Phil Varone gives the Laval Rocket exactly what they need


Phil Varone with the Philadelphia Phantoms. Credit: JustSports Photography


For a lot of AHL players, their value typically tends to fly under the radar.

Most of them are signed just to have enough players to fill out an AHL roster, and that’s it. It’s only in rare instances that they actually get any coverage, case in point Daniel Carr.
Carr’s potential has become common knowledge at this point to many hockey fans, so seeing him sign with the Predators got at least a little bit of attention. With 71 points in 52 games last season with the Chicago Wolves, Carr won AHL MVP, gaining himself such much needed notoriety on the free agent market.

In many ways, Phil Varone should have a similar notoriety.

A native of Vaughan, Ontario, his career has bounced all over the place since being taken 147th overall in the 2009 NHL entry draft by the San Jose Sharks. Despite attending their training camp, he was never offered a contract by the team, so signed with the Buffalo Sabres instead. After five years there, he was traded to the Ottawa Senators, before signing with the Philadelphia Flyers as a free agent in 2017.

Now on his 4th organization, a lot of Montreal Canadiens fan will be wondering,

Who?

And well, that’s rightly justified. Throughout most of his career, Varone’s numbers have never really stuck out. He’s always been a solid, 60-point AHL 2nd line forward. However, fans of the Laval Rocket might recognize the name from last year.

In what was a disastrous first year for the team, as they finished the season with a 12 game losing struck, the one bright spot was the line combination of Nikita Scherbak, Adam Cracknell, and Chris Terry. While the rest of the team’s offense was well, non-existent, Terry enjoyed a career year, recording 71 points in 62 games, winning the AHL scoring title.

The player behind him in scoring, was Varone, who had 70 points in 74 games. It was a down to the wire race, as Terry clinched the title in the final game of the season. Despite this, Varone still won AHL MVP, which convinced the flyers enough to give him a chance, as Varone spent the 2nd half of the 2018-19 season with the team as a bottom six center.

With a cap hit of 700,000$ at the NHL and 450,000$ at the AHL, Varone is basically Kenny Agostino 2.0, an AHL all star and capable first line talent which will finally give Rocket fans something to watch again. Does this mean the Canadiens will give him a shot like with Agostino? Well, that’s a different story.

While Agostino displayed decent offensive abilities at the NHL level, especially with the New Jersey Devils, Varone is more of the typical minor league scorer. Someone who produces in the AHL, but can just never replicate that success in the NHL. Its in his defense where he succeeds, being more of a power forward than a finesse player like Terry and Carr.

Personally, I think its best if the Habs just keep Varone in Laval and use him to help develop their younger forwards. With Alex Belzile and Riley Barber also set to join the team, the Rocket are starting to shape up into something legitimate, and it’s nice to see another talented AHL player join the Canadiens system.

Find me on Twitter @9secondsot


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