AHL Prospect Rankings: #16 – Guillaume Lefebvre

Guillaume Lefebvre, like many a rough-and-tumble player before him, was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers. He bounced around the QMJHL as a junior, playing for four different teams before being selected (as an overage player) by the Flyers in the seventh round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.

He didn’t have much hype as a prospect; the most noteworthy incident of his junior career was a nine-game suspension he received for a hit that left Bruins’ prospect Tuukka Makela with a third-degree concussion. Makela would only play nine games that season, and the following year he returned to Finland, where he’s played ever since.

Though most of his career, Lefebvre’s collected far more penalty minutes than points (at roughly a 5:1 clip), but he’s never been a one-dimensional player in junior or the AHL. Early on, Lefebvre killed penalties for the Phantoms (Philadelphia’s AHL affiliate), took a regular shift, and even chipped in some offence. He also saw spot duty in the NHL, playing seventeen games for the Flyers between 2001-03.

In March of 2003, Lefebvre was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes along with draft choices for Tony Amonte, who the Flyers wanted for a playoff run. Phoenix quickly flipped Lefebvre to Pittsburgh, where he played 21 NHL games over parts of three seasons. He also had his most successful AHL season, recording 35 points, 113 PIM and a +12 rating in only 66 games.

Lefebvre turned 25 in the off-season, and headed back to Quebec for “personal reasons”; he ended up spending two seasons with the St. Jean Chiefs of the Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey (LNAH). The LNAH is probably the roughest hockey league in the world, and it has a reputation as a bit of a circus because of the on-ice antics. After two seasons there, the 27-year old Lefebvre accepted a tryout at this fall’s Oilers training camp.

Lefebvre showed up to camp in top shape, but couldn’t move past Steve MacIntyre for the enforcer’s job. He ended up being released by the Oilers, but signed an AHL contract with Springfield. He has seven points and 145 PIM through 44 games with Springfield, and a whole bunch of fights. At this point, Lefebvre’s only real shot at an NHL job seems to be fighting his way into one, and while a willing combatant with a bit of a kamikaze style, he’s probably undersized for that kind of work and he doesn’t add enough in other areas to compensate.

NHL Contract Status: N/A

AHL Performance Compares To: Zack Stortini (on-ice performance, not fighting style)

Career Projection: Tweener/Enforcer