Samuel Blais
Blais is a two-way contract depth forward trying to win a bottom-six job in Ottawa's camp, not an established roster piece, and his fantasy relevance this season hinges entirely on whether he sticks on the NHL side rather than starting in the AHL.
Role
Ottawa signed Blais to a two-year, two-way contract on July 1, 2026, after he bounced between Montreal, Toronto (an eight-game waiver claim), and AHL Laval last season (Wikipedia; RotoWire, checked 26 September). In a September 26, 2026 preseason split-squad game against Montreal, Daily Faceoff/Inside The Rink's projected lineup had him on a bottom-six forward group with Nick Cousins and Stephen Halliday; that is one exhibition night's grouping, not a settled assignment, and no power-play unit placement for him has been reported. He was listed on Ottawa's 57-player training camp roster released this month, competing for a bottom-six spot against several other camp forwards.
He is a physical, hard-nosed winger, averaging nearly four hits per game last season per RotoWire, who plays a north-south, energy-line style that some bottom-six-needy clubs value, and he has NHL scoring touch in flashes (he had produced at a useful pace before a wrist injury cost him time last season).
A two-way contract signed as a depth/tryout-caliber add is itself the skeptical case: RotoWire's outlook states fantasy managers don't need to draft him and he likely won't even be a notable waiver-wire target unless he locks down a steady bottom-six role, and last season he was passed through waivers twice and finished with just five points over his final 26 games.
Where analysts split
There is no reported analyst split over his talent or upside; the only real open question, unresolved by anything found, is whether he wins a full-time bottom-six NHL job out of camp on his two-way deal or opens the season in the AHL, since that answer determines whether he has any fantasy relevance at all.
Research confidence: thin. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
Others at LW
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