July 22: Lajoie has indeed joined Avangard on a one-year contract, the team said.
July 19: Playing time in the NHL has been hard to come by in recent years for unrestricted free agent defenseman Maxime Lajoie. As a result, it appears that he may be changing things up for next season. Artur Khairullin of Sport-Express reports (Telegram link) that the blueliner could be signing with Avangard Omsk of the KHL.
The 27-year-old made a good first impression back in 2018-19. Not really on the NHL radar for Ottawa heading into training camp, he wound up making the team and played in 56 games with them before being sent down late in the season. Unfortunately for him, Lajoie’s playing time at the top level has largely been sparse since then as he has managed just 21 more appearances between Ottawa, Toronto, and Carolina.
Last summer, Lajoie inked a one-year deal with Seattle worth a guaranteed $500K but after he cleared waivers in training camp, he was not brought up the rest of the way. As a result, he spent the full season with AHL Coachella Valley and had a productive year, notching four goals and 34 assists in 70 games, putting him inside the top 20 for points by a defenseman.
That output was largely in line with his AHL production over his career. Across four different organizations over parts of eight seasons, Lajoie has 34 goals and 160 assists in 378 games. Notably, he qualifies as a veteran in the AHL, with teams only being able to play five of those (with more than 320 professional games) on any given night, a rule that has squeezed some capable players out of a job.
It’s unclear if that rule is hindering Lajoie now or if he’s merely looking to try something new since he has been cemented as an AHL regular but it appears he has at least one overseas option available to him now. If he makes it known that he’s open to a move across the pond, Lajoie is someone who could command interest from other leagues as well.