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2020-21 Laval General Discussion Thread


dlbalr

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Now that we know there will indeed be a season, let's get the usual thread going.  We'll use this for any general news for their season which will feature a shortened schedule and only three opponents with the Rocket being part of a four-team Canadian division with Toronto, Belleville, and Manitoba.  It's possible that each team will play out of their NHL building (Manitoba already does).


A quick overview of the newcomers/departures (and there are plenty) since I didn't do the offseason thread for them:

 

New Players

F Pascal Aquin (Cincinnati, ECHL)

F Brandon Baddock (Binghamton, AHL)
D Tobie Bisson (Cincinnati, ECHL)

G Vasili Demchenko (Metallurg Magnitogorsk, KHL)

F Brent Gates (San Diego, AHL)

F Liam Hawel (Kitchener, OHL)

F Cam Hillis (Guelph, OHL)

F Rafael Harvey-Pinard (Chicoutimi, QMJHL)

F Arsen Khisamutdinov (Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk , KHL)

D Corey Schueneman (Stockton, AHL)

F Samuel Vigneault (Cleveland, AHL)

F Jesse Ylonen (Pelicans, SM-liiga)

 

Players Leaving

D Morgan Adams-Moisan (AHL free agent)

D Karl Alzner (NHL free agent)

F Joe Cox (AHL free agent)

F Ralph Cuddemi (Lehigh Valley, AHL)

D Ryan Culkin (Bratislava, ICEHL)

D Christian Folin (Vaxjo, SHL)
F Charles Hudon (Lausanne, NLA)

F Nikita Jevpalovs (Dornbirner, ICEHL)

G Keith Kinkaid (New York R, NHL)

G Connor Lacouvee (Trencin, Tipos Extraliga)

D Maxim Lamarche (Rouen, Ligue Magnus)

F Aaron Luchuk (Orlando, ECHL)

D Evan McEneny (AHL free agent)

F William Pelletier (Steinbach, ICEHL)
F Andrew Sturtz (NHL free agent)

F Antoine Waked (Indy, ECHL)
F Dale Weise (NHL free agent)

 

Laval doesn't have an ECHL affiliate for this season (Trois-Rivieres isn't officially in the league yet) and with only roughly half of that league playing, there won't be much of an opportunity to send players down. 

 

Laval is in decent shape for veterans, especially if some wind up on the taxi squad.  The refresher on the veteran rule:

 

A maximum of five skaters with 320 career professional games* played (as of the start of the season) can dress per night.  Teams can also dress an additional skater with between 260-319 professional GP as a sixth veteran (more than one in this group can play if there are fewer than five veterans with 320+ GP).

 
*Qualifying leagues towards the veteran GP calculation: NHL, AHL, NLA, Czech Extraliga, Slovak Extraliga, KHL, SHL, SM-liiga, and DEL. Only regular season games count towards the calculation.

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On 12/31/2020 at 6:39 PM, dlbalr said:

 

He's not a newcomer - he played for Laval last year.


thanks, I didn’t see him in the Laval list.

so I wondered

 

EDIT: Here is what I was looking for too:

 

Players Returning

F Alex Belzile               *(NHL camp)

F Joseph Blandisi       *(NHL camp)

D Josh Brook              

F Laurent Dauphin      *(NHL camp)

F Jake Evans               *(NHL camp)

D Cale Fleury               *(NHL camp)

D Noah Juulsen          *(NHL camp)

D Otto Leskinen          *(NHL camp)

F Jacob Lucchini        *(NHL camp)

F Kevin Lynch              *(NHL camp)

G Michael McNiven    *(NHL camp)

Gustav Olofsson         *(NHL camp)

D Xavier Ouellet          *(NHL camp)

F Michael Pezzetta    

F Ryan Poehling          *(NHL camp)

G Cayden Primeau      *(NHL camp)

D Alexander Romanov *(NHL camp)

F Joel Teasdale           *(NHL camp)

F Lukas Vejdemo        *(NHL camp)

F Yannick Veilleux

F Hayden Verbeek   

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On 12/31/2020 at 12:51 PM, dlbalr said:

Alexandre Alain is on termination waivers.  He had declined the camp invite (I was surprised he wasn't on the list) and has elected to pursue full-time studies.

 

Alain cleared and the Habs terminated his contract this afternoon.  That brings them back down to 47 contracts out of the 50 allowable.

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Jesse Ylonen was recalled from his loan in Finland.  He'll go through quarantine and should be ready for whenever Laval's camp starts up.

 

The team also announced yesterday that they will play all of their home games out of the Bell Centre this season.

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1 hour ago, dlbalr said:

Jesse Ylonen was recalled from his loan in Finland.  He'll go through quarantine and should be ready for whenever Laval's camp starts up.

 

The team also announced yesterday that they will play all of their home games out of the Bell Centre this season.


That is the one downtown montreal, right?

 

Have they announced if any of the AHL games will be broadcasted on TV or Radio/streaming 

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3 minutes ago, alfredoh2009 said:

That is the one downtown montreal, right?

 

Yes. This the Habs' home. So presumably AHL will align their schedule with the NHL so that the two teams can share the rink. Given the all-Canadian play, it should not be too difficult, though.

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6 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

 

Yes. This the Habs' home. So presumably AHL will align their schedule with the NHL so that the two teams can share the rink. Given the all-Canadian play, it should not be too difficult, though.


I wonder if they will also share the Brossard training facility 

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6 hours ago, tomh009 said:

 

Yes. This the Habs' home. So presumably AHL will align their schedule with the NHL so that the two teams can share the rink. Given the all-Canadian play, it should not be too difficult, though.

 

Winnipeg will be doing the same, and its possible it happens for Toronto too. 

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The group that's coming down from the Habs:

 

Others that are already in Laval would be Brook, Pezzetta, Verbeek, Khisamutdinov, Hillis, Veilleux, Aquin, Bisson, Gates, Hawel, Harvey-Pinard, Halbert, Schueneman, and Vigneault.  Quick count of 25 skaters which isn't a lot when there's no recall options so maybe there's another AHL deal on the horizon.  Guhle I think is down there as well (maybe Mysak too?) but with their leagues planning to play, they can't be counted on as part of the full-time roster.

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47 minutes ago, Fanpuck33 said:

Why on earth keep Poehling on the taxi squad instead of sending him down to get big minutes in Laval? Seems like an indicator that they don't think he has any room for further development and is officially a bust.

 

Could be just keeping him around the NHL team a little longer as the AHL season wont start til February.

 

They might figure hes better practicing with the NHLers instead of AHL training camp.  As we get closer to actual games i expect to see him and Fleury sent down and vets be on the taxi squad like weal and ouellet.

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4 hours ago, Commandant said:

 

Could be just keeping him around the NHL team a little longer as the AHL season wont start til February.

 

They might figure hes better practicing with the NHLers instead of AHL training camp.  As we get closer to actual games i expect to see him and Fleury sent down and vets be on the taxi squad like weal and ouellet.

 

Completely agree ... it allows the Habs to stay on top of a couple of youngsters until they move on to Joel Bouchard

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4 hours ago, Commandant said:

 

Could be just keeping him around the NHL team a little longer as the AHL season wont start til February.

 

They might figure hes better practicing with the NHLers instead of AHL training camp.  As we get closer to actual games i expect to see him and Fleury sent down and vets be on the taxi squad like weal and ouellet.

 

It could also be to keep Evans on his best behavior :)

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5 hours ago, Commandant said:

 

Could be just keeping him around the NHL team a little longer as the AHL season wont start til February.

 

They might figure hes better practicing with the NHLers instead of AHL training camp.  As we get closer to actual games i expect to see him and Fleury sent down and vets be on the taxi squad like weal and ouellet.

That is apparently their plan -- Poehling and Fleury are expected to move to Laval once the season starts.

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23 hours ago, tomh009 said:

Are there AHL roster size or contract limits that would come into play here?

 

Nope - AHL teams can carry however many players they want.  (That isn't just for this season either, that's a normal rule.)  The key factor remains the veteran rule.

 

23 hours ago, alfredoh2009 said:

Weal is going to Laval? 
 

I am surprised

 

Part of me is but part of me isn't.  Given his cap hit, what are the odds he'll actually be recalled to the Habs at some point?  It'll be a while before they can even afford him.  If they can't use him, why have him up with the taxi squad?

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From Elliotte Friedman's 31 Thoughts:

 

17. AHL Manitoba could be hosting some Vancouver prospects. Laval might have some non-Canadiens, too.

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/31-thoughts-avalanche-traded-ian-cole-minnesota/

 

Something to keep an eye on for.  That'd be one way to get around what appears to be a thin roster in terms of depth.

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1 hour ago, dlbalr said:

From Elliotte Friedman's 31 Thoughts:

 

17. AHL Manitoba could be hosting some Vancouver prospects. Laval might have some non-Canadiens, too.

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/31-thoughts-avalanche-traded-ian-cole-minnesota/

 

Something to keep an eye on for.  That'd be one way to get around what appears to be a thin roster in terms of depth.

Rocket should gladly accept players in return for draft picks ... kidding ... sort of

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34 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

Rocket should gladly accept players in return for draft picks ... kidding ... sort of

 

A random thought, I still remember the days where the Habs were the secondary team in Hamilton (those were the early days of this site).  That's how they wound up with Claude Julien the first time and had to pay a draft pick to hire him out of Edmonton's system since he was the coach of the Bulldogs with the Oilers being their primary affiliate (before moving to Toronto in 2003-04).

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