Canadiens Acquire Two-Time Calder Cup Winner Shepard, Chiasson for Kidney

Hunter Shepard arrived in the Montreal Canadiens organization Friday carrying a résumé that dwarfs the minor-league trade that brought him there. The Canadiens acquired the goaltender, along with forward Jake Chiasson, from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for forward Riley Kidney, with the move framed as an immediate upgrade to the Laval Rocket's crease as the club pushes toward the AHL playoffs.

Shepard won back-to-back Calder Cup championships with the Hershey Bears, earned the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2023 postseason, and took home the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Award as the AHL's outstanding goaltender in 2023-24. His career numbers across 133 AHL games tell the story: an 84-33-14 record, a 2.38 goals-against average, and a .910 save percentage. This season with Belleville, those numbers haven't matched that standard — he went 6-7-2 with a 3.65 GAA and .885 save percentage in 15 appearances — but the pedigree is what Laval is betting on down the stretch.

Chiasson, 22, comes as the secondary piece. The 6-foot-2, 181-pound forward managed just one assist in 20 AHL games with Belleville this season, though he showed more life in 16 ECHL games with the Allen Americans, posting eight points on two goals and six assists. The Abbotsford, BC native was a fourth-round pick by the Edmonton Oilers in 2021, 116th overall. He won't be heading to Laval; instead, he will join the Trois-Rivières Lions in the ECHL.

Kidney, the player moving the other direction, is also 22 and was once considered a legitimate organizational prospect after the Canadiens selected him 63rd overall in the second round of the 2021 draft. But this season has largely been an ECHL one: 11 goals and 22 assists in 46 games with the Lions, plus just six games and one assist with the Rocket. His 127 career AHL games produced 11 goals and 26 assists, numbers that reflect a player who hasn't yet found consistent traction at that level.

The transaction also had a parallel piece. In a related deal, the Belleville Senators acquired defenseman Ryan O'Rourke from Laval for future considerations. O'Rourke was on an AHL contract with the Rocket.

Because all four players were already in the minors before the AHL's playoff roster freeze, none are eligible for the NHL playoffs, but each will be eligible to play for their new teams in the AHL postseason. That eligibility detail matters for Laval, which the deal is clearly structured to benefit heading into the spring.

The acquisition of a veteran goaltender of Shepard's caliber at this stage of the season also raises a question about Jacob Fowler, the Canadiens' young netminder who has not been with the Rocket recently. Whether his absence factored into the decision to bring in Shepard has not been confirmed by the organization, but the timing is notable.