The Washington Capitals invited Peter Laviolette’s son, Peter Laviolette III, to its summer Development Camp after the 24-year-old “Lavy Jr” concluded playing for Division III Plymouth State University. He scored a couple impressive goals and a few months later, Laviolette III was a surprise add to the Capitals’ Training Camp roster. He even survived the team’s first round of cuts.
After investing resources into the undrafted free agent and son of their head coach, the Capitals will not keep Laviolette III in their organization.
Instead, Lavy Jr. signed an ECHL contract with the Wheeling Nailers on Tuesday. Wheeling is the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins — the Capitals’ biggest rival.
“It’s not every day you get to say that you have a player born in Wheeling playing for the Nailers,” Nailers Head Coach Derek Army said in a press release. “Peter has a lot of character, and he is coming off of a very successful rookie camp with the Washington Capitals and a great senior season at Plymouth State. He is a big player who goes to the net, and we are looking forward to continuing to help him in his development.”
Laviolette III played five seasons of college hockey at Plymouth State University and was nearly a point-per-game player (26 points in 27 games) during his final season, which included a career-high 11 goals. The Nailers say Plymouth State won four regular season championships and three tournament championships in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference during Lavy Jr.’s time with the team.
There is some fun history behind the signing, too. Lavy Jr. was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, on December 19, 1997, while his dad was head coach of the hockey team. The gig during the 1997-98 season was Laviolette’s first as a head coach. Now, after a bunch of hard work for a DIII team, Peter’s son is starting his professional career the same place he did.
We wish Lavy Jr. all the best and we hope he follows in his dad’s footsteps to the NHL. As we’ve learned from players like Jay Beagle in the past, the ECHL can be a viable path to the NHL — and a Stanley Cup, too.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
