with Corey Schueneman.

The 25 year old left shot defenceman is signed to a one-year AHL contract with the Laval Rocket for this season.

The Canadiens have liked what they’ve seen from him enough to extend him through next season with a two-way contract at the NHL and AHL level. Right now, he doesn’t have an NHL contract so he can’t even be called up with his deal structured the way it currently is for this season.

Schueneman is having a great season for the Laval Rocket. He hasn’t piled up the points, he has seven in 21 games, but he is a smooth skater who likes to move the puck up ice quickly, join the rush and help with the attack in the offensive zone. He is getting more comfortable in the offensive zone and showed off some hands with a beauty goal last week.

I hope he washed those hands before signing his new contract, because that is filthy.

Schueneman signed as a free agent with the Rocket this season, but was pretty solid for the Stockton Heat last year. He put up 21 points in 44 games as a rookie in the AHL following a successful four year college career with Western Michigan.

There is a lot of depth on the Rocket blue line, with Xavier Ouellet returning to the team today from the NHL taxi squad, Gustav Olofsson about to return after the birth of his child, and Otto Leskinen, Cale Fleury and Josh Brook playing great hockey this season.

With Olofsson and Leskinen’s contracts up after this season, the Rocket ensure they sill have plenty of depth with Schueneman staying in town for another year.