Éric Gélinas to attend Laval Rocket camp (as guest player)

You probably remember Éric Gélinas.

We’re talking about a great defenseman who was drafted in the 2nd round by the Devils (2009) and is renowned for the quality of his slap shot.

Another interesting fact: he played with the Laval Rocket in the 17-18 season, finishing the campaign with 26 points (13 goals) in 64 games. Only Matt Taormina surpassed him in points for a Laval defenseman that year.

Gélinas left for Europe after that, and has done a bit of a tour of the leagues in recent years. He did a stint in the KHL, played in Sweden, made a brief return to the AHL before returning to Sweden, played the last two seasons of his career in Switzerland…

So, he’s been around quite a bit.

But now he’ll be in Quebec in the next few days because he’s been offered an interesting proposition.

The defenseman has been invited to the Laval Rocket camp, which will begin shortly:

Our training camp roster
Our training camp roster #GoRocket pic.twitter.com/3gU3eWjrMr

– Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) September 30, 2024

The news is interesting because, at 33, Gélinas has a lot of experience.

He knows the AHL, and he could bring a lot of positives to a young club like the Laval Rocket off the ice.

That said… it’s perhaps on the ice that it could cause problems.

I say this for two reasons in particular:

The defenseman hasn’t played much in recent years.
His offensive production has also plummeted in recent years.

I wonder if David Reinbacher’s injury has anything to do with Gélinas’ invitation to camp.

We know that the Austrian could miss several months and in Laval, there will be guys who will have to fill important chairs.

Gélinas could be called upon to do so because of his experience, but that’s far from guaranteed too.

But the addition of a guy like him (if he can stay healthy and make an impact on the ice) can only be positive for the Laval Rocket, who will need older players to calibrate things a bit.

Overtime

– No surprise here.

The #sens have released Nikolay Kulemin from his PTO.

– Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) September 30, 2024

– It doesn’t look good…

I’m told Patrik Laine and David Reinbacher have serious knee injuries. Both will be out for a very long time. Waiting for confirmation from @CanadiensMTL

Both knee injuries to Laine & Reinbacher are very serious. Both out very longterm.

– Tony Marinaro (@TonyMarinaro) September 30, 2024