Samuel Asselin
Samuel Asselin might well be a bit of a dark horse for success and finds himself at the Boston Bruins training camp on an AHL contract as opposed to any sort of two-way deal, but we think there’s every chance he shines and surprises a lot of people.
It’s fair to say that late-bloomers aren’t always offered the chance. If you miss out on being drafted then you can either hang around in the lower echelons of professional hockey, maybe travel the world a little bit or you find an alternate career.
Luck has shone upon Samuel Asselin though as the 21 year-old showed enough with an 86 point year for the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL last year to earn a contract with the Providence Bruins.
The center man has a clear eye for goal given that over half those points came as goals, with a tally of 48 goals across that final junior hockey season, good enough for most goals in the league.
Now, I know junior hockey numbers can end up inflated especially when a player is that much older than his peers, but it’s not as if Asselin packs a huge height or weight advantage over the majority of the league.
Standing a just 5’9″ and a slight 181 lbs, he’s not exactly managed to dominate junior hockey last year using his size to get by. It’s safe to say that there’s plenty of untapped potential in Samuel Asselin and I think he’s coming to training camp this year and sticking around almost until the end.
Whilst we shouldn’t expect to see him in the Boston Bruins line-up this season, I’m fully expecting him to make his mark at training camp and impress in Providence, possibly leading to a deal next year.