A Familiar Face

They say you can never go home again, but it seems Malcolm Subban will test that theory this year after signing a deal with the AHL's Belleville Senators. For four seasons, Subban skated with the OHL's Belleville Bulls from 2009-2013 before the team was bought and moved to Hamilton by current Senators owner Michael Andlauer in 2015, so his return brings back a crowd favorite to Belleville after the success he had there. The former first-round pick has bounced around hockey in the last few years, but there's hope he can stabilize Belleville's goaltending as a veteran presence with Ottawa occasionally needing some help from the kids.

After being selected 24th-overall in 2012 by the Boston Bruins, Subban played just two NHL games with Boston while spending most of his time with the Providence Bruins between 2013 and 2017. In 127 games with the P-Bruins, Subban was a respectable 56-45-15 with a 2.41 GAA and a .917 save percentage. While he was 0-2-0 with Boston, he had surrendered three goals in each of his NHL appearances up to that point while sporting a .727 save percentage. Some wondered if Subban could grab the reins assuming Boston ever turned to him to defend the net.

However, his 2017 season was played in a different environment as the Vegas Golden Knights claimed Subban off waivers from the Bruins, and immediately became the backup to Marc-Andre Fleury as the Golden Knights kicked off their inaugural season. Again, he provided capable backup goaltending when called upon, going 13-4-2 in 22 games, but it was his following seasons where things unravelled somewhat as he compiled a 17-17-5 record in 41 games while his GAA went up and his save percentage went down in both seasons.

In February 2020, Subban was traded to Chicago in a deal that saw none of the other pieces come close to skating in the NHL, and he'd see very little action with the Blackhawks or the Rockford IceHogs as COVID made things tough on everyone. From 2019-22, Subban played just 17 games with Chicago where he was 6-8-1 with a 3.20 GAA and a .900 save percentage, but his five games with Rockford were rather forgettable. As it was, Chicago traded him to the Buffalo Sabres for future considerations.

Subban would play four games for the Sabres before spending his 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons with the AHL's Rochester Americans, Springfield Thunderbirds, and Cleveland Monsters. He had very similar numbers in Rochester and Springfield, but his number ballooned in Cleveland before the Columbus Blue Jackets called him up for one game where he, unsurprisingly, allowed three goals on 35 shots in what was his best NHL game to date. However, with a significant lack of NHL experience and Subban turning 31 in 2024, his options in free agency seemed limited.

On Saturday, Malcolm Subban was released from his professional tryout with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins that he had signed on October 7. Subban didn't see any regular season action with the Griffins, but he was in camp to solve some of Detroit's goaltending issues as they shuffled players between their ECHL and AHL affiliates while they figured out who belonged where to start the season. It's hard to imagine that Subban would disappear from the hockey map after this short stint, but it turns out it led to another opportunity.

The Belleville Senators announced today that they had signed Subban to a one-year AHL contract that will see him skate all season in the very city he played junior hockey. It might be a good thing he landed there early in this season because it seems the Senators are planning a Belleville Bulls Tribute Night to recognize the 25th Anniversary of the 1999 OHL Champions on December 14 against the Rochester Americans. If they go all-in on the celebraton, Subban will likely get to wear a Belleville Bulls jersey once again! That'd be pretty cool!

Of course, winning games is pretty important too, and the Senators' 3-1-0 start to the season is something upon which Subban will need to build. The Senators host the Providence Bruins on Wednesday, but it may be too early to throw Subban between the pipes at this point. What seems clear, though, is that the Ottawa Senators will have one goalie in Belleville for the entire season if things get crazy with goalie movement between the NHL club and its affiliates.

And if Subban can get his game back to his original Belleville days, there may be a shot at the NHL Senators keeping him in their organization for longer than a few games. Fans in Belleville cheered loudly for him once; it could very well happen again.

And if the goalie thing doesn't work out in his return? Maybe he can stick around as the Belleville Senators' anthem singer!


Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!