Habs Sign Jarred Tinordi to ELC

The Montreal Canadiens announced today that the club has signed 2010 1st round pick Jarred Tinordi to a 3-year entry level contract. The deal will pay him a signing bonus of $270,000, plus $810,000 per year, for a cap hit of $900,000 annually.

Tinordi, 19, was named captain of the London Knights at the start of this season. He has missed the last couple of weeks with cuts to his eye area suffered during a fight but is expected back in the line-up shortly.

In 63 games last year, the 6'7" rearguard scored 14 points, earned 140 PIMs, and was a -8, while logging big minutes (sometimes as much as 30 a game) for the Knights. Prior to his injury, Tinordi had 2 assists and was a +7 in 6 games this year.

Both this year and last, Tinordi looked good during Montreal's training camp, and he has a shot at being one of the defenders for the U.S. World Junior Championship squad over the Christmas holidays.

Tinordi should join the Hamilton Bulldogs (at least for practice) once the Knights season is up (if it ends before that of the Dogs), and should play full-time in the AHL next year (either way, his contract will only start ticking next season, and he won't count against the 50 contract limit until that point either). He will be part of a very strong incoming class of talent at the American League level next season, alongside Nathan Beaulieu, Brendan Gallagher, Michael Bournival, Morgan Ellis, Greg Pateryn, and likely Danny Kristo.

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In other Habs prospect news, forward Brendan Gallagher snapped a 2-game pointless skid last night in a big way. He scored his team's first 3 goals before assisting on an empty netter in a 4-2 win. Gallagher now has 14 goals and 23 points in just 13 games. He is tied for second in the WHL in goals despite having played at least 3 fewer games than all other leaders.