Rocket Weekly: Two Big Wins Out of the Break

After the All-Star break, Laval returned home to wrap up their home stand.  With a roster augmented by the return of several healthy players, they took care of business in both of their games to maintain their lead in the North Division.

The Week That Was

Feb. 13: Laval 6, Hershey 1 – Last week, the Rocket kicked off the week with an early offensive outburst of four goals in the first period.  This time, it took a little longer to get four but near the end of the second, that was their advantage.  Hershey’s lone goal was a near buzzer-beater in the second before Owen Beck and Samuel Blais made it a rout in the third.

Feb. 14: Laval 4, Toronto 2 – A quick goal from the Marlies had Laval down just 75 seconds into the game, one that neither team was sharp offensively in, especially early with the teams combining for five shots total in the opening frame.  The Rocket got going as the game went on, however, with Laurent Dauphin tying it late in the second and Laval putting in three more in the third, including another from Beck, to secure the win.

StatPack

Skaters:

#	Player	GP	G	A	+/-	SOG	PIMS
2	Marc Del Gaizo	2	1	0	+4	1	0
4	Tobie Bisson	2	0	0	-1	1	2
5	Nathan Clurman	2	1	0	+3	2	2
6	Tyler Thorpe	2	0	0	E	0	10
10	Joshua Roy	2	1	2	+3	12	2
15	Sean Farrell	2	1	0	E	6	0
17	Alex Tuch	1	0	0	E	0	10
18	Vincent Arseneau	1	0	0	E	0	0
19	Samuel Blais	2	1	3	+2	6	12
22	Alex Belzile	2	1	1	E	4	0
27	Laurent Dauphin	2	1	0	+2	6	0
42	Lucas Condotta	2	1	1	+3	1	0
48	Filip Mesar	2	0	1	+1	1	0
49	Jared Davidson	2	0	0	+2	1	16
56	Adam Engstrom	2	0	2	+2	0	2
62	Owen Beck	2	2	0	+1	6	2
63	Florian Xhekaj	2	0	1	E	2	0
64	David Reinbacher	2	0	0	E	2	2
84	William Trudeau	2	0	2	+3	1	0

Goalies:

#	Player	Record	GAA	SV%	SO
1	Jacob Fowler	3-0-0	1.00	.958	0
34	Kaapo Kahkonen	1-0-0	2.00	.875	0

Team Leaders:

Goals: Alex Belzile (22)
Assists: Laurent Dauphin (39)
Points: Laurent Dauphin (54)
+/-: Laurent Dauphin (+23)
PIMS: Florian Xhekaj (115)
Shots: Laurent Dauphin (118)

News and Notes

– Jacob Fowler was scratched at the All-Star Game due to a minor injury but was available for and played in the game against Hershey.  With Kaapo Kahkonen also returning, Hunter Jones was sent down to ECHL Trois-Rivieres.

– Adam Engstrom and Laurent Dauphin both took part in the All-Star Game.  Engstrom had a goal and an assist along with one shot and a -2 rating in three mini-games while Dauphin has held pointless with three shots and a -4 rating.

– Jared Davidson and Tobie Paquette-Bisson also returned from their respective injuries, giving the Rocket a rare fully healthy lineup.

– Lucas Condotta’s goal against Toronto was his first since late December.  He’s up to seven on the season and now three of those tallies have been game-winners, setting a new career high.

Last Game’s Lines:

Farrell – Dauphin – Belzile
Roy – Beck – Mesar
Blais – Condotta – Davidson
Arseneau – Xhekaj – Thorpe

Engstrom – Reinbacher
Del Gaizo – Paquette-Bisson
Trudeau – Clurman

The Week Ahead

Monday at Toronto: After beating the Marlies on Saturday, they have the rematch 48 hours later in another afternoon affair.  Laval has now taken seven of eight points in the season series with four Rocket players having scored more than once against them so far.  One of those is Luke Tuch, who was actually a healthy scratch for their last meeting.  This is the second of three straight weeks that these two teams will play.

Friday at Rochester: Laval’s first three-in-three set of the season (all on the road) gets underway against the Americans, a team with one of the better goal differentials in the division without the record to show for it.  Devon Levi has been the full-time starter instead of moving back and forth between Rochester and Buffalo and has responded with a strong season.  For the Olympic break, the Sabres sent Konsta Helenius, Isak Rosen, and Zach Metsa down (three of their better scorers in terms of points per game) so this will be a stronger-than-usual Amerks lineup to contend with.

Saturday/Sunday at Utica: Laval took care of business against the Comets last week and will be looking to do the same here against the weakest team in the Eastern Conference.  They’re the lowest scoring team in the East and have a team save percentage of just .877 which is hardly an ideal combination.  Laval’s three top-line players all have six points in four games so far in the season series.

Final Thought

Last season, Vincent Arseneau was a serviceable fourth-line tough guy.  He filled that role, chipped in a bit offensively, and even killed penalties.  With that in mind, it wasn’t entirely shocking that he re-signed with the Rocket.  However, his usage has been much different this season.

That’s because of the AHL veteran rule.  Teams can only dress six veteran skaters in a game and one of those can only have played between 260 and 319 professional games.  In 2024-25, Arseneau was just below that number, meaning that he technically qualified as a ‘development’ player.  Now, he’s a veteran and with a full complement of veterans and then some on the roster, there’s a bit of juggling that has often made him the odd man out.

But there’s some good news on the horizon for him.  One of the quiet changes in the new CBA that begins next season is a tweak to that veteran rule.  It’s now simplified, a veteran qualifies at 320 regular season professional games and teams can dress six veteran skaters.  There’s no threshold for a 260-319-game veteran anymore.  And that’s great news for someone like Arseneau.

Arseneau entered the season with 298 career regular season games played in the AHL with no overseas or NHL experience.  Because of the very sporadic usage he has had this season between the current veteran rule and an injury, he’s only played in 11 games out of 49.  If Laval is careful with his usage down the stretch (as they probably will be based on his usage so far), Arseneau could actually shed the veteran label for 2026-27.  If he plays in 10 or fewer games the rest of the way, Arseneau becomes a development player again.

Lots of players head overseas once they reach AHL veteran status and their opportunities in North America dry up.  Arseneau won’t be one of those.  He turns 34 next month and as a player more known for his fisticuffs and physicality, teams in international leagues probably aren’t going to be lining up to sign him.  And if Arseneau qualifies for full veteran status, playing time is going to be even harder to come by.  But if Laval manages his minutes over the final two months, he’ll be able to play with no restrictions next season, allowing him to extend his career by one more year.  Presumably, that would be with the Rocket again.

I’m sure this has been a trying year for Arseneau with his limited playing time so far.  But his patience could be rewarded in the end with another season which would be a pretty good outcome all things considered.