Last month, the Hurricanes signed veteran goaltender Aaron Dell to a tryout agreement, loaning him out to Canada’s Spengler Cup entry a few days later. While there hasn’t been an announcement from Carolina about him since then, it appears Dell was released as he has already found a new team. Per the AHL’s transactions log, the netminder has signed a tryout agreement with AHL Ontario, the affiliate of the Kings.
The 34-year-old has yet to play this season beyond his stint at the Spengler Cup where he had a 2.59 GAA and a .906 SV% in four games while losing in the semi-final. Last season, Dell spent most of the year with AHL San Jose, posting a 3.14 GAA with a .898 SV% in 38 contests. He also got into four games with the Sharks, extending his streak of years with an appearance at the top level to seven. Dell had a 2.71 GAA and a .913 SV% in those outings, both better than his career averages of 2.92 and .905 respectively.
With Pheonix Copley on LTIR, David Rittich is currently up with the Kings so Dell figures to serve as the veteran backup to prospect Erik Portillo with the Reign. Meanwhile, with Los Angeles being speculated to be searching for a veteran third-stringer, this signing could take them out of the trade market on that front with Dell being well-suited to fill that role for the time being.
I hear Khabibulin is available!
He is, but the health insurance Dundon offers won’t cover him.