HabsWorld.net --
Laval continues to be quite active on the free agent front as they announced the signings of goalie Kevin Poulin, defenceman Alex Green, and winger Emile Poirier to one-year contracts.
Poulin is a name that some will be familiar with as he spent last season in Montreal’s farm system. He started with Trois-Rivieres of the ECHL but spent most of the year in Laval, posting a 2.34 GAA along with a .920 SV% in 30 games, numbers that were good enough to be in the top ten in both categories. The 32-year-old even got the first start of the playoffs before Cayden Primeau took over the rest of the way.
Primeau and Poulin should once again be Laval’s goaltending duo with Canadiens prospect Joe Vrbetic and veteran farmhand Philippe Desrosiers serving as the tandem in Trois-Rivieres. Samuel Montembeault was re-signed by the Habs on Monday and could also be in the mix for playing time with the Rocket so goaltending depth shouldn’t be an issue for next season.
Green is a 24-year-old right-shot defender that spent last season with AHL Syracuse. He had 26 points in 73 games during the regular season and got into a pair of playoff games against Laval back in the spring but was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Lightning earlier this month which made him a free agent. While Laval has a lot of defenders already, most of them are left-shot players with the exception of newcomer Madison Bowey and returnee Tory Dello. Santino Centorame is on an AHL two-way deal but is likely to start in Trois-Rivieres. Green should have a chance to stick full-time with the Rocket next season.
As for Poirier, the 27-year-old was a first-round pick of Calgary back in 2013 but has spent most of his career in the minors. He decided to play overseas the last two years and split last season between Riga of the KHL where he had 18 points in 39 games and Djurgardens of the SHL where he had five points in 11 contests. It’s worth noting that Poirier will count against the veteran limit with Laval and that he received a two-way deal so it’s possible that he’ll spent time with Trois-Rivieres when the Rocket has their full complement of veterans in the lineup.
