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Minor Transactions: 02/22/23

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While the NHL schedule tonight features just three games, the league’s trade market is as busy as ever. Two trades have already been announced today, and there still could be more to come as teams look to make deals before the March 3rd trade deadline. Just as NHL teams are making changes to their rosters, teams in minor and foreign leagues have been completing transactions. We’ll keep track of those moves here.

  • 2011-12 AHL MVP and Rookie of the Year Cory Conacher, 33, is heading back to the league he once dominated. The AHL’s Charlotte Checkers announced today that Conacher has been signed to a PTO. The undrafted veteran of nearly 200 NHL games was once traded for eventual two-time Vezina Trophy runner-up Ben Bishop, and while his NHL career ultimately fizzled out, he’s been a strong scorer in the AHL and Switzerland. This signing marks Conacher’s second PTO of the season, as he signed one in November with the Belleville Senators, although he was released after scoring one assist in two games.
  • HC Sparta Praha and 2007 Florida Panthers second-round pick Michal Repik have signed a long-term extension that will run through the 2025-26 season. The 34-year-old is in his fourth season as a top scorer and captain for Prague, and has scored 23 goals and 35 points this season. He’s bounced around quite a bit since leaving North America after the 2011-12 season (when he scored 35 points in 55 AHL games and appeared in the NHL 17 times) playing in Switzerland, Finland, Russia, and Slovakia.  He was an All-Star in the KHL and AHL, and will now be the face of Sparta Praha for the foreseeable future.
  • The SHL’s HV71 has verbally agreed to a deal with former Buffalo Sabre Arttu Ruotsalainen, according to Finnish outlet Aftonbladet. Ruotsalainen, 25, will head to Jonkoping after a solid first season back in the European pro hockey circuit. Ruotsalainen is an undrafted player who crossed the Atlantic to play for the Sabres after an extremely productive three-year run with Ilves Tampere in his native Finland. While he scored quite well in the AHL (64 points in 70 total games) he couldn’t quite catch on in the NHL, and chose to sign in Switzerland last summer. He’s scored 37 points in 48 games for Kloten HC in Switzerland this season, a performance that has now reportedly landed him a deal to play in Sweden.
  • Lukas Bengtsson, one of the SHL’s best defensemen on its top team, is making a surprising move to leave league-leading Vaxjo Lakers to sign with EV Zug in Switzerland, according to SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson.  The 28-year-old former Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguin arrived in the SHL after a solid three-year run in the KHL, and has helped Vaxjo to an impressive season. He’ll now finish his season and two more with Zug, who are looking to climb the standings in Switzerland’s top league.
  • Former QMJHL star and San Jose Barracuda Thomas Gregoire has reportedly signed a three-year deal with Rogle BK of the SHL, according to SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson. It’s a contract that would end his three-year tenure with Lukko Rauma in Finland’s Liiga, a period that has gone exceptionally well. Gregoire scored 34 points in 53 games last season, and helped Lukko win the Liiga championship in 2020-21. This season, he’s scored 39 points in 50 games, leading the team in scoring, and that performance has earned him a three-year deal in Sweden. Per Svensson, he will join Rogle for next season, allowing him to complete his campaign with Liiga’s current league leaders.
  • 43 games into what is his first full season in the ECHL, forward Tyler Kirkup is headed across the Atlantic. Per a team announcement, the former Bemidji State Beaver has signed with the Coventry Blaze, a team in the EIHL, which is the top league of professional hockey in the United Kingdom. Kirkup wasn’t having a ton of scoring success with the ECHL’s Reading Royals, with just 15 points in 49 career games. He’ll now join the Blaze, who are at the moment in a solid position in the middle of the EIHL table. The Blaze have also signed Hungarian netminder Miklos Rajna, who played this season with UTE Budapest in Hungary’s Erste Liga. He’ll partner with starter Paavo Holsa and give Holsa some much-needed rest, as he’s started all but one of Coventry’s games this season.
  • The AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins have signed former WHL, Canadian University star Riley Sawchuk to a PTO for the rest of the season as well as a contract for next season. This will allow the 23-year-old to make his pro debut for the club, fresh off of a two-year stretch at Mount Royal University where he registered a whopping 87 points in just 47 games. While it’s definitely a step up in terms of challenge to go from the Canadian University circuit to the AHL, Sawchuk was also a strong scorer in his final two seasons in the WHL and will be someone to watch for Griffins fans and AHL observers alike.
  • Former Vegas Golden Knights netminder Dylan Ferguson, 24, has had his PTO with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies converted into a standard player contract. Ferguson, a Dallas Stars 2017 seventh-rounder who was acquired in the team’s trade for Marc Methot that same summer, has nine minutes of NHL experience. He won the ECHL’s Kelly Cup in 2020-21 with the Fort Wayne Komets and has gone 3-2 with an .888 save percentage in his five-game run with the Marlies.
  • The ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates have acquired big 24-year-old defenseman Jeremy Masella from the Kalamazoo Wings in exchange for future considerations. Masella, WHL champion in 2018-19 with the Prince Albert Raiders, has only played in three games in all of February for the Wings. He had seemingly lost his spot to Kurt Gosselin, who the team acquired via trade from the Toledo Walleye on February 12th, and will now get a fresh start in Georgia.
  • Modo Hockey Ornskoldsvik, a club in Sweden’s second-tier league, the HockeyAllsvenskan, has signed two players to two-year extensions: 2020 Detroit Red Wings second-round pick Theodor Niederbach and Danish former ECHL All-Star Mikkel Aagaard. The former, 20, transferred to MoDo from Rogle earlier this season, moving down a level in competition. The right winger has scored 12 points in 26 games for MoDo, an improvement on the one goal in 17 games he scored for Rogle. As for Aagaard, he extends in MoDo for another two years having scored 26 goals and 38 points in 45 games this season.
  • Experienced Italian-Canadian defenseman Chad Pietroniro has been signed for the rest of the season by the EIHL’s Cardiff Devils. Pietroniro has split this season between three ECHL clubs, trying his hand at North American pro hockey after spending several seasons playing for Asiago in Italy and one year in France. The 28-year-old got into a total of 18 ECHL games for the Newfoundland Growlers, Maine Mariners, and most recently the Trois-Rivieres Lions, and now heads to Wales to continue his pro hockey career.
  • The ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits have signed goaltender Trevin Kozlowski to a contract, per a team announcement. The 25-year-old won the ECHL’s Community Service Award last season and was a top goalie for the Army West Point in the NCAA. He turned pro last season, playing 23 games for the Iowa Heartlanders and three in the AHL for the Iowa Wild. The Heartlanders traded for Kozlowski in November after he signed with the Cincinnati Cyclones a month earlier, before releasing him in late January. He had an .869 save percentage in six games this season for Iowa, and will now get a chance to continue his pro career in South Carolina.
  • Hulking six-foot-seven blueliner Steven MacLean has chosen to begin his professional career, signing a contract with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones. The 24-year-old leaves Wilfried Laurier University’s hockey program, where he has been for three seasons. MacLean never played at the OHL level, but the Cyclones will hope their staff can get the most out of his intriguing frame in his first taste of professional action.
  • Former Edmonton Oilers prospect John McCarron has re-signed with the Florida Everblades, returning to the club he captained to a Kelly Cup victory last season. It’s a major addition for the defending champions, as McCarron has been an elite player for them for the past six seasons. The brother of Montreal Canadiens first-round pick Michael McCarron, John has scored 385 points in 406 career ECHL regular-season games, and 85 points in 94 career playoff contests, to go along with 789 combined penalty minutes.
  • 2012 Anaheim Ducks fourth-round pick Andrew O’Brien is leaving the ICEHL’s Fehervar AV19, a Hungarian club. A veteran of over 200 AHL games, O’Brien bounced from the KHL to the SHL to Liiga to the DEL after leaving North America after the 2018-19 season. Now, he’ll leave his fifth European league in just three seasons looking for a new place to play. He notched eight points and 72 penalty minutes in 36 games in Hungary.
  • Rostislav Marosz, a veteran of over 400 games in the Czech Extraliga, has been released by his club, HC Vitkovice, by mutual agreement. Marosz was in the midst of a third season in Vitkovice and had scored 16 points in 38 games this season. His production had declined from the 35 points in 53 games he scored last season, so perhaps it’s that decline that motivated this release.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Minor Transactions: 02/18/23

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It’s a busy Saturday for hockey, with 13 games on the NHL schedule, including an outdoor contest. In addition, the final of the Champions Hockey League was today, with Finland’s Tappara Tampere triumphing over Sweden’s Lulea. As hockey fans across the world enjoyed all today has had to offer, teams in minor and foreign leagues have made some tweaks to their rosters. We’ll keep track of those moves here.

  • Former New Jersey Devil Nick Lappin has been traded in the ECHL. He was part of a four-player deal between the Kalamazoo Wings and the Florida Everblades. Lappin heads to Kalamazoo after an underwhelming ECHL debut with the Everblades. The 30-year-old has 60 games of NHL experience on his resume, and was once a 30-goal scorer in the AHL, but managed just nine points in 24 games in Florida. He’ll get a fresh start in Kalamazoo, where he’ll hope to earn a potential path back to the AHL.
  • The other two pieces sent to Kalamazoo as part of the trade were rookie forward James McEwan and a player to be named later. This is McEwan’s debut professional season, and the Wings will be his third ECHL team of the year, as he began with the Orlando Solar Bears, was released after just one game, got 24 games with the Everblades and now has been dealt to Kalamazoo. McEwan was a solid contributor for the Guelph Storm in his OHL games and will look to translate his junior scoring to the ECHL level.
  • In return for those players, the Everblades received the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks’ reassignment of forward Carson Focht. The 2019 Vancouver Canucks fifth-rounder scored 21 points in 33 games for Kalamazoo, and will now head to Florida where he’ll get a chance on a playoff-bound team. Focht will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer as his $821k AAV contract with the Canucks will expire.
  • Former San Jose Shark Antti Suomela is reportedly headed to Switzerland for next season, according to Blick’s Gregory Beaud. The 28-year-old forward is a former Champion’s Hockey League winner who has been a star in both the Finnish Liiga and Sweden’s SHL. This past season, he scored a whopping 59 points in only 43 games played for IK Oskarshamn, including 33 goals. Per Beaud’s report, he’ll be playing for HC Lausanne next season, a major acquisition for the Swiss side.
  • The ECHL playing rights to former Soo Greyhounds star Billy Constantinou have been traded to the Atlanta Gladiators, per the ECHL’s official transactions page. The 21-year-old has been playing for the Norfolk Admirals most recently and has also spent time with the Wichita Thunder this season. He has 56 points in 91 career ECHL games and now heads to Atlanta, where he was for 16 games last season.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

Minor Transactions: 02/17/23

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With the trade deadline just around the corner, we’ve reached a busy section of the NHL schedule. Tonight’s matchups feature some divisional rivalries, such as the Anaheim Ducks against the Los Angeles Kings as well as the Dallas Stars against the Minnesota Wild. Additionally, Connor McDavid will continue his chase for 100 points against the New York Rangers. As fans across the hockey world get ready to enjoy tonight’s games, teams in minor and foreign leagues are making roster moves. We’ll keep track of those transactions here.

  • 2011 Toronto Maple Leafs first-round pick Stuart Percy will be leaving his current club, HC Motor Ceske Budejovice, at the end of the season, according to a report from Michal Kosturik of iSport.cz. Per this report, the 29-year-old blueliner is likely to remain in the Czech Extraliga, albeit with a new club. If Percy does end up departing Ceske Budejovice, he would end a two-year run there which saw him help lead Budejovice to the Extraliga semifinals, where they lost to HC Sparta Praha. Percy last played in North America in 2019-20, when he got into 5 AHL games for the Belleville Senators.
  • The AHL’s Syracuse Crunch have signed University of Waterloo forward Daniel Walker to a one-year AHL contract, per a team announcement. The 23-year-old Walker played four years in the OHL, splitting time between the North Bay Battalion and Oshawa Generals. While led the OHL in penalty minutes with 129 in 2018-19, he found his goal-scoring touch in college, and finishes his time at Waterloo with 24 goals in 35 games. He’ll now begin his professional career in Central New York with an AHL contract in hand.
  • The ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings have signed Canadian University defenseman Franco Sproviero, fresh off of an above-point-per-game season with the University of Western Ontario. The five-foot-nine blueliner scored 60 points in his final OHL season with the Sarnia Sting, and will now get the chance to begin his professional career in North America’s third-tier pro league. He joins a Wings team that has had a difficult season and is looking to add some scoring from their back end as their top-scoring defenseman has 21 points in 36 games.
  • The ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays have signed forward Ian Mackey, meaning he’ll join his third ECHL team of the season. The 26-year-old has gotten into games this year for the Savannah Ghost Pirates and Atlanta Gladiators and now heads to South Carolina. Last season, Mackey plied his trade playing lower-level hockey in Sweden.
  • German youngster Bennet Rossmy is reportedly transferring from the DEL’s Eisbaren Berlin to DEL rival Dusseldorfer EG for next season, according to B.Z.’s Joerg Lubrich. The 19-year-old already has 61 games of DEL experience under his belt despite still being a teenager. He helped Berlin win the DEL last season, and while he hasn’t had a ton of scoring success in Germany’s top league he has been a more impactful contributor at the DEL2 level.
  • Czech forward Jakub Izacky is concluding a six-year stint in the Hungarian Erste Liga in order to make a move to the EIHL’s Nottingham Panthers for the rest of the season. The 29-year-old heads to the United Kingdom having scored 247 points in 221 career games in the Hungarian league. He has not yet played in the EIHL,  and before Hungary the bulk of his experience came playing in Czechia’s second and third divisions. Izacky played one season in North America, scoring 21 goals and 38 points for the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs in 2012-13, which ranked him second in team scoring behind Jonathan Huberdeau, who would go on to win the Calder Trophy later that season.
  • Alexandr Peresunko has transferred from the Hungarian Erste Liga to HK Poprad of the Slovak Tipos Extraliga. The 23-year-old Ukrainian scored 37 points in 29 games for UTE Budapest, and heads to Slovakia which puts him a step up in difficulty on the European professional hockey ladder. The move is solid progress for the former Victoriaville Tigre, who scored 31 points in 57 games during the 2019-20 QMJHL season.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Minor Transactions: 02/13/23

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Another day, another slate of NHL games to enjoy. Tonight’s lineup of games features matchups between two up-and-coming teams in the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings, two playoff hopefuls in the Minnesota Wild and Florida Panthers, and two Central Division rivals in the Arizona Coyotes and Nashville Predators. As NHL fans take in tonight’s action, player movement is ever-active across the hockey world. We’ll track notable moves in minor and foreign leagues here.

  • 2019 Carolina Hurricanes fourth-round pick Tuukka Tieksola, who signed his entry-level deal with the team in 2021, has been loaned to Liiga’s Karpat for the rest of the season. Tieksola had spent this year with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves and scored 15 points in 40 games. With just one point in his last six games, though, and Karpat in the midst of a playoff push, Tieksola is headed back to Finland to get some more high-level professional experience under his belt.
  • The ECHL’s Worcester Railers have announced two trades: they have acquired forward Max Johnson from the Wheeling Nailers for future considerations, and Chris Ordoobadi from the Orlando Solar Bears in exchange for cash considerations. Johnson, 24, is in his first professional season after capping off a five-year NCAA career. Johnson was a star at Bowling Green State University, scoring around a point-per-game rate there, before he headed to the University of Wisconsin for his finals season. This trade gives Johnson a change of scenery as his pro debut with the Nailers had been difficult, and he struggled to the tune of just five points in 23 games, In Ordoobadi the Railers acquire a big, physical 28-year-old winger who was actually a waiver claim of the Railers in December 2021.
  • The ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies have released defenseman Jordon Stone. Stone was activated off of injured reserve just three days ago, and now finds himself released after playing in his first game with the team since December. Late in the third period of that game, the Grizzlies were losing 6-1 to the Rapid City Rush. After dumping the puck into the offensive zone, Stone chased it and appeared to shove a Rush player to the ground with enough force that the player’s helmet came off. As the Rush’s goaltender attempted to play the puck behind the net, Stone laid a body check on the goalie, appearing to follow through with his elbow up through the goalie’s head. Stone was assessed a game misconduct for charging, and now finds himself released by his team only a few days later.
  • The ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals have released netminder Brett Epp and forward Sam Hu. 2017 Nashville Predators fifth-round pick Tomas Vomacka was re-assigned to Norfolk as well, meaning Epp was out of a job as the team’s backup with Cale Morris already on the roster. Epp signed with Norfolk on February 8th, just a day before his team, the SPHL’s Vermilion City Bobcats, ceased operations. Epp will now look to continue his pro career elsewhere after a difficult season with the Bobcats for reasons largely out of his control. As for Hu, this release comes after a 19-game run with the Admirals that saw him score just four points. Hu split time last season between the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star in his home country, China, and in Norway with Manglerud. It’s possible a return to overseas hockey could be in the cards after this release.
  • Per a team announcement, former Boston Bruins prospect Emil Johansson will be leaving his current club, Sport Vaasa in the Finnish Liiga. Sami Hoffren of Finland’s Ilta-Sanomat reports that Johansson is set to join current DEL leaders EHC Red Bull Munich. Johansson scored 23 points in 43 games for Vaasa as their number-one defenseman and will help Munich as they chase their fourth DEL title.
  • Liiga’s Assat Pori will be without their starting netminder, Niklas Rubin, for two to three weeks as he recovers from an injury. As a result, the team has signed Canadian goaltender Cody Porter from RoKi Rovaniemi, a club in Finland’s second-tier Mestis. The 25-year-old has a .920 save percentage in 21 games for RoKi, and has been brought in to help Pori down the stretch of this season. This move was potentially motivated by Porter’s performance last Wednesday, when he stopped 24 of 26 shots against Pori playing on loan for Tappara Tampere, winning the game for his temporary club by a 6-2 margin.
  • SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson reports that 20-year-old center Ake Stakkestad will be making the leap to the SHL next season. Per Svensson’s report, Stakkestad will play for HV71 next season, on a one-year contract. Stakkestad recently returned to the ice for his current club, HockeyAllsvenskan’s BIK Karlskoga, and has scored two points in three games. In total, he has scored eight points in 13 games this season.
  • Switzerland’s HC Lugano will retain their backup netminder beyond this season. The team has announced the signing of goalie Niklas Schlegel to a three–year contract extension. The 28-year-old is a Swiss NL champion who led his league in save percentage during a brilliant 2015-16 season with the ZSC Lions. He’s currently backing up former Edmonton Oiler Mikko Koskinen and has been decent with a .903 save percentage and 2.74 goals against average.
  • 19-year-old Konsta Kapanen, the brother of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen and son of former NHLer Sami Kapanen has been loaned to Liiga’s HPK for the rest of the season. Kapanen will seek a better opportunity at tenth-place HPK than he’d be likely to find at fifth-place KalPa, and will likely get a chance to finish his season in Liiga rather than in Mestis. KalPa also made another move today, signing veteran Jaakko Lantta to a one-year contract extension.
  • In addition to bringing in Tieksola, Karpat has also loaned netminder Karolus Kaarlehto to the SHL’s Timra IK. The 25-year-old began his season in France before a stretch playing for Karpat’s Liiga rivals, Jukurit Mikkeli. Now, he heads to Sweden to help Timra to fill the team’s backup goalie spot, a role left vacant by Thursday’s transfer of David Rautio to the SCL Tigers of Switzerland.
  • Nearly two weeks after his release from HC Slovan Bratislava, Carl Ackered has found a new place to play. The Sheffield Steelers, a club competing in the EIHL, the highest tier of professional hockey in the United Kingdom, have signed Ackered. It’s a major acquisition for the Steelers, as just two years ago Ackered led the Slovak league in points by a defenseman and was named an All-Star. He had a difficult 21-game run in the Slovak capital, though, and now returns to the league where he starred for three years as a member of the Guildford Flames.
  • HockeyAllsvenskan’s IF Bjorkloven have confirmed the transfer of former Arizona Coyotes prospect Jens Looke, a transfer we covered as a rumor two days ago. Looke is a difference-maker in Sweden’s second division, having scored 62 points in 52 games in his last season there, helping Timra earn promotion to the SHL. That’ll be his goal with Bjorkloven, who sit second in the league standings.
  • The DEL’s Grizzlys Wolfsburg have signed their captain, Canadian Spencer Machacek, to a two-year extension. The former Atlanta Thrasher has been a star in Germany, and has scored 285 points in 436 games there. He’s currently second in league scoring with 51 points in 47 games, and his extension should come as welcome news for Wolfsburg’s supporters who are hopeful the team can cement a place in the DEL playoffs.
  • 413-game KHL veteran Dmitri Yudin has signed a two-year contract extension with his current club, Ak Bars Kazan. The 27-year-old has been with Kazan since 2018-19, and before that he played for Spartak Moscow and perennial juggernauts SKA St. Petersburg. A teammate of former NHLers Alexander Radulov and Vadim Shipachyov, Yudin will hope to keep Kazan in playoff contention over the course of his new deal.
  • 23-year-old Slovenian forward Rok Kapel is headed back to the AlpsHL after spending most of this season in the higher-tier ICEHL. Per a team announcement, Kapel will play for Kitzbuheler EC moving forward, leaving HC Olimpija Ljubljana, the ICEHL club in the Slovenian capital. Kapel scored 14 goals and 29 points in 40 games for Ljubljana, leading the team in goal-scoring, and is expected to be a difference-maker moving forward now that he’s down a level of competition.
  • Nick Dineen, a star in Norway’s top professional hockey league, has signed an extension to remain with the Stavanger Oilers beyond this season. Dineen was formerly the captain at Lillehammer, where he hovered around a point-per-game scoring rate for six seasons. Financial issues at Lillehammer forced a January transfer to the Oilers, and he has continued his strong play there with 14 points in 11 games.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Minor Transactions: 02/11/23

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It’s been a packed day on the NHL schedule, with seven games already completed. The Montreal Canadiens took home a late comeback win against the New York Islanders, while the Tampa Bay Lightning triumphed in a 2020 Stanley Cup Final rematch that was nationally televised in the United States. As fans continue to enjoy today’s wealth of NHL action, teams in minor and foreign leagues are making tweaks to their rosters. We’ll track those moves here.

  • 2011 first-round pick Joe Morrow, who was part of the infamous trade that sent Tyler Seguin to the Dallas Stars, had his contract terminated with KHL club HK Sochi today. The 162-game NHL veteran had a difficult 31-game run in Russia, potting just nine points for the worst team in the KHL, and will now look elsewhere to continue his professional career.
  • 2014 sixth-overall pick Jake Virtanen was released by EHC Visp, a club that competes in the second division of Swiss Hockey. Emmanuel Favre of the Swiss newspaper Le Matin reported that Virtanen’s release comes after he allegedly had an altercation with a teammate. On paper, Virtanen’s numbers were solid this year (25 points in 21 games) but he’ll now need to find another home to continue his pro career as his time with Visp has ended.
  • Former Arizona Coyotes prospect Jens Looke has reportedly transferred to IF Bjorkloven, according to Johan Svensson of SportExpressen. The move takes Looke from the Finnish Liiga to the Swedish second-division, the HockeyAllsvenskan, where he has starred in the past. The last time Looke, who has 29 points in 37 games in Liiga this season, was in the HockeyAllsvenskan he scored 62 points in 52 games, helping lift Timra to promotion to the SHL. That’s exactly what he’ll hope to do with Bjorkloven this season.
  • The ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays have released netminder Mario Culina. The team lost their top scorer, Carter Turnbull, yesterday, and now augments their situation in the crease with the release of the 25-year-old Culina. Culina made his professional debut last season with 13 games played for the Fort Wayne Komets and had played two games for the Stingrays since signing with them on February 6th.
  • The exodus from SaiPa has begun. Per an announcement from his new club, SaiPa Lappeenranta’s starting netminder Niclas Westerholm has signed a contract with rival Liiga side Karpat.  SaiPa currently sit last in the Liiga standings, and with their fate looking increasingly dire Westerholm has chosen to make an exit. The 25-year-old has played 40 games this season and has an .884 save percentage. He’ll compete with Ottawa Senators prospect Leevi Merilainen and Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Joel Blomqvist.
  • Former Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Nicolas Mattinen has reportedly signed a contract to leave his current team, the ICEHL’s VSV EC at the end of the season to join the DEL’s Straubing Tigers for the 2023-24 campaign, according to Martin Quendler of Kleine Zeitung. Mattinen, 24, has been VSV’s top blueliner this season, scoring 37 points in 44 games in what has been a successful first season playing overseas professional hockey for the two-time OHL champion.
  • Adam Lapsansky, a veteran of Slovakia’s top professional league, is transferring from HC Dukla Michalovce to HC Nove Zamsky. Through this transfer Lapsansky, who has nearly 500 Slovak Extraliga games under his belt, moves up one spot on the league table. Lapsansky has scored just eight points in 25 games this season, and will hope that this transfer serves as a productive change of scenery.
  • 38-year-old Marek Hovorka, a longtime veteran of the Central European pro hockey circuit and an Olympian who represented his native Slovakia at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyongchang, has signed with Slovak club HC Kosice. Hovorka has played in Slovakia’s second division this season, scoring 14 points in 12 games for Vlci Zilina, and will now look to help Kosice as they attempt to gain ground on HKM Zvolen and HC Slovan Bratislava in the league table.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Minor Transactions: 02/10/23

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The NHL season is back in full swing after the All-Star break, and today features four games on the schedule. Two of the more aggressive contenders for the 2023 draft’s first overall pick, the Arizona Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks, are set to face off, while Vladimir Tarasenko makes his New York Rangers debut as they face the Seattle Kraken. As hockey fans everywhere soak in tonight’s action, teams in minor and foreign leagues are making tweaks to their rosters. We’ll track those moves here.

  • One of the DEL’s top scorers, 2018 St. Louis Blues first-round pick Dominik Bokk has signed a one-year extension with his club, the Frankfurt Lions. Bokk’s productivity has skyrocketed since he returned to European hockey. Last year, he scored just 10 points in 32 games for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. He was loaned to Frankfurt for this season, and he has scored 49 points in 43 games, meaning his club must have been eager to put pen to paper on a contract extension.
  • After clearing waivers earlier today, former Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Linus Hogberg seems to have found his next team. Johan Svensson of SportExpressen reports that Hogberg has an agreement to join Skelleftea AIK, the SHL’s first-place team. In Skelleftea, Hogberg will join former NHLers Oscar Moller, Joakim Lindstrom, Par Lindholm, and Tom Kuhnhackl, as well as top 2023 draft prospect Axel Sandin-Pellikka.
  • A pair of minor league blueliners for San Jose Sharks affiliates have had their PTOs converted to standard player contracts, per the AHL’s official transactions page. The two 26-year olds, Darren Brady and William Riedell, have split this season between the AHL and ECHL, although they both have played exclusively at the AHL level since early December. Both players had two games of AHL experience before their call-up to San Jose, with Riedell getting his call at the conclusion of his NCAA career at Ohio State. Brady, on the other hand, had to test his mettle in both the SPHL and in a successful 32-point 47-game run in the ECHL before earning his AHL call-up.
  • The ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays have lost their top scorer. 24-year-old Carter Turnbull, a former Connecticut Husky, has signed with HKM Zvolen in Slovakia’s top professional league. Turnbull turned pro last season after a four-year NCAA career at the University of Connecticut, and was fine, scoring five points in 11 games for the Stingrays. This season, he’s become their top offensive player, and he has 42 points in 41 games. The Stingrays, who sit in the middle of the ECHL’s playoff mix, will now need to find a way to replace the hefty scoring burden Turnbull leaves behind.
  • Czech club BK Mlada Boleslav has signed two players to contract extensions. The first is 2017 Chicago Blackhawks fourth-round pick Tim Soderlund, and the second is former Providence Bruin Robert Lantosi. Soderlund, 25, moved from Djurgardens in Sweden to Boleslav just a month ago, and now commits to extending there after scoring six points in 13 games. Lantosi, 27, has scored 24 points in 40 games this season after coming over from HC Linkopings in the summer.
  • The SHL’s Vaxjo Lakers have signed a two-year extension with veteran forward Ludvig Nilsson. The 28-year-old transferred from Brynas to Vaxjo in 2019, and won an SHL title with the Lakers in 2020-21. Nilsson has scored eight points in 37 games this season playing bottom-six minutes on a talented Vaxjo team.
  • Austrian club Black Wings Linz, who play in the Central European ICEHL, have signed a two-year extension with young defenseman Niklas Bretschneider. The Vienna native already has 133 games of experience at Austria’s top level of hockey with Linz, and has played in 41 games this season as the Black Wings have fought for a playoff spot.
  •  The ECHL’s Worcester Railers have signed a contract with forward Paul Boutoussov, putting the 26-year-old in a position to make his professional debut. Boutoussov last played in 2021-22 with Babson College, a business school that competes in NCAA Division III athletics. Boutoussov’s signing is presumably to bring in some short-term help for the Railers, who are looking to stay afloat in the ECHL’s playoff race despite losing quality contributor Blake Christensen to HC Thurgau of the Swiss second division.

This page will be updated throughout the day. 

Minor Transactions: 02/05/23

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It’s the final day of the NHL All-Star break, with teams set to return to the ice tomorrow night. With twelve teams set to do battle and several beginning bye weeks, it’s clear we’re right in the thick of the NHL season. As teams prepare for a crucial stretch of games leading up to the trade deadline, clubs in minor and foreign leagues are making roster tweaks. We’ll keep track of those moves here.

  • Stanley Cup champion Carter Rowney has signed an extension to remain with the Frankfurt Lions beyond this season. The 249-game NHL veteran, 33, is in his first season playing professionally in Europe after spending all of last year with the Red Wings. He’s been very good in Germany, scoring 17 goals and 46 points in 45 games, a mark that ranks him 6th on the DEL scoring leaderboard, tied with Red Bull Munich forward Yasim Ehliz.
  • HC Slovan Bratislava has brought in a replacement for the departed Carl Ackered on their blueline: Nate Kallen. The reigning Slovak champions signed Kallen, 25, to bring some two-way prowess to their back end. The 2020 Hobey Baker nominee arrives in Bratislava having spent this year with the ECHL’s Maine Mariners, where he posted 18 points in 34 games. It’s been a busy week for Slovan, as about a week ago the team made another signing, bringing in 2014 first-round pick Nikita Scherbak.
  • Former Winnipeg Jets prospect J.C. Lipon has signed an extension to remain with his current club, the DEL’s Straubing Tigers. Lipon has been a good fit in Bavaria since arriving from the KHL, scoring 17 goals and 29 points in 44 games, giving the team ample motivation to lock him down to this extension. The former Manitoba Moose alternate captain, who has nine NHL games on his resume, has helped the Tigers rank among the top teams in the DEL this season.
  • Grizzlies Wolfsburg, a team in the DEL, has reportedly signed a contract for next season with Chris Wilkie, a forward who plays for another team in their league: the Bietigheim Steelers. This is the former Florida Panthers prospect’s first professional season in Europe, and it has gone decently well. He ranks second on the Steelers in goal scoring with 12 in 36 games and offers experience from both his time as an AHL forward and from his days playing college hockey. Since the Steelers look like a real candidate for relegation to the DEL2 for next season, this reported contract gives Wilkie the chance to remain in the German top division.
  • The DEL’s Eisbaren Berlin are reportedly interested in signing Red Bull Munich forward Freddy Tiffels for next season. Tiffels is a former Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick who has spent the last half-decade as a DEL regular. He scored 49 points in 45 games last season but has seen his offense decline sharply this season to just 25 points in 45 games. Perhaps a change of scenery and a move to Berlin, as the team seems to be eyeing, could be what Tiffels needs to return to the top end of the scoring leaderboard.
  • Veteran DEL blueliner Dominik Bittner will reportedly leave his current club, Grizzlies Wolfsburg, and head to EHC Red Bull Munchen for next season. The 30-year-old has nearly 500 games of DEL experience under his belt, and has spent the last four seasons manning the blueline in Wolfsburg. He represented Germany at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and will head to the three-time DEL champions for next season.
  • Per a team announcement, French forward Justin Addamo has been released from his PTO with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins and sent back to the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers. Adddamo, 24, is in his first professional season since leaving the college ranks. He’s done pretty well, scoring 18 goals and 25 points in 38 games, and will look to help the Nailers gain ground in the ECHL’s Central Division.
  • Forward Jimmy Soper has been traded to the ECHL’s Rapid City Rush, per the league’s official transactions report. Soper, 27, played one season for the Kitchener Rangers at the junior level and has worked his way up from Junior A to Canadian university hockey, to the SPHL, and now to the ECHL, where he’s become a solid offensive contributor. Soper, who brings offensive ability as well as an edge to his game, heads to Rapid City from the Norfolk Admirals. Soper was traded to the Admirals from the Tulsa Oilers for Tag Bertuzzi, the son of former NHLer Todd Bertuzzi and cousin of current Detroit Red Wing Tyler Bertuzzi. Soper scored 71 points in 105 games over two seasons in Tulsa, and now finds a new home in Rapid City to continue his ECHL career.
  • Aleksi Rekonen seems to have found a home in Czechia. The Finnish forward, a veteran of Liiga and the Swedish second division (HockeyAllsvenskan), has signed a contract extension to remain with his current club, HC Plzen, beyond this season. Rekonen has been solid for Plzen, scoring 10 goals and 29 points in 44 games, marks that rank second on the team in scoring.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Minor Transactions: 01/28/23

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With the month of January nearly concluded, we are getting ever closer to the NHL trade deadline. Numerous teams will have to make franchise-altering choices that could chart their competitive courses for years to come. Rumblings about players such as Timo Meier, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Cam Talbot, to name a few, are making headlines. As NHL fans enjoy all the best that the upcoming trade season has to offer, teams in minor and foreign leagues are making tweaks to their rosters. We’ll keep track of all those moves here.

  • The Edmonton Oilers have signed University of Alberta netminder Matt Berlin to an ATO agreement. Berlin’s services are needed due to the fact that goaltender Stuart Skinner is out with an illness. The 25-year-old will back up Jack Campbell for tonight’s game, and then in all likelihood return to the Golden Bears, where he has an .892 save percentage in five games this season.
  • Former Carolina Hurricanes prospect Callum Booth has been released from his standard player contract by the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. The 25-year-old netminder was signed by the Firebirds in September but has largely spent time in the ECHL as Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma has preferred a tandem of Christopher Gibson and Joey Daccord. As 28-year-old Shane Starrett has seized the crease in ECHL Kansas City, where Booth was playing, Booth now receives a release and will look for better opportunities elsewhere. Booth has struggled so far with the Mavericks, posting an .871 save percentage in nine games played. He’s fared better in his limited AHL action this year, though, winning both games to go along with a .950 save percentage.
  • Jamie Fraser, a former member of the New York Islanders organization, has come out of retirement to return to his former club, the ICEHL’s Villacher SV. Fraser had served as Villacher’s captain for three seasons and was an ICEHL All-Star last season. His addition should help the Austrian side as they make a push for the playoffs.
  • Patrik Bartosak, a former star WHL goaltender, has made his arrangements for next season. The current Lahti Pelicans netminder has signed a contract for next season with HK Mountfield, a club in his native Czechia’s Extraliga. A former Los Angeles Kings prospect, Bartosak is a highly accomplished goalie. He’s led the Extraliga in save percentage twice (and has a career .931 mark through six seasons there) and was named the 2012-13 CHL Goalie of the Year.
  • After being released by the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star yesterday, forward Ethan Werek has found a new team, HK Mountfield. Werek actually has experience in the Czech Extraliga, having played for four-time league champions HC Ocelari Trinec during the 2018-19 season, his first outside of North America. He’ll now head back to that league to help Mountfield as they attempt to reach the postseason.
  • Yesterday, Vasterviks IK, a club in Sweden’s HockeyAllsvenskan, signed ECHL star Josh Winquist. Today, additional context may have been added to that transaction. According to a team announcement, veteran forward Alexander Hilmerson has ended his season and left Vasterviks due to a knee injury. Hilmerson scored 18 points in 39 games last season, but hadn’t managed to get onto the ice this year. The club getting some clarity on Hilmerson’s status could have paved the way for Winquist’s signing. Nonetheless, this is an unfortunate setback for the veteran Swede.
  • Montreal native Jonathan Desbiens has left the top professional league of France, Ligue Magnus, to sign with a club in the United Kingdom’s top league, the EIHL. Per a team announcement, the Manchester Storm have inked a deal with Desbiens. Desbiens is a former BCHL second-team all-star who was a quality four-year scoring forward at Bentley University. He made his professional debut last season, splitting time between two ECHL clubs before moving to France. He had a successful debut for Mulhouse in France, scoring 23 points in 22 games, but had struggled to adjust to his new team, Amiens. With just seven points in 23 games this season, he’s now made the choice to leave the French league to seek a new opportunity in Manchester. If he can replicate the success he found last season, this could be a great addition to the Storm.
  • ECHL forward Brandon Yeamans was released by his club, the Florida Everblades, today. The 24-year-old was traded by the Cincinnati Cyclones earlier this month and has apparently failed to latch on with the Everblades. Yeamans made his professional debut last year after two years playing at the Canadian University level and another several playing junior hockey in Ontario. He played well enough to earn an extension for this season in September but now will seek new opportunities to continue playing professionally. Yeamans has registered 10 points and 93 penalty minutes in his 47-game ECHL career.

Minor Transactions: 01/27/23

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It’s another busy night of games on the NHL schedule, with half of the league’s teams set to play. Highlights for tonight’s contests include the “Battle of Ontario” rivalry between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, a Pacific Division showdown between the Seattle Kraken and Calgary Flames, and a showdown between two of the league’s better teams in the New Jersey Devils and Dallas Stars. As hockey fans enjoy the action from tonight’s vast slate of games, teams across the hockey world are making roster moves. We’ll keep track of all those transactions here.

  • According to a team announcement, former NHL defenseman Andreas Borgman will leave his current club, Frolunda HC, after this season. Borgman’s comments in the team release indicate a desire to potentially return to North America after spending the last two seasons playing in Gothenburg for Frolunda. Borgman, when he’s managed to get on the ice, has been Frolunda’s number-one defenseman this season, ranking seventh in the entire SHL in average time-on-ice per game for blueliners. He’s only played in thirteen games, though. But if the 2016-17 SHL Rookie of the Year can manage to stay healthy and productive for the rest of the season, he could find himself back in North America next year.
  •  Former Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Emil Larmi has signed a two-year extension to remain with his current club, the SHL’s Vaxjo Lakers. The 26-year-old transferred to Vaxjo last season after a successful 32-game run in Liiga with the Pelicans, where he posted a .918 save percentage. This year, he has emerged as Vaxjo’s top goalie and has led the team to a league-leading 25-7-2 record through 38 games. He’s posted a .932 save percentage and 1.74 goals-against-average through 22 games played this season. He currently ranks second in the SHL in save percentage, behind only former New York Islanders prospect Linus Soderstrom.
  • 2014 Minnesota Wild draft pick Pontus Sjalin, the brother of former Florida Panthers prospect Calle Sjalin, has signed a two-year extension to remain with his current club, Lulea HF. Sjalin has been with Lulea since 2015 when he transferred there from Leksands. Sjalin is in his seventh season as a regular at Lulea and helped them make a run to the SHL Finals last season, where they eventually fell to Farjestad BK.
  • Veteran center Ethan Werek has been released by his club of the last three seasons, the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star. The 2009 second-round pick has been playing for the Chinese KHL side since 2019-20 and even represented China at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Werek’s production has declined over the past three seasons, though, and now he has been released after scoring just seven points in 28 games.
  • Austrian forward Felix Maxa has signed a two-year extension to remain with his current club, Villacher SV. The team, who compete in the ICEHL, a Central European league with teams from Austria, Hungary, Italy, and Slovenia have signed Maxa in the midst of what has been a breakout campaign for him. He’s flown past his career high in production with 18 points in 37 games, and has cemented his future in Villach as a regular contributor.
  • Marc-Olivier Vallerand, a former captain of the QMJHL’s Quebec Ramparts, has returned to England. The EIHL’s Sheffield Steelers, a side in the top professional league of the United Kingdom, have announced the signing of Vallerand from the ICEHL’s Slovenian club: HK Olimpija Ljubljana. Vallerand was a star scorer in his last tenure in Sheffield and has scored 175 points in just 133 career games in the EIHL. He scored a respectable 13 points in 17 games for Ljubljana, and now heads back to the Steelers in what is a major coup for one of the league’s top sides.
  • Despite playing in more games in the top French professional league, Ligue Magnus, than in any other season of his career, young netminder Gaetan Richard is leaving his current club, the Bordeaux Boxers. Per a team announcement, Richard has left the club in part due to the emergence of veteran goalie Samu Perhonen. Perhonen, a 2011 Edmonton Oilers third-round pick, transferred to Bordeaux in December and has stabilized the team’s standing in the crease. Richard had posted an unimpressive .890 save percentage this season, and has not played since the arrival of Perhonen. Since Perhonen is sporting a .922 save percentage through nine games since his arrival in France and is trending towards being Bordeaux’s number-one netminder, Richard has made the choice to seek other opportunities to continue his pro career.
  • Herning Blue Fox, one of the best teams in Denmark’s top professional hockey league, has signed two North American players to contract extensions. The first, Mac Carruth, is a 2010 Chicago Blackhawks seventh-round pick who laid waste to the EIHL last season for the Cardiff Devils. Leading the Welsh side to a championship, he led his league with a .937 save percentage and also has nearly 100 ECHL games on his resume. He’ll now remain in Denmark beyond this season, where he has a .924 save percentage in 37 games, which ranks third in the league among all starters. The second player, Phil Marinaccio, led Ligue Magnus, the French pro league, in goals during the 2021-22 season, and has 17 goals and 39 points in 33 games for the Blue Fox this season.
  • The ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits have signed longtime minor leaguer Dean Yakura to their active roster. Yakura, 37, is a well-travelled veteran of lower-level minor leagues, beginning his career with the SPHL’s Pensacola Ice Flyers in 2010-11. He served as the captain of the Federal Hockey League’s Danbury Titans for two seasons and spent some time last season as depth for the Swamp Rabbits. That’s the role he’ll occupy this year with this contract.
  • The Iowa Heartanders have released goaltender Trevin Kozlowski, per the ECHL’s official transactions report. The 25-year-old netminder, who was the ECHL’s 2021-22 Community Service Award winner, has struggled so far this year to the tune of a .869 save percentage through 12 games. The Heartlanders will rely on 2019 Minnesota Wild second-rounder Hunter Jones and former Denver Pioneer Corbin Kaczperski moving forward, while Kozlowski will look elsewhere to continue his career.
  • Josh Winquist, an above-point-per-game scorer at the ECHL level, is moving overseas to continue his professional career. Per a report from Johan Svensson of SportExpressen, Vasterviks IK have signed Winquist away from his current club, the Fort Wayne Komets, for the rest of the season. It’s a badly-needed move for the Swedish side, who sit in last place in the second-division HockeyAllsvenskan. Vasterviks made it to the promotion play-offs last season, but now are looking to avoid relegation and are hoping that the addition of Winquist’s scoring abilities can keep them up.

This page will be updated throughout the day. 

Minor Transactions: 01/26/23

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It’s a busy Thursday night on the NHL schedule, with nearly twenty teams set to do battle. Highlights from tonight include a heated rivalry matchup between Alex Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals and Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins, and a showdown between the league-leading Boston Bruins and the defending three-time Prince of Wales Trophy winners, the Tampa Bay Lightning. As hockey fans soak in all of tonight’s matchups, teams from across the hockey world have been making tweaks to their rosters. We’ll track those moves here.

  • Former WHL star and New York Rangers prospect Ty Ronning has decided to continue his professional career in Europe. The 25-year-old 2016 seventh-round pick is perhaps best known for scoring 61 goals in the 2017-18 WHL season. He’s been a decent scorer at the AHL level, potting 18 goals and 39 points last season, and is now headed to Germany to play for ERC Ingolstadt in the DEL. Ingolstadt has been ravaged by injuries this season, so the addition of Ronning should be able to help them during a crucial stretch of their DEL campaign.
  • Ingolstadt made another move today, signing 22-year-old defenseman Leon Huttl to a two-year extension, meaning he will be under contract with the Bavarian side until 2026. After spending several seasons in the German second division, Huttl has firmly established himself as a regular in Germany’s top division in Ingolstadt. He routinely plays over 20 minutes per night, with some games reaching closer to 25 minutes. He represented Germany at the 2020 World Juniors and now gets some early stability in his pro career.
  • Former Boston Bruins prospect Cedric Pare has had a successful PTO with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, and today had that PTO made into a full contract according to the AHL’s official transactions page. The big 24-year-old had a solid professional debut in 2020-21, scoring 17 goals and 40 points in 67 ECHL games for the Utah Grizzlies. That performance earned him an AHL deal for 2021-22, but he struggled immensely, scoring just 10 points in 41 games. This season, he’s spent most of his time in the ECHL until being signed to a PTO by the Eagles in November. He’s got seven points in 19 games for Colorado, and will now get to finish his season there.
  • Daniel Glad has helped two teams to promotion from the HockeyAllsvenskan to the SHL in his career, and now he’s set to try to help a third team make the jump. Djurgardens IF, a prominent Swedish club recently relegated to the Allvenskan, has announced the signing of Glad to a two-year deal. Glad, a 30-year-old blueliner with extensive experience in the top two divisions of Swedish hockey, should be able to help add some valuable experience to a Djurgarden team filled with talented prospects, such as 2022 first-rounders Liam Ohgren and Noah Ostlund.
  • Trey Bradley, a star scorer in the ECHL, is headed to Sweden to continue his professional career. Ostersunds IK, a club in the HockeyAllsvenskan, has announced the signing of Bradley on one of the team’s social media channels. The 26-year-old has scored 82 points in his last 68 ECHL games, and heads to Sweden now with a strong track record of being a difference-maker at North America’s third tier of pro hockey.
  • Olli Palola is switching from Liiga to the SHL. The Finnish scorer, who has a track record of production in Liiga, the KHL, and the SHL has transferred from HIFK Helsinki to Timra IK. The 34-year-old scored just six points in 21 games in the Finnish capital this season, and now heads to Sweden with the hope that a change of scenery can get him back to his old scoring ways.
  • Carolina Hurricanes prospect Simon Forsmark could also be on the move to Timra. One of two Hurricanes’ 2022 fourth-round picks, Forsmark has struggled to see the lineup consistently this season for Orebro. Johan Svensson of SportExpressen reports that Forsmark has signed with Timra, leaving Orebro. The move is presumably with the intention of earning more ice time, which is likely of interest to the Hurricanes who will want to see Forsmark put forth as much tape as possible as they eventually weigh whether to sign him to an entry-level deal.
  • Veteran minor league defenseman Mathieu Brodeur, a 2008 third-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes and 2020-21 Kelly Cup Champion, has chosen to hang up his skates. In an announcement released by the ECHL’s Trois-Rivieres Lions, Brodeur detailed the reasons behind his choice. The 32-year-old defenseman finishes a career that spanned from San Antonio to Slovakia and France playing for the ECHL affiliate of his hometown team, the Montreal Canadiens.
  • The ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates have acquired forward Dylan Sadowy from the Iowa Heartlanders, per the ECHL’s official transactions page. The Heartlanders claimed Sadowy off of waivers yesterday, and have now dealt him to Georgia without having dressed him for a single game. Sadowy, the 81st overall pick at the 2014 draft, is a Calder Cup champion and former ECHL All-Star. He scored 50 points in 51 games for the Tulsa Oilers last season, but was waived by the team this year having scored just 14 points in 30 games. He’ll now get a change of scenery in Savannah, joining a team that is currently struggling to find consistent scorers.
  • The ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers have released defenseman Roy Kanda. The 22-year-old defenseman has taken a unique developmental path to North American professional hockey. He hails from Hokkaido, Japan, and he played hockey in Japan before heading to Finland to continue his development and has begun his pro career in the SPHL. With three games of ECHL experience now under his belt, Kanda will look to earn another look in the East Coast league by continuing his SPHL career.
  • The ECHL’s Allen Americans have signed goaltender Justin Kapelmaster. The 27-year-old won the Kelly Cup with Allen in 2020-21, before bouncing around to four additional teams in the ECHL. Kapelmaster signed with the Reading Royals in August and earned a PTO with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. In December, Kapelmaster was released by the Royals, who elected to run with 22-year-old Nolan Maier as their starter. He signed with the Jacksonville Icemen shortly afterward but didn’t get into a game there before being released on New Year’s Eve. Now he lands back in Allen and will look to recapture the success he found in his first go-around with the Americans.
  • The EIHL’s Nottingham Panthers have released veteran defenseman Craig Moore. The Scottish blueliner has been a fixture in the United Kingdom’s top league for several seasons, suiting up for the Cardiff Devils, Fife Flyers, Glasgow Clan, Dudee Stars, and the Panthers. Moore has played almost 250 games in the EIHL in his career, and will likely look for another contract in that league in order to continue his professional career.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

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