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Minor Transactions: 08/03/20

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The NHL is back and we’re well into the qualification round. As the hockey world focuses on those playoff matchups, minor league and European teams continue to build their depth for an upcoming season. As minor signings roll in, we’ll keep track of them right here.

  • The Iowa Wild have signed Jarrett Burton to a one-year AHL contract, bringing him over from the Rochester Americans. Burton had a dreadful season in 2019-20, scoring just one goal and recording two points in 39 games. The 29-year old went undrafted and has had to grind his way up from the ECHL.
  • Ben Freeman has started his professional career, signing with the Maine Mariners of the ECHL after four years at the University of Connecticut. Freeman captained the Huskies in 2019-20, recording 28 points in 33 games.
  • The Colorado Eagles have re-signed Kevin Davis and Peter Tischke, bringing both young defensemen back to give them some extra depth. Combined, Davis and Tischke played 18 games for the Eagles last season, spending most of the year in the ECHL with the Utah Grizzlies.

Jesper Sellgren Loaned To SHL

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When the Carolina Hurricanes signed Jesper Sellgren to a three-year entry-level contract in 2019, they likely expected him to be an important contributor for the Charlotte Checkers. After all, the young defenseman had just debuted for the Checkers in the Calder Cup playoffs and would help them secure a league championship soon after.

Unfortunately, Sellgren hasn’t played a single game for the organization since that 2019 AHL playoff run. Last season he was loaned back to the SHL where he recorded 21 points in 47 games. That was likely a decision made to get him more playing time and opportunity since the Checkers already had names like Jake Bean eating up ice time in the minor leagues. Today, Sellgren has been loaned to the SHL once again, this time to Frolunda, for the 2020-21 season (with the release from Sweden indicating it will be for the entire season).

That means two of his three contracted years will already be gone before Sellgren gets back into the Carolina organization. The deal is scheduled to expire in 2022, at which point he will become a restricted free agent. The sixth-round pick from 2018 is quite an interesting prospect, but it’s hard to know exactly how his future in North America will play out without more experience on this side of the pond.

AHL Issues Update On 2020-21 Season

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The AHL has finally released some information regarding the 2020-21 season, announcing today that the anticipated start date will be December 4, 2020. The league canceled the remainder of the 2019-20 season in May after the coronavirus outbreak.

Because of the nature of revenue streams in the AHL, next season was still very much in doubt. The league relies on ticket sales even more than the NHL, meaning playing games without fans will require a large financial commitment. Still, minor league hockey is so imperative for the development of players around the league that a start date is an encouraging sign at this point.

Should they return to play in early December, it seems likely that they would be able to fit in a full schedule. The league has not released any details on that schedule, however, and will continue to monitor health guidelines before committing to anything.

Minor Transactions: 07/28/20

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The NHL is back, kicking things off with some exhibition action between rivals. As the hockey world focuses on Pittsburgh-Philadelphia, minor league and European teams continue to build their depth for an upcoming season. As minor signings roll in, we’ll keep track of them right here.

  • Swiss journalist Gregory Beaud tweets that Lausanne HC of the NLA will announce two more foreign signings once the NHL season is complete, following their deals with Cory Conacher and Brian Gibbons today. While not confirmed yet, he believes that Mark Barberio of the Colorado Avalanche will be one of those to head to Switzerland next season.
  • NHL draft pick Martins Dzierkals will be returning to Dinamo Riga next season, signing a deal with the KHL team after spending last season in Finland. Dzierkals, 23, was picked 68th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2015 but never signed and subsequently saw his draft rights traded to the Vegas Golden Knights earlier this year.
  • The Manitoba Moose have signed Nathan Todd to a one-year AHL contract, bringing back a player who spent 16 games in their uniform this season. Todd is an elite offensive presence at the ECHL level, but has just one point in 27 career AHL games.

Nashville Predators Sign Anthony Richard

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The Nashville Predators have handed out another 2020-21 contract, signing Anthony Richard to a one-year, two-way deal. Richard was scheduled to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season when his entry-level contract expired. The new contract will carry a salary of $735K at the NHL level and $65K at the AHL level.

Richard, 23, was a fourth-round pick of the Predators back in 2015 and has played two games for the NHL club. While he’s still looking for his first point at that level, he has been a regular contributor for the Milwaukee Admirals and represents solid depth for the organization. Versatile enough to play both center and wing, he’ll likely be heading back to the minors again next season, though, with a flat cap teams may be giving more opportunities to their young players.

Signing Richard leaves just three pending restricted free agents for the Predators: Rem Pitlick, Yakov Trenin and Michael McCarron. The much more important negotiations will be with some of their unrestricted free agents, which include key roster players like Mikael Granlund, Craig Smith and Dan Hamhuis.

Minor Transactions: 07/23/20

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As the NHL gets ready for their upcoming postseason, minor league clubs are preparing for next season. When some minor signings come in we’ll keep track of them right here.

  • Nick Boka and Luke Boka have signed with the Fort Wayne Komets for the 2020-21 season, getting a chance to show what they can do when on the same ice. The Michigan brothers took very different paths to professional hockey, with Nick attending the University of Michigan after being drafted by the Minnesota Wild in 2015 and Luke playing five seasons for the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL, captaining them the last two.
  • Steven Ruggiero has signed with the Adirondack Thunder, after spending last season in the Anaheim Ducks organization. The 23-year old defenseman was a sixth-round pick in 2015 but never signed with the Ducks after his college career ended, meaning that even though he was in their system on an AHL deal he was technically an unrestricted free agent. Ruggiero had nine points in 57 games for the Tulsa Oilers of the ECHL last season.
  • Those Oilers have grabbed a pair of players from Adrian College, signing Dean Balsamo and Joey Colatarci for the upcoming season. It’s not every day that a pair of teammates from Division III schools get a chance to play professional hockey, but these two each earned DIII All-American honors for 2019-20.
  • The Kalamazoo Wings have signed Raymond Brice out of Michigan Tech, where he served as captain during the 2019-20 season. Brice never could get his offense to translate to the college level, meaning professional hockey may serve as an even greater challenge.

Minor Transactions: 07/22/20

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As the NHL gets ready for their upcoming postseason, minor league clubs are preparing for next season. When some minor signings come in we’ll keep track of them right here.

  • Jordan Szwarz, who played mostly for the Belleville Senators this season, has signed with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the KHL for 2020-21. Szwarz scored 36 points in 46 games for Belleville, but actually also got into three contests with the Ottawa Senators. Those weren’t his first opportunities in the NHL, as he’s now totaled 50 games at the highest level.
  • The Iowa Wild have signed four new contracts, adding Phil Beaulieu, Kameron Kielly, Jesse Mychan, and Josh Maser on AHL deals. All four contracts are just for one year as the organization keeps adding to their depth for the upcoming season. For everyone but Mychan, who won the Kelly Cup with the Colorado Eagles in 2018, this will be their first opportunity in professional hockey.
  • Speaking of the Eagles, Matt Abt and Ian Scheid have both signed with Colorado for the upcoming season. Abt spent the last two seasons with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, while Scheid is coming out of Minnesota State University (Mankato).

Minor Transactions: 07/21/20

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As the NHL gets ready for their upcoming postseason, minor league clubs are preparing for next season. As some minor signings come in we’ll keep track of them right here.

  • The Manitoba Moose have signed Trent Bourque to an AHL contract for the 2020-21 season. Bourque, 22, spent the vast majority of last season in the ECHL with the Brampton Beast after finishing his OHL career, recording 20 points in 42 games with the minor league club. A sixth-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2017, he became an unrestricted free agent in 2019 when the team decided not to sign him to an entry-level contract.
  • Ryan Strome’s name came across the KHL newswire today, but that doesn’t mean the New York Rangers forward is heading to Russia. His KHL rights were dealt in a trade involving Alexander Polunin, a two-time World Junior medalist who spent last season with Yaroslavl. Should Strome ever decide to head overseas to the KHL, that’s who would have exclusive rights to sign him.
  • After three years with the Cardiff Devils of the EIHL, Bryce Reddick is coming back stateside. He has signed with the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL along with Cody Sylvester, who has been playing in Germany for the last several seasons. Sylvester, 28, was actually a star for the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL before performing quite well at the ECHL level in 2014.

Minor Transactions: 07/20/20

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As the NHL gets ready for their upcoming postseason, minor league clubs are preparing for next season. As some minor signings come in we’ll keep track of them right here.

  • The Iowa Wild have re-signed forward Mitch McLain to a one-year AHL deal, keeping him in the organization for another season. McLain, 26, played four years at Bowling Green State University after going undrafted and has been part of the Iowa roster for parts of three seasons. This year he recorded just four points in 28 games, while also spending some time in the ECHL.
  • The Ontario Reign will bring back captain Brett Sutter for another year, re-signing him to an AHL contract. Sutter will be close to 1,000 AHL games played after next season and has been the captain of two different minor league organizations. He recorded 26 points in 57 games for the Reign in 2019-20.

Nashville Predators Sign Sean Malone

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The Nashville Predators aren’t waiting around for the season to end before adding some depth to their organization. Sean Malone has signed a one-year, two-way contract with the team for the 2020-21 season, worth $750K at the NHL level and $100K at the AHL level. Malone has spent the last three seasons with the Rochester Americans, most recently on an AHL contract.

Now 25, Malone still hasn’t made it back to the NHL since debuting in 2017, when he was a fresh-faced signing out of Harvard. Originally selected 159th overall by the Buffalo Sabres, he spent four years at the prestigious school before turning pro. Since then, he’s been a solid contributor at the AHL level, recording 28 goals and 65 points in 169 games for Rochester. Unfortunately, that kind of production doesn’t scream NHL talent meaning Malone would have to take quite a step to land on Nashville’s roster next season.

Still, he does bring a level of experience to the Milwaukee Admirals and could be an injury call-up if necessary. Adding center depth to the organization is never a bad thing, and Malone’s entire cap hit is able to be buried when in the minor leagues.

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