Back in July, the Montreal Canadiens signed forward Joe Veleno to a one-year, $900,000 contract. The Canadiens’ decision to take a chance on the former first-round pick was understandable, as they needed more forward depth.
Yet, Veleno has been off to a slow start offensively with the Canadiens so far this season.
In 14 games with the Canadiens this campaign, Veleno is still looking to record his first point of the season and has a minus-7 rating. With this, there is no question that the 6-foot-1 forward is struggling to break out of his offensive slump early on.
However, the possibility of Veleno breaking the ice for the Canadiens should not be ruled out yet. He still has time to get his offense going and has shown in the past that he can provide some secondary production. For example, during the 2023-24 season with the Detroit Red Wings, he recorded 12 goals, 16 assists, and 28 points in 80 games.
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if Veleno can break through this slump and start to produce offensively for the Canadiens. If he does, it would be good news for a Canadiens club that would benefit from more secondary offensive production.
