Montreal Canadiens: Four Players Signed By Laval Rocket

The Montreal Canadiens have been very quiet in free agency so far. They traded away veteran defenseman Joel Edmundson for draft picks and though they re-signed Rafael Harvey-Pinard, they are yet to sign anyone who is going to be a full time NHL player.

They did sign Phillip Maillet and Brady Keeper on the opening day of free agency but both of those players will be playing for the Laval Rocket next season. The Rocket continued to fill up their roster yesterday by signing four players who will be playing at the AHL level.

Jared Davidson, Jakov Novak, Tobie Paquette-Bisson and Straus Mann all signed with the Rocket yesterday. All four of them have signed one-year and one-way AHL contracts which means none of them are eligible to play in the NHL with these deals, but they will be paid the same whether they play in the AHL or ECHL next season.

Davidson was the Canadiens 5th round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. He just wrapped up his overaged Junior season in the WHL by scoring 38 goals and 82 points in 60 games for the Seattle Thunderbirds who were among the top ranked teams in Canada all year. He added 11 goals and 23 points in 19 postseason games.

The Edmonton, Alberta native will turn 21 later this week and should be ready to step into the Rocket lineup and produce offense in the same way Xavier Simoneau and Rafael Harvey-Pinard did before him. That isn’t to say he will be a point per game player but rather a 40-50 point scorer over a full season with the potential to develop into more down the road.

Novak is a 24 year old forward who just wrapped up his college career at Northeastern. He played with Habs propsects Jordan Harris and Jayden Struble and would have caught the attention of Habs general manager Kent Hughes as he played alongside his sons, Jack and Riley. Novak scored eight goals and 12 points in 35 games last season.

The Riverside, Ontario native added seven goals and 12 points in 14 ECHL with the Allen Americans after finishing his college season. He should be able to provide some scoring for the Trois-Rivieres Lions of the ECHL next season.

Paquette-Bisson is a 26 year old defenseman who has already two seasons with the Laval Rocket. He went to the Ontario Reign last season but now returns close to his hometown of Rosemere, Quebec. The 6’3″ defender had 16 points last season in 61 games and will add some veteran leadership to the Rocket blue line that will have plenty of young players on it.

Mann is a goaltender who had an excellent college career at Michigan. His final two NCAA seasons saw him post sub-1.90 GAA and .930 and .939 save percentages. He then played the 2021-22 season in Sweden’s top league where he posted a 2.19 GAA and a .914 SV%.

Last season was his first full season of pro in North America, and he had mixed results. The 24 year old played 20 games with the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL where he had a 3.32 GAA and a .894 SV%. In 13 ECHL games he had a 2.51 GAA and a .932 SV%. So, he was not good in the AHL but was great in the ECHL.

The Canadiens have Jake Allen and Sam Montembeault at the NHL level, possibly Cayden Primeau at the AHL level if he passes through waivers and Jakub Dobes making his pro debut with the Rocket this season. They also have Joe Vrbetic in the system who will play with the Lions in the ECHL. Mann probably fits best with Vrbetic but could be called up from time to time to fill in at the AHL level as well.

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