Snapshots: Nichushkin, Keenan, Carter
The IIHF has dropped all charges related to a years-old doping allegation for Valeri Nichushkin, according to the Russian Hockey Federation. The decision follows the additional analysis of a sample given back in 2013, when he was still playing with Traktor Chelyabinsk. It had been reanalyzed in 2019 and found to have a “suspicious level of testosterone,” leading to an additional investigation.
While this wouldn’t have affected his NHL standing, it could have impacted Nichushkin’s international eligibility. He hasn’t played at the World Championship since 2017, or Olympics since 2014.
- Speaking of IIHF announcements, there’s another big name in the news today. Mike Keenan, legendary (and infamous) hockey coach, will lead the Italian men’s national team in the 2023 World Championship. The program is ramping up in preparation for hosting the 2026 winter Olympics in Milan, and has brought in a well-known name to get them on track. Keenan hasn’t coached professionally since the 2017-18 season when he was with Kunlun Red Star of the KHL, and hasn’t been an NHL head coach since 2009 with the Calgary Flames. The 72-year-old has championships at the NHL, KHL, and AHL levels, and coached Canada at the Worlds in 1993.
- Anson Carter is now a minority owner of the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators, as the controlling interest of the club was transferred today. Alex Campbell will serve as majority owner, while Carter, a veteran of nearly 700 games in the NHL, is just excited to be involved in pro hockey in his “adopted hometown” of Atlanta. The Gladiators start their season on Friday when they take on the defending Kelly Cup champion Florida Everblades.
AHL Shuffle: 10/17/22
After an unusual Sunday with no games on the schedule, NHL action is back tonight. Tonight’s games feature a Sidney Crosby appearance in Montreal with the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins taking on the Canadiens, Nick Ritchie back in his old stomping grounds as the Arizona Coyotes visit the Toronto Maple Leafs, and a matchup of exciting Central Division foes as the Winnipeg Jets visit the Dallas Stars. With all of the action around the NHL this evening, it doesn’t put a stop to the off-ice news around the hockey world. We’ll keep an eye on all of that here.
- The Hartford Wolf Pack, the AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers, have reassigned goaltender Olof Lindbom to the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen. Lindbom, a second-round pick of the Rangers in 2018, is playing in his first North American season after spending his entire career-to-date in his native Sweden.
- After having defenseman Daniil Miromanov assigned to them from the Vegas Golden Knights, the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights assigned goaltender Isaiah Saville to the Savannah Ghost Pirates of the ECHL. Saville, a fifth-round pick of the Golden Knights in 2019, recently finished up a three-year stint at the University of Nebraska-Omaha before turning pro at the end of last year, where he got into eight games with Henderson.
- The AHL’s Utica Comets have assigned forward Xavier Parent to the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL. Not drafted by an NHL team, the 21-year-old Parent finished up his QMJHL career in 2021-22. After several seasons with modest point totals, Parent broke out in his final year of junior, recording 106 points in just 65 games with the Sherbrooke Phoenix.
- The San Jose Barracuda of the AHL have loaned defenseman Billy Constantinou to the Wichita Thunder, their ECHL affiliate. Already a journeyman at just 21-years-old, Constantinou played for three different teams in his three-year OHL career before turning pro for the 2021-22 season. In 2021-22, the defenseman bounced between four different teams at the AHL and ECHL levels.
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Minor Transactions: 10/16/22
It’s the first true Sunday of the NHL season, however there are no games on tap for us today. The odd scheduling quirk should give players a chance to practice and rest ahead of a busy week two. Still, there’s plenty of action around the hockey scene and with that comes some minor news and notes. We’ll keep track of those here.
- The Calgary Wranglers, the new AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames, announced that they have assigned three players to the Rapid City Rush of the ECHL: defensemen Simon Lavigne and Rhett Rhinehart, and goaltender Daniil Chechelev. Both defenseman, who recently finished up their junior careers, were undrafted in the NHL, but should get a chance to make a name for themselves in the professional ranks. Chechelev, a fourth-round pick of the Flames in 2020, struggled last year in the ECHL, but will have a chance to redeem himself in 2021-22.
- The ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen announced they’ve signed defenseman Jacob Friend to a one-year contract. The defenseman was a seventh-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2016 and has spent parts the past two seasons on Jacksonville’s blueline, along with 17 games as a member of the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers last season. Prior to turning pro, Friend spent parts of four seasons with the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL and two seasons with St. Mary’s University in Halifax, NS. The Icemen are the affiliate of the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack and the New York Rangers
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Minor Transactions: 10/14/22
The NHL season is fully underway, and we have four more games on the docket for tonight. As exciting as the action is around the NHL tonight, there’s still plenty going on around the hockey world and we’ll keep track of all those transactions here.
- The San Diego Gulls announced the signings of four players to standard player contracts today: forwards Brent Gates and Dmitri Osipov, as well as defensemen Josh Healey and Nikolas Brouillard. Possibly the most accomplished name of this group is Brouillard, who has spent the past two seasons with the Gulls. He had 39 points in 66 games last season (along with a whopping 131 penalty minutes) and should resume playing an important role in San Diego this season.
- One of the top goalie prospects in hockey, Sebastian Cossa, was reassigned from the Detroit Red Wings’ AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, to their ECHL affiliate, the Toledo Wallleye. While an ECHL demotion might be seen as a definitively negative development for any top prospect, this reassignment shouldn’t be viewed so negatively for Cossa, who turns 20 on November 21st. An ECHL assignment will allow Cossa to operate as a starting netminder in a lower-pressure environment than the AHL. He’ll be able to take his time and work on his game, and the move gives him a longer runway in terms of his development.
- Former Philadelphia Flyers and Lehigh Valley Phantoms winger Linus Sandin cleared unconditional waivers today, allowing him to sign overseas. He’s done just that, as SHL club Rogle BK has signed Sandin to a contract that runs through the 2024-25 season. Sandin is an SHL veteran who joins Rogle after a decent AHL season that saw him earn his first NHL game, and he should help his new squad improve their current 12th-place standing in Sweden’s top league.
- The Ottawa Senators’ AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, announced the signings of two players today. Zachary Massicotte, 21, was signed to a two-way AHL/ECHL deal, while Cedric Pare, 23, was signed to a PTO. Pare signs this PTO looking to earn a full deal after spending all of last season in Belleville, while Massicotte will make his professional debut after winning the QMJHL championship last season with the Shawinigan Cataractes.
Minor Transactions: 10/13/22
The NHL season is fully underway, and quite a few teams are skating in their first games of the season tonight. As exciting as the action is around the NHL tonight, there’s still plenty going on around the hockey world and we’ll keep track of all those transactions here.
- The Montreal Canadiens were expected to assign 2021 first-round pick, Logan Mailloux, to his OHL club, the London Knights, when he recovered from injury. Today, the team did just that, sending Mailloux to the Knights. Mailloux hasn’t spent an extensive amount of time on the ice in the OHL, so this season will be important as he looks to establish himself as one of the Canadiens’ better options on what looks at the moment to be a crowded defensive pipeline.
- The New York Rangers’ AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, have signed defenseman Ben Harpur to a PTO, per a team announcement. Harpur, 27, is a veteran of over 150 NHL games and joins the Wolf Pack after signing a PTO with the Columbus Blue Jackets, a deal that did not result in a contract offer. The Rangers recently lost physical depth defenseman Jarred Tinordi on waivers to the Chicago Blackhawks, so perhaps this PTO is a chance for Harpur to prove he can fill Tinordi’s vacated role on the Rangers’ organizational depth chart.
Minor Transactions: 10/12/22
Another slate of opening night contests are on tap around the NHL this evening, including the NHL debut of 2022 number one overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky with the Montreal Canadiens and Johnny Gaudreau‘s Columbus Blue Jackets debut down in Carolina. As exciting as the action is around the NHL tonight, there’s still plenty going on around the hockey world and we’ll keep track of it here.
- The Henderson Silver Knights, the AHL affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights, made several cuts from its training camp roster today. Forwards Patrick Guay, Daniel D’Amato, Lynden McCallum, and defenseman Connor Corcoran have all been assigned to the Savannah Ghost Pirates of the ECHL (link). Guay could be an intriguing name in this group, coming off a season in which he scored 55 goals to go with 49 assists in just 68 games with the QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders. The forward was a fifth-round selection by Vegas in 2022 as a 20-year-old.
- Similarly, the Texas Stars, the AHL affiliate of the Dallas Stars, cut a handful of players from its roster. Forward Jordan Kawaguchi, defensemen Dawson Barteaux and Owen Headrick, and goaltender Remi Poirier were all assigned to the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL. (link). Of note, Poirier, a sixth-round selection by Dallas in 2020, recently finished an impressive four-year stint with the Gatineau Olympiques in the QMJHL.
- The Arizona Coyotes are sending forward Matias Maccelli to the AHL (link). A fourth-round pick of the Coyotes in 2019, Maccelli made his NHL debut last season, recording six points in 23 games for Arizona. In the AHL, however, Maccelli was nothing short of an elite playmaker, scoring 14 goals to go with 43 assists in just 47 games. If the young winger can translate some of his AHL production into the NHL one day, the Coyotes will surely have themselves an exciting player.
- Forward Emilio Pettersen has been activated off of season-opening IR by the Calgary Flames and subsequently sent down (link). The Norwegian forward was a sixth-round selection of Calgary in 2018 and spent the previous two seasons with the Stockton Heat, then Calgary’s AHL affiliate.
- Like Pettersen, Florida Panthers forward Justin Sourdif has been activated from season-opening IR and sent down. (link). A third-round pick by Florida in 2020, Sourdif recently finished up an impressive junior career spent primarily with the Vancouver Giants, who dealt him to the Edmonton Oil Kings mid-way through last season. The 20-year-old forward had 71 points in 52 games last year in the WHL.
This post will be updated throughout the day.
Minor Transactions: 10/10/22
After the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators kicked the NHL regular season off in Europe this weekend, the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning will kick things off in North America tomorrow night, followed by the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings. Before that can happen though, teams must submit cap-compliant opening night rosters to the NHL by 5:00 pm ET today. Roster shuffling will presumably dominate the NHL news cycle today, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be some other notable news from the minor leagues and around the globe, and we’ll keep track of that here:
- The ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits announced that they have signed former NHL goaltender Michael McNiven to a one-year deal. After a terrific three-year stint with the the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack, the undrafted McNiven joined the Canadiens organization, spending parts of the next five seasons bouncing between the AHL and ECHL. McNiven also made his NHL debut last season, getting into one game with the Canadiens on January 24th of this year against the Wild.
- The AHL’s Laval Rocket announced the signing of John Parker-Jones to a one-year deal. The 22-year-old has spent time both on the wing and on defense and spent last season with Windsor in the Canadian college ranks where he had two goals and five assists in 17 games. He participated in Montreal’s rookie camp back in September.
This post will be kept updated throughout the day.
Minor Transactions: 10/07/22
The NHL regular season began today, and while the world’s top league is just getting going, there are teams in minor/overseas leagues that are still making tweaks to their rosters. We’ll recap all of today’s minor league/foreign league moves here.
- Former Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Andrew Nielsen, signed a contract with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies today, per the league’s official transactions page. Nielsen, 25, was the 65th overall pick of the 2015 draft and played 36 games last season with the Grizzlies, scoring 27 points. The defenseman has extensive experience in the AHL and should be a major addition to the Grizzlies’ blueline.
- The Coachella Valley Firebirds signed Nick Pastujov and Hugo Roy to contracts in late September, and now it seems that they won’t be with the Firebirds to start their seasons. The ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks announced today that both Pastujov and Roy have been reassigned to their club, meaning both players will likely begin the year in Kansas City and hope to play well enough to earn a call-up to Dan Bylsma’s Firebirds squad.
- The Idaho Steelheads made a big move today, signing three-time ECHL defenseman of the year Matthew Register to a one-year contract. Register spent last season with the Cardiff Devils of the EIHL, the United Kingdom’s top professional league, and will re-enter the ECHL as a defenseman capable of putting up elite production.
- Kevin Lohan, the captain of the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears, announced his retirement today via a letter posted to the team’s website. Lohan spent the past four seasons with the Solar Bears and earned his first AHL recalls this past season, skating in games for both the Syracuse Crunch and Ontario Reign.
- The ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits made two signings today, adding forwards Jake Elmer and Carter Souch. Elmer, scored 32 points in 50 ECHL games last season and should bolster their offensive attack. Souch is perhaps the more intriguing name here as he will be making his professional debut after an impressive finish to his WHL career. Souch scored 71 points in 68 regular-season games for the Edmonton Oil Kings and also scored 21 points in 19 playoff games, helping lead Edmonton to a WHL championship. He’ll look to begin a climb up the North American pro hockey ladder in Greenville.
Minor Transactions: 10/06/22
The NHL regular season begins tomorrow with the San Jose Sharks taking on the Nashville Predators. Many teams are still making their final roster preparations, and as the roster picture in the NHL becomes more clear, teams across the hockey world are also making moves. Here we’ll recap the day’s notable transactions from minor leagues or overseas leagues.
- The ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays announced today that they’ve signed three young players who have either recently turned pro or are set to make their professional debuts this season. The players are as follows: forwards Anthony Del Gaizo and Sean Gulka, and defenseman Kylor Wall. Del Gaizo, 24, is the brother of Nashville Predators prospect Marc Del Gaizo and is also an NCAA champion and former USHL Player of the Year. Gulka, 22, is an import from the WHL’s Victoria Royals, and Wall, 25, got a taste of professional action last year for the Fort Wayne Komets.
- Forward Michael Pelech, the older brother of New York Islanders star defenseman Adam Pelech, signed a contract with the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators. Pelech, 33, is a minor league veteran with over 800 games of ECHL experience under his belt. Pelech played for the Gladiators last season and notched 36 points in 46 games.
- The ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears announced today that they’ve signed forward Tristin Langan to a one-year deal. Langan, 23, scored the second-most points of any WHL player in 2018-19, scoring 53 goals and 113 points for the Moose Jaw Warriors. Langan has proven to be an elite ECHL scorer with 147 points in 168 career games at that level. Langan has spent his entire ECHL career with the Solar Bears and will return there hoping to earn a chance with an AHL club.
- After spending two games with Slovakian club Nove Zamsky Mikron HC and scoring one goal, veteran forward Jay Dickman has decided to head back to North America. The forward signed a one-year deal with the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder, the team he spent the last two seasons with. Dickman, 29, scored 58 points in 65 games last season and should definitely help the Thunder’s offensive attack as they look to rebound after a difficult 2021-22 season.
Minor Transactions: 09/29/22
Training camps are fully underway, and we are now at the point where there are preseason games every night. As training camp rosters are cut down, there is a ripple effect of that player movement that can impact teams in minor or foreign leagues whose seasons may already be underway. We’ll keep track of all the minor league/overseas league transactions here.
- The Buffalo Sabres’ AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, announced today that they’ve re-signed forward Michael Mersch to a one-year AHL contract extension. Mersch, an AHL veteran scorer, is the Americans’ captain and one of their top players. The 29-year-old had the most productive season of his career in 2021-22, scoring 26 goals and 54 points, and now he receives a contract extension as a reward for his efforts.
- The Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, announced the signings of four players today: forwards Luke Stevens, Nick Pastujov, Pascal Laberge, and Hugo Roy. All three spent most of last season in the ECHL, and were signed to one-year contracts. Some might remember Laberge as a top prospect from the 2016 draft, where he went 36th overall to the Philadelphia Flyers, while others might know Pastujov as the brother of Anaheim Ducks prospect Sasha Pastujov. All four forwards will head to Coachella Valley to compete for a lineup spot in coach Dan Bylsma’s team.
- The ECHL’s Allen Americans announced the signing of forward Colton Hargrove, a 2012 seventh-round pick of the Boston Bruins. Hargrove was a quality middle-of-the-lineup AHL player from 2015-2019 before he left to play overseas in Austria. Hargrove did not play hockey during the 2021-22 season and will resume his professional career with the Americans, a sort of “hometown” club for the Dallas, Texas native.