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The Canadiens had promised Brandon Gignac a contract

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The Canadiens had promised Brandon Gignac a contract
Credit: Capture d'écran / Screenshot

Brandon Gignac is off to an excellent start with the Canadiens. The Quebec center has scored a goal in five games and provides defensive support for the Tricolore’s fourth line. Except that the Canadiens couldn’t take advantage of this help without offering him an NHL contract.

And that’s exactly what Montreal did on February 4, signing him to a two-part contract. Gignac was already playing for the Laval Rocket, but was doing so under a one-tier AHL contract.

The situation didn’t stress Gignac out, however, as he knew he’d get his chance to join the big club at some point.

Appearing on BPM Sports’ Le retour des sportifs program on Friday, Gignac revealed that he had received a contract promise of sorts from the Canadiens organization after training camp.

As he explained on BPM Sports, Gignac had a very good training camp, but he was only under contract with the Rocket. That’s when the Habs told him to keep working hard and that they’d offer him an NHL contract when they had the chance.

Gignac worked hard, and not just a little. He scored 14 goals and 28 assists for a total of 42 points in 43 games this season before being recalled by the Habs. He’s still the Rocket’s top scorer this season, even after spending the last two weeks with Montreal, and leads Joshua Roy by 10 points.

This promise from the Habs could have had the effect of a net on some players, who would have slowed down the pace. Gignac, on the other hand, took it as a “little kick in the backside” to get off to an excellent start this season and truly earn his place.

Gignac told host Martin Lemay, however, that he was beginning to feel the clock was ticking on his contract, but that management had reassured him all along the way this season.

Rocket head coach Jean-Françcois Houle told him not to give up and that it would come, but what really impressed him was Martin St-Louis, who told him not to stop believing because “the second you stop believing and get the call, you’re not going to do well up there”.

Things are going very well for Gignac in Montreal. So much so, that when St-Louis had to cut a forward from the line-up when Brendan Gallagher returned from suspension, he decided to cut Jesse Ylonen instead of Gignac.

Gignac’s stint in Montreal isn’t likely to end anytime soon, but it’s safe to assume that he’ll be back in Laval by the end of the season to help the team qualify for the playoffs.


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