Will we see Foudy's name on that roster?
Liam Foudy is a big kid, listed at 6-foot-2 and 188 pounds, in theory, he could be a huge presence with this team, but so far, he has yet to make an impact. He has a brother, Jean-Luc, who plays in the Colorado Avalanche system. In nine career NHL, he has yet to register a point.
There was a buzz surrounding Foudy in 2018 when he was drafted. Hailing from Scarborough, ON, CAN, he played for the famed London Knights. He played four seasons in London. In 230 games he scored 97 goals and 191 points. He had himself a fine junior career.
Foudy has played in 41 career AHL games thus far. He has scored 10 goals and has 35 career points. He played in eight games in the 2019 AHL playoffs and scored 2 goals.
It feels like Foudy has been in the CBJ system for more than 5 years but believe or not he did play in the 2020 NHL playoff bubble. In 10 games he scored one goal and had two points. He has played more games in the NHL than in the AHL. He’s played 89 games for the CBJ, with 62 of those coming this past season. Due to the injury situation in Columbus, he was needed big time. Foudy averaged around 12 minutes of TOI.
In 62 games last season, he put together a solid season for himself. He had 7 goals and 14 points. His seven goals tied him with Emil Bemstrom. His 14 points also tied him with Nick Blankenburg and Gavin Bayreuther. To say the CBJ has a log jam at the forward position would be an understatement, but he filled in well. Technically, Foudy is a center, but he played mostly wing.
With the season he had last year, one expected him to get a shot out of camp. But, with that log jam at wing, and the fact that the center position will be filled on all four lines, if he doesn’t show new coach Pascal Vincent that he’s capable, he could be back in the AHL. Foudy also needs waivers to get back to the AHL, so that complicates things a bit for the Jackets.
Per PuckPedia, Foudy is going into the final year of his current contract and will be RFA, being arbitration-eligible after the season. He isn’t scheduled to become UFA until 2027, so we should get to see whether Foudy can put it together and become a full-time NHLer. Last season proved that if given some decent playing time, he can score some goals.
The team, the fans, and the media all seem to love Liam Foudy and want him to be successful, now it’s up to him to make it happen. Everyone is cheering for him, that’s for sure. And with three days to go until opening night, and at the time of this article was published, he's survived all cuts, could we see him on opening night? Or at least as an alternate from night to night?
Where do you see Foudy playing this season?
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