Montreal Canadiens: Three Players Who Took Advantage of Unlikely Opportunity

Laurent Dauphin

Laurent Dauphin was a second round pick of the Arizona Coyotes in the 2013 NHL Draft. He would play 35 NHL games for the Coyotes, scoring three total goals over parts of four seasons.

Dauphin spent most of his pro hockey career in that organization with their AHL affiliate but during the 2019-20 season he was traded to the Canadiens organization for Michael McCarron who was a first round pick of the Habs in 2013.

Dauphin finished that 2019-20 season with the Laval Rocket and scored seven goals and 15 points in 25 games. Last season, he scored five goals and 16 points in 21 games for the Rocket and he began this season on fire. The 26 year old was among the leading goal scorers in the AHL when he sniped 11 goals in 18 games to begin this season with the Rocket.

Dauphin was called up to the NHL and made his Canadiens debut on December 7th against the Tampa Bay Lightning. After two games he had just one shot on net and was a -3.

He continued playing between 15-17 minutes per game, but became a much more dangerous offensive player after his first two games. Dauphin would have a point in three consecutive games, including his first NHL goal in just over five years.

Then, as should be expected for a Canadiens player last month, Dauphin tested positive for Covid and was taken out of the lineup for the rest of the month. Even the replacement players need to be replaced, but Dauphin showed he can keep up at the NHL level.