The Montreal Canadiens offseason began last week when Shea Weber was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights for Evgeni Dadonov. It promises to be much busier in the coming weeks, but has been quiet since.
It is surely the calm before the storm as the NHL Draft will be held in Montreal at the Bell Centre on July 7th and 8th. The Canadiens have 14 picks including the first overall selection. They also need to unload some cap space as they are over the limit after acquiring Dadonov and can’t stash Weber on LTIR anymore.
While the Canadiens are in a bit of a holding pattern waiting for the draft and free agency, their affiliate got a head start on things. The Laval Rocke signed a trio of players who will play for the organization next season.
Oliver Galipeau, a 25 year old left defenceman from Montreal signed a one-year contract to stay in the organization. He split last season with the Rocket and Trois-Rivieres Lions of the ECHL. He spent most of the season in the ECHL where he put up three goals and 33 points in 45 games for the Lions.
Galipeau was also called up for 18 AHL games where he added two assists for the Rocket. He will likely be ticketed to stay most of next season in the ECHL with the arrival of Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj, Mattias Norlinder and a full season from Jordan Harris and Justin Barron in the organization. But, he showed he can be counted on to play solid minutes when injuries occur.
Anthony Beauregard also signed with the Rocket today. He is from Saint-Damase which is just an hour or so away from downtown Montreal. He played last season in Switzerland where he scored 41 points in 50 games.
Beauregard is a scoring winger who piled up 60 points in 28 games while playing for Concordia in 2017-18. He also had a short stint with the Laval Rocket at the end of that season, scoring two points in ten games. He scored 71 points in 62 games in the ECHL in 2020-21 so he will either be a high scoring forward for the Lions or a depth piece on the Rocket next season.
The Rocket also announced that Santino Centorame will be joining the team. The Mississauga native played the last four seasons with St. FX University and scored 16 points in 24 games last season as a skilled, offensive defenceman. He had 73 points in 68 games in his final OHL season for the Owen Sound Attack in 2017-18 and could find himself playing a big role for the Lions as well.
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