The 2017-18 season was full of opportunity for Brett Lernout. His previous two years were spent adjusting to the professional game with the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps, seeing his numbers improve slightly across the board in his second before the club moved to Laval. The injection of veteran players and one of the Montreal Canadiens’ top blue-line prospects for the Rocket’s inaugural season gave Lernout a chance to flourish on what was looking like a contending team.
Things didn’t go quite how they were supposed to. Despite Zach Redmond clearing waivers to join the AHL at the start of the year, he was quickly traded for forward Nicolas Deslauriers, removing the team’s top overall defenceman and forcing Lernout into a top defensive role once again.