AHL Notes: Toporowski, Perets, Hookey

The AHL’s Hershey Bears, the Capitals’ primary development affiliate, announced Tuesday they’ve signed forward Luke Toporowski to a one-year deal.

The minor-league pact comes after completing his entry-level contract with the Bruins, which he signed in 2023 after beginning his professional career on an AHL deal with their affiliate in Providence. He was traded to the Wild at the 2024 deadline in the deal that sent winger Pat Maroon to Boston, but Minnesota chose not to give him a qualifying offer last month when his ELC expired.

Toporowski, 24, finished eighth on the Iowa Wild in scoring last season with a 13-15–28 line in 53 games. He was the first Iowa-born player to skate for the Wild’s top affiliate and now joins the Washington organization with 85 points in 166 career AHL games over the last three seasons.

The 5’11” winger doesn’t have any NHL experience to his name, but he’s been a generally productive middle-six winger at all levels thus far and likely has a lengthy minor-league career still ahead of him. He also had 199 points and 224 PIMs in 245 career junior games with the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs and Kamloops Blazers.

Here are more moves out of the AHL:

• After being non-tendered by the Hurricanes, goaltender Yaniv Perets found a new home last week when he signed an AHL deal with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The 25-year-old backstopped Quinnipiac to a national championship in 2023 and immediately landed with Carolina in free agency, although he’s spent most of the last two seasons in the ECHL. He’s nonetheless made one relief appearance for the Canes in each of his two professional seasons, allowing one goal on just eight career shots faced. The Quebec native put up a sparkling .921 SV% in 27 games for the ECHL’s Bloomington Bison last season and will now look to turn that into an everyday role with the Phantoms. However, he faces an uphill battle with the more established Aleksei Kolosov and Philadelphia’s top goaltending prospect Carson Bjarnason set to form the usual tandem in Lehigh Valley this year.
• The Belleville Senators announced the signing of 21-year-old winger Landon Hookey to a two-year deal. While his 6’5″, 223-lb frame wasn’t enough to earn him an NHL contract after going undrafted, he’ll still stick the landing and begin his pro career after a breakout overage season with the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack. He served as an alternate captain last year and led the team in scoring (34-36–70) with 77 PIMs in 68 games.