It was an eventful handful of months for new Montreal Canadiens forward Joe Veleno.
At the 2025 NHL trade deadline, the Detroit Red Wings traded Veleno to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Petr Mrazek and Craig Smith. He was then traded by the Blackhawks in June to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for Andre Burakovsky. Yet, just one week later, the Kraken bought out Veleno, making him an unrestricted free agent (UFA). From there, he signed a one-year deal with the Canadiens.
Now, being on his fourth team in a calendar year, Veleno will be looking to put together a bounce-back season with the Canadiens in 2025-26. If he does, it could help his chances of landing another contract with the Habs after this one.
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During the 2024-25 season with the Red Wings and then Blackhawks, Veleno recorded eight goals, nine assists, and 139 hits in 74 games. Overall, it was a bit of a down year for the 2018 first-round pick, but there is reason to believe that he can make more of an impact for the Habs this upcoming campaign.
Just back during the 2023-24 season with the Red Wings, Veleno set career highs with 12 goals, 16 assists, 28 points, and 108 hits in 80 games. If he can get his offense back up to these totals while being solid defensively, he could end up being a strong pickup for the Canadiens’ bottom six.
It will now be interesting to see what kind of season Veleno can put together for the Canadiens. There is very little risk in the Canadiens giving him this great opportunity.
