The offseason has slowed to a crawl with just a few arbitration hearings to come and a handful of free agents to sign. With the news that the AHL and some junior leagues are targeting February as a start date, however, things will likely pick up in the way of minor signings. We’ll keep track of the notable ones right here:
- Kyle Wood, who finished the 2019-20 season in the Detroit Red Wings organization, has signed in the German second league. Wood, 24, was a third-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2014 but hasn’t actually played a single game in the NHL. It’s not every day that you find a 6’5″ defenseman that can record 43 points in 68 games, but that’s exactly what Wood did as a rookie in the AHL.
- Yuri Terao is headed back to Japan after his dynamic rookie season in the ECHL, at least until the minor league gets back underway. Terao is playing with his hometown Nikko Icebucks of the Asia League, but is expected to return to North America when the ECHL season starts. For the Utah Grizzlies last year, Terao scored 18 goals and 40 points in 61 games.
- Chicago Blackhawks forward Pius Suter, who had been on loan with the GCK Lions in the Swiss second tier, has been re-assigned to the ZSC Lions in the first tier. That’s certainly nothing to worry about for Suter, who spent the last five seasons with Zurich and won the league MVP in 2019-20.
- Jaycob Megna has signed a one-year AHL contract with the San Jose Barracuda, giving the team a veteran defenseman for the lineup next season. Megna, 27, has played 43 NHL games but spent the entire 2019-20 season with the Chicago Wolves, scoring three goals and ten points.
This page will be updated throughout the day.