If getting drafted by his favorite team was a dream come true for Lewiston Maineiacs’ forward Mathieu Aubin, the 20-year-old must now feel invincible.
Aubin, selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the fifth round of the 2005 NHL draft, signed a three-year deal Monday and is participating this week in the team’s summer prospect camp.
“We were talking about it a lot with my agent and the team for a long time,” Aubin said from his hotel room in Montreal on Tuesday. “I’m pretty happy about it, and it will help my confidence for the rest of the summer.”
“The three-year-deal, that was the decision we had to make,” said Trevor Timmins, Montreal’s Director of Player Personnel. “We figured we’d sign him now and give him a shot at Hamilton. If he doesn’t make the big team out of training camp, he’ll have a shot there.”
The Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League were a shared affiliate last year, combining players from the Montreal and Edmonton organizations.
This year, Montreal has the sole rights to the team, which will allow the Canadiens to put more of their prospects on the squad.
“My goal is to play in the AHL next season,” said Aubin. “The contract is one thing, but now I have to be in shape.”
With the help of his personal trainer, Aubin added 20 pounds of muscle to his 6-foot, 2-inch frame. His shoulder, which he injured badly – twice – at the end of the 2004-05 season, has healed.
“Now that I put weight on my body, it is better for me going into the corners and along the boards,” said Aubin.
“With his history of injury, it was hard for him to develop the strength by now,” said Timmins. “That will come now that he is healthy. He loves to play the game. He loves to have the puck, and we know he’ll work on the areas he needs to work on to improve and make the team.”
Timmins looks forward to putting Aubin through the paces as a rookie with the big club this summer, and in training camp in the fall.
“This is the first time we get our hands on him,” said Timmins. “Last year, the draft was so late, we never had a summer development camp. Now that he’s here, we can get a better look at him. He’s a player with loads of talent. He has size, range and the versatility to be a wing or a center. That’s his biggest asset.”
Though, technically, Aubin could return as a 20-year-old player for the Maineiacs, he is likely done with his QMJHL career.
“It’s not in our plans right now to have him go back to Lewiston,” said Timmins. “I’d say of three doors, that would be behind door No. 3.”
For Aubin, the move is bittersweet.
“There are a lot of things I will miss about Lewiston,” Aubin said. “It’s sad at the same time, for my career, it is best to pass on to the next level.”
Aubin said he will likely still be at the Maineiacs’ training camp this August to get back on the ice before Montreal’s camp begins, but that will likely be the only time Lewiston fans will see him on Colisee ice.
Last year, Aubin broke out with 47 goals and 56 assists for 103 points in 70 regular-season games. In the playoffs, Aubin added three goals and four assists. In his career with Lewiston, Aubin scored 85 goals and added 106 assists, while contributing seven goals and 11 assists in the playoffs.
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