Instead of becoming a restricted free agent at the end of this season, the St.Louis Blues have announced they have signed forward Mathias Laferriere to a one-year, two-way contract. Playing out the final year of a 3-year, $2.48MM contract signed in 2019, Laferriere has become a solid AHL contributor in the Blues organization.
Drafted 169th overall in the 2018 NHL Draft, Laferriere was coming off a decent scoring season for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL. In his draft year, Laferriere scored 12 goals and 29 assists in 67 games played. After being drafted, Laferriere put together a higher-scoring year in the following season, scoring 28 goals and 46 assists in 68 games played. Laferriere also helped Cape Breton in the playoffs, scoring three goals and seven assists in 11 games, losing to Rimouski Oceanic in the second round.
Laferriere would not join the Blues organization until the 2021-22 season when he suited up in 56 games for the Springfield Thunderbirds, where he would only score three goals and six assists. Whether it was perceived expectations put on himself, or just the general nerves of transitioning to professional hockey, it was quite clear that Laferriere did not look comfortable in his first season in the AHL.
Following last year’s slow start, Laferriere put together a much better season this year, scoring nine goals and 17 assists in 50 games. In his first taste of the Calder Cup playoffs, Laferriere did manage to play in Springfield’s two playoff games, scoring zero points and producing a rating of -5. In that series, Springfield was fundamentally handled by the Hartford Wolf Pack, getting outscored 13-2 in the series sweep.