Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

AHL

Transaction Notes: Thompson, Korczak, Fusco

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Former Devils forward Tyce Thompson has signed a one-year deal in Kazakhstan with Barys Astana of the KHL, according to a team announcement.

Thompson, 26, is the younger brother of Sabres star Tage Thompson. He was a fourth-round pick by New Jersey in 2019 out of Providence College and appeared in 11 games for the club from 2020 to 2023, recording an assist and a -4 rating.

The speedy 6’1″, 194-lb winger spent most of his time in the Devils organization on assignment to AHL Binghamton/Utica, where he had 50 points in 98 games before he was traded to the Islanders for AHL depth winger Arnaud Durandeau early in the 2023-24 season. Thompson remained in the Islanders organization through the end of last season but saw his offensive effectiveness tumble with their affiliate in Bridgeport. He had just 35 points in 116 games for the Baby Isles after recording over half a point per game in the Devils’ system, taking on more of an agitator/checking role with a team-leading 102 PIMs last year.

As a result of his age and professional experience with a lack of NHL games under his belt, Thompson became a Group VI unrestricted free agent this offseason and was not re-signed by the Islanders. He now lands in the KHL with Barys, where he’ll make more than the $200K guarantee he had on his two-way deal with the Islanders last year.

Here are more minor moves from around hockey:

  • Ex-Rangers prospect Ryder Korczak is headed to Slovakia’s top league on a one-year deal with Vlci Zilina, the club announced on Facebook. Korczak, 23 in September, was a third-round pick by the Blueshirts in 2021. He turned pro out of WHL Moose Jaw at the end of the 2022-23 campaign and had 31 points in 107 games in parts of three seasons for AHL Hartford. He was traded to the Lightning in January for winger Lucas Edmonds. He finished the season with four points in 11 combined regular-season and playoff games for AHL Syracuse before being non-tendered by Tampa in June. With presumably no NHL or AHL offers on the table, the 5’10” center joins a club that gained promotion from Slovakia’s second division just one year ago.
  • Defenseman John Fusco, who came off the Maple Leafs’ reserve list last week, has signed an AHL deal with the Capitals’ affiliate in Hershey, the team announced yesterday. Fusco, 24, was a seventh-round pick by Toronto in 2020 but went unsigned coming off his senior season at Dartmouth last year. The undersized righty had 51 points in 112 career collegiate games with Harvard and the Big Green.

Evening Notes: Gillies, O’Connor, Nardella

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

A former third-string option at the NHL level enjoyed his time in the ECHL so much last season that he wants another go at it. According to a team announcement, the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears have signed netminder Jon Gillies for the 2025-26 campaign.

Despite being in the professional ranks for the last decade, Gillies is best known for his work at the collegiate level. Putting together an impressive season with the NCAA’s Providence College, Gillies managed a 24-13-2 record in 39 games with a .930 SV%, 2.01 GAA, and four shutouts during the 2014-15 season. Gillies played so well behind the Friars that they were able to win the first National Championship in program history.

He put together a few good years with the AHL’s Stockton Heat, but couldn’t replicate the success he had in college. From 2015 to 2023, Gillies managed a 78-71-32 record in 184 appearances with a .904 SV% and 2.94 GAA with the Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, Arizona Coyotes, and Columbus Blue Jackets organizations. He played in seven games for the Solar Bears last season.

Other notes from this evening:

  • The Colorado Avalanche are getting some good news from one of their better bottom-six players. According to AJ Haefele of the DNVR Avalanche podcast, Logan O’Connor’s recovery from surgery is going ahead of schedule. He posits that O’Connor should only miss between 10 and 16 games, which would forecast his return to early November, nearly a month earlier than expected.
  • The AHL’s Manitoba Moose are adding some veteran experience to their coaching staff for the upcoming season. Earlier today, the team announced that they’ve hired Bob Nardella as an assistant coach for the 2025-26 AHL season. Nardella has spent more than a decade with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, moving from the team’s skills coach to the assistant coach before serving as the head coach last year.

Rangers Re-Sign Dylan Garand, Talyn Boyko

at CDT | by 1 Comment

The New York Rangers have re-signed goaltender Dylan Garand to a one-year, two-way contract extension, per Peter Baugh of The Athletic. The deal will carry a league-minimum, $775K salary at the NHL level. New York also announced the signing of goaltender Talyn Boyko to a one-year deal. Both netminders were restricted-free agents. With their deals out of the way, New York’s only remaining RFAs will be defensemen Lauri Pajuniemi and Karl Henriksson.

Garand began his career as the backup to Louis Domingue, but has gained the edge in starts over the veteran through the last two seasons. Garand has improved his stat line in every season along the way. He posted a 13-14-3 record and .894 save percentage in 32 games of his rookie season in 2022-23. Those numbers improved just enough to win the starter’s crease in 2023-24, rising to a 16-17-5 record and .898 Sv% in 39 games. With a year of trust behind him, Garand finally broke out this year, posting a 20-10-8 record and .913 Sv% in another 39 games.

On the heels of Garand’s rise, Domingue made the decision to sign with Sibir Novosibirsk of Russia’s KHL this summer. He’ll move out of the Rangers organization after three years, leaving the role of AHL backup to a mix of Callum Tung, Hugo Ollas, and Boyko. The inexperience of those three should give Garand a perfect chance to take on a star’s workload this season. New York is clearly expecting as much, now giving the 23-year-old a chance to set his own bar for renegotiations next summer. If he continues to succeed in upwards of 40 or 50 starts, Garand could find himself pushing to backup Igor Shesterkin in the NHL. If he falters, he’ll continue forward as the new veteran presence in a young Wolf Pack goalie room. Either way, Garand’s 2025-26 campaign will be one to watch closely.

Meanwhile, Boyko could be a strong bet to cede the bulk of Domingue’s minutes. He split starts on the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers last season, ultimately working to a stout 20-8-5 record and .913 Sv% in 33 games. He also posted a 2-2-0 record and .917 Sv% in five AHL games. The stat line was a hardy improvement over Boyko’s first pro season last year, when he managed a 13-9-1 record and .888 Sv% in 26 games with the Cincinnati Cyclones. He’s an athletic, 6-foot-8 goaltender with more pro experience than Tung or Ollas. That standing should give him the first chance to prove he can stick in the AHL. Boyko’s potential, and the confidence of a new deal, should give Rangers fans even more reason to watch Hartford’s goalie room closely.

Minor Transactions: Lockwood, Timashov, Pinard

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Although it’s not entirely confirmed, a new report out of Russia indicates that the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg is closing in on a contract with William Lockwood. Assuming he signs a new contract with SKA, it will be Lockwood’s first playing experience outside of North America in his professional career.

The Bloomfield Hills, MI native was drafted in the third round of the 2016 NHL Draft by the Vancouver Canucks. After a solid four-year career with the NCAA’s University of Michigan Wolverines program, Lockwood debuted with the Canucks in the 2020-21 NHL season. He failed to gain much traction in Vancouver and spent much of his time with their AHL affiliates, the Utica Comets and Abbotsford Canucks.

Lockwood held a brief role with the New York Rangers’ AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, after a mid-season trade during the 2022-23 campaign. Over the past two years, he has been with the Florida Panthers organization, where he played for their top affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. During that stretch, he scored 22 goals and recorded 46 points in 84 regular-season games, along with an additional six goals and nine points in 21 postseason contests.

Other minor transactions:

  • Former depth forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, and New York Islanders, Dmytro Timashov has found a new landing spot in the KHL. According to a team announcement, the Ukrainian-born and Swedish-raised forward has signed a two-year agreement with the KHL’s Admiral Vladivostok. It’s impressive that Timashov landed a two-year contract, given that he’s coming off one of the worst seasons of his professional playing career. In 44 games split between the NL’s Genève-Servette HC and KHL’s HK Sochi, Timashov mustered only three goals and 13 points during the 2024-25 campaign.
  • The AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals, the Hershey Bears, announced that they have signed forward Simon Pinard to a one-year AHL contract for the 2025-26 season. There’s no guarantee that Pinard spends the year in Hershey, but he’s coming off an exceptional season with the ECHL’s Tahoe Knight Monsters, scoring 33 goals and 64 points in 63 games with a +21 rating.

Minor Transactions: Kempe, Novak, Berger

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Former Coyotes forward Mario Kempe is continuing his career overseas on a one-year contract with Austria’s EC-KAC, the club announced.

The older brother of top Kings winger Adrian Kempe is entering his 18th professional season, the vast majority of which were spent in Europe. Now 36, he was a fifth-round pick of the Flyers back in 2007 but only played five games for their AHL affiliate in 2008-09 before returning overseas. His only NHL experience came later in his career with Arizona, recording a 6-7–13 scoring line in 70 games across the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

Injuries have diminished the once-effective scorer in recent years. He spent last season in Finland with Tappara, scoring 11 points in 30 games for the Liiga club. He now joins EC-KAC in the ICEHL – still a major pro league in Europe, but not at the level of the KHL, SHL, Liiga, or Swiss NL. He’s spent most of his career in his native Sweden, recording 56 goals and 115 points in 328 career SHL games for Djurgårdens IF, MODO Hockey, Rögle BK, and Luleå HF.

More moves from around the hockey world:

  • The Coachella Valley Firebirds, the Kraken’s AHL affiliate, announced today they’ve signed forward Jakov Novak to a one-year deal. He spent the last two years in the Canadiens organization on minor-league deals with AHL Laval and ECHL Trois-Rivières. He was over a point-per-game for the latter club last season (57 in 53 GP) en route to a Kelly Cup championship. The 26-year-old winger was a 2018 seventh-round pick of the Senators but had his signing rights later traded to Montreal, which never signed him to an NHL deal.
  • The Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, are signing left-shot defender Carter Berger, Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey reports. Berger, 25, was a fourth-round pick by the Panthers in 2019 but never signed. He spent his first pro season last year under contract with AHL Hartford but played almost exclusively on assignment to ECHL Bloomington, where he had an 8-25–33 scoring line with a -7 rating in 67 games.

Snapshots: Belleville, Lightning, Tullio, AHL

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

In the wake of groundbreaking news regarding a new NHL arena, the Ottawa Senators have also announced a three-year extension of the Belleville Senators’ lease agreement with Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre. The deal additionally includes the option to extend for an additional five years, effectively gluing the AHL Senators to Belleville until between 2030 and 2035.

Ottawa will make a confident move to keep their AHL club just a few hours away. This news comes despite the fact that Belleville has ranked in the bottom-three of AHL attendance in each of the last two seasons, with an average of 2,823 fans each game per HockeyDB. Belleville did come closer to 3,000 fans per game this season, and will look to cross that mark with a new commitment to the city.

Their one-ice performances have fluctuated in their eight years of existence. The Baby Sens have made the postseason only twice, though they did finish first and third in their division in 2020 and 2021, when the postseason was either cancelled early or outright. The club has shown glimmers of hope, and should only improve as Ottawa continues to stack their depth chart.

Other quick notes from across the NHL:

  • In more arena news, the Tampa Bay Lightning have announced a new name for their home base shares Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. The arena formerly known as AMALIE Arena will now be named Benchmark International Arena, after naming rights were sold to the Tampa-based acquisitions firm. Details of the sale were not revealed, other than that it will run for multiple years and include $3MM in nonprofit contributions to the arena. Amalie Motor Oil Company, who held the naming rights since 2014, will continue to serve as a corporate partner of the Lightning.
  • Right winger Tyler Tullio will continue his journey across the AHL. He has signed a contract with the Tuscon Roadrunners for next season, per Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey. Tullio was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in 2024, as part of the deal that swapped top prospect Matthew Savoie for pro center Ryan McLeod. He spent 30 games with the Rochester Americans, before being loaned to the Calgary Wranglers for the rest of the season. He totaled 15 points in 43 games this season, just narrowly below the scoring pace he managed when he scored 21 points in 54 games in 2023-24, or 26 points in 63 games in 2022-23, with the Bakersfield Condors. Tullio was a fifth-round selection in the 2020 NHL Draft and should provide a nice boost of speed to Tuscon’s lineup.
  • The AHL has named Stephen Thomson as their new Vice President of Hockey Operations, per NHL.com’s Mark Divver. Divver adds that Thomson will be responsible for overseeing on-ice operations, including management of officials and disciplinary processes. Thomson has been with the AHL’s league office since 2022. He will replace Hayley Moore, who left for a role with popular agency Quartexx Management. The AHL also announced that Jeff Jordan has been hired as the Director of Hockey Operations and Central Registry after spending the last five years with the Springfield Thunderbirds. The league has also promoted Michael Demarin to Senior Manager of Hockey Administration and Governance; and Shannon Chiras to Manager of Hockey Operations.

Kraken Hire Zac Dalpe, Adam Purner To Development Team

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Seattle Kraken have announced two late-summer hires. Recently retired pro Zac Dalpe will join the club as a Player Development Consultant, and Adam Purner will take on the role of Video Analyst, in the 2025-26 season. Dalpe played through over 15 years between the NHL and AHL lineups, while Purner has spent the last three seasons as the video coach for the AHL’s Hershey Bears.

Dalpe will waste no time in continuing his career in the hockey world, as he lands this role just over a month after announcing the end of his playing days. He was once a top center prospect, originally drafted in the second-round of the 2008 NHL Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes. Dalpe followed his draft with two seasons at The Ohio State University, where he emerged as a key part of the offense – netting 70 points in 76 games before turning pro in 2010. He seemed to be set for much of the same success at the pro flight, with 64 points in his first 70 games in the AHL.

But Dalpe struggled to maintain his scoring into the NHL flight. His career was defined by lofty scoring in the minors, but minimal scoring in the majors. Despite that, the reliable center was able to work his way to 168 appearances at the NHL level over the course of 12 seasons. He played with six clubs over that period, including four years in Carolina’s pipeline and three years with Columbus. He totaled 32 points in those appearances. Dalpe’s spot starts in the NHL were rounded out by an impressive 392 points in 574 games, and 15 seasons, in the AHL. He was a true pillar of any lineup he joined, and spent the last six seasons of his career serving as a team captain – broken up as two years wearing the Cleveland Monsters ’C’, and four years leading the Charlotte Checkers.

Dalpe’s career was defined not by lofty stats or many accolades, but instead true year-over-year reliability and a willingness to fill any role his teams needed. He’ll now use those attributes to support Seattle’s young guns as they ramp into the NHL.

Joining Dalpe will be acclaimed video coach Purner, who supported the Hershey Bears in their run to Calder Cup Championships in two of the last three seasons. Purner’s career began with five seasons as the video coach for the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks. He followed that stint with two years in a minor-league role with the New Jersey Devils’ organization, split between one year with the Binghamton Devils and one year with the Utica Comets. Purner will now receive his first NHL opportunity just a few hours away from where his career began.

Snapshots: Cooley, Murray, Mastrodonato

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With max-term contracts for re-signings set to shrink from eight years to seven next year, some feel teams will look to push to get their players signed this summer to guarantee that eighth season.  Among those eligible to sign now is Mammoth center Logan Cooley, a player Utah would undoubtedly like to lock up, especially with GM Bill Armstrong favoring long-term deals for core pieces as soon as possible.  However, Brogan Houston of the Deseret News recently argued that it’s not in Cooley’s best interest for him to extend now.  Given his stature as a young potential top-line center, he’d have to have a disastrous season to really tank his value compared to what it might be now while with the rising cap, it might be better for him to wait until next summer when the maximum term drops, allowing him to reach unrestricted free agency a year sooner.  AFP Analytics pegged a potential long-term extension for Cooley this summer to come in around seven years at around $9.5MM.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Winger Brett Murray has been with the Sabres for the better part of a decade after he was drafted by them back in 2016. However, now that he’s on the open market, he’ll be looking for a new team as his agent Dave Gagner told Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald that the organization has informed Murray that they won’t be offering a contract to him.  The 27-year-old played in three games with Buffalo last season and has 26 appearances at the top level under his belt.  Murray spent most of last year with AHL Rochester where he had 27 goals and 22 assists in 66 games.  However, he now qualifies as a veteran under AHL roster rules which has likely limited his marketability so far.
  • The Kings have added some extra minor-league depth as their AHL affiliate in Ontario announced the signing of forward Keaton Mastrodonato to a one-year deal. The 24-year-old has two full professional seasons under his belt, split between the AHL and ECHL levels.  Last season, Mastrodonato was held off the scoresheet in the 13 games with AHL Colorado but was quite productive with ECHL Utah, tallying 19 goals and 30 assists in 53 outings with the Grizzlies.

Rocco Grimaldi, Joseph Blandisi Sign In KHL

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Former New Jersey Devils forward Joseph Blandisi has signed a two-year contract with SKA St. Petersburg of Russia’s KHL. Blandisi will be joined in the move by fellow AHL veteran Rocco Grimaldi, whose contract details haven’t yet been revealed, per Pavel Panyshev of Russia’s Championat. This will mark the first overseas move of both player’s careers, after years of rooted roles in the minor leagues.

Grimaldi boast the slightly richer career of the two, accumulating 203 NHL games and 499 AHL games over his nine-year career. He was originally drafted with the 33rd-overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft by the Florida Panthers. Grimaldi followed his draft selection with three seasons at the University of North Dakota. He found great success in college, despite a freshman year derailed by injury, and entered the pros with wind behind his sails in the 2014-15 season.

Grimaldi scored a hot 42 points in 64 games of his AHL rookie season. That was enough to earn the first seven games of his NHL career, though he only managed one goal in those appearances. He spent the next four years firmly rooted in the rut of hot AHL scoring and meager NHL totals, until the 2018-19 Nashville Predators opted to reward Grimaldi with his first full year in the NHL. He scored just 13 points in 53 games with the club, but shined through enough to cement a bottom-six role for the next three seasons. But after not finding another gear at the top flight, Grimaldi was relegated back to the minors in 2022. His role was defined as a top AHL scorer with limited upward mobility – a sentiment that’s kept Grimaldi from receiving any NHL games in three years, despite scoring 256 points in 252 games since 2022.

Blandisi has fallen into a similar rut over recent years. After bearing through split AHL and NHL minutes between 2015 and 2020, the former sixth-round selection landed a full-time role in the minors in the 2020-21 season. He’s since found upside as both a scorer and bruiser, a role best highlighted by his 59 points and 110 penalty minutes in 70 games with the Toronto Marlies in the 2023-24 season. He followed that performance with 35 points and 82 penalty minutes in 58 games last season, bringing his career-long totals up to 321 points and 664 penalty minutes in 448 games and 10 seasons in the AHL. He also has 31 points in 101 NHL games.

Both players will look to escape middling roles in North America with a move to Russia’s top squad. They’ll join a rich squad in SKA, headlined by returning scorers Sergei Plotnikov and Marat Khairullin. Grimaldi and Blandisi should have no trouble finding hardy middle-six minutes, following SKA’s loss of Evgeny Kuznetsov and Mikhail Grigorenko this off-season. SKA finished second in their division, and got bumped from the conference quarterfinals, last season.

Snapshots: Bichsel, Brett Murray, Bakersfield Deals

at CDT | by 3 Comments

With the Dallas Stars parting ways with veterans Cody Ceci, Mathew Dumba and Brendan Smith, the door is fully open for 21-year-old defender Lian Bichsel to make a full impact on the blue line this season, per NHL.com’s Mike Heika.

Last season, during his rookie year, Bichsel, the Stars’ first-round pick in the 2022 draft (18th overall), appeared in 38 games, recording nine points, 23 blocked shots, and a team-leading 155 hits. The hulking 6’7″, 230-pound defenseman also suited up for 18 playoff games, contributing one assist and adding 75 more hits. His 16.4 hits per 60 minutes last season was nearly 10 higher than the second-place finisher (Colin Blackwell with 6.9).

A native of Switzerland, Bichsel appeared in the Swedish Hockey League for three seasons before coming over to North America, and worked his way into Dallas’ lineup in short order. And as Heika notes, Bichsel could slot into a variety of pairings on the Stars’ third defensive unit, but skating alongside veteran Alexander Petrovic would give him a steady, experienced presence. The two also have experience playing as a pairing in the AHL.

Elsewhere around the league:

  • After spending the past six seasons in the Buffalo Sabres organization, primarily with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, winger Brett Murray is on the move, per Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey Beat. Despite posting a career-high 27 goals for Rochester last season, the Sabres are set to part ways with one of their key AHL leaders. A fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft, Murray played two seasons at Penn State before making the jump to the pro ranks. He went on to appear in 26 NHL games for Buffalo, recording two goals and six points.

  • The Edmonton Oilers’ top affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, signed four players to AHL deals, per a team announcement. The team signed forwards Matt Brown and Trevor Janicke and defensemen Mats Lindgren and Luke Prokop. Of note, Propkop was a third-round selection of the Nashville Predators in the 2020 draft, while Lindgren was a fourth-round selection of the Sabres in the 2022 draft.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top