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Noah Juulsen joins the St. John’s IceCaps for the AHL Playoffs

Noah Juulsen’s Everett Silvertips were eliminated from the WHL playoffs last week, as the Seattle Thunderbirds completed a four-game sweep. As a result, Juulsen’s services were available, and the AHL team in St. John’s snatched them up.

Juulsen doesn’t bring a lot of offence with him to the opposite side of the continent, posting two assists in 10 post-season games in the WHL. He will add a strong defensive presence to a team that has struggled in that aspect of the game for several years now, and should help to stabilize the back end for a tough first-round playoff series.

With Zach Redmond, who has arguably been St. John’s’ best defender over the last month, also playing on the right side, it will be interesting to see if one of he or Juulsen will switch to the opposite side to make a new top pairing, or if Juulsen is used to bolster the defence corps on a different unit.

As this season qualifies as his 19-year-old campaign, not turning 20 until earlier this month, the move to the AHL will not begin his entry-level contract. His deal will slide for a second time and kick in at the start of the 2017-18 season, when he will likely have a full-time role with the Canadiens’ new AHL affiliate: the Laval Rocket.

Juulsen is the second player to join the IceCaps, joining Victor Mete in a move announced yesterday.

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