Montreal Canadiens Sign Joe Veleno

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Montreal Canadiens are closing in on a contract for center Joe Veleno. It’ll be a coming-home party for the former first-round pick, who’s from Montreal and spent his junior days with the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs and Drummondville Voltigeurs. The Canadiens confirmed it is a one-year, $900K contract for Veleno.

Veleno has had an unexpected path through the NHL. He was drafted 30th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2018 NHL Draft, using one of the picks acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Tomáš Tatar. It was a relatively steep fall in draft stock for Veleno, who had been projected as a top-10 talent on most boards before the 2017-18 season.

Still, his prospect pedigree grew a year after being drafted, putting together an impressive showing with the Voltigeurs, scoring 42 goals and 104 points in 59 games with a +63 rating. He was relatively successful throughout his time for Team Canada during the World Junior Championships, scoring one goal and eight points in 11 tournament contests over two years.

Unfortunately, he began to stagnate upon joining the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. Veleno remained a quality defensive player, but the scoring capacity he showed at the junior level didn’t follow him into professional hockey.

Throughout his time in Detroit, Veleno was largely utilized in a bottom-six role, averaging 13:05 of ice time over five and a half seasons. He finished his tenure as a Red Wing with 35 goals and 74 points in 288 games with a dreadful -56 rating.

Still, his defensive metrics paint a different picture and prove he has some value on that side of the puck. He averaged a 90.3% on-ice save percentage throughout his time in Detroit, while starting 54.0% of his shifts in the defensive zone. His faceoff percentage (46.6%) is subpar for a defensive-minded center, but Veleno continued to hold his own.

Considering that the Red Wings were a lethargic defensive team throughout Veleno’s tenure, he proved to be one of the few bright spots defensively. His time with Detroit ended last season, when the team traded him to the Chicago Blackhawks at the trade deadline for Petr Mrázek and Craig Smith.

Unsurprisingly, with a need to graduate more prospects to the NHL level, Veleno’s time in Chicago lasted 18 games. He was traded to the Seattle Kraken this offseason for André Burakovsky and was subsequently bought out by the Kraken.

In Montreal, it may be an opportunity for Veleno to become a full-time winger. Having Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, and Jake Evans on the roster for next season, Veleno doesn’t serve as an objective improvement over any of their available options.

There’s a decent chance Veleno will become a fourth-line left wing in Montreal, while serving as a center option if the team runs into injury trouble.