Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
The Montreal Canadiens have signed one of their NCAA prospects to his first professional contact. With his collegiate career at an end, Luke Mittelstadt has agreed to a two-year entry-level deal that will begin next season. He has signed a contract with the Laval Rocket for the remainder of this season.
Mittelstadt was Montreal’s seventh-round pick in 2023, a two-years-over-age defenceman who already had an NCAA season under his belt. Now 23 years old, he brings his experience from four seasons in the college ranks, the last one spent serving as the University of Minnesota’s captain.
He concluded his four years in Minnesota by tying the point total he set in his freshman year that helped get him drafted, though he only had six goals in his final three years combined after five in his first. His game is more about defence despite his smaller stature at 5’11” and 185 pounds. The entire Golden Gophers team had a rough 2025-26 campaign, but he ended his tenure in Minnesota with a +55 rating.
Mittelstadt will be an immediate help to a Laval Rocket team that has had trouble making up for the absence of Adam Engström. He should prove to be as reliable an option for Pascal Vincent as he was in his time in the NCAA, shoring up a problem area for the Habs’ AHL affiliate.
