The Montreal Canadiens announced this morning that they have signed center Joe Veleno to a one-year, $900,000 contract. Veleno played last season for the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks. This offseason, the Blackhawks traded Veleno to the Seattle Kraken, who promptly bought out his contract.
The Canadiens, who seek to continue their blockbuster offseason, add a young, speedy center in Veleno on an affordable deal. This move, along with the Noah Dobson trade and the trade for Zac Bolduc, suggest that the Canadiens hope to further improve the youngest roster in the NHL. Signing Veleno gives the Habs a low-risk, potentially high-reward candidate in a depth center.
Joe Veleno Comes from Exceptional Beginnings
Veleno, 25, is one of nine players ever granted exceptional status by the Canadian Hockey League. Other players that have obtained exceptional status in the past include John Connor McDavid, Connor Bedard and John Tavares. This gave him an early start on his junior career in 2015, where he produced 79 points in 64 games in 2017-18.
Three years later, the Red Wings selected Veleno with the 30th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. He made his NHL debut in 2021, putting up 15 points in 66 games. In 306 career games, he’s scored 38 goals and 43 assists for 81 points.
Veleno’s lowest point-per-game season came during the 2024-25, where he put up just eight goals and nine assists for 17 points in 74 games across the Red Wings and Blackhawks.
With that said, however, the Red Wings and Blackhawks had among the lowest goal differentials in the NHL. The Canadiens finished last season with a -20 goal differential. With that said, however, the new additions of Dobson and Bolduc, coupled with a full season of first-round pick Ivan Demidov will more than likely increase that differential.
Canadiens See Experience as Strength
During his post-free agency press conference, Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes emphasized his goals for building a consistent contender. “Experience, leadership and continuing to add to the team [are our priorities]. There are certain things we can and can’t say today, because we don’t want to reveal our plan to the 31 other teams. That said, there’s no doubt we want to add more talent to our team, and we need to determine to what extent we want to add experience versus gain experience [with the players we have].”
“My experience representing players [as an agent] was that players come into the league, they’re young — and we have a lot of that. Their first objective is to prove to themselves that they belong, and they want to show their family, their friends, those that doubted them. Once they feel comfortable, that focus shifts to how much we can win.”
Veleno is entering his fifth NHL season. His familiarity with the NHL, especially in a depth role, seems like a perfect match for Montreal. If Veleno can find his bottom-six game, he’ll work wonders helping the Habs improve their penalty kill. If things don’t work out, he can still make for a valuable depth forward should injuries emerge.
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