HabsWorld.net -- 

With the deadline to sign him coming on Saturday, the Habs decided to give Jared Davidson his entry-level deal, announcing on Friday that they’ve inked him to a two-year contract.  Financial terms were not disclosed.

The 21-year-old was a fifth-round pick by Montreal back in 2022, going 130th overall in his third and final year of eligibility.  Davidson was a strong scorer in junior, surpassing the 80-point mark in his final two years while also averaging over a point per game in two long playoff runs.

That was enough for the Canadiens to decide to turn him pro for 2023-24.  However, rather than giving him an NHL deal at that time, they went with a minor league pact first, similar to what they did with Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Xavier Simoneau in recent years.

Unfortunately, this season was a bit of a mixed bag for Davidson.  He was a frequent scratch early on and saw limited ice time when he did play.  In between, he missed several weeks with an upper-body injury.

However, after he returned from that, Davidson became a regular and worked his way up the lineup and was starting to turn the corner in February with six goals in 12 games.  But once again, an upper-body injury got in the way and he wasn’t able to return by the end of the regular season but was believed to be nearing a return had they made it to the postseason.

Davidson’s full-season numbers didn’t exactly sparkle as he had 11 goals and five assists along with 84 shots in 38 games.  That made him a borderline candidate to be signed before Saturday’s deadline but it turns out he has done enough to land a deal after all.