Montreal Canadiens Re-Sign Lukas Vejdemo
The Montreal Canadiens are quite busy this week facing the Vegas Golden Knights in the third round of the NHL Playoffs. An overtime victory last night game them a 2-1 series lead and put them just two wins away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals.
General Manager Marc Bergevin has been busy following the team’s lengthy run, and was thrown a nasty curveball when head coach Dominique Ducharme was knocked out of the series due to a positive Covid test.
Bergevin somehow found time to negotiate a contract with one of the team’s prospects in the middle of all the excitement.
Lukas Vejdemo agreed to terms on a one-year, two-way contract extension with the team earlier today. The 25 year old Swedish forward played the past three seasons for the Laval Rocket and will likely begin next season with the team’s AHL affiliate as well.
Vejdemo was a third round draft pick in 2015 and has slowly but surely made his way to the fringes of the NHL. He scored seven goals and 13 points in 27 games for the Rocket last season, continuing a pattern that has seen him score about half of a point per game each year he has been with the Canadiens top farm club.
In 140 career AHL contests, Vejdemo has put up 29 goals and 61 points. He plays a smart defensive game as well that allowed him to be called up for seven NHL games in the 2019-20 season.
The contract will pay Vejdemo $750,000 if he plays in the NHL, and he is guaranteed to earn $215,000 if he plays the whole season in the AHL. That is a decent salary for a minor league player and would make it less likely for other teams to claim him on waivers. If the Canadiens choose to send him down to the minors, he would have to clear waivers first.
dark. Next. Should Habs be in on Eichel?
In all likelihood, Vejdemo will play next season with the Rocket. The Canadiens entire fourth line of Joel Armia, Corey Perry and Eric Staal are slated to be free agents this offseason, so maybe a spot on the depths of the roster opens up and Vejdemo steals it.