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Minor Transactions: 03/13/21

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While things are largely quiet on the NHL transaction front, some familiar faces have recently signed deals elsewhere.  Here is a rundown of those moves and other minor transaction news.

  • Oscar Fantenberg used a good showing in the KHL back in 2016-17 to secure his first NHL contract and when he opted to return there this season, it certainly felt like he was trying to have history repeat itself by using a strong 2020-21 campaign to land another opportunity in North America. However, that won’t be the case as SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL announced that they’ve inked Fantenberg to a two-year extension, taking one depth defender off the UFA market early in the process.  The 29-year-old had seven assists in 37 games this season.
  • The Kings have inked winger Devante Smith-Pelly to a minor league PTO, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 28-year-old has played in 395 career NHL games over parts of eight seasons but hasn’t suited up at the top level since the 2018-19 campaign with Washington.  Smith-Pelly spent last season in the KHL with Kunlun Red Star and has yet to play at all in 2020-21.
  • The Sharks have recalled winger Ivan Chekhovich from his KHL loan and assigned him to AHL San Jose, CapFriendly reports. The 22-year-old was quite productive with Torpedo this season, notching 17 goals and 17 assists in 43 games but his team was swept in the opening round of the postseason.  Now, Chekhovich will be able to get a couple more months of playing time in with the Barracuda, resulting in close to a full year worth of games in a season where very few NHL prospects have had that opportunity.  He will have to serve a quarantine period before he can suit up, however.
  • The Coyotes have reassigned goaltender David Tendeck from ECHL Rapid City to AHL Tucson, per the ECHL’s transaction log. The 21-year-old is in the first season of his entry-level deal and has played in 13 games with the Rush this season, posting a 2.74 GAA along with a .913 SV% and two shutouts.
  • The Wild have signed center Bryce Misley to an AHL ATO, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 21-year-old was a fourth-round pick of Minnesota back in 2017 and recently wrapped up his college career with Vermont, picking up a goal and two assists in 13 games this season.  Minnesota has until August 15 to sign him to an entry-level deal or lose his rights.

Minor Transactions: 03/07/21

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While it has been relatively quiet on the transaction front in recent days, there have been a few moves of some note from the AHL.  Here is a rundown of those.

  • Jordan Nolan’s time with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has come to an end as Pittsburgh has released the winger from their affiliate, relays Tyler Piccotti of the Citizens’ Voice (Twitter link). Nolan had been away since mid-February with head coach J.D. Forrest calling the move a mutual decision.  The 31-year-old played in two games with the Baby Pens and last saw NHL action back in 2018-19 with St. Louis.
  • While a handful of undrafted college free agents will sign NHL deals in the coming weeks, many more will sign AHL agreements. The Rangers have jumped into that market as their farm team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve signed winger James Sanchez to an AHL deal.  The 23-year-old just wrapped up his NCAA career, spending the last two seasons with Arizona State.  In 26 games this season, he had five goals and 11 assists after putting up 40 points in 36 games in 2019-20.
  • With the WHL season underway in some divisions and starting soon in others, several players have recently been released from AHL tryouts to head back to their respective teams. Colorado is the latest team to do so as they’ve released goalie Trent Miner and winger Sasha Mutala from their AHL deals, per the AHL’s transactions log.  Miner, a 2019 seventh-round pick, will head to Vancouver while Mutala, a fourth-rounder that same year, is off to Tri-City.  In a corresponding move, the Avs re-assigned winger Ty Lewis from ECHL Utah to AHL Colorado.
  • The Kings have re-assigned goaltender Jacob Ingham from Greenville of the ECHL to AHL Ontario per the AHL’s transactions log. The 20-year-old is in the first season of his entry-level contract and has posted a 3.90 GAA with a .859 SV% in his first five professional appearances.

ECHL’s Brampton Beast Cease Operations

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The COVID-19 situation had ECHL teams in Canada cancel their season and now at least one of them will shut the doors for good. The Brampton Beast has announced they will cease operations effective today. In the release, the team explains that it wasn’t just a one-season postponement that killed them. Instead, president and GM Cary Kaplan described it as “three seasons of COVID,” noting that the 2019-20 season was shut down early, the 2020-21 season canceled completely and the continued uncertainty preventing them from scheduling a 2021-22 season.

Kaplan released this statement:

From the bottom of our hearts, we want to offer an enormous thank you to the City of Brampton, Mayor Patrick Brown and Brampton City Council for supporting us with open arms, to the hundreds of thousands of Fans and sponsors who we truly worked for and tried our best to exceed your expectations, to all the amazing players, staff and coaches who gave their blood, sweat and tears for the Beast, to our three owners who invested in our Vision, we are very proud of the lasting memories that we provided.

The Beast had been affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, and most recently the Ottawa Senators over the seven-year run of the franchise.

This announcement comes on the heels of two expansion teams in the ECHL set for 2021-22 and another joining in 2022-23. Coralville, Iowa, and Trois-Rivieres, Quebec will be the two teams joining next season, while a team in Savannah, Georgia is scheduled to join the following year.

Minor Transactions: 02/16/21

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Although the minor professional leagues in North America are up and running, a handful of players are still searching for new homes.  Several of them found places today and here are some of the ones affecting current and former NHL prospects.

  • The Flames have inked forward Rory Kerins to a minor league amateur tryout agreement, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 18-year-old was a sixth-round pick (174th overall) back in October after putting up 30 goals and 29 assists with OHL Sault Ste. Marie last season.  With that league not up and running just yet, Kerins is eligible to play with Calgary’s AHL affiliate in Stockton until the OHL gets their season underway.
  • The Ducks have added some physicality to their farm team as the AHL’s Gulls announced (Twitter link) that they’ve signed winger Jamie Devane to a PTO. The 29-year-old briefly saw NHL action with Toronto back in 2013-14 and spent last season with Pittsburgh’s farm team where he had four goals, five assists, and 81 penalty minutes in 36 games.
  • After the Islanders declined to sign him back in August, Nick Pastujov has found a place to play, inking a contract with Kansas City of the ECHL, per that league’s transactions log. The 23-year-old was drafted in 2016 and spent four years at Michigan but saw his production dip in his senior season which certainly didn’t help his chances of getting signed.

Minor Transactions: 01/30/21

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The NHL season is well on its way and the start of the AHL season is right around the corner, not to mention an ongoing ECHL and NCAA season, several leagues in Europe already entering the stretch run, and North American junior leagues starting to work toward a return. Yet, there are still players out there looking for a place to play this season, many of whom are familiar to NHL fans. Keep up with those moves right here over the course of the day:

  • Veteran forward Matt Lorito has found a new AHL home for the coming campaign. Lorito, who has spent the past four years under NHL contracts, has instead inked a one-year minor league deal with the San Diego Gulls, the team announced. Lorito recorded 23 points in 50 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers last season, but finished the year with the Toronto Marlies after the Islanders traded him to the Maple Leafs for defenseman Jordan Schmaltz. A veteran of two NHL games with the Detroit Red Wings, Lorito has been a highly productive scorer in the AHL with 215 points in 283 games over six seasons.
  • Victor Hadfield, the grandson of New York Rangers legend Vic Hadfield, will get his first taste of the pro game on a tryout with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, per the team’s training camp roster. The Barrie Colt, who was selected No. 1 overall in the inaugural OHL U-18 Priority Selection Draft, got off to a slow start to his major junior career, but started to show signs of potential last season with 26 points in 46 games. The Moose want to see for themselves in camp if Hadfield might be a later bloomer who is ready to keep growing in the pros. Hadfield’s grandfather, whose number is retired by the Rangers, played in over 1,000 NHL games for New York and Pittsburgh in the 60’s and 70’s, including a 106-point 1971-72 campaign.
  • After spending last season with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, defenseman Anton Karlsson has been back home in Sweden playing for the SHL’s HV71. However, on the eve of a new AHL season, Karlsson and HV71 have agreed to mutually terminate his current contract, the team announced. Coincidence? Keep an eye out for more on Karlsson, who carved out a nice role for himself with Cleveland last year despite battling for ice time with a number of NHL talents on the blue line. At 27, Karlsson may still have NHL ambitions.
  • The AHL’s San Diego Gulls have received some reinforcements from their ECHL affiliate, the Tulsa Oilers. The ECHL transactions register indicates that the Anaheim Ducks, parent club to both, have reassigned forwards Bryce Kindopp and Maxim Golod and goaltender Olle Eriksson Ek to San Diego.

Minor Transactions: 01/27/21

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With the NHL season now fully underway and many AHL training camp rosters now finalized, options are running out for remaining free agents. Fortunately, opportunities seem to always be available in Europe and in the ECHL, even with most of those league well through their current campaigns. This keeps minor moves flowing, even on a relatively quiet day for NHL transactions:

  • Scouring the recently released AHL rosters, one will find Paul Bittner suspiciously absent. The 24-year-old forward, a second round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2015, has been a solid contributor for the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters over the past few years. However, when his entry-level contract expired this off-season, Columbus did not extend him a qualifying offer. Unable to find another NHL deal and apparently unable or unwilling to sign in the AHL as well, Bittner is off to Sweden. Vasby IK of the second-tier Allsvenskan has announced a deal with Bittner for the remainder of the season. The 6’4″ power forward should be quite the disruptive force in the Swedish minor league.
  • Another former Blue Jackets prospect is also on the move. Defenseman Michael Prapavessis, an NCAA free agent out of RPI, did not receive a qualifying offer this off-season either following the completion of his two-year ELC. Prapavessis was less of a surprise than Bittner, having seen limited action in the AHL as well as some time in the ECHL. Seemingly unable to land an AHL contract, Prapavessis is now in the ECHL on a permanent basis, at least for now, inking a deal with the Orlando Solar Bears for the rest of the season.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have reassigned forward Jack Badini from the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. The first-year pro, who was expected back at Harvard for his senior season this year, instead signed with the Ducks after the Ivy League cancelled all winter sports. The Ducks won’t rush his development this season, especially after a quiet start in the ECHL, but they want to see what he can do against AHL competition.
  • As noted yesterday, former Yale forward Curtis Hall has signed with the Bruins, but for this season it is an AHL deal with Providence rather than an entry-level contract with Boston. The Bruins expected the 2018 fourth-round pick to spend at least one more year developing in the NCAA, but that became an impossibility due to the Ivy League’s suspension of winter sports. The Bruins clearly felt that Hall, who already has pro size and was a dangerous goal scorer last season, was better off in the AHL than back in junior this season. However, they will wait to burn the first season of his ELC.

ECHL Announces New Expansion Team

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After the announcement earlier this year of two new expansion franchises expected to join the ECHL for the 2021-22 season, the minor league was up to 28 teams. By 2022-23, that number will increase by one more after the league’s board of governors approved an expansion application of Savannah, Georgia for admittance to the league.

Andy Kauffman, who also owns the Jacksonville Icemen, will be the new Savannah owner, and the team will play in Savannah Arena, a new 7,300-seat construction set to be completed in Spring 2022. ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin released a statement on the new team:

The ECHL is excited to welcome the City of Savannah as our newest member. We have a great working relationship with Andy his management group and we look forward to bringing ECHL hockey to the Savannah community in October 2022 and the creation of natural rivalries with the Atlanta Gladiators, South Carolina Stingrays, Greenville Swamp Rabbits and Jacksonville Icemen.

Oak View Group, who are also responsible for the construction of Climate Pledge Arena (NHL Seattle), Palm Spring Arena (AHL Palm Springs), and UBS Arena in Belmont Park (NHL NY Islanders), has been hired to manage and operate the new Savannah Arena.

Minor Transactions: 01/25/21

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The NHL season is still less than two weeks old with teams continuing to work out the kinks and find the right balance in their lineups. Down in the AHL, training camps are underway and the league is quickly approaching the start of the regular season. At the junior level, plans are still being made to get seasons re-started, and in the QMJHL in particular the trade deadline arrived all the same. Overseas, most leagues have been playing for quite some time and teams are already making preparations for the postseason, some of which begin as early as March. Everyone is currently making moves and several are notable to NHL fans without falling neatly into “taxi squad management”. Keep up with those transactions here:

  • The Bakersfield Condors, AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, have finalized their training camp roster ahead of their  season opener next Friday, February 5. In announcing the group, the team revealed a pair of late veteran additions. Defenseman Kevin Gravel, who played for the Oilers and did a brief stint in Bakersfield in 2018-19, has signed a one-year AHL contract. Gravel brings over 100 NHL games, including at least three in each of the past five season, to the Condors. Goaltender Angus Redmond, who did not receive a qualifying offer from the Anaheim Ducks this off-season, will join the team in camp on a PTO. Redmond’s performance through his first three pro seasons, spent almost exclusively in the ECHL, has been unspectacular, but he is a former NCAA standout that had his best season to date last year.
  • The Hartford Wolf Pack’s training camp roster also included some surprise names. In addition to the usual names – New York Rangers prospects, signed and unsigned, and AHL contract holdovers from last season – Hartford will also take a look at forward Nolan Vesey and defenseman Jordan Sambrook. Vesey, the younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jimmy Vesey, became a UFA this off-season when the Edmonton Oilers declined to extend a qualifying offer. Vesey has split the past two seasons between the AHL and ECHL and is still looking to find his footing in the pros after a successful collegiate career. Sambrook, a former Detroit Red Wings prospect and OHL standout, spent last season in the USports ranks at Brock University but is now trying to get back on track and break into the pros.
  • The QMJHL’s Val d’Ors Foreurs continue to pile up talent this season. After trading for reigning Defenseman of the Year Jordan Spence earlier this month, the team has now added a pair of prominent NHL prospects in a deal with the Sherbrooke Phoenix. Forward Samuel Poulin, a 2019 first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Sherbrooke captain, and defenseman Xavier Bernard, a 2018 New Jersey Devils selection, are headed to the Foreurs. In return, the Phoenix net a first-, second-, two third-, and sixth-round picks, including two 2021 selections.
  • Sherbrooke also added an exciting young piece to replace their outgoing veterans. The Phoenix traded first-round picks in 2021, 2022, and 2023 as well as a 2022 second-rounder to the Saint John Sea Dogs for forward Joshua Roy. Roy, a first-round hopeful in the 2021 NHL Draft, was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 QMJHL Draft and recorded 17 points in his first 15 games earlier this season.
  • Colorado Avalanche prospect Alex Beaucage has also been traded in the “Q”, dealt by the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies to the Victoriaville Tigres. The 2019 third-round pick of the Avs had 14 goals and 20 points through 14 games to begin this season. The Huskies land a 2022 first-round pick and 2021 seventh-round pick in exchange for the talented scorer.
  • Helge Grans, a second-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings last year, will take at least one more season to develop at home in Sweden. The SHL’s Malmo Redhawks have announced a one-year contract extension with Grans to keep him with the club through 2021-22, featuring an interview with the young defenseman who appreciates how he has developed with the team. A valuable combination of size and skill on the blue line, Grans is yet another prospect that Kings fans have to look forward to.
  • After playing on a temporary contract to begin his tenure with the team, NHL veteran Vladimir Sobotka has officially earned a full-year contract with Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga. The deal was well-earned, too; Sobotka’s 24 points in 25 games makes him the second-best per-game scorer on the team, behind only captain and former Florida Panther Michal Repik. While Sobotka, 33, clearly has plenty of game left in him, it remains to be seen if he will attempt a return to the NHL next season.

Montreal Canadiens Announce New ECHL Affiliate

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The Montreal Canadiens have come to an agreement with the new ECHL expansion franchise in Trois-Rivières, signing a three-year affiliation that starts in the 2021-22 season. Canadiens VP of Hockey Operations John Sedgwick released a statement on the deal:

This agreement provides our organization with an interesting opportunity to expand our development pipeline here in Quebec, while allowing us to closely monitor the development of some of our prospects. The ECHL is a league that deserves more recognition for the talent it displays and for its high quality of play. The decision to move our AHL affiliate team to Laval proved to be very successful, and the advantage of having another affiliate nearby in Trois-Rivières will be very convenient for our hockey operations and to continue scouting local talent.

The new franchise in Trois-Rivières was officially announced last week along with another ECHL expansion team in Coralville, Iowa. Both teams will join the league next season. This affiliation, along with the Laval Rocket of the AHL, allows the Canadiens to keep all three tiers of their organization in Quebec, giving them not only quick player transfer but an easier way to optimize prospect development and evaluation.

Though only officially announced, this ECHL team has been in the works for a while and will be led by GM Marc-Andre Bergeron, former NHL defenseman who spent one season with the Canadiens during 2009-10.

Minor Transactions: 01/18/21

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The NHL season is underway and at the top level teams are keeping busy merely by swapping players between the active roster and taxi squad. However, with AHL training camps starting up, there has also been a flurry of activity from the lower levels. There also continue to be players making the move overseas, by both signing and loan. Keep up with all of the action right here:

  • In addition to confirming the previously reported signings of Ryan Fitzgerald, Tanner MacMaster, and Zane McIntyre, the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms have added another netminder, announcing the signing of Eamon McAdam. McAdam, 26, is a Pennsylvania native and a Penn State product, so he should feel right at home with the Philadelphia Flyers’ affiliate. McAdam had been playing with the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen to begin the season.
  • The Rochester Americans announced that they have inked defenseman Dylan Blujus to a one-year AHL contract. The former Tampa Bay Lightning prospect is a solid stay-at-home defender who has a +24 rating in 274 AHL games over six pro seasons.
  • The San Jose Barracuda have recalled a number of players from the ECHL’s Allen Americans for the start of training camp, including Sharks prospect Jacob McGrew. McGrew got an early start to his first pro season down in the ECHL after missing all but six games of his final WHL campaign due to injury. The Sharks already trusted McGrew’s ability enough to give him an entry-level contract and after a strong scoring start in Allen, they could let him fight for a top-six role with the Barracuda.
  • After five seasons in the AHL, former Edmonton Oilers prospect Joey LaLeggia is headed overseas. The 28-year-old has signed with he SHL’s Rogle BK for the remainder of the season, the team announced. LaLeggia, who was a standout on defense in the NCAA with the University of Denver, had shifted to forward in the pros. It remains to be seen how the versatile veteran will be used in Sweden.
  • Another name making the move to Europe is 2021 NHL Draft prospect Brett Harrison. The potential first-round pick this summer has yet to play this season and the OHL’s Oshawa Generals have thus agreed to loan him to KOOVEE of the Finnish minor league Metsis, his new club announced. The two-way center will look to improve his draft stock by playing against pros, possibly for the rest of the year.

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