In what is a relatively uncommon sight for a Sunday, the NHL’s schedule is brimming with interesting contests to enjoy today. Two of the league’s best teams are set to face each other in a 2014 Stanley Cup Final rematch when the New York Rangers take on the Los Angeles Kings, while out west a heated rivalry is rekindled with the Vegas Golden Knights taking on the San Jose Sharks.
The schedule for overseas hockey today is similarly jam-packed, with contests playing out across most of Europe’s top professional leagues. As always, we’ll keep track of notable player movement from that circuit as well as the North American minor leagues here:
- Former college hockey star Jordan Kawaguchi has decided to retire from the game after two seasons playing professional hockey in order to pursue a career in business. Once a Hobey Baker Award finalist, Kawaguchi was an extremely impactful player for the University of North Dakota. He captained the team in his final season there and racked up 40 goals and 126 points in 136 career games with the program, taking home a multitude of individual awards. After college, he signed a one-year entry-level deal with the Dallas Stars and began his pro career with their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars. He scored 23 points in 49 games, but that was not enough for the team to keep him in the American League as he spent the following year in the ECHL. His 52 points in 58 games helped the Idaho Steelheads boast the ECHL’s best regular-season record, but injuries continued to accumulate for the player and he decided to move on from the game.
- Swiss National League club HC Fribourg-Gottéron has re-signed their all-time leading scorer, Julien Sprunger, for an additional season. It’s hard to overstate the importance of Sprunger to HC Fribourg-Gottéron’s modern history. The 37-year-old has been with the club for almost his entire life, emerging as a star in 2005-06 just as the club had to be saved from bankruptcy. Although he has not brought them their first National League championship, he has won an MVP, led the league in goals twice, and led the team on multiple deep playoff runs. The club’s captain since 2014-15, Sprunger has brought Champions Hockey League play to the team on five occasions, and has represented Switzerland at four IIHF Men’s World Championships as well as the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
- Norwegian right-shot defenseman Johannes Johannesen has signed a two-year contract with Liiga’s Lahti Pelicans, moving on from the SHL’s Rögle BK after playing just 14 games with the club. The 26-year-old earned a shot with Rögle after an impressive two-year stint with Mora IK in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan. He scored 22 points in 49 games helping lead Mora on a respectable promotion push. Johannesen also brings extensive international experience, including from this past year’s IIHF Men’s World Championships in which he served as an alternate captain for Norway and helped the nation achieve a historic upset victory over eventual champions Canada. Pelicans are in need of defensive reinforcement as they have surrendered the second-most goals against in the entire Liiga, so the hope will be that the experienced Johannsen can be the kind of impact addition they sorely need.
- Ässät Pori alternate captain Tuomas Salmela has signed a one-year contract extension with the club. The six-foot-two left-shot blueliner joined Pori after spending a half-decade in Tampere with Ilves. He has nearly 300 games of experience in Liiga and has also represented his club in the Champions Hockey League on two occasions. Pori has been pleased with Salmela’s “unyielding” style of play in a regular role for the club, so the parties have therefore elected to extend their business relationship for another season. Ässät are currently seventh in the Liiga standings although their defense has been outstanding: they have surrendered the fewest goals in league play of any club.
- With the EIHL’s Sheffield Steelers set to lose blueliner Sam Jones, who represents England at World Championship events, for at least the next six weeks the club has elected to bring in some external help. The Steelers have signed defenseman Zach Vinnell away from their EIHL rival Glasgow Clan, adding a 25-year-old currently playing his first full season of professional hockey. The native of Cochrane, Alberta played four seasons of college hockey at Merrimack College and Bowling Green State University, and he dipped his toes into the waters of professional hockey at the end of last season. He signed a short-term contract with the ECHL’s Indy Fuel, ultimately skating in 18 combined regular season and playoff contests. He scored a solid 11 points in that span, earning him a shot with Glasgow. He scored five points in 15 games in Scotland before yesterday’s transfer news brought him to Sheffield.
This page may be updated throughout the day.