(Laval) The Laval Rocket will be able to count on reinforcements for a decisive weekend during which it will play its season.
The Canadian gave up defenders Justin Barron, Logan Mailloux, Jayden Struble and forward Joshua Roy on Wednesday, the Montreal organization confirmed on its official X account. The Habs also specified that Roy had received the green light from doctors to return to the game.
This is a good boost for the Rocket, who will close their season by facing the Belleville Senators in a home-and-home series, Friday and Saturday.
Roy, 20, scored four goals and five assists in 23 games with the Canadiens this season before going down with an upper-body injury suffered last month. The general director of the CH, Kent Hughes, then specified that the absence of the Quebecer would be four to six weeks.
Roy, a fifth round pick, 150e in total, from the Bleu-blanc-rouge during the 2021 NHL draft, also scored 13 goals and obtained 19 assists in 40 games with the Rocket this season.
As for Mailloux, who picked up his first point in his first NHL game Tuesday night in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings, he will return to the Rocket.
Mailloux, who is 21 years old, has scored 14 goals and collected 33 assists in 70 games with the Canadiens’ farm club this season. This performance also allowed him to be named to the AHL All-Rookie Team for the 2023-2024 season on Wednesday.
Originally from Belle River, Ontario, Mailloux was selected by the Canadiens in the first round, 31e overall, in the 2021 NHL Draft. He is the only Rocket player to have played in every game this season.
For his part, Barron has two goals and nine assists in 30 games with the Rocket this season. He also distinguished himself with seven goals and six assists in 48 games with the Habs.
For his part, Struble, who is more recognized for his defensive qualities, scored three goals and obtained seven assists in 56 games with CH. The 22-year-old American also played in 12 games with the Rocket in 2023-24.
The Rocket will cross swords with the Senators for the 11e time of the season, Friday evening in Belleville, but don’t think that a feeling of weariness has invaded the Laval camp. The stakes in this match are far too high.
That evening, the team of head coach Jean-François Houle will play its season at the CAA Arena. If the Rocket loses, he will be on vacation next week. If he defeats the Senators, he will remain hopeful of participating in the next playoffs in the American Hockey League.
Then, the next evening at Place Bell will follow, another duel of capital importance… against the Senators, the last of the regular season between the two teams, and for both clubs.
Holder of sixth place in the North section, where five clubs will qualify for the playoffs, the Rocket will take the ice Friday evening facing a decline, at best, of two points on the Senators.
This drop could also be three points, and even four, depending on the result of the Senators’ game against the Syracuse Crunch, Wednesday evening in Belleville.
But even if the Rocket were to fall behind by four points with two games to play, they will move past the Senators with victories in regulation on Friday and Saturday, as the Laval team holds the first tiebreaker.
reference: www.lapresse.ca