Montreal Canadiens Right To Reward Brandon Gignac With Multi-Year Extension

The Montreal Canadiens have been busy this morning when it comes to transactions. The annual All-Star break is over and teams are reporting back to work.

With the Canadiens having traded away Sean Monahan during the break, they needed some center depth. So, they called up Lucas Condotta from the Laval Rocket to fill a big need down the middle of the ice.

They also took care of some business by signed Brandon Gignac to a contract extension. Gignac is a veteran minor leaguer who was originally a third round pick of the New Jersey Devils after a strong QMJHL career.

The Repentigny, Quebec native only got into one NHL game with the Devils, and played most of the 2020-21 season in the ECHL with the Jacksonville Icemen. After that he signed with the Rocket on an AHL-only contract and has been getting better every year since.

His first season with the Rocket saw him score ten goals and 26 points in 48 games played. In 2022-23 he became more of a pivotal player for the Rocket and scored 13 goals and 33 points in 49 games. That was a slight improvement from the previous season but he also solidified himself as a solid two-way player at the American Hockey League level.

Not only was he putting up points but he also plays a hard, physical game and forechecks like his career relies on winning every puck battle.

This season, Gignac has become a go-to guy for a surging Rocket team. He currently leads the team in points with 42 in 43 games which put him fifth in league scoring. He is also tops on the team in goals as well with 14.

Though he is 26 years old and no longer really considered a "prospect" in the system, he signed a well deserved two-year contract with the Canadiens that will become effective immediately.

It is a two-way contract that will probably see him continue playing most of his time with the Rocket for the rest of this season as well as next year. However, it does make him eligible to be a call up to the Canadiens if needed, like Condotta was this season. In fact, with such a dearth of center depth, he could be on the Canadiens roster immediately.

It also gives a Rocket team that will have many prospects with high potential joining the team in the near future a perfect leader and mentor if Gignac ends up back in the AHL. Having continued to work on his game and battle on every shift, Gignac has quickly gone from an ECHL demotion to a prominent two-way player at the AHL level.

It makes a lot of sense to reward a player that shows this much dedication to the organization for three years with a two-way contract that could allow him to play some games with the Canadiens over the season and a half.

And it he just continues playing the was he has every shift with the Rocket he won't hurt the Canadiens at all.