The Habs have found a place for another one of their prospects to play while the 2020-21 season is on hold as they announced that they’ve loaned Hayden Verbeek to Banska Bystrica of the Slovak Tipos Extraliga.
Montreal signed the 22-year-old as an undrafted free agent in 2018 with the hopes that his speed could make him a weapon in the pros. That hasn’t happened. Instead, Verbeek has battled injury issues in each of his first two years while largely being ineffective with Laval when he has played.
To give him some playing time in a scoring role this season, the Habs loaned him to Adirondack of the ECHL where he played well, recording five goals and 14 assists in 21 games. However, he was held off the scoresheet in six games with the Rocket after having just seven points in 48 AHL games in his rookie year.
With one year left on his contract, this will be a key campaign for Verbeek. As things stand, he’s quite likely to be let go after next season comes to an end. A good start in the Slovak league would give him a bit of momentum when training camp comes around as he looks to show Joel Bouchard that can be useful in a bigger role. He has a long way to go to get a second contract but this is at least a start.
Two other prospects have already been loaned out with Otto Leskinen (KalPa) and Lukas Vejdemo (Sodertalje).
Verbeek’s Stats: