Although there is still uncertainty about the goalkeeper’s position with the Montreal Canadiens given the health of Carey Price, the organizational depth in the position was strengthened a little more, as Laval Rocket has announced that they have signed goalkeepers Philippe Desrosiers and the seventh round of 2021. The selection of NHL draft Joe Vrbetic to two-way AHL contracts.
The Laval Rocket announced Sunday that the team has agreed on one-year, two-way AHL contracts (2022-23) with goalkeepers Philippe Desrosiers and Joe Vrbetic. #GoRocket pic.twitter.com/M7ehPymVyy
– Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) July 17, 2022
Desrosiers spent most of last season with the ECHL’s Trois-Rivières Lions, often performing heroic performances and earning him top honors during the first half of the season. He was hired with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, and was called up on a couple of occasions to defend the cage of the Winnipeg Jets minor league affiliate. He completed the season by signing an NHL contract with the Jets, as injury problems forced them to move on.
Desrosiers had been under an NHL contract every season since 2014 when he signed his entry deal with the Dallas Stars who selected him in the second round of the 2013 draft. He has 76 AHL experience games. and 140 games of experience at the ECHL. He was on the Florida Panthers ’taxi crew during the 2020-21 pandemic season, but couldn’t see any NHL game action.
Last season he played 34 games with the Lions, averaging 3.09 goals and a .902 save percentage. He won 19 games, 3 by white. He also started all seven playoff games for the Lions in his first-round classic series against the Newfoundland Growlers.
Vrbetic has just completed its second full season in the Ontario Hockey League after the 2020-21 campaign was eliminated by COVID-19. He played 42 games in 2019-20, then 45 competitions last year, with a 29-10-6 record with the North Bay Battalion and a .906 savings percentage. It was 6-1 in the postseason with a .872 mark.