The Montreal Canadiens signed 23-year-old defenceman Luke Mittelstadt to a two-year, entry-level NHL contract on Friday. The organization also announced a minor-league trade, sending forward Riley Kidney to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for goaltender Hunter Shepard and forward Jake Chiasson.
Mittelstadt concurrently signed a one-year, one-way American Hockey League contract to join Montreal’s minor-league affiliate, the Laval Rocket, for the remainder of the 2025-26 season. The transaction transitions the 2023 seventh-round draft pick into the professional ranks following the conclusion of his collegiate career.
Mittelstadt, an Eden Prairie, Minnesota native, recently finished his NCAA career as a team captain for the University of Minnesota Gophers. He led all team defencemen this season with career highs in points with 21, goals with two, and assists with 19 across 36 games. Montreal originally selected him 197th overall.
The Canadiens’ subsequent trade on Friday shifts minor-league depth. Kidney, a 2021 second-round draft pick, departs the organization after recording 11 goals and 22 assists in 46 games for the ECHL’s Trois-Rivières Lions this season.
Luke Mittelstadt signs entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadienshttps://t.co/7EAyjj8qRE
— Eyes On The Prize (@HabsEOTP) March 13, 2026
In return, Montreal acquires the 30-year-old Shepard and the 22-year-old Chiasson. Shepard holds a 6-7-2 record in the AHL. Chiasson registered one assist in 20 games for the Belleville Senators prior to the trade. The moves reflect standard roster management across professional sports networks as teams prepare for the final stretch of the 2025-26 season.