Bokondji Imama will celebrate its 28the birthday on Saturday. At that age, with 15 NHL games under his belt, a hockey player knows full well that he is usually not a priority for GMs when he becomes a free agent. “I often talk to the assistant GMs, who are also the GMs in the American League,” admits the Quebec colossus.
Except it was different this summer. The 1er In July, he signed a one-year contract with the Penguins, and it was Kyle Dubas – the general manager of the big club – who piloted the file.
“He wanted to take care of the negotiations. I felt a sincere desire on their side,” said Imama, met on the sidelines of the Duclair Imama camp, at Place Bell. When I looked at the training and saw that I was pretty much the only one playing my role, his words had more credibility. It was just a no-brainer to trust them.”
His role is one of robustness. At 6’1″ and 221 lbs, his build is not unlike that of former Alouettes fullback Kerry Carter. However, Imama is not afraid to use his size, having reached 100 penalty minutes in each of his last three seasons in the AHL.
The Penguins aren’t loaded with big forwards, so Imama is hoping that deficiency will give him a more permanent NHL opportunity. He’s signed a sweet deal for a player who has never scored more than 15 points in an AHL season, with a guaranteed $350,000 salary even if he spends the season in Wilkes-Barre, according to Puckpedia.
The Penguins will be his fourth NHL organization. Have the Canadiens and Rocket ever been in the mix? “That’s a question that comes up a lot,” he says. “As a Quebecer, it seems like a lot of pressure. There’s a lot of family and friends around. I might look at that later in my career, but I like to keep a little distance between work and home.”