HabsWorld.net --
The Laval Rocket kicks off its tenth season of operation on Friday night as they host Syracuse. It has been a season of turnover for Montreal’s top affiliate, with plenty of changes to their roster.
Before we get to the roster changes, there was also some changes behind the bench. With Pascal Vincent departing to take an assistant coaching job in Seattle, Daniel Jacob was promoted from his assistant coaching role to take over as the bench boss. He was responsible for the defence and penalty kill last season; that role will now be filled by Martin Laperriere, who covered the forwards in 2025-26. Meanwhile, the newcomer to the staff to replace Jacob’s spot is David Urquhart, himself a former Rocket defenceman, who will now run the forwards and power play. Even with just one new body behind the bench, there are a lot of changes.
Laval is bringing back its top two scorers from last season in Alex Belzile and Laurent Dauphin. After that, however, things change quickly. Their three through five top scorers from last season are all with new organizations now while Adam Engstrom, who was sixth in 2025-26 scoring, is up with Montreal for the time being. Let’s do a quick rundown of the changes by position (excluding college players who debuted late last season).
Forwards
Newcomers: Brett Berard, Hunter McKown, Sasha Pastujov, Samuel Poulin
Departures: Samuel Blais, Will Dineen, Sean Farrell, Joshua Roy, Luke Tuch
While three of the departures were key scorers for the Rocket last season, some of the newcomers should be able to pick up the slack. Pastujov was the leading scorer with AHL San Diego last season while Poulin potted over 20 goals and had nearly 50 points as well. Berard is coming off a quiet year with Hartford but is only two years removed from a 25-goal campaign himself.
Beyond those players, they’ll undoubtedly be counting on more from Owen Beck. After a 44-point rookie season, he dropped to 33 last season. There’s a regular top-six spot for the taking if he can hold onto it (assuming Belzile stays on the wing) and they will be counting on him to be much more of an impactful contributor offensively. Holdovers Jared Davidson and Filip Mesar will also be asked to be more consistent from a production standpoint to give Laval the secondary scoring they lacked for long stretches last season.
Defencemen
Newcomers: Braden Hache, Kale McCallum, Bryce Pickford (injured), Owen Protz, Ethan Samson, Maksymilian Szuber, Reilly Walsh
Departures: Nathan Clurman, Marc Del Gaizo, Josiah Didier, Josh Jacobs, Tobie Paquette-Bisson, William Trudeau
With Engstrom up with the Habs, the holdovers from last season are basically David Reinbacher and Luke Mittelstadt, who was there for a few weeks to end the year. Otherwise, it’s a brand-new group to work with.
While Pickford will play some offensive minutes when he’s cleared to return from his shoulder surgery, Walsh will be the go-to threat in that regard from the back end. Returning to North America after a year in the KHL, he will be a key offensive producer with the hopes that he won’t give it all back at the other end.
Szuber should play a big role as well. Acquired for Roy, he doesn’t have much NHL promise but he should be able to be a steady presence with a bit of grit. Samson has had a bit of success over his first three professional seasons while Protz will give the blueline a physical dimension when he’s in the lineup. Hache is a decent third-pairing option who may be the seventh option while it wouldn’t be shocking if McCallum saw regular minutes in Trois-Rivieres but is the first recall when injuries strike.
Goaltenders
Newcomers: Kevin Mandolese
Departures: Benjamin Gaudreau (played exclusively in the ECHL last season)
Things are pretty stable here, with Jacob Fowler and Kaapo Kahkonen comprising the tandem. Mandolese is a veteran of seven AHL seasons, albeit with largely limited playing time. He can fill in as a backup in a pinch but might start in Trois-Rivieres as well. Basically, if Fowler’s up with Montreal, they have a serviceable option after demonstrating that they don’t have much faith in Hunter Jones.
A whole bunch of changes is one thing but the big question, of course, is: are they better than they were a year ago? Last season, they narrowly won the division despite some poor play down the stretch and then went out with a whimper in the playoffs.
I think they can be better than last year, though it might not result in another division title. If all goes to plan, there is a bit more offensive depth than there was a year ago and secondary scoring was a big issue in 2025-26. A bit more overall firepower, especially from the back end with Walsh and eventually Pickford, should lead to some more success.
The goaltending is solid, assuming we see the Kahkonen of the first half of the season and not the second half where he really faltered. But defensively, there are some questions. There is more overall upside with this group compared to last year’s (especially when Engstrom is sent back down) but I think it’s going to be a bit more of an inconsistent group, given how young it is.
With a group that, on paper, looks a little better than last season, it should be another interesting year for the Rocket and it all gets started tonight.
Projected Lineup
(Based on practice lines from earlier in the week)
Berard – Dauphin – Belzile
Davidson – Beck – Pastujov
Poulin – McKown – Mesar
Simoneau – Bentley – Thorpe
Injured: Condotta
Scratches: Arseneau, Nadeau
Mittelstadt – Reinbacher
Szuber – Walsh
Protz – Samson
Injured: Pickford
Scratches: Hache, McCallum
Fowler
Kahkonen
