New York Islanders Name Rick Kowalsky Head Coach Of AHL Affiliate
The New York Islanders have promoted Rick Kowalsky to the role of head coach of the Bridgeport Islanders, their AHL affiliate.
Kowalsky has served as an assistant coach in Bridgeport for the last two seasons, and now with former Bridgeport bench boss Brent Thompson off to the Anaheim Ducks, Kowalsky has been tapped to lead the Islanders’ AHL development efforts.
Kowalsky, 51, has prior experience as a head coach in the AHL. He led the New Jersey Devils’ AHL affiliate for eight seasons. In that span, Kowalsky’s teams posted a combined 281-249-82 record.
Although he only made the AHL playoffs three times with the Devils and won just one playoff series in eight seasons, Kowalsky’s teams produced some players who would go on to establish themselves in the NHL. Players such as Adam Henrique, Blake Coleman, Mackenzie Blackwood, Kevin Rooney, and Scott Wedgewood each spent time developing under Kowalsky and went on to become legitimate NHLers.
After a difficult 2017-18 season, Kowalsky moved to a role as an assistant coach with the Devils’ NHL squad, and helped shepherd them through some rebuilding seasons. Now, after two seasons spent as an assistant in Bridgeport, Kowalsky will have a second chance to lead an AHL team and will look to deliver NHL talent to Long Island.
The Islanders have some promising prospects set to play in the AHL, such as William Dufour, Ruslan Iskhakov, and Matt Maggio. The hope will be that Kowalsky can help those players develop and build towards NHL readiness.
Vegas Golden Knights Hire Dominique Ducharme, Joel Ward
The Vegas Golden Knights have hired two new assistant coaches to join head coach Bruce Cassidy’s staff for next season: former Montreal Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme, and Henderson Silver Knights assistant and 726-game NHL veteran Joel Ward.
Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon issued a statement on the hires:
We are extremely pleased with the additions of Dominique and Joel to our coaching staff here in Vegas. Dominique brings a wealth of coaching experience into our organization and has proven to be a successful leader at multiple levels. Joel has excelled in Henderson during the first three years of his promising career as a coach and we’re excited for him to be taking his next step with us.
The Golden Knights have two open spots to fill on Cassidy’s staff after Ryan Craig was named head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, and Misha Donskov departed the organization. Now, Ducharme and Ward will join John Stevens as Cassidy’s assistants for next season, a campaign where Vegas will look to defend its first-ever Stanley Cup championship.
In Ducharme, the Golden Knights are adding the head coach responsible for the team’s most recent playoff elimination. Ducharme’s 2020-21 Montreal Canadiens are the most recent team to win a playoff series against Vegas, having dispatched them in the 2021 Stanley Cup Semifinals.
Although Ducharme’s ability to coach his underdog Canadiens team in person was compromised by a COVID-19-related absence, he won the franchise a Clarence S. Campbell Bowl and led it to its first Stanley Cup Final since 1993.
Ducharme never got a full season coaching the Canadiens, though, as he took over for Claude Julien mid-season in 2020-21 and was fired in the middle of the following season after managing just eight wins in 45 games.
While it’s clear Ducharme was dealt an extremely poor hand after the Canadiens’ long playoff run, (franchise pillars Shea Weber and Carey Price each would see their playing careers almost certainly ended by injury) his Canadiens won just 15 of 38 games before their miraculous run.
Players such as Cole Caufield and Samuel Montembeault struggled immensely in 2021-22 under Ducharme but emerged as key Canadiens contributors since his departure, and Ducharme’s development of Caufield in particular drew him significant criticism in the Montreal market.
But even though Ducharme’s reputation took a significant hit in 2021-22, it’s worth noting that he was held in relatively high regard before that point. He was an extremely successful coach at the junior level, leading the Halifax Mooseheads to a Memorial Cup and Team Canada to a silver medal at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championships and gold at the 2018 WJC.
Ward, on the other hand, doesn’t possess nearly as extensive of a coaching resume as Ducharme but has earned this promotion on the back of three seasons of hard work as an assistant coach for the Golden Knights’ AHL affiliate. Ward has been with the Silver Knights since their very first season and with his help they’ve delivered several NHLers to Vegas, including Logan Thompson, whose name is now on the Stanley Cup.
Should Ward manage to help Vegas to some successful seasons while he’s on Cassidy’s staff, or perhaps even another Stanley Cup title, the widely-respected longtime NHLer could see himself become a hot candidate for an NHL head coaching vacancy.
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Snapshots: Karlsson, McCudden, Valiev
Last week, we covered growing rumors that the Pittsburgh Penguins were pursuing a trade for San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson, the 2023 Norris Trophy winner. Today, The Athletic’s Josh Yohe reported some new details on the Penguins’ Karlsson chase, writing “the Penguins were extremely close to landing Karlsson on July 1” and that “a deal was close to being completed that morning.” (subscription link) It’s long been speculated that a third team would be necessary for the Penguins to be able to absorb Karlsson’s cap hit, so it’s possible that this reported deal fell through due to cap-related considerations.
Given just how difficult moving money between teams has been due to the flat-cap environment, it’s no surprise Karlsson remains on the Sharks’ roster nearly two full weeks after that deal was nearly completed. What Yohe’s report indicates, though, is that the Penguins are earnest in their efforts to acquire Karlsson and that the possibility he joins Kris Letang and Ryan Graves on Pittsburgh’s blueline is more realistic than some might think.
Some other notes from across the hockey world:
- The Columbus Blue Jackets announced this morning that assistant coach Kenny McCudden has departed the organization. Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen issued a statement that added some clarity to the situation. McCudden was entering the final year of his contract and was slated to work on new head coach Mike Babcock’s staff. In his statement, Kekalainen indicates McCudden had a “desire to either sign a contract extension or look at other opportunities,” while Kekalainen’s preference is that “everyone [on the coaching staff] gets to know each other before deciding on extensions.” So, with those two opposing preferences laid out, McCudden’s departure seems to have been the natural outcome. Now he will seek other opportunities after coaching for eight seasons in Columbus and helping contribute to what was arguably the most successful period in franchise history under former head coach John Tortorella.
- Former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Rinat Valiev has been traded in the KHL. According to the KHL’s Admiral Vladivostok, Valiev has been acquired by Ak Bars Kazan, his former club, for monetary compensation. Valiev, 28, left North American pro hockey after the 2019-20 season and didn’t play in 2020-21. He spent 2021-22 mostly with Ak Bars Kazan, skating in two games for their KHL team and 23 games in the VHL, the league below the KHL. Valiev signed a two-year deal with Vladivostok in advance of 2022-23 but played in just 18 games this past season and just two in the 2023 calendar year. He’s been sent back to Ak Bars Kazan and will hope to feature more regularly in their KHL lineup in 2023-24.
Seattle Kraken Re-Sign Cale Fleury
1:36 PM: The team has formally announced the signing via a press release.
11:44 AM: The Seattle Kraken and blueliner Cale Fleury have reached a deal on a contract extension prior to their arbitration hearing, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Per CapFriendly, the deal is a two-year, one-way $800k AAV contract that will see Fleury make $775k in 2023-24 and $825k in 2024-25.
The 24-year-old right-shot blueliner was set to press his case in arbitration after a 2022-23 campaign spent mostly as a healthy scratch. Fleury was a press-box regular for Seattle last season, at one point going a stretch of 31 straight games outside the lineup.
He didn’t play at all in the AHL as the Coachella Valley Firebirds made a run to Game Seven of the Calder Cup Finals. The Kraken were likely unwilling to expose the player to the waiver wire mid-season and potentially see him claimed by a team in need of a right-shot blueliner.
Fleury was an original Kraken expansion draft selection, acquired from the Montreal Canadiens. The 2017 third-round pick already had some success on his resume as a former WHL captain who racked up 102 hits in just 41 games as an NHL rookie.
He played most of his first season with the Kraken in the AHL, serving as an alternate captain for the Charlotte Checkers. He scored a healthy 33 points in 58 games, a career-high by a wide margin.
Fleury’s success in the AHL and his time spent with Seattle as mostly a healthy scratch last season have earned him a one-way contract extension spanning the next two seasons.
While the Kraken already have Adam Larsson, Will Borgen, Justin Schultz entrenched on the right side of their defense, Fleury could be first in line to take one of their spots in case of an injury. Or, he could end up on the waiver wire and claimed by a club willing to give him a more regular opportunity to play NHL games.
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Vancouver Canucks Re-Sign Nils Höglander
The Vancouver Canucks have announced that they have signed RFA forward Nils Höglander to a two-year contract carrying a $1.1MM AAV. Höglander, 22, will be a restricted free agent at the end of the deal and will hold arbitration rights.
Canucks GM Patrik Allvin issued the following statement regarding this re-signing:
Nils learned a lot this past season, especially playing meaningful playoff games in Abbotsford. It’s not easy to start the year in the NHL and then be sent down to the American League, but we were impressed with the way he took that challenge head on. He worked hard on his game and give credit to Jeremy Colliton, his staff, and our development team as well for helping Nils improve on things during the year. This experience should really help Nils compete for a spot on our team at training camp this fall.
The move all but finishes up the Canucks’ outstanding offseason business (barring any trades on the horizon) as their only remaining RFA is Vitali Kravtsov, who is off to play in the KHL next season and only received a qualifying offer from Vancouver so the organization could retain his NHL rights.
Höglander earns this deal after a season where he split time between the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks and Vancouver. He began the season with the Canucks and posted nine points in 25 games.
But Höglander’s average ice time had declined to a career-low 12:03 per night, and the organization opted to have him play in Abbotsford as the better choice for his development.
The Swedish winger acquitted himself well in the AHL, posting 32 points in 45 regular-season games and six points in six postseason contests.
That’s still a far cry from Höglander’s rookie season, though, when at the age of 20 he scored 27 points in 56 games and got some down-ballot Calder Trophy consideration.
Set to turn 23 in December, Hoglander will be waiver-eligible this season for the first time in his career. He hasn’t yet played in any games for Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet (he was sent down to the AHL before Tocchet was hired) and therefore he presumably has a clean slate to work with as he looks to earn a role in Tocchet’s training camp in the fall.
Although Andrei Kuzmenko and Anthony Beauvillier are likely to occupy the two left-winger slots in Vancouver’s top-six, Höglander has an opportunity to earn a top-nine role playing as Tocchet’s third-line left winger. In that role, he could potentially play with an established NHL scorer such as Conor Garland or Brock Boeser, as well as an experienced center in Teddy Blueger.
It’s a big year for Höglander, and this two-year contract at a $1.1MM AAV shows the Canucks’ belief that Höglander is an NHL player moving forward. While his $1.1MM cap hit can be fully buried in the minors, this contract gives the winger a solid opportunity to deliver on some of the upside he showed in his rookie season.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Philadelphia Flyers Sign Alexei Kolosov
Just one day after one of their organization’s goalies, Ivan Fedotov, had his KHL contract registered despite holding a valid NHL contract, the Flyers have made another move regarding a KHL goalie. They’ve signed one of their organization’s top goalie prospects, Alexei Kolosov, to a three-year entry-level deal.
According to CapFriendly, the contract carries a $925k cap hit and a $80k AHL salary for its three-year duration. Kolosov’s agent, Aljoša Pilko, wrote on Twitter that his client would “start and finish the season with Dinamo Minsk,” meaning even with the signing of this entry-level deal he’ll be staying in the KHL for another season.
Despite being just 21 years old, Kolosov led the goalie tandem in Minsk last season, playing in 42 regular season games. He played better than the team’s other netminder, 23-year-old Konstantin Shostak, posting a .912 save percentage and 2.55 goals-against-average in that time frame.
While Kolosov’s numbers aren’t quite up to the standard set by some elite KHL prospects in years past (such as Igor Shesterkin or Ilya Sorokin) they are quite impressive for a goalie his age, especially on a team that only barely managed to reach the KHL playoffs.
The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor reports that the “Flyers are very high” on Kolosov, who they drafted 78th overall at the 2021 draft, and “see him as a big part of their goaltending future.” With this entry-level deal signed, the Flyers have set in stone Kolosov’s eventual crossing of the Atlantic to play for their organization in North America.
The hope for this season will be for Kolosov to have another strong season in his native Belarus before likely seeing some time the year after with the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Minor Transactions: 07/06/23
The music is slowing down in this year’s game of free agent musical chairs, and fewer and fewer players remain without a seat for next season. Some top names such as Vladimir Tarasenko and Matt Dumba linger on the market, but by and large, teams have shifted towards making signings more geared to depth roles in their lineup.
Free agents of that general caliber are also the players minor-league teams and teams in foreign leagues are targeting, meaning there’s been quite a bit of player movement today across the hockey world. As always, we’ll log those transactions and provide some context to them here.
- Zachary Fucale, once a top goalie prospect earlier in his career, will likely play in Europe for the first time as a pro hockey player in a few months. The 28-year-old former Washington Capitals farmhand signed a two-year contract with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL. Fucale posted a .902 save percentage in 38 games for the AHL’s Hershey Bears this past season and won the Calder Cup. As a two-time Spengler Cup winner, Fucale has had some success playing against European club competition, and he’ll say goodbye (for now) to North American pro hockey having appeared in four NHL games and registered a memorable shutout in his NHL debut.
- 2018-19 AHL Defenseman of the Year and three-time AHL All-Star Zach Redmond has agreed on a mutual contract termination with his club, DEL champions EHC Red Bull Munich. The soon-to-be-35-year-old rearguard had spent the last three seasons in the Bavarian capital, leading the DEL in points by a defenseman in his first year and goals by a blueliner in his second. His seven points in 12 playoff games helped propel Munich to a DEL title over ERC Ingolstadt, and now Redmond could be eyeing a return to North American pro hockey with this contract termination.
- The New York Islanders’ AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Islanders, announced the signings of three forwards to AHL contracts: Cole Bardreau, Jeff Kubiak, and Joey Cipollone. Bardreau, 29, scored 15 goals and 31 points in 67 AHL games last season and has been a top-nine staple in Bridgeport since 2019. Kubiak, also 29, is a defensive specialist at the AHL level who routinely features on Bridgeport’s penalty kill. He’s been with the Islanders organization since he turned pro out of Cornell University in 2017. Finally, Cipollone, 23, is a winger who won the NCAA Men’s Hockey National Championship last season with Quinnipiac University and is now set to make his pro debut.
- Former Minnesota-Duluth captain and two-time NCAA Men’s Hockey National Champion Nick Wolff has signed a one-year contract with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, confirming his exit from the Providence Bruins after three seasons in Rhode Island. Wolff is a 26-year-old left-shot blueliner who stands six-foot-five, 223 pounds. He’s brought physicality to a reserve role with Providence so far in his pro career, and now heads out west to a revamped San Diego Gulls squad, where he could end up playing along the right side next to one of the Ducks’ high-end young defenders, such as Olen Zellweger or former Minnesota Golden Gopher Jackson LaCombe.
- The AHL’s Utica Comets have signed rugged defenseman Colin Felix, an NCAA Men’s Hockey National Champion at UMass Amherst, to a one-year, one-way AHL contract. The 24-year-old turned pro last fall and skated in 72 games with the ECHL’s Reading Royals. He scored eight goals and 27 points and collected 139 penalty minutes, bringing physical two-way ability to the Royals’ blueline. Now, the Comets are hoping Felix can do the same for their back end, a defense that needed to replace a right-shot blueliner after the trade of Reilly Walsh to the Boston Bruins. The Comets have also signed Jeremy Brodeur, son of legendary Devils netminder Martin Brodeur, to a two-way NHL/ECHL contract, bringing him over from the EIHL where he was the starter for the Manchester Storm.
- Alex-Olivier Voyer, a former QMJHL star with the Sherbrooke Phoenix, has signed a one-year, one-way AHL contract with the Laval Rocket. Getting a one-way deal in the AHL is a victory for Voyer, who dropped from playing mostly in the AHL in 2021-22 to the ECHL in 2022-23. Voyer had scored only eight points in 41 games with the Providence Bruins in 21-22, but managed 23 goals and 43 points in 48 ECHL games this season, not only securing himself a spot back in North America’s second-tier pro league but also a spot in his home province.
- Former Hobey Baker Award finalist Dylan McLaughlin has signed a contract with Vaxjo Lakers HC, the reigning champions of Sweden’s SHL. The deal is McLaughlin’s first foray into European pro hockey. The 28-year-old had a difficult 2022-23 campaign, playing just nine games total. The year before, though, McLaughlin broke out, scoring 42 points in 55 games for the Rockford IceHogs. Now McLaughlin will compete for a role in Sweden and potentially help Vaxjo secure a second consecutive title.
- Undersized 25-year-old blueliner Joseph Duszak has climbed the pro hockey ladder since concluding an exceptional three-year NCAA career, but hasn’t yet received any NHL call-ups. He began in the ECHL with the Newfoundland Growlers, and scored 35 points in 34 games from the blueline. He was named an ECHL All-Star and ended up earning a job in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies. Duszak excelled in Toronto, scoring 52 points in 61 games in 2021-22 and earning AHL Second-Team All-Star honors. After that strong AHL campaign, Duszak likely viewed excelling overseas as his next step towards earning NHL consideration, so he signed in the KHL with Dynamo Minsk. Duszak was exceptional in Belarus, finishing behind former Boston Bruin Ryan Spooner for the team lead in points with 45 in 68 games played. Now, he’s signed a one-year AHL contract with the Springfield Thunderbirds likey with the hope of producing well once again and finally earning an NHL shot.
- Former Buffalo Sabres prospect Jordon Southorn, one of the top blueliners in Slovakia’s Tipos Extraliga, has signed a one-year deal with the Augsburg Panthers of the DEL. The 33-year-old Canadian moved to Slovakia in 2018-19 mid-season, and made an instant impact with Banska Bystrica HC 05, winning a championship there. He led the Slovak league in points by a defenseman with 51 in 2019-20, and took home another league championship a few months ago with HC Kosice. Now, he’ll head to Germany to bolster the blueline of a club that only narrowly avoided relegation to the DEL2 in 2022-23.
- Austrian national team defenseman Dominique Heinrich is returning to his hometown of Vienna after playing over 600 games at Austria’s top level of pro hockey with EHC Red Bull Salzburg. The five-foot-eight 32-year-old won a sixth title with Salzburg this past season, though he skated in a career-low 26 regular-season games. Now both Heinrich and Salzburg are moving in a different direction, as Heinrich has signed a contract with the Vienna Capitals, a rival ICEHL club. It’s a major signing for a Vienna team looking to finally push themselves across the finish line next season, as their many deep playoff runs since their 2016-17 title have ended in failure.
This page may be updated throughout the day.
Los Angeles Kings Sign Anze Kopitar To Two-Year Contract Extension
The Los Angeles Kings have signed captain Anze Kopitar to a two-year contract extension carrying a $7MM AAV. As Kopitar already has a contract through the end of next season, this deal will start with the 2024-25 campaign and will cover Kopitar’s age-37 and age-38 seasons.
The deal carries a full no-move clause, and financially Kopitar is set to be paid almost exclusively in signing bonus in year one, and entirely in base salary in year two.
Many viewed the Kings’ acquisition of Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Winnipeg Jets as succession planning for when Kopitar would no longer take up the mantle as the Kings’ number-one center.
Seeing as fellow era-defining two-way center Patrice Bergeron could be calling it a career at the age of 37, it could reasonably be assumed that Kopitar, set to turn 36 years old in August, would be nearing the end of his storied career as well.
That won’t be the case, though, at least for the next three seasons.
By spending $7MM per year on two seasons of Kopitar in his late thirties, the Kings have placed a significant bet that one of their franchise’s greatest players will remain a great one even as he ages. It’s easy to see why they’ve made that bet, as Kopitar was almost every bit as brilliant at 35 years old as he was in his mid-twenties.
Kopitar scored 28 goals and 74 points in 82 games in 2022-23, and added seven points in the Kings’ six-game first-round series loss to the Edmonton Oilers. As he’s done throughout his career, Kopitar paired that offensive production with exceptional defensive play, playing the most minutes of any Los Angeles forward on the team’s penalty kill.
The two-time Selke Trophy winner might have a few more of those trophies on his resume had he not had the misfortune of playing at the same time as Bergeron, one of the greatest defensive forwards of all time, and Kopitar’s defensive game gives him a high floor in terms of the value he’s providing Los Angeles should his offense start to dry up as he gets older.
With Kopitar locked up through 2025-26 at a below-market rate compared to what he provides, the Kings have secured arguably the best set of four centers in the entire NHL. While he’s a somewhat divisive player, Dubois is certainly a great fit in a second-line center role behind Kopitar.
Having a center like Phillip Danault, who can score 50 points on offense and routinely appear in the top ten of Selke Trophy ballots, in the third-line center role is the kind of stuff coaches dream about. Even their projected fourth-line center, the energetic Blake Lizotte, might be overqualified for that role coming off of a career-best 34-point season.
With this extension, the Kings have bet on Kopitar maintaining his brilliance into his late thirties. If that bet pays off, the Kings will have secured themselves an embarrassment of riches at one of the game’s most important positions, and built the foundation for a team that could very well contend for Stanley Cups once again.
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Minor Transactions: 07/05/23
It’s another busy day for transactions across the hockey world, and while NHL moves are just starting to trickle in (such as the Montreal Canadiens signing recent top-five pick David Reinbacher to his entry-level deal) teams in minor and foreign leagues have already been hard at work completing deals to upgrade or change their rosters. As always, we’ll keep track of those moves here.
- The AHL’s Laval Rocket have agreed to a one-year contract with 22-year-old Noah Laaouan, a two-time recipient of the QMJHL’s Kevin Lowe Trophy for Best Defensive Defenseman. Laaouan is fresh off of his first season as a professional, one he split between the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners (two games) and ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators (57 games). Laaouan’s deal is a two-way AHL/ECHL deal, meaning he’s more likely to end up with the Trois-Rivieres Lions though he’ll get a chance to compete with guys like Tobie Bisson and Miguel Tourigny for a role on Laval’s defense.
- Longtime AHL veteran Vincent LoVerde, a two-time Calder Cup Champion and two-time AHL All-Star, has parted ways with his club from last season, the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star. The 34-year-old departs China after one season there, his first in the KHL. LoVerde has over 500 games of AHL experience and while he didn’t do much winning in Kunlun he did win an ICEHL championship with EHC Red Bull Salzburg in 2021-22. Now an unrestricted free agent, LoVerde may elect to return to North America or potentially continue his pro career elsewhere in one of Europe’s leagues.
- Defenseman Jake Chelios, the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Chelios and a former AHL top-four defenseman, has signed a two-year extension with the Red Star to remain in the KHL through his age-34 season. Chelios, who represents China in IIHF events and played for them at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, has been with Kunlun since 2019-20 and logged 180 career games with them. Chelios was an impact player in the AHL for a few seasons with the Charlotte Checkers from 2015 to 2017, but now seems to have elected playing with the Red Star as the best option for his career moving forward.
- Former Chicago Blackhawks prospect Johan Mattsson signed a one-year contract with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, confirming his exit from his team from last season, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg. The 31-year-old 2011 seventh-round pick played 35 games for Yekaterinburg last season, posting a .919 save percentage in the process. He’s got a career .917 save percentage in 60 KHL games playing in both Russia and Latvia (back when Dynamo Riga was in the KHL) and has also had success in his native Sweden. He’s won two Champions Hockey League titles, an SHL title, and been a top HockeyAllsvenskan goalie. Now, he’ll compete against incumbent Dmitry Nikolayev (.929 save percentage in 42 games last season) for starts with St. Petersburg.
- The ECHL’s Maine Mariners signed forward Cameron Askew to a one-year contract extension. The deal will allow Askew, 26, to play a third season in Maine, the place where Conor Garland’s former QMJHL running mate has carved out a regular role as an ECHL power forward. Askew scored a career-high 23 goals and 38 points in his first season with the Mariners, and this past season he scored 15 goals and 32 points in 17 less games. The Mariners have made the ECHL playoffs the last two seasons, and now they’ve locked up a player who helped them reach that point each year for another campaign.
- After a difficult season saw him part ways with his club of the last two seasons, 23-year-old German winger Tim Wohlgemuth has signed a deal with the DEL’s Cologne Sharks. Despite his young age, Wohlgemuth has already racked up 233 career games in Germany’s top pro league, and been reasonably productive to boot. In 2021-22 Wohlgemuth was among the league’s top young scorers with 35 points in 52 games, though this past season his production declined to 24 points in 51 games. Now, he’ll get a chance to play for a club a little bit lower on the league’s pecking order than Mannheim, and perhaps take on a larger role as a result.
- At just 18 years of age, Austrian defenseman Patrick Söllinger broke into a more regular role with his hometown club, the ICEHL’s Black Wings Linz. Söllinger, a six-foot-one left-shot defenseman, played in 22 games for Linz and represented Austria at the 2023 World Junior Championships. Now, he’s been rewarded with his first professional contract, and with it he will in all likelihood get a chance to become an everyday player in Linz and help them return to the ICEHL playoffs for next season.
- Former WHL and ECHL power forward Alex Roach, a British Columbia native, is extending his pro career in Germany another season. Roach spent the last two seasons playing in the DEL with Cologne, and now he’s moving down a division to sign with EHC Freiburg of the DEL2. Although Roach has more experience at the DEL level and has even played in the Champions Hockey League, he’s got DEL2 experience as well and has scored 36 points in 81 games at that level. Freiburg has been a middling DEL2 club for a few years now and in the past has had some close calls with relegation, so with this signing, they’ll hope Roach’s experience can inch them a little bit closer to promotion to the DEL.
- Scott Conway, the Player of the Year and leading scorer of the EIHL, the United Kingdom’s top pro hockey league, has signed with HC Dukla Trencin of the Slovakian Extraliga, per a team social media announcement. The English-Canadian forward scored 168 points in his 104-game EIHL career, taking home numerous honors for his two-year stint as the league’s top offensive player. Conway has also found success in the ECHL, NCAA, BCHL, USHL, and now has a chance to make a career for himself in a league generally considered to have a higher talent level than the EIHL in Slovakia.
This page may be updated throughout the day.
Philadelphia Flyers Sign Victor Mete
The Philadelphia Flyers are signing defenseman Victor Mete, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The deal is reportedly a one-year, two-way pact with a $775k AAV, $450k AHL salary, and a $500k total guarantee.
The Flyers bolstered their defensive depth with the signing of veteran Marc Staal two days ago, and now they’ve added another veteran to their mix with this deal. Mete, 25, spent last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, skating in 11 NHL games and six games in the AHL.
An undersized five-foot-nine left-shot defenseman, Mete received some hype as a Montreal Canadiens prospect.
While he was immediately stapled to Shea Weber on the Canadiens’ top pairing to start his rookie season, his strong skating and transitional abilities were never built upon, and he stagnated as the Canadiens turned to other young blueliners.
He was eventually claimed on waivers by the Ottawa Senators, who then non-tendered him, leading to his signing with the Maple Leafs. Mete doesn’t offer exceptional talent on either side of the ice, but he has nearly 250 games of NHL experience and is decent in transition. While the Flyers intend on keeping lineup spots open for their young blueliners to grab in training camp, GM Daniel Briere isn’t going to simply hand NHL jobs to youngsters.
Signing a player like Mete to this contract not only provides the Flyers’ young defensemen with an experienced pro to compete against, it also gives Philadelphia some quality depth should the team decide to keep Mete with their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Mete could join second-round prospects Emil Andrae and Adam Ginning on the left side of Lehigh Valley’s defense, and he could be their most experienced blueliner besides Louie Belpedio, who is 27 and has played in over 300 games in the AHL.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images