The Red Wings have added some depth up front. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve signed free agent forward Theo Rochette to a one-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 24-year-old has been on the NHL radar for a couple of years now and last month, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that a few teams were believed to be taking a look at Rochette. Accordingly, it’s not surprising that he was able to secure an entry-level deal this time around. His signing age limits the term of the contract to just one year compared to the standard three seasons that most players initially receive.
Rochette was an impact scorer in his junior days in the QMJHL. Over his five seasons (spent between Chicoutimi and Quebec), he tallied 115 goals and 202 assists in 271 games during the regular season while adding 41 points in 40 postseason contests. That wasn’t enough to get him drafted and somewhat surprisingly, he wasn’t able to secure an entry-level deal as an undrafted free agent at that time either.
Instead, Rochette opted to head overseas, signing a two-year deal with HC Lausanne in 2023, then inked a five-year extension after that, a deal that put him under contract through the 2030-31 campaign. Clearly, the extension also had an NHL out clause which allowed him to join the Red Wings. Rochette has played the last three years in Switzerland’s top league, recording at least 30 points in each of them while coming up just shy of a point per game this season where he had 22 goals and 21 assists in 46 games. Rochette also fared well for the Swiss at the World Championship last month, notching three goals and three assists in 10 games on a team that just came up short in the Gold Medal Game, falling to Finland in overtime.
Rochette is joining a Detroit team that has finished 22nd in the NHL in scoring in each of the last two seasons. A natural offensive player, he could have a legitimate chance to crack their roster if he can hold his own in a bottom-six role in training camp. However, he will be waiver-exempt this season which could make it a little trickier for him to break camp with the Red Wings as they could prefer to stash him with AHL Grand Rapids where he could play a much more prominent role in their lineup. Either way, while it took longer than expected for Rochette to receive an NHL contract, he now has one in hand heading into next season.