After re-signing Joseph Blandisi last week, the Habs locked up the other part of their February deal with Pittsburgh, announcing that they have re-signed Jake Lucchini to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay the league minimum of $700,000 in the NHL and $85,000 at the AHL level.
The 25-year-old was undrafted but secured an entry-level deal with the Penguins back in 2019 following a four-year NCAA career at Michigan Tech. While he was a productive scorer in his final two college years, that didn’t exactly materialize to the pros. This past season, he had 11 goals and nine assists in 61 games between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Laval but four of those goals came in eight games with the Rocket.
While Lucchini played well in his short stint in the organization, it’s at least a little surprising that he was brought back on an NHL deal. While he’s still relatively untested considering his age, the Habs could be fairly tight to the 50-contract limit assuming they re-sign most of their remaining restricted free agents. Montreal has until just after the completion of the draft next Wednesday to tender their qualifying offers.
Lucchini’s Stats: