Mandolese finally lands in Laval, minutes from home
The Blainville native signed a one-year deal with the Rocket on July 1 after a nomadic season that took him from Syracuse to Charlotte to Slovakia.
Kevin Mandolese is a Laval Rocket goaltender at last. The Blainville native signed a one-year deal with the club on July 1, a year after a professional tryout with the Rocket that never turned into a contract.
What followed was a season Mandolese described as "a bit of a crazy year." He won both of his AHL starts in 2025-26, one with the Syracuse Crunch and one with the Charlotte Checkers, then packed up and played roughly 10 games in Slovakia.
"It was the first time I'd gone through a season like that, but it taught me a lot about myself and helped me adapt to situations I probably wouldn't have experienced if I'd had more stability," the 26-year-old said on a video conference.
Mandolese, a sixth-round pick of the Ottawa Senators in 2018, spent four seasons in that organization and appeared in three NHL games. He also spent a season in the Colorado Avalanche system with the Colorado Eagles. He has not played for a Quebec-based team since he was 16: his junior years were spent entirely with the Cape Breton Eagles of the QMJHL, where he won the Jacques Plante Trophy as the league's top goaltender in 2019-20.
He arrives at Place Bell with a 6-0 record in six career starts in the building, a detail that draws a smile out of him.
"There's always extra motivation when you play in Laval because you want to quiet the crowd. There aren't many crowds like that in the AHL," he said. He added another reason: he wanted to beat Marco Marciano, the former Rocket goaltending coach who is now the Canadiens' interim goaltending coach.
"I don't think I'd be where I am today without Marco and [his colleague] Maxime Vaillancourt," Mandolese said. "He demands a lot, but for the right reasons."
There is a chance at a reunion, too. The Montreal Canadiens signed forward Samuel Poulin, another Blainville product, to a one-year, two-way contract on July 1. If Poulin does not stick in Montreal, the two childhood teammates could share a room in Laval.
"Lately, whenever Sam and I talk, we're just excited about the possibility of playing together again," Mandolese said.
