If you want a measure of what the St. John’s IceCaps believe Eric Neilson can bring to their team, consider that in the days after signing the 31-year-old winger to a professional try-out contract, they re-assigned two other forwards, both with full-time contracts, to their ECHL affiliate, the Brampton Beast.

It’s not a reflection on Stefan Fournier, who was sent to the Beast Friday, or Angelo Miceli, whose ECHL?assignment came Monday. St. John’s has a glut of forwards, most of them young. As IceCaps’ head coach Sylvain Lefebvre said about Miceli Monday, they need “to play some games,” and the chance for that will come with Brampton.

Neilson is not in the same sort of development stream. His is a specialized job description.

It might be easy to label that job as “enforcer.” After all, Neilson is closing in on 100 regular-season fighting majors in the AHL, including eight in just 20 games with the Syracuse Crunch last season. But to call him a goon or even a policeman, would be missing the point, says Lefebvre, who instead uses the term “big brother” to describe Neilson.

“It’s just not the hockey player, not just the tough guy, that we’re getting.” said Lefebvre. “We’re getting what he brings to the locker room. He’s known for being a good teammate, as someone who brings guys together.

“It’s to help the (Gabriel) Dumonts and (Bud) Holloways and (Mark) Barberios. And he’s played on good teams. He won a Calder Cup in Norfolk with Barberio and Dustin Tokarski. He knows what it takes to win.

“And yes, we know if we need him with a physical presence in a game, he’ll be there.”

Neilson was with the ECHL’s Manchester Monarchs Thursday when he got a text message to call his agent. He knew his agent “had been in contact with Montreal over the summer, but it didn’t pan out.

“So I thought he was checking in to see how I was, but when I reached him, he said ‘I hope you’re not too settled, because it looks like you’re going to St. John’s,” said Neilson, a native of Fredericton, N.B.

“If you had a camera and taken a picture when I got the news, you would have known how excited I was. It’s a dream come true to play over here.”

IceCaps’ assistant coach Donald Dufresne, who was Neilson’s junior coach with Rimouski of the QMJHL, says the newcomer will bring “a lot of energy, a lot of positive energy. He’s going to be there for his teammates on and off the ice.”

“That’s what I saw 10 years ago. That’s what I know we’ll see now. I know he will help our team get more mature, on and off the ice.”

It remains to be seen whether Neilson gets to play tonight as the IceCaps open a two-game series against the Binghamton Senators at Mile One Centre, but on Monday at least, Lefebvre didn’t seem too inclined to shake up a lineup that gave St. John’s (3-1) two weekend wins over Rochester, even though there are now 15 healthy forwards and eight healthy defenceman on the roster

“Things are going well. We’re going on a game to game basis. Obviously, it’s not a good thing (for players who’ve been in the press box) to stay in the weeds too long. But right now, I like what I see.”