Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

ECHL

East Notes: Hurricanes, Demidov, Strome

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Hurricanes are continuing to rebuild their minor-league pipeline after spending 2023-24 without full-time AHL or ECHL affiliates. They inked a three-year agreement to re-affiliate with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves earlier this offseason, but they remain without a full-time third-tier affiliate.

That won’t change for 2024-25, but they have landed what the team calls a “working agreement” with the Bloomington Bison, an expansion franchise beginning play in the fall. Bloomington has already landed an outright affiliation agreement for next season with the Rangers, but they’ll also be the preferred destination for the handful of players under contract with Carolina who get demoted all the way down to the ECHL. The Hurricanes had the same setup with ECHL Norfolk last season, whose primary affiliate was the Jets. Six players who were under contract with Carolina – Domenick Fensore, Griffin Mendel, Blake Murray, Yaniv Perets, Justin Robidas and Ronan Seeley appeared in action for Norfolk under the agreement.

Elsewhere from the East:

  • Following up on a report from The Montreal Gazette’s Stu Cowan earlier this week, it’s becoming more certain that 2024 fifth-overall pick Ivan Demidov will play out the final season of his contract with the Kontinental Hockey League’s SKA St. Petersburg next season. Speaking with matchtv.ru, SKA head coach Roman Rotenberg confirmed the plan is for Demidov to remain on the KHL roster instead of being loaned to a lower-level league (via Marc Antoine Godin of Radio-Canada). Demidov spent nearly all of last season on loan to SKA’s junior club in the MHL, where he had arguably the best draft-eligible season in league history with 60 points and a +47 rating in 30 games.
  • Coming off back-to-back Calder Cup championships, the AHL’s Hershey Bears have retained a core part of their club. The Capitals’ primary affiliate has re-signed left winger Matthew Strome to a two-year deal, per a team announcement. The brother of Washington center Dylan Strome and Ducks forward Ryan Strome had a career-best 20 points in 50 games with the Bears last season and scored the overtime winner in the series-clinching Game 6 of the Calder Cup Final against Coachella Valley. He was a fourth-round pick of the Flyers in 2017 but hasn’t been under an NHL contract since his entry-level deal expired in 2022 after not receiving a qualifying offer.

AHL Notes: Parent, Isley, Sucese, Ahac

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Utica Comets kicked off a day of minor league signings by re-signing forwards Xavier Parent and Jace Isley to one-year, two-way, minor-league contracts. The duo will have a chance to earn an increased salary at the AHL level next season, after both spending a season in the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder.

Parent graduated from the Thunder partway through the 2022-23 season, after scoring 23 goals and 51 points in 50 games. He’s continued producing through his rookie AHL season this year, ranking third on the Comets in scoring with 45 points in 71 games. Isley has followed Parent’s path this year, graduating to Utica after 55 games in the ECHL, though he only scored 23 points of his own. He’ll aim to earn his first full AHL season next year, while Parent will be fighting to earn his first NHL contract.

Other notes from around the minors:

  • The Hartford Wolf Pack have announced the signing of forward Nate Sucese to a one-year contract. He’ll move east after spending the last two seasons with the Chicago Wolves. Sucesse found his stride in Chicago, posting a career-high 23 goals and 37 points in 72 games this season – topping his previous high of 23 points, set last season. The pair of years was a big improvement from the 21 points in 49 games that Sucese totaled in his first two AHL seasons. The Penn State alum seems to have the wind behind his sails, and will now look to carve out a strong role in Hartford’s middle-six.
  • Sticking in the realm of Big Ten alumni – the Abbotsford Canucks have signed former Ohio State defender Layton Ahac to a one-year deal. It will be the first move of Ahac’s career, after spending his first four pro years with the Henderson Silver Knights. He failed to find much space on the scoresheet, recording just one goal and 17 points across 148 games. But Ahac has nonetheless fought his way into a routine role, on the back of smart defending and passing. He’ll look to form a more robust resume with a move to Canada, joining a Canucks organization with a wide open defense depth chart.
  • The Chicago Wolves have joined teams making additions today, signing forward Nikita Pavlychev to a one-year contract. Pavlychev will move to Chicago after spending the last three seasons signed with the Ontario Reign, though he spent the majority of those seasons with the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Pavlychev managed 108 points across 106 games in Greenville, ultimately working his way into a career-high 29 AHL games this season. He vindicated those performances with a stout 10 points, and will now look to firmly cement his feet as an AHL talent with the Wolves.

AHL Notes: Weissbach, Penguins, Wolf Pack

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Free agent forward Linus Weissbach has signed with Frölunda HC of the SHL. Weissbach was a Group-VI UFA with the Sabres, effectively moving to unrestricted free agency after not receiving a qualifying offer from the team before July 1st.

This move returns Weissbach to his hometown of Göteborg, Sweden, where Weissbach grew up through the Frölunda pipeline. He made his debut with the organization’s top club in 2016, though he only played in one game before moving to North America and pursuing a four-year career with the University of Wisconsin. He graduated college in 2021 and has since spent the last three seasons with the Rochester Americans, accumulating 117 points across 191 games in the minor leagues. But despite consistent production and a stout role in Rochester’s top-six, Weissbach was never the top option for a call-up, losing standing to more robust minor leaguers like Lukas Rousek and Brett Murray, and more recently bumped out by prospects like Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen.

With that logjam only increasing after Buffalo’s successful 2024 NHL Draft, Weissbach will change his focus to pursuing a career with his hometown club. Frölunda’s sporting director Fredrik Sjöström shared his excitement for the move, saying, “We have lost two offensively skilled players in [Malte Strömwall] and [Jere Innala]. We wanted to bring in offensive skill and “Weiss” is just that. He is a skilled forward with good speed and plays like a pattern breaker. He fits what we wanted. We’ve been on him for a while and knew we needed to wait for some other parameters before he could choose us (Linus has been a free agent in North America). But he did and we are happy about that, says Fredrik Sjöström, sports director.”

Other notes out of the minor leagues:

  • The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have added Nick Luukko as an assistant coach. Luukko, 32, has spent the last three seasons as the head coach and Director of Hockey Operations for the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen, leading the team to the postseason in each year, though they never made it past the second round. He earned the role with Jacksonville just two seasons after ending his own playing career – which spanned 274 ECHL games – after just one season as an ECHL assistant coach. He’ll now fast-track to the next level, joining a Penguins organization in the midst of cycling out much of their org chart.
  • The Hartford Wolf Pack have hired Brendan Burke as a goaltending coach. Burke has spent the last two seasons as a goaltending coach for his former youth and junior hockey teams – the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes and Portland Winterhawks. He earned an NHL Draft selection with Portland in 2012-13, hearing his name called in the sixth round by his hometown Phoenix Coyotes. Burke is the son of legendary NHL goaltender Sean Burke, who is now serving as Vegas’ Director of Goaltending.

Minor Transactions: 7/13/24

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The hockey summer has entered a standstill, with moves around Europe headlining much of the news. We’ll keep track of the notable signings here:

  • Starting in North America, former St. Louis Blues forward prospect Keean Washkurak has signed a one-year, minor league deal with the Belleville Senators. Washkurak entered unrestricted free agency this summer, after not receiving a qualifying offer from St. Louis. He didn’t have much to show prospective new teams, with just four goals and 10 points in 63 AHL games last season. It was another low-scoring and low-minutes year for Washkurak, who’s totaled a measly 46 points across 176 AHL games since turning pro in 2020. He’s so far spent his career on two two-way NHL contracts with the Blues – a status that he’ll now have to work his way back to with Belleville.
  • Goaltender Zane McIntyre has signed a one-year deal with the Straubing Tigers of the DEL, Germany’s top league. The move ends McIntyre’s nine-year tour around the AHL; a trip that took him through stops with six different clubs, including the Providence Bruins and Iowa Wild. McIntyre has generally filled a backup role throughout his career, ultimately totaling 153 wins and a .908 save percentage in 300 AHL games. He’s now set for his first full year in Europe, though he did spend a brief six games with the KHL’s Dynamo Riga during the 2020-21 season.
  • Kyle Keyser is joining the string of goaltenders moving internationally, signing a one-year deal with the Kunlun Red Star, China’s KHL club. Keyser has spent the last six seasons with the Providence Bruins, though he’s split his time between the roles of AHL backup and ECHL starter. The 25-year-old Keyser has totaled 29 wins and a .902 in 73 AHL games and 16 wins and a .891 in 42 ECHL across his career. He’ll fight for better production in a more prominent role with Kunlun.

* This post will be updated throughout the day.

Central Notes: Cogliano, Francouz, Colorado Goaltending, Everblades

at CDT | by 8 Comments

A pair of former Avalanche players will be sticking around the organization.  The team announced that Andrew Cogliano has been appointed as a Special Assistant to General Manager Chris MacFarland while Pavel Francouz is now a Goaltending Scout.  Cogliano retired in May after a 17-year NHL career spanning nearly 1,300 NHL appearances, the last three of which were spent with the Avs.  Francouz, meanwhile, was supposed to be the backup to Alexandar Georgiev last season but didn’t play due to a lower-body injury.  He unofficially served in a scouting capacity during the season and now has had that role formalized.

More from the Central:

  • Still with the Avalanche, Corey Masisak of The Denver Post wonders if they might wait until training camp to add another netminder as they did last season when they picked up Ivan Prosvetov off waivers. Notably, Justus Annunen is now waiver-eligible and wouldn’t be a lock to clear after putting up a 2.25 GAA and a .928 SV% in 14 appearances last season.  However, with the team set to have some extra cap flexibility to start the year with Valeri Nichushkin not counting against the salary cap while in the third phase of the Player Assistance Program, Colorado could elect to carry three goalies and have a battle for the backup position extend into the regular season.
  • The Blues will have an ECHL affiliate for next season as the Florida Everblades announced that they’ve reached a multi-year affiliation agreement with St. Louis. It’s the first time the Blues have had a full affiliation at this level since the 2019-20 campaign.  The Everblades, meanwhile, have won the Kelly Cup for three straight years while affiliated with two different NHL teams, Nashville and Florida but announced last month that they’d be seeking a new parent franchise which they now have.

Minor League Signings: 7/9/24

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

As the summer calms down for NHL teams, it’s beginning to pick up for minor league programs looking to fill out the depth of their lineup. We cover the notable AHL signings from July 9th here.

  • The Ontario Reign have signed forward Shawn Element and defender John Parker-Jones. Element is moving north after spending the first three years of his career with the Syracuse Crunch. He’s found his groove as a bruiser over the last two seasons, posting 88 penalty minutes in 48 games last season and 100 in 64 games this year. His scoring has stayed consistent during the stretch, with Element marking nine goals and 18 points in both years. He’ll look to bring that grit to a hard-hitting Reign lineup. The same can be said about Parker-Jones, who recorded 90 penalty minutes in 55 games with the ECHL’s Trois-Rivieres Lions this year. He’s only played 22 AHL games since turning pro in 2022-23, recording just three points, but could get a better shot at ice time as he moves to a Reign lineup in need of defensive depth.
  • The Henderson Silver Knights have signed centerman Mitch McLain to a two-year deal. The move will return McLain to the United States, after spending the last two seasons with the Calgary Wranglers. He recorded 32 goals, 51 points, and 220 penalty minutes in 119 games over the pair of years. The performances have helped McLain further dig his feet into the role of a high-event forward, after posting 17 goals, 23 points, and 113 penalty minutes in 76 games with the Milwaukee Admirals in 2021-22. He’ll hope his bruting presence can continue to Henderson, where he’ll back a young Silver Knights lineup.
  • Henderson has also announced one-year deals for forwards Riley McKay and Braeden Bowman. McKay joins the Silver Knights after two years with the Laval Rocket and a brief stint with Trois-Rivieres. He’s recorded 17 points and 266 penalty minutes in 69 games with Laval – though he’s still searching for the heights he reached in 2021-22, when he managed 27 points and 192 penalty minutes in 51 ECHL games. Meanwhile, Bowman joins the Silver Knights as an undrafted free agent, after playing through a four-year career with the OHL’s Guelph Storm. Bowman managed 180 points across 184 games in the OHL and captained Guelph in this past season.
  • The Charlotte Checkers have signed veteran AHL centerman Kyle Criscuolo to a one-year, minor-league contract. Criscuolo has spent the last 10 seasons in the AHL, playing for six different clubs and winning the Calder Cup in 2017. The 32-year-old has managed 143 points and 248 penalty minutes in 430 career games in the AHL. That includes Criscuolo’s career-high 42 points in 63 games this year. He’s also earned spot starts with three different NHL clubs, ultimately totaling 16 games and three points in the league. Criscuolo has a long track record in the hockey world, captaining Harvard University from 2014 to 2016 and since spending five years of his AHL career as an alternate captain. He’ll bring leadership and stout scoring to Charlotte’s lineup.
  • Former Colorado Eagles captain Jayson Megna will stick with the team, after signing a two-year, minor-league contract (Twitter link). Megna spent parts of four seasons with the Eagles from 2019 to 2023, though he opted to sign a one-year, two-way deal with the Boston Bruins last summer. That moved him to the Providence Bruins for the 2023-24 season – to fantastic effect, with Megna posting a career-high 56 points in 69 games. It was the most time Megna has spent in the minors since 2018-19, spending much of his time since then filling a depth forward role int he NHL. He’s earned 33 points and 40 penalty minutes in 204 NHL games over the course of his career, but will instead focus on bringing his newfound scoring back to the Eagles next season.
  • The Lehigh Valley Phantoms have re-signed forward Jacob Gaucher to a one-year deal, per Tony Androckitis of AHL.com (Twitter link). Gaucher played through his AHL rookie season this year, posting 16 points, split evenly, in 59 games and adding just 18 penatly minutes and a -7. The measly stat line comes after a tremendous ECHL season last year. In what was his first professional season, Gaucher posted 22 goals and 61 points in 71 games with the Reading Royals, adding 12 points in 11 playoff games. That performance has seemingly played him out of an ECHL role, though he’ll need to find his scoring at an AHL level next year if he wants to keep things that way.

Snapshots: Buchnevich, Cajkovic, Leafs, Durandeau

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Just a few months after shopping him around the Trade Deadline, the St. Louis Blues have agreed to terms on a long-term extension with top winger Pavel Buchnevich a year early. But general manager Doug Armstrong acknowledged that the team had to cave to Buchnevich’s term, telling Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post, “We talked [with Buchnevich’s side] again on the first, did the deal on the second. I’ll be honest with you, I budged.” Armstrong added that giving ground on term is the cost of doing business in today’s market.

For their effort in the negotiations, the Blues have now locked up Buchnevich at a manageable $8MM cap hit, set to begin in 2025-26 after his current deal expires. The 29-year-old winger recorded 27 goals and 63 points in 80 games this season, the lowest scoring of his tenure with the Blues. He had a career year in his first year with the club in 2021-22, recording 30 goals and 76 points in just 73 games. Buchnevich scored at a similar pace last year, though an ankle injury would limit him to just 63 games and 67 points.

Buchnevich has emerged as a premier winger in St. Louis, and a great addition to the high-tempo duo of Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. He’ll look to really get comfortable in that role next year, after agreeing to what will be the longest contract of his career.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Pittsburgh Penguins forward Maxim Cajkovic has signed with HC Verva Litvinov of Slovakia’s Tipsport Extraliga. The Penguins acquired Cajkovic from the Minnesota Wild in January, sending Will Butcher the other way. The deal proved moot for both teams, as Butcher currently awaits a new deal on the free-agent market. Cajkovic, 23, is returning to Europe after spending all year in the minor leagues, tallying five points in 10 AHL games and four points in 13 ECHL games. He’ll be playing in his third European pro league on this deal, after spending time in Sweden’s SHL and Austria’s ICE Hockey League during his U21 career.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced a new ECHL affiliation, signing an agreement with the Cincinnati Cyclones set to begin next season. The duration of the deal hasn’t been revealed. Toronto turns to the Cyclones after their previous affiliate, the Newfoundland Growlers, ceased operations before the end of the 2023-24 season. The Cyclones are a familiar face in the ECHL, appearing in 23 of the league’s last 30 seasons. They’ve won two Kelly Cup Championships in that span – in 2008 and 2010. Cincinnati will look to return to those heights now in partnership with the Leafs: the fifth NHL club they’ve been affiliated with.
  • Montreal Canadiens winger Arnaud Durandeau has signed with Amur Khabarovsk of the KHL, per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. Durandeau went on a quick tour around the minor leagues this season, playing for three different AHL clubs this season after a mid-year loan was followed with Montreal acquiring Durandeau from the New York Islanders in exchange for Tyce Thompson. Durandeau scored 24 points across 48 AHL games this season, bringing his career totals to 132 points in 215 games. He also appeared in four NHL games during the 2022-23 season, though he failed to score.

Lightning Acquire Lukas Svejkovsky From Penguins

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Pittsburgh Penguins have swapped depth forwards, with Pittsburgh receiving Bennett MacArthur and Tampa receiving Lukas Svejovsky (Twitter link).

MacArthur, 23, spent the season in the ECHL, totaling 32 points through 55 games. It was his second year in the league, after playing through his first pro season to the tune of 28 points in 53 games last year. Tampa signed MacArthur as an undrafted free agent in 2022, following the end of his season with the QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan. MacArthur only played in parts of three seasons in the QMJHL, though he always found his way to strong scoring, recording 42 goals and 77 points in 54 games during his final year in the league. He’ll spend the final year of his entry-level contract pushing for a consistent role in the AHL, before setting his sights on the Penguins roster.

Meanwhile, Svejovsky, 22, was drafted by Pittsburgh in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Draft, after a strong year in the WHL. He went on to play two more seasons in the WHL, potting 76 points in 57 games in his final year. Svejovsky totaled a stout 162 points in his 196 career WHL games – seeming like a potentially lucrative prospect for Pittsburgh when he signed his entry-level contract in 2022. But Svejovsky had a slow start in pros, with just 15 points in 47 AHL games last year followed by four points in 19 games this year. Those low totals contributed to Svejovsky’s move to the ECHL partway through this year. He was able to rediscover his spark in the third-tier pro league, scoring 37 points in 30 games. That should be enough to earn him a move back to the AHL, though he’ll have to keep up his scoring if he wants to push any higher.

Afternoon Notes: Clune, Devils, Kane, Holloway

at CDT | by 4 Comments

The Anaheim Ducks have hired former player Rich Clune as an assistant coach, shares Chris Johnston of The Athletic (Twitter link). Clune has spent the last two seasons as a development coach with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, joining the team he once captained immediately following his 2022 retirement. Clune added a role behind the bench last season, and will now get a chance to do the same at the NHL level.

Clune was a career minor-league bruiser, who played in just two full NHL seasons as part of his 15-year career in North American pros. He scored a career-high nine points in 47 games during the 2012-13 season, swapping record stats in the following year with seven points and a career-high 166 penalty minutes in 58 games. Clune would go on to play just one more NHL game in his career, though he did total an impressive 593 career games in the AHL – recording 151 points and 1,607 penalty minutes.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The New Jersey Devils have signed a two-year extension with ECHL affiliate the Adirondack Thunder. The two teams have been partnered since 2017-18, following a brief connection between Adirondack and the Calgary Flames. The Thunder have only missed the playoffs once in their six-year connection with New Jersey, though they’ve failed to make it past Divisional finals.
  • The Edmonton Oilers could welcome winger Evander Kane back to the lineup on Friday, with head coach Kris Knoblauch designating him a game-time decision to Dan Rosen of NHL.com (Twitter link). Kane hasn’t played since Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and hasn’t scored since Game 5 against the Dallas Stars. In total he has just eight points in 20 games this postseason, though his aggression and grit will be a welcome boost over Dylan Holloway, who’d stand to lose his role should Kane step back in, shares Renauld Lavoie of TVA Sports (Twitter link).

West Notes: Markstrom, Jets, Oilers

at CDT | by 5 Comments

The Calgary Flames aren’t facing much pressure to move top goaltender Jacob Markstrom, with general manager Craig Conroy sharing with Sportsnet’s Eric Francis that the player hasn’t formally requested a trade. Markstrom was wrapped up in trade rumors throughout the season, even continuing into this summer as one of the top options on the New Jersey Devils’ trade radar. Markstrom expressed frustrations with the rumors around the Trade Deadline, bluntly stating that he thought the situation could have been handled differently.

Markstrom’s value as a top goaltender is readily apparent, even through his highs and lows. He posted a stout 23 wins and .905 save percentage in 48 games this year, both improvements from his tallies last year despite playing in 11 fewer games. Last year’s .892 save percentage marked Markstrom’s first time recording a save percentage under .900 across his seven years as an NHL starter. He rebounded admirably this season, bringing his career totals up to 196 wins and a .909 save percentage across 483 games. Markstrom has two years remaining on a six-year, $36MM contract signed with the Flames in 2020 – pricing him in the middle of the goalie trade market, costlier than Linus Ullmark’s $5MM cap hit but cheaper than John Gibson’s $6.4MM cap hit.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Winnipeg Jets have extended their ECHL affiliation with the Norfolk Admirals. The Admirals are coming off their first year partnered with the Jets, seeing historic success as they made the league’s postseason for the first time in their eight-year history. The Admirals were bounced in the second round but still enjoyed a year built around strong goaltending, featuring Carolina Hurricanes prospect Yaniv Perets, on loan, and Jets prospect Thomas Milic.
  • The Edmonton Oilers will, unsurprisingly, be sticking with the same lineup that dominated in Game 4, shares Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (Twitter link). Edmonton came back from the brink of elimination with a resounding 8-1 win over the Florida Panthers. The team’s depth bolstered the performance, with Mattias Janmark, Adam Henrique, Dylan Holloway, and Ryan McLeod each contributing to the record-rivaling win. The Oilers will hope they can catch lightning twice, and avoid gifting the Panthers a Stanley Cup on home ice.

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

scroll to top