Boston Bruins: Prolific goalscorer earns contract after impressing at Camp

After impressing at the Boston Bruins development camp, Samuel Asselin has earned himself a two-year AHL deal with the Providence Bruins.

It provides the perfect option for the Boston Bruins to give the 48-goal QMJHL top goalscorer, Samuel Asselin a chance to adapt to the professional game in the slightly less cut-throat American Hockey League, where he should step straight into the Providence Bruins’ line-up.

Boston Bruins’ fans should be viewing this as a win-win scenario; they secured the signature of a league-leader in goals in one of the big three Canadian major junior leagues. They did so, not at the cost of a draft pick, or trading another player away, but for free.

Now obviously, you can look at this deal and argue that there must’ve been a reason that Samuel Asselin wasn’t drafted or you can argue that his age skews the statistics in a league where players may have been up to four years younger than him. Fact is though, he still is coming off a 48 goal season.

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He represents everything you might hope for from an invitee to the Boston Bruins’ Development Camp – he showed enough to the coaching staff to be offered a deal and the chance to continue his development in the AHL with the Providence Bruins.

If he pans out as a late-blooming prospect to the NHL, he is ‘found money’. If he doesn’t, he’s likely to at least make a comfortable home in the American Hockey League.

There’s always that element of risk in signing a player from the Canadian junior leagues, but the fact he’s an overage player removes a lot of it. Typically, you have the choice of rushing them to the NHL or leaving them in the junior league.

With an overage player such as Samuel Asselin, you can ease them into the professional leagues, hope that he replicates his 48-goal campaign and then eventually find a spot on the Boston Bruins roster for him.

Hopefully the Boston Bruins use this template of inviting over-age players to their Development Camp and seeing if they think they can make an impact in the AHL. It’s the perfect way to offset the fact that the past few campaigns, the mid-round picks have oft been traded for play-off reinforcements on the main roster.

Finding talent, wherever you can, has become the name of the game in the modern-day NHL. Samuel Asselin could well be the next big undrafted talent to make the Boston Bruins roster. Don’t forget, Jonathan Marchessault was once an undrafted QMJHL hotshot and now he is an NHL regular.