Minor Transactions: 09/08/19

Training camp is upon us, as rookie tournaments are underway and veterans are arriving back in town for informal workouts. In no time, teams will be back on the ice. Yet, many NHL clubs still have work to do, with prominent restricted and unrestricted free agents still without contracts. Minor league affiliates, European teams, and college programs are also still making moves to finalize their plans for the coming season. Keep track of all of those minor transactions right here:

• Defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti is headed back overseas. The 31-year-old blue liner arrived just in time last season to help the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers down the stretch and in the postseason as they secured a Calder Cup championship. However, it wasn’t enough to earn the American defender the contract he was hoping for, whether that was a two-way NHL deal or AHL contract. Instead, Sanguinetti has signed a one-year deal with EHC Munich of Germany’s DEL, the team announced. While this is Sanguinetti’s first rodeo in Germany, he is no stranger to European hockey, having played two seasons in Switzerland and another in the KHL. The Red Bulls are Germany’s most well-known team and home to several other former NHLers like Derek Roy, Chris Bourque, and Andrew Bodnarchuk, so Sanguinetti should fit right in. The 2006 first-round pick has always been a productive player at the minor league level or on the European stage, but could not put it together in 45 career NHL games. He has not been under contract in the NHL since 2015-16 and given his age likely won’t be again, so Sanguinetti will look to make the most of this opportunity in Munich to further boost his status as one of more reliable import defensemen in Europe.
• Sanguinetti is not the only NHL alum heading to Germany. Former Tampa Bay Lightning forward Pierre-Cedric Labrie has also signed overseas, inking a one-year deal with Eisbaren Berlin, the team announced. Labrie’s career had been going backwards; he debuted with Tampa in his second pro season and spent three years with the team, followed by four years exclusively in the AHL, and last year almost entirely in the ECHL. In need of a change of scenery, Labrie brings his experience as a role player and will apply it to an environment where he is also likely one of the most skilled player on the team. As a result, Labrie could be a dominant two-way presence for the Polar Bears. He joins Maxim Lapierre and James Sheppard as NHL veterans playing in Germany’s capital city.