The Belfast Giants have made a move to help their injury-stricken roster with the signing of Canadian defenceman Karl Boudrias until the end of the season.
The 24-year-old, who can also play forward, makes the switch to the SSE Arena having started the season in Slovakia with Nove Zamky, where he dressed in five games and contributed three assists, skating to a -3 rating.
With Zak Galambos out long-term and Mike Lee having missed the last four games with an undisclosed injury, Giants head coach Adam Keefe has moved to shore up the hole on his blue-line which has been temporarily filled by forward Ciaran Long.
While Long is capable of playing on defence, he is undoubtedly stronger utilised at forward and, as such, Keefe has swooped for Boudrias to try and bolster his defensive options.
“I’m really pleased to start this new journey in Belfast. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Belfast itself and the winning culture of Giants organisation, so I’m looking forward to meeting the rest of the team and hitting the ice in front of the fans at The SSE Arena, Belfast,” commented Boudrias.
Before moving to Slovakia at the start of this season, the first foray into Europe of his career, Boudrias spent the previous three seasons in the ECHL, his first pro season in 2021-22 split between the Worcester Railers and South Carolina Stingrays before two years with the Tulsa Oilers.
No stranger to chipping in at both ends of the ice, the Quebec native thrived in Tulsa where he scored 12 goals and 58 points in 137 games, although he will likely be asked to play a more defensive role in Belfast.
Prior to turning pro, Boudrias spent five seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and made over 260 combined appearances at the Rimouski Océanic, Val-d’Or Foreurs and Chicoutimi Saguenéens, the latter of which he served as alternate captain in his final year, playing alongside the likes of Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, Alexis Lafrenière, Hendrix Lapierre and Dawson Mercer.
Boudrias will also go down in the history books simply by putting pen to paper with the Giants as he is the first non-British player born after the turn of the century to represent the team, having been born on 1 April 2000.
Head coach Keefe added: “We’re excited to bring Karl to Belfast. He’s a great skater and competitor who has the ability to play forward as well as his natural role on defence, which is a great asset for the team.”
Boudrias is the Giants’ 23rd signing of the season, which means they can only sign two more players for the rest of the campaign under the new Elite League roster regulations that cap teams at registering 25 players in one season.
The Canadian is also their 18th non-British player, bringing the Giants to the maximum number of imported players a team can have on their roster at any given time, meaning that if they wish to bring in another non-British player then it would either have to be as a long-term injury replacement or they would have to release one of their current non-British players.