The Montreal Canadiens brought back Laurent Dauphin this year. They signed him to a one-way, AHL contract. He previously played for the Canadiens and Laval. He’s played in 94 NHL games and his AHL season has been strong. This was a good gamble.
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He is currently ranked second on the team with 14 goals and second on the team in points with 29 in 38 games. One thing that stands out is his maturity and his strength. He can score down low and he’s good on the power play. He sees a lot of time with the man advantage and on the penalty kill. His overall time on the ice is 19:14. That’s a ton and it shows how important he has been for Laval this season.
Another aspect of his game is in the face-off circle. He’s got a 49% percentage according to InStat. That’s good and it’s better than I would have expected. Besides that, he’s getting 15% defensive zone starts. Not bad, his two-way game has improved over the years and that’s something that does take some time for some players. His willingness to block shots and do it effectively makes him more valuable with the demands of today’s game.
Sometimes players deserve another shot to try and play in the NHL and if I were the Canadiens I would invite him to camp next year and then worst-case scenario, offer him another year in Laval and the best-case scenario is he gets a two-way deal just in case.
