Yannick Veilleux

Playing career

Veilleux was picked second overall by the Shawinigan Cataractes in the 2009 QMJHL Entry Draft. He was part of the Cataractes team that won the 2012 Memorial Cup, and then was traded to the Moncton Wildcats for defenseman Brandon Gormley just before the 2012-13 season started. The St. Louis Blues signed him to a three-year entry-level contract on March 6, 2013. Over the life of that deal, Veilleux spent most of his time with the Blues' AHL affiliates, the Peoria Rivermen and Chicago Wolves, playing in 167 games. When his contract ended, the Blues did not give him a qualifying offer, leaving him an unsigned free agent heading into the 2016-17 season. On October 12, 2016, he signed a one-year AHL deal with the St. John's IceCaps, a Montreal Canadiens affiliate. That season, he split time between the IceCaps and the secondary affiliate Brampton Beast, putting up 6 goals and 16 points in 53 games. As a free agent, he stayed with the Canadiens organization, signing a one-year AHL contract with the new affiliate Laval Rocket on July 20, 2017. In 2017-18, he worked as a depth forward for the Rocket, scoring 3 goals and 7 points in 52 games. After two years with the Canadiens system, he left as a free agent and signed a one-year AHL contract with the Rochester Americans, a Buffalo Sabres affiliate, on August 3, 2018. In 2018-19, he played 50 games for the Americans in a checking-line role, recording 5 goals and 8 points. After five seasons mostly in the AHL, he returned to the ECHL's Kalamazoo Wings on a one-year contract on October 1, 2019. On March 17, 2021, the AHL suspended him for two games for using an obscene gesture during a game against the Toronto Marlies. He was suspended again a few games later for a knee-on-knee hit on Martin Pospisil, and then on May 6, 2021, he received a one-game ban for boarding. Following two productive seasons with the Rocket, Veilleux left North America as a free agent, signing his first contract overseas with German club Eisbären Berlin of the DEL on June 29, 2021.