UTICA, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – The Utica Comets announced on Tuesday, May 23 that they have signed forward Samuel Laberge to a one-year AHL contract.

The 26-year-old from Quebec has spent the last two seasons with the Comets and has racked up 29 points in those two seasons with Utica. He also spent part of the 2021-22 season with the Comets’ ECHL affiliate, the Adirondack Thunder, picking up ten points in just 12 games. This season, LaBerge was 11^th on the Comets in goals scored with eight and accumulated another eight assists in 43 games.

He picked up just two points for the Comets in this season’s playoffs, one of them the series-clinching goal in overtime against the Laval Rocket on Friday, April 21. Since joining the Texas Stars in 2017, Laberge has 51 points in four AHL seasons.

Laberge has also made an impact off the ice as well. The Comets named him their nominee for the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award this season, which is given for outstanding contributions to the local community during the season.

Laberge joins Joe Gambardella, Robbie Russo and Timur Ibraghimov as 2022-23 Comets who will return to the Adirondack Bank Center next season.