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Samuel Laberge

Waiver Wire: 10/4/24

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According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman all 17 players on waivers yesterday have cleared. There are again several players to hit the wire today as reported by Friedman:

Anaheim Ducks

F Jansen Harkins

Boston Bruins

G Michael DiPietro
F Vinni Lettieri
D Jordan Oesterle

Florida Panthers

F William Lockwood

Los Angeles Kings

F Taylor Ward

New Jersey Devils

F Justin Dowling
F Mike Hardman
F Samuel Laberge
F Nathan Légaré
F Maxwell Willman

Philadelphia Flyers

F Olle Lycksell
F Anthony Richard

Pittsburgh Penguins

F Emil Bemström
D Nate Clurman
F Jonathan Gruden
F Joona Koppanen
D Filip Král
D John Ludvig
F Samuel Poulin

Tampa Bay Lightning

G Matt Tomkins

Toronto Maple Leafs

F Alex Steeves

Washington Capitals

D Ethan Bear
F Luke Philp
F Michael Sgarbossa

Devils Re-Sign Brian Halonen, Samuel Laberge

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The Devils re-signed depth winger Brian Halonen to a two-year, two-way deal on Thursday, per a team announcement. His extension will cost $775K against the cap when he’s on the NHL roster. New Jersey also inked forward Samuel Laberge to a one-year, two-way extension worth $775K in the NHL.

Halonen, 25, was set to be a restricted free agent this summer after completing his entry-level contract. His new deal carries no signing bonuses and will pay him $175K at the AHL level in 2024-25 and $275K in 2025-26, a raise over the $80K minors salary he earned on his rookie pact. The extension walks him to unrestricted free agency in 2026.

Laberge, meanwhile, turned 27 last month and would have become a UFA this summer if he didn’t re-sign in Jersey. He’ll net $120K at the AHL level next season with a $135K guarantee, per the team.

In inking both to extensions, general manager Tom Fitzgerald will squeeze some more value out of a pair of undrafted free agent signings. Halonen joined the team back in March 2022 after a standout senior season at Michigan Tech, taking home CCHA First All-Star Team honors while leading the Huskies in scoring with 21 goals and 44 points in 37 games.

The Minnesota native took a while to get going last season while on assignment to AHL Utica, struggling to get on the scoresheet much before a brief demotion to ECHL Adirondack in December. He played just one game with Adirondack, posting an assist, before being recalled back to Utica and finishing the season on a tear. He finished 2022-23 with 17 goals and 30 points in 57 games, ranking eighth on the Comets in scoring.

The gifted sniper was limited to 35 games with Utica this season due to injuries, but he more than earned his extension after potting 20 goals to finish second on the team despite playing in less than half of their 72-game schedule. With injuries plaguing the Devils in the latter half of the season, he received his first two NHL recalls down the stretch, making a lone appearance each time. He was used sparingly, though, averaging 8:17 across the pair of games while managing two shots on goal and two hits.

Laberge had been on minor-league contracts with Utica since the 2021-22 campaign but didn’t land an NHL contract until signing with the Devils a couple of months into this season. The 6’2″, 205-lb forward can play center and both wings and has been a solid bottom-six checking forward for the Comets over the past few seasons, totaling 19 goals and 48 points in 155 games with 199 PIMs and a +10 rating. The former captain of the QMJHL’s Rimouski Océanic is entering his eighth professional season.

Like Halonen, Laberge also made his NHL debut this season with a two-game trial. He recorded three hits in just 6:12 of total ice time across a pair of contests he played in November and December, shortly after landing a contract with New Jersey.

Both are likely destined to start 2024-25 in Utica. Halonen still has one season of professional service or 58 NHL games before he requires waivers, but Laberge will no longer be waiver-exempt and will need to hit the wire during the preseason to head to the minors. With the pair of signings, the Devils are now up to 33 out of the maximum 50 standard player contracts on the books next season.

New Jersey Devils Re-Assign Samuel Laberge

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Saturday: After making his NHL debut on Thursday where he played just 2:11, Laberge has been returned to Utica.

Wednesday: Just after signing him to a one-year entry-level contract on November 25th, the New Jersey Devils have recalled forward Samuel Laberge from their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets.

Laberge is at Devils practice this morning and could very well make his NHL debut with the club in the coming days, perhaps even in tomorrow’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Should Laberge get the chance to make his NHL debut, it would be a wonderful moment for a player who has been through so much on his path to such an opportunity.

Laberge’s pro hockey journey began in traditional fashion: after three seasons as a top-six power forward in the QMJHL with the Rimouski Océanic, including a campaign spent as their captain, Laberge signed an AHL deal with the Texas Stars.

A power forward capable of chipping in solid offensive numbers in junior, Laberge became more of a fourth-line grinder at the AHL level, and didn’t see his name on the scoresheet often. As a result, his standing and role in Texas slowly eroded as the team opted to give bigger opportunities to other players. He also suffered an injury that cost him valuable momentum and a full two months of his second campaign with the Stars.

After scoring just seven points in 2018-19, Laberge’s time in Texas ended. He had planned on heading to Manitoba on a professional tryout agreement with the Winnipeg Jets’ AHL affiliate, the Moose. But his plans had to grind to a halt, as his father had been diagnosed with cancer.

Laberge made the decision to pause the chase of his NHL dream and opted to stay closer to home rather than continue in camp with the Moose. Laberge later explained the decision to Devils team reporter Amanda Stein saying, “I wanted to spend the time with my father,” which led Laberge to forgo AHL opportunities. Laberge  “wasn’t sure if [he] still wanted to play hockey,” but opted to remain in the game by playing in the semi-pro LNAH alongside taking on work in construction.

In 2020, Laberge re-joined the ranks of professional hockey, returning to the state of Texas to join the ECHL’s Allen Americans. He began to excel there, finishing with 17 goals and 42 points in 55 combined regular season and postseason games. Laberge then signed with the Devils’ ECHL affiliate, the Adirondack Thunder, for the 2021-22 campaign but quickly played his way back into the AHL by scoring 10 points in 12 ECHL games.

Laberge spent most of 2021-22 with the Utica Comets and last season spent the entire year in Utica, avoiding a single reassignment to the ECHL. So far this season, Laberge has scored three points in eight games for the Comets. He’s not a scoring forward like he was in junior, but the six-foot-two grinder can rack up hits, penalty minutes, and plays with a lot of energy.

Should he end up making his NHL debut, Laberge will likely do so in a limited fourth-line role. But just making it to this point, a point where he has an NHL contract in hand and is now on an NHL roster for the first time, is a remarkable achievement for a hard-working player who just a few years ago was playing semi-pro hockey and had one foot outside of the game.

Devils Sign Samuel Laberge

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Samuel Laberge started this season on a minor league deal, but the Devils have seen something that they like as they announced that they have signed the forward to a one-year entry-level contract.  The contract will pay him $775K in the NHL and $90K in the minors.

The 26-year-old has been somewhat of a journeyman thus far in his career.  Undrafted out of the QMJHL, Laberge spent two seasons in the minors for Dallas before playing for a year in the LNAH, an independent league in Quebec to be closer to his father who had just been diagnosed with cancer.  From there, he played on an ECHL deal in Minnesota before inking a minor-league agreement with New Jersey’s farm team back in 2021.  This is his third season in their system.

Laberge has played in eight games with AHL Utica this season, recording a goal and two assists along with a team-high 16 penalty minutes.  For his career, he has 54 points in 201 AHL appearances.  Despite this contract, Laberge won’t get the opportunity to play in the NHL right away as the Devils immediately assigned him back to the Comets.  However, having this deal in place puts him in a position to be recalled when injuries strike later in the season.

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