As August continues and we get further into restricted free agent contract negotiations, teams continue to fill our their organizational depth charts. Here are some minor moves from around the hockey landscape. We’ll keep updating as more come in:
- Northeastern has announced a pair of graduate transfers for the upcoming season, one with a very familiar hockey name. Brendan van Riemsdyk, younger brother of NHL players James van Riemsdyk and Trevor van Riemsdyk, will join the Huskies after three seasons at the University of New Hampshire. Undrafted, the 23-year old forward had 16 points in 36 games last season.
- Former Kelly Cup champion Gabriel Verpaelst has signed on with the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL for next season, bringing his physicality to a new organization. Verpaelst has racked up 706 penalty minutes in 292 ECHL games including 65 fighting majors.
- The Halifax Mooseheads and Sherbrooke Phoenix of the QMJHL have completed a trade, swapping Cameron Whynot and a 2021 third for Xavier Parent. Whynot was the ninth overall pick in the most recent QMJHL draft and is already a 6’2″ defenseman at the age of 16. He is eligible for selection in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, but still has a lot of development to do in junior. Parent meanwhile was also a high pick, selected fourth in 2017 by the Mooseheads. He recorded 34 points in 67 games last season and was part of the gold medal-winning Hlinka-Gretzky team. He was eligible this season but went undrafted by the NHL likely thanks in part to his 5’7″ stature.