AHL’s Top Scorer: Luke Mittelstadt Deserves a Chance in Montreal

Mathis Therrien
AHL’s Top Scorer: Luke Mittelstadt Deserves a Chance in Montreal
Credit: Capture d'écran Twitter

The Laval Rocket is once again off to a very strong start to the season, as has been the case for several seasons now.

Daniel Jacob's team currently has four wins in five games, which is an excellent record—the second-best in the entire American Hockey League.

Last night, the Rocket secured its fourth win of the season with an impressive, unexpected five-goal comeback.

Laval was down 4–0 midway through the second period against the Belleville Senators but ultimately won 5–4 in overtime.

The star of this incredible comeback was defenseman Luke Mittelstadt, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime and added two assists.

With this three-point performance, Mittelstadt now has 10 points in five games since the start of the season, placing him not only at the top of the Rocket's scoring leaderboard but also at the top of the American Hockey League.

A season start like this for a Rocket defenseman obviously reminds us of Logan Mailloux, who racked up just as many points in his first five games of the 2023–2024 season.

Mittelstadt, 23, has been truly impressive since the start of the season, and he's seriously starting to earn himself a call-up and a great opportunity with the Montreal Canadiens.

With Adam Engstrom struggling at times, I really wouldn't be surprised if they made room for Mittelstadt to give him his first NHL minutes.

The Rocket's #3 is brimming with confidence, and he's been a favorite of the organization for a very long time.

So it's clear that the Habs have a plan in place for Mittelstadt, but I strongly believe that given his current start to the season, that plan could change quickly.

And if he keeps this up and performs well in the NHL, Mittelstadt could very well leapfrog Engstrom and maybe even David Reinbacher in the Habs' pecking order of young defensemen.

We thought Jayden Struble had been traded to make room for Engstrom and/or Reinbacher, but I'm certain the organization also had Luke Mittelstadt in mind when they sent Struble to Nashville.

In short, I'm really looking forward to seeing what's next for Mittelstadt, a seventh-round pick (197th overall) in 2023, who's knocking hard on the NHL's door.


In a Nutshell

– Fingers crossed.

– The Panthers never score the first goal of a game.

– Obviously.

– Stay tuned.

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