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Montreal Canadiens: Contract Extension Coming For J.F. Houle?

By Ken MacMillan

LAVAL, QC - MAY 12: Head coach of the Laval Rocket, Jean-François Houle, handles bench duties during the second period against the Syracuse Crunch in Game Three of the North Division Semifinals at Place Bell on May 12, 2022 in Laval, Canada. The Laval Rocket defeated the Syracuse Crunch 4-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
LAVAL, QC - MAY 12: Head coach of the Laval Rocket, Jean-François Houle, handles bench duties during the second period against the Syracuse Crunch in Game Three of the North Division Semifinals at Place Bell on May 12, 2022 in Laval, Canada. The Laval Rocket defeated the Syracuse Crunch 4-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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The Montreal Canadiens are gearing up for the 2023-24 season and have drastically reduced the numbers of players they have in training camp in recent days.

This allows them to narrow down the players who actually have a chance of making the team and getting a close look at everyone before making the final cuts. It was also necessary because the Laval Rocket are opening their training camp today and they need a full roster of players on the ice to do so.

The Rocket finished with 76 points in 72 games last season and lost a qualifying playoff round so they didn’t really technically make the playoffs at all. They will be looking to take another step forward this season and have some reinforcements joining the team that should be able to help them do that.

Joshua Roy, Jared Davidson, Logan Mailloux and Jakub Dobes give them some youthful exuberance and scoring punch as well as a top college goaltender. Lias Andersson and Philippe Maillet signed as free agents and should provide plenty of scoring as veteran AHL players.

The team also has Jean-Francois Houle back behind the bench and have had some decent results with him directing the team. Last season was his second with the team and in his first season in Laval, the Rocket made a run to the third round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Houle is now heading into the final year of his contract, but Canadiens executive Jeff Gorton recently spoke with Guillaume Lefrancois of La Presse and mentioned things could get done with Houle in the near future.

When asked about Houle’s contract status, Gorton said dealing with contracts takes time and is something that comes up every year obviously. He mentioned Houle does a really good job working with young players and they will talk soon and hopefully work something out.

It sure sounds like the Canadiens side are open to having Houle sign a contract extension. With just two years of pro experience under his belt, it is probably in the best interest of Houle, a Charlesbourg, Quebec native to stay with Laval for the foreseeable future as well.

So, we should expect this to not be the final year of Houle behind the Rocket bench and a contract extension should be coming in the near future.

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