Veteran forward Cédric Paquette isn’t returning to North America anytime soon. According to a league announcement, Paquette has signed a one-year deal with the KHL’s Avangard Omsk.
There’s no question that Paquette’s options were limited. The former Stanley Cup champion has spent the last three years with the KHL’s Dynamo Moskva, scoring 44 goals and 79 points in 142 games. Although he was a quality tertiary scorer in the first two years with Dynamo, a serious injury limited him to only 21 games last season.
Before his time with Dynamo and a one-year stint with the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk, Paquette enjoyed a relatively lengthy run in the North American professional circuit. He was drafted as the 101st overall pick of the 2012 NHL Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning, and spent his first seven professional seasons in the Bolts organization.
Although he had a few quality years as a bottom-six forward for the Lightning, the highlight of his career came in the 2019-20 season. Paquette finished that season with seven goals and 18 points in 61 games, with an additional three assists in 25 postseason contests, helping Tampa Bay in the first half of their back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.
The following season, Paquette eventually lost his role with the Lightning, and he spent the last two years of his time in North America playing for the Ottawa Senators and Carolina Hurricanes before closing out with the Montreal Canadiens. In an interesting tidbit, since he acquired Russian citizenship in 2024, the Gaspé, QC native is no longer considered an import player in the KHL.