Sylvain Lefebvre didn’t get to the NHL through the big door; he was signed by the Montreal Canadiens as an undrafted free agent, yet still managed to have a successful 14-year career in the NHL, skating in 945 games and scoring 674 points in the process.
After three years in the Habs organization, the blueliner was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in return for a third-round pick at the 1994 draft. His stay in Toronto was short-lived, and he was involved in the transaction that sent Wendell Clark to the Quebec Nordiques in return for Leafs legend Mats Sundin. In his five years with the Quebec/Colorado Avalanche franchise, Lefebvre played 351 games, scored 72 points, and won a Stanley Cup.
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He concluded his playing career with a four-year stint with the New York Rangers, signing a four-year, $10 million contract in the Summer of 1999. He retired at 35 after playing the 2002-03 season.
A few years later, he accepted an assistant coach role with the Avalanche’s AHL team, the Lake Erie Monsters. After two seasons, he was promoted to the same role in the NHL with the Avs. He remained in post until the end of the 2011-12 season, and he was then allowed to become the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate’s coach.
In the six years he spent at the helm of Montreal’s AHL affiliate in Hamilton, St. John’s, and Laval, the team only made the playoffs once and didn’t get past the first round in the one year it qualified. He bounced right back, landing an assistant coach role with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, where he stayed for three years before accepting an offer to join the Florida Panthers as an assistant coach in 2022-23, right on time for the Cats’ first journey to the Stanley Cup Final.
After losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2023 Cup final, Lefebvre and the Panthers went on to win two consecutive Cups, taking on the Edmonton Oilers. Chances are, Lefebvre barely remembers his struggle with the Canadiens’ farm team now that he has one Cup ring as a player and two as an assistant coach.
Photo credit: © Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
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