The Laval Rocket sent five players to the ECHL this afternoon as they cut down their roster prior to their first homestand of the season.

Mouvements de personnel chez le @RocketLaval



Cédés aux Mariners du Maine (ECHL)

Morgan Adams-Moisan

Antoine Waked

Ryan Culkin



Aux Admirals de Norfolk

T.J. Melancon



Aux Komets de Fort Wayne

Phélix Martineau #RocketAHL #ECHL #RDS — Patrick Friolet (@PFrioletRDS) October 10, 2018

The reason that some of the players are sent to different teams is because their ECHL rights are owned by those specific teams, and likely part of the reason the Montreal Canadiens are going without a full ECHL affiliate. ECHL teams can retain rights and they don’t get overridden by an NHL or AHL contract.

Antoine Waked is the most notable of these assignments as he is the only one on an NHL contract. Waked had seven goals and four assists in 63 AHL games with the Rocket last season.

T.J. Melancon and Phelix Martineau had good rookie tournaments and are victims of the improved depth at the AHL level this season. Melancon, especially, lost out to Czechs David Sklenicka and Michal Moravcik, Brett Kulak, Gustav Olofsson, and Cale Fleury, the latter three added to the roster in the last week.

These players could return to the AHL should they be hit by injuries or call ups, and they also may rotate players back and forth to make sure everybody gets time in.