With Lucas Condotta being named captain of the Laval Rocket today, I thought it would be a good idea to republish this article I wrote after he signed with the Canadiens. It is no surprise that he has been tasked with leading a team full of youngsters:
Attitude.
Former Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin pointed to it as the main factor in his team’s underperformance in 2017-18. After adding the likes of Corey Perry, Eric Staal, Josh Anderson, and Tyler Toffoli last season and subsequently advancing to the Stanley Cup finals, it finally looked like he was onto something.
The new regime in Montreal has yet to mention poor attitudes as a reason for the club’s underachieving this season after making the finals, yet one might assume that both Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton plan on making it a priority to add players with impeccable character to the organization.
Kent Hughes signed two college captains last week Jordan Harris and Lucas Condotta, who fit that description to a tee.
Harris is the more familiar player, having been drafted by Montreal 71st overall in the 2018 NHL draft and jumping right into the Canadiens’ lineup seamlessly. In speaking with two of Condotta’s former coaches this week, however, it’s apparent that the Georgetown, ON native was every bit as valuable to U Mass-Lowell this season as the Riverhawks advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in five years.
“He’s a hard kid not to love,” said Riverhawks’ associate coach Andy Jones. “This is year 20 for me as an assistant coach in high-level hockey, and I haven’t come across a leader of young men like him who has the ability to lift others like he does.
“He has a concern for others that is very unique and makes him special. He’s genuinely concerned for others. His teammates. His friends, his family. It’s very unique, very special. He’s a shining star out there in the world. Wherever he goes, whatever he does, that area will improve.”
That’s a good thing for the Laval Rocket as they battle for a playoff position in the AHL’s tight Atlantic Division. The Canadiens signed Condotta to a one-year NHL entry-level contract one week ago for the 2022-23 season. He has joined the Laval Rocket for the remainder of the AHL season on an amateur tryout contract, and he may end up playing a pivotal role on an injury-ravaged team that’s in a fierce battle to make the playoffs.
“I do see him playing center in pro, but I also think he’s pretty versatile,” said Jones. “We ask guys to do a variety of different things and Lucas is a guy that’s comfortable in lots of different areas of the ice. The middle of the ice; certainly he’s a good player along the walls. There are a couple of things that are going to benefit him moving forward; versatility is one of them.”
Clearly, Condotta has been valued by his coaches for his leadership abilities. In the past seven seasons, he was a team captain on three occasions and alternate captain two other times. The 24-year-old served as an alternate captain for the Riverhawks in 2020-21.
Jones positively gushed when asked if he “had time” to speak about his former captain for this article.
“I have time to speak about Lucas 365 days a year. I’ve got time every day of the year, and I’ve got as much time as you need,” said Jones.
“This is a special person. He’s a very good player, but this is a special person and a special leader, and Montreal just got better. I have been fortunate to have coached Lucas. I’ve been fortunate to have a long relationship with him, and it’s made me a better person and a coach. It’s been one of the highlights of my coaching career, and I’m excited to watch him moving forward.”
Condotta’s former OJHL coach/GM in both Pickering and Markham, Mike Galati, was every bit as complimentary of his character.
“He’s a kid that…no matter what the environment or how much he played, he just worked hard and wanted to be a part of what we were doing,” said Galati. “I was lucky enough to train him in the summers, and we became real close as player/coach. When you spend that much time working with someone you become friends and he’s almost like my little brother. I’ve got so much time for him, and his whole family for sure.”
Galati coached Condotta for five seasons in the OJHL and made a point of acquiring him when he took over as GM and coach of the Markham Royals in the summer of 2015.
“I was coaching in Pickering when I (first) signed him,” said Galati. “We’d signed his older brother, and that was kind of the connection in bringing Lucas in. I’d known the family before that. His dad Joe had actually coached me, so there was a connection there for a long time. We brought him in as a (15-year-old) and he hadn’t really hit puberty yet. He was about 5-8; a smaller kid but worked real hard, and every summer he just got better and better. Then he went through a growth spurt at 17 and over a summer he went from 5-8 to 6-2, and things just came together for him. He turned into a man over (one) summer.”
Galati was elated to hear that Condotta had signed an NHL contract with the Canadiens
“There’s no kid that deserves it more,” said Galati “It didn’t come easy for him, that’s for sure. He wasn’t drafted to the OHL. In his first year with (Pickering Panthers in the OJHL), he played 44 games and I think he got one point. He worked hard that summer, went through a growth spurt, and came back and was better.
“By that point, he was a full-time player that could check and play any style of hockey. Every summer he just got better, and he became a guy that…by his 19 and 20-year-old years…he was the best player in the league. He could play anywhere in your lineup. He could check, he could score. He got 80-some odd points his last year. He came a long way.
“He was just a late bloomer but he was the hardest-working kid on the ice, the most coachable kid on the ice. He was a captain here for his last three years. In our league, it’s usually your oldest guy that is the captain but he was a guy that…he’s just a leader.”
Condotta was never drafted in the OHL or NHL because of his late growth spurt and development. When American universities came calling in his final junior season, Galati was adamant that Candotta was a player that could help them win.
“In his last year here he had a really good start and had a bunch of schools that were interested, and a couple of schools were shy to pull the trigger, and it was hard to understand,” said Galati. “I don’t usually push guys as hard as I did him but I told them: ‘This is a kid that you have to take.’ I vouched for him. ‘He’s going to be your captain whatever program he ends up at. He will be a captain…I can guarantee it.’ And sure enough…”
Condotta plays a heavy game and looks after his defensive duties first and foremost. He finishes his checks, is strong on faceoffs, and uses his size and strength to get in the crease area to screen the goalie. While his skating is far from pretty, he looks to have decent foot speed for a 210-pound man.
“He’s not the smoothest skater, and that’s something that throughout junior, colleges kept questioning,” said Galati. “And I kept saying, ‘He gets there; that’s the main thing’. He gets there, and he gets there in plenty of time, and when he does get there, whoever he gets to is going to feel it.”
Condotta continued to improve his skating and strength/conditioning throughout his four years of college, and Jones doesn’t see his mobility as a weak point.
“I don’t think he’ll win a fluidity contest but he’s a strong skater,” said Jones. “Off the ice in the performance center, he’s perhaps the strongest person who’s ever gone through this program. On the ice, very sturdy, very strong, and very hard to knock off the puck. I think as strong as he is physically; I’m not so sure his strength of will isn’t stronger. If you had a chance to meet Lucas and shake his hand, you’d be taken aback.”
The 6-2, 209 center hits with authority and competes hard without taking unnecessary penalties. He accumulated just 88 penalty minutes in his four seasons with the Riverhawks.
“He plays a heavy game, he’s a big boy, he’s strong,” said Galati. “ If I had to model a player and tell my guys at training camp that: ‘This is how I want you to play,’ it’s him. And he’s the same off the ice. I tell everybody ‘If I have a daughter…that is the kid I want her to bring home.’ He’s just a good kid, and that translates into his game. He’s just a solid human being that’s for sure.”
Given his faceoff prowess in college, having won 57 percent of his draws the past two seasons, he will likely be auditioned for a checking center role in Laval down the stretch. If he can handle AHL speed, he’ll most likely play in the middle next season as well, and the hope is that one day, he can compete for a bottom-line center role with the Canadiens.
“He played center with us for most of the time, but if we wanted him on the wing, we put him on the wing,” said Galati. “He could play everywhere in the lineup. That’s why he was such a good player for us. That’s why he’s going to be a player for years to come for sure.”
Condotta tallied 10 goals and 13 assists in 33 games this past season, finishing third in team scoring. He had 52 points in 121 career NCAA games, which suggests that fans shouldn’t expect him to fill the net as a pro.
“I’m not going to sit here and say he’s Auston Matthews, but he’s a guy that…yeah…he could play on a fourth line in the NHL,” said Galati. “But he’s also a guy that…if a guy goes down…he can play on your second line, and he won’t hurt you. He just does everything right.
“It’s tough to find kids like this nowadays. He’s just good at everything. He’ll find a way to make the NHL. He just adapts and finds a way to stay in the lineup. He finds a way when he’s in the lineup to be a top-six guy and then he finds a way to be a leader. He just finds a way, and it’s a tribute to him. He’s just very adaptable.”
Condotta went from a one-point season to an 82-point campaign during his junior career, so the will to improve is certainly there. The Canadiens will hope that he can continue that impressive development curve as a pro.
“He just grows on you and after a while, you say ‘Let’s put (Condotta) back on the ice, he’s just the best guy for the job,’ said Galati. “When guys at the top of your lineup weren’t playing, he was always the guy that stepped in and you’d think…”Jeez, man…maybe this guy IS a top-six player. We just don’t see it yet.’.
Condotta may be a longshot to play in the NHL, given that he was never drafted, but he was well worth the gamble on a one-year free-agent contract when recently drafted centers Riley Kidney and Oliver Kapanen are likely a year away from joining the organization. Condotta will be evaluated this spring and next season, and if he earns another contract, the club will sign him again in the summer of 2023.
“Time will tell what his ceiling is – but you should never, ever, bet against Lucas,” said Jones. “His growth is not going to stop. He’ll keep progressing and adapting and finding ways because that’s what that personality type does. He’s going to find a way.”
Both coaches see an NHL future for Condotta, and couldn’t be prouder that he signed an NHL contract
“I’ve never been so happy for a kid because it didn’t come easy for him,” said Galati. “Those are the kids you really appreciate. You’ve got to have him on your team to fully appreciate him. All he needs is the chance (to play NHL) and he’ll make the best of it. I know he will.”
