Cédric Paquette’s adventure with the Canadiens organization only lasted a year. The Quebecer agreed with Dinamo de Minsk, in Belarus, on Tuesday.
Posted at 4:51 p.m.
It was the team itself, which plays in the KHL, which made the announcement on its social networks.
Paquette has been going through difficult times in recent years. After winning the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020, he was traded to the Ottawa Senators. They then traded him to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The 29-year-old forward hoped to revive himself by signing a one-year deal with the Canadiens last summer, but he ultimately didn’t have the hoped-for season. He only played 24 games and had 2 assists with the Habs before being demoted to the Laval Rocket at the end of January. At the school club, he collected 10 points in 14 games, before recording 7 others in 14 playoff games.
In an interview with The Press in March, Paquette said his confidence had been “really affected” last season. In the playoffs, however, he said he had “fun playing hockey” with the Rocket.
This is the first time the native of Gaspé will play hockey on another continent. Dinamo from Minsk, capital of Belarus, is one of the only non-Russian teams in the KHL. Remember, however, that the Belarusian national teams, like the Russian ones, are still excluded from IIHF international tournaments. This, since February, when the Russian invasion began in Ukraine. Belarus is a staunch ally of Vladimir Putin’s regime.