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Minor Transactions: 12/18/23

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Just five NHL contests are slated to be played tonight, although among that group of games there are a few with very intriguing storylines attached.

The Pittsburgh Penguins host the Minnesota Wild in what could be Marc-André Fleury’s final trip to PPG Paints Arena as an active player, although Fleury is not starting in the game. Matthew Tkachuk returns to Calgary tonight as the Flames host the Florida Panthers in a game that features quite a few former teammates. And out west in Winnipeg, the Montreal Canadiens take on the Jets in a contest that will always have stakes attached due to the hatred still felt in the Montreal market towards Mark Scheifele. Scheifele’s hit on Jake Evans from the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, one that the NHL’s Department of Player Safety called “predatory,” is still fresh in the memory of many Canadiens fans, something that adds extra heat to the relatively rare matchups between the two clubs.

Just as tonight’s schedule is packed with intriguing storylines, player movement across the world of professional hockey has been packed with activity. As always, we’ll keep track of notable player movement here:

  • Former AHL All-Star netminder Kasimir Kaskisuo has been signed to a PTO by the AHL’s Laval Rocket, returning Kaskisuo to the American League after a two-year stint in the SHL. After spending a year as the taxi squad netminder for the Nashville Predators, Kaskisuo left North America to sign with Leksands IF in the SHL. He served as the starter there for 2021-22, posting a .910 save percentage in 46 games. He led Leksands to the SHL’s postseason and played in four Champions Hockey League games, but the following year saw his role as the team’s starter usurped by Lithuanian international Mantas Armalis. Kaskisuo re-enters the AHL at a dire time for the Rocket, who sit 28th in the AHL standings. Laval’s goaltending has been horrific this season, and the team leads the AHL in goals surrendered with 102. The next-worst team has given up 92 goals, and neither of the team’s two goalies (Jakub Dobeš, Strauss Mann) have save percentages above .885. The hope with this signing could be that Kaskisuo, who has a .909 career AHL save percentage, provides some much-needed stability in net for this young Rocket team.
  • In more news related to the Montreal Canadiens, prospect defenseman Petteri Nurmi has signed a one-year contract extension with his current club, HPK in the Finnish Liiga. The 21-year-old left-shot blueliner was drafted 194th overall by the Canadiens at the 2022 draft, and has been a regular for HPK for the last three seasons. He’s scored six points in 30 games this year and is HPK’s number-six defenseman, averaging 17:48 time-on-ice per game. The Canadiens hold the exclusive rights to sign Nurmi to an entry-level contract until June 1st, 2024, and this extension may not impact their decision-making on whether to extend him an offer as they could opt to get Nurmi on an ELC and then loan him back to HPK. As a seventh-rounder who has not yet been signed, though, it’s far from a guarantee that Nurmi receives an entry-level offer from the Canadiens, making the rest of this season an important stretch for the young blueliner.
  • Just one season removed from winning the Slovak Extraliga title, HC Slovan Bratislava currently sits 11th out of 12 teams in the league standings. Their struggles this season have prompted significant player movement in recent days, as this past week has already seen two defensemen and one forward depart the club. Slovan has made a signing to replace one of those two departed defensemen, inking Swedish international Jonas Ahnelöv to a one-year deal. A 36-year-old former Arizona Coyotes third-round pick, Ahnelöv is a left-shot defenseman with a ton of experience. He represented Sweden at the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2014 IIHF Men’s World Championships. He’s also a veteran of over 500 games in the SHL, one of Europe’s top leagues, and brings leadership value having captained MoDo Hockey in 2014-15. Ahnelöv spent the last four years at Leksands, leading the club to the postseason on three occasions.
  • 23-year-old Finnish-American forward Joonas Oden has signed a one-year contract with Austrian club Pioneers Vorarlberg, a team that competes in the Central European ICEHL. The forward tried his luck at becoming a regular in Liiga and by 2021-22 looked to be successful, as he scored 11 goals and 29 points in 56 games for Ilves Tampere. But after scoring just two points in 14 postseason games for Ilves, Oden struggled the following campaign and eventually moved to SaiPa. He began the year at SaiPa but only scored four points in 14 games. Now he’ll head to the ICEHL, a league that Pioneers has struggled in since joining last season.

This page may be updated throughout the day. 

Minor Transactions: 12/10/23

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In what is a relatively uncommon sight for a Sunday, the NHL’s schedule is brimming with interesting contests to enjoy today. Two of the league’s best teams are set to face each other in a 2014 Stanley Cup Final rematch when the New York Rangers take on the Los Angeles Kings, while out west a heated rivalry is rekindled with the Vegas Golden Knights taking on the San Jose Sharks.

The schedule for overseas hockey today is similarly jam-packed, with contests playing out across most of Europe’s top professional leagues. As always, we’ll keep track of notable player movement from that circuit as well as the North American minor leagues here:

  • Former college hockey star Jordan Kawaguchi has decided to retire from the game after two seasons playing professional hockey in order to pursue a career in business. Once a Hobey Baker Award finalist, Kawaguchi was an extremely impactful player for the University of North Dakota. He captained the team in his final season there and racked up 40 goals and 126 points in 136 career games with the program, taking home a multitude of individual awards. After college, he signed a one-year entry-level deal with the Dallas Stars and began his pro career with their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars. He scored 23 points in 49 games, but that was not enough for the team to keep him in the American League as he spent the following year in the ECHL. His 52 points in 58 games helped the Idaho Steelheads boast the ECHL’s best regular-season record, but injuries continued to accumulate for the player and he decided to move on from the game.
  • Swiss National League club HC Fribourg-Gottéron has re-signed their all-time leading scorer, Julien Sprunger, for an additional season. It’s hard to overstate the importance of Sprunger to HC Fribourg-Gottéron’s modern history. The 37-year-old has been with the club for almost his entire life, emerging as a star in 2005-06 just as the club had to be saved from bankruptcy. Although he has not brought them their first National League championship, he has won an MVP, led the league in goals twice, and led the team on multiple deep playoff runs. The club’s captain since 2014-15, Sprunger has brought Champions Hockey League play to the team on five occasions, and has represented Switzerland at four IIHF Men’s World Championships as well as the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
  • Norwegian right-shot defenseman Johannes Johannesen has signed a two-year contract with Liiga’s Lahti Pelicans, moving on from the SHL’s Rögle BK after playing just 14 games with the club. The 26-year-old earned a shot with Rögle after an impressive two-year stint with Mora IK in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan. He scored 22 points in 49 games helping lead Mora on a respectable promotion push. Johannesen also brings extensive international experience, including from this past year’s IIHF Men’s World Championships in which he served as an alternate captain for Norway and helped the nation achieve a historic upset victory over eventual champions Canada. Pelicans are in need of defensive reinforcement as they have surrendered the second-most goals against in the entire Liiga, so the hope will be that the experienced Johannsen can be the kind of impact addition they sorely need.
  • Ässät Pori alternate captain Tuomas Salmela has signed a one-year contract extension with the club. The six-foot-two left-shot blueliner joined Pori after spending a half-decade in Tampere with Ilves. He has nearly 300 games of experience in Liiga and has also represented his club in the Champions Hockey League on two occasions. Pori has been pleased with Salmela’s “unyielding” style of play in a regular role for the club, so the parties have therefore elected to extend their business relationship for another season. Ässät are currently seventh in the Liiga standings although their defense has been outstanding: they have surrendered the fewest goals in league play of any club.
  • With the EIHL’s Sheffield Steelers set to lose blueliner Sam Jones, who represents England at World Championship events, for at least the next six weeks the club has elected to bring in some external help. The Steelers have signed defenseman Zach Vinnell away from their EIHL rival Glasgow Clan, adding a 25-year-old currently playing his first full season of professional hockey. The native of Cochrane, Alberta played four seasons of college hockey at Merrimack College and Bowling Green State University, and he dipped his toes into the waters of professional hockey at the end of last season. He signed a short-term contract with the ECHL’s Indy Fuel, ultimately skating in 18 combined regular season and playoff contests. He scored a solid 11 points in that span, earning him a shot with Glasgow. He scored five points in 15 games in Scotland before yesterday’s transfer news brought him to Sheffield.

This page may be updated throughout the day.

Minor Transactions: 12/01/23

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Just two NHL games are on the schedule today, although things in overseas and minor professional leagues are notably more busy. Highlights from today’s schedule include a battle between two of the AHL’s better teams in Dustin Wolf’s Calgary Wranglers and Brendan Brisson’s Henderson Silver Knights, as well as a massive game in college hockey with third-ranked University of Denver up against second-ranked North Dakota.

The business of the daily hockey schedule is only matched by the activity on professional hockey’s transaction wire. As always, we’ll keep track of notable moves here.

  • Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward and QMJHL rookie of the year Dmytro Timashov has had his trial contract with the Swiss National League’s HC Ajoie converted into a full one-year deal. Ajoie has picked up their club option for the rest of the year on Timashov’s contract thanks to the Swedish international’s stellar production in his first seven games with the club. Although Timashov hasn’t registered on the scoresheet in back-to-back losses against Lausanne and EV Zug, before that he had scored seven points in just five games. A Calder Cup champion and former 49-point scorer in the AHL, Timashov left the North American pro circuit in 2021-22 to join Brynäs IF in the SHL. His 43 points in 52 games last year were not enough to save Brynäs from relegation, and as a result, he’s transferred to Switzerland where he’ll now spend the rest of the season.
  • Once an NHL third-round pick and then a star forward for Boston College, Logan Hutsko left the North American professional game after just two seasons in the AHL. Now, a report coming out of Sweden from SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson indicates that Hutsko could be on his way out from his current club, the SHL’s IK Oskarshamn. It’s been a disastrous season for Oskarshamn, who look to be a genuine relegation candidate. They currently sit at the bottom of the SHL with a 5-16-1 record, their 16 regulation losses five more than the next-worst team. Two key offseason additions, Hutsko and 2023 10th overall pick Dalibor Dvorský have not paid dividends. Dvorský hit the eject button and left for the OHL after just 10 games played, while now it appears Hutsko is back on the market after scoring just seven points in 20 games. Perhaps a new club could be what Hutsko, who scored 38 points as an AHL rookie in 2021-22, needs to set the right first impression in European hockey.
  • 2019 Montreal Canadiens draft pick Frederik Dichow, who was not extended an entry-level contract before his rights expired this past summer, has made the decision to transfer from Frölunda HC to a rival SHL team: HV71 Jönköping. The 22-year-old netminder served as Frölunda’s backup last season and into this year, but could not manage to hit .900 in terms of save percentage. He has fared better outside the SHL, though, such as in HockeyAllsvenskan when he posted a .930 save percentage for Kristianstads IK, in the most recent IIHF Men’s World Championships where he had a .911 save percentage in five games played for his native Denmark, or in the Champions Hockey League where he posted a .917 save percentage last season. Dichow signed a one-year deal with an HV71 team in need of improved goaltending. Former Calgary Flame Joni Ortio has just a .884 save percentage in 19 games played so far this year. Dichow will hope to take the number-one job in HV71’s crease from Ortio, helping a club that currently ranks second-to-last in the SHL in both standings points and goals surrendered avoid relegation.
  • 2017 second-round pick Grant Mismash has left HockeyAllsvenskan’s Ostersunds IK in order to sign with Stjernen Hockey of the EliteHockey Ligaen, the top league of professional hockey in Norway. A U.S. National Team Development Program product, Mismash began his pro career in 2021-22 with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. After scoring just 12 points in his 57-game rookie year, Mismash was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the deal that sent Ryan McDonagh to Nashville. Away from the organization that invested a second-round pick to draft him, Mismash dropped from the AHL to the ECHL in 2022-23, spending 32 games with the Orlando Solar Bears compared to just five with the Syracuse Crunch. Mismash was then non-tendered this past season, and he signed with Ostersunds. He only managed seven points in 16 games for the Swedish side, though, and has now elected to join one of the better clubs in Norwegian hockey.
  • Accomplished Czech netminder Miroslav Svoboda has signed a two-year contract extension with his current club, Liiga’s Vaasan Sport. Once a Nashville Predators prospect, Svoboda would dip his toes into the waters of North American pro hockey in 2018-19, fresh off of a stellar rookie year in the Czech Extraliga in which he posted a .920 save percentage in 47 games as the starter for HC Plzeň. After just 14 ECHL games Svoboda returned to Europe and in 2019-20 re-established himself as a top netminder in his home country. He spent the last two years as a tandem goalie for Plzeň, posting a .920 in 28 games last year. So far this season, Svoboda has just an .893 save percentage for Sport. But seeing as he’s provided improved goaltending from what the club got last year from starter Rasmus Reijola, the club has elected to sign him for two more seasons.
  • Journeyman veteran defenseman Joonas Järvinen has had his original two-month contract with Liiga’s Lukko Rauma converted into a full one-year contract. The six-foot-two left-shot defenseman has played in 15 games for the club, and represented the team in four Champions Hockey League contests. Not much of an offensive defenseman, Järvinen brings a wealth of poise and experience to Lukko’s back line. He’s played pro hockey in Finland, Germany, China, and Wisconsin and has represented Finland at two IIHF Men’s World Championships. With Lukko still seeking glory in the Champions Hockey League, Järvinen’s experience will undoubtedly serve as an asset.

This page may be updated throughout the day. 

Nick Ritchie Signs In Finland

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Earlier this month, Brett Ritchie decided to head overseas after failing to secure an NHL contract, signing with Dinamo Minsk of the KHL.  Now, his brother has also decided to cross the pond as Karpat of the SM-liiga in Finland announced that they’ve inked Nick Ritchie to a one-year contract.

The 27-year-old was the tenth overall selection back in 2014 but while he showed flashes of some upside, he wasn’t able to lock down a regular spot in the top six.  Over the past few seasons, he has bounced around in depth roles, playing for four teams in the last three years.

Last season, Ritchie spent time with both Arizona and Calgary, notably being traded for his brother at the trade deadline.  Between the two teams, he collected 13 goals and 13 assists in 74 games along with 218 hits.  Despite that, he failed to secure a guaranteed contract over the summer and eventually settled for a PTO with St. Louis.  He didn’t fare particularly well with them, picking up an assist and 17 penalty minutes in three preseason contests, leading to his release.

Now that a contract elsewhere in North America has failed to materialize, Ritchie heads overseas.  A strong showing over the final few months with Karpat could very well get him back on the NHL radar for next season on a minimum-salary contract.  However, if Ritchie struggles, this could be the beginning of an extended stint overseas which is hardly the outcome many expected after being such a high draft pick a decade ago.

Minor Transactions: 11/15/23

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There’s a lot of activity around the world of professional hockey today, both in terms of player movement and in terms of games on schedule. The Champions Hockey League continues today with two Round of 16 contests, including a contest between the reigning German and Swiss champions. Over in Finland, Liiga resumes today, with Devils prospect Lenni Hämeenaho’s Ässät Pori up against JYP.

On the player movement front, there has been quite a bit of activity recently as the European break for international hockey has concluded. As always, we’ll keep track of notable moves here.

  • Former superstar Premier League goalkeeper Petr Čech will now have the chance to play at the highest level of professional hockey in the United Kingdom. The reigning EIHL champion Belfast Giants, who also competed in the Champions Hockey League this season, have signed Čech on loan as a temporary solution to the injury issues the club is currently wrestling with. Although it is likely that Čech’s celebrity influenced this signing far more than his on-ice ability, he is at least a somewhat capable hockey goalie. This season, he’s playing for the Oxford City Stars in a lower level of British hockey, and has posted a .900 save percentage in six games.
  • Veteran defenseman Teemu Suhonen has led both of Finland’s top two divisions of pro hockey in scoring by a defenseman at times in his career, but he has slowed down in recent years. After signing a short-term deal with Liiga’s Vaasan Sport, Suhonen’s exceptional start to the season has now earned him a full-year deal. Suhonen has played in nine games for Sport, and has chipped in three goals and 10 points. He’s playing a significant role for the club that often sees him skate in over 20 minutes per night, and at 34 this contract will allow him to continue to re-establish himself as a top offensive blueliner in the Finnish Liiga.
  • Adam Samuelsson, the son of 1080-game NHL veteran Ulf Samuelsson, has signed with the ECHL’s Maine Mariners. The 23-year-old isn’t quite the player his father was, but he does have some impressive experience on his resume. A U.S. National Team Development Program product, Samuelsson won a Silver Medal at the IIHF World Under-18’s in 2018 and would go on to make his pro debut playing third-division hockey in Sweden. Samuelsson made his ECHL debut last season and split the campaign between the Newfoundland Growlers and Tulsa Oilers, scoring a combined four points and 63 PIM’s. A hulking six-foot-six rearguard, Samuelsson will bring even more size and physicality to a Mariners blueline that doesn’t have a single player below six feet tall.
  • Rookie ECHLer Nick Nardella has been traded from the Idaho Steelheads to the Wichita Thunder in exchange for future considerations. Nardella, 24, is a five-foot-ten winger who had a decent start to his professional career last season, scoring three goals in three games for the Iowa Heartlanders. That earned him a shot with the Steelheads, but he struggled to make an impact and the team has now dealt him after just three games. Seeing as the Thunder are just 4-7-1, perhaps they believe the addition of Nardella can help jump-start a sputtering offensive attack.
  • Another ECHL rookie, former Michigan State Spartans forward Adam Goodsir, has been traded from the Worcester Railers to the Iowa Heartlanders in exchange for future considerations. The 25-year-old has scored three points in eight games this season for the Railers, and he earned his spot with the team after a decent showing in a late-season cameo at the conclusion of his collegiate career. The Heartlanders currently rank second-to-last in their division for goals scored, so this reinforcement could help them climb in the standings should he hit the ground running.
  • Matthew Barnaby Jr, the son of 834-game NHL veteran Matthew Barnaby, has signed with Finnish second-tier club RoKi. The Buffalo, NY native, 25, has made the decision to not return to the ECHL and instead try his luck in Europe. Barnaby spent last season with the Orlando Solar Bears, scoring 12 points in 42 games in a bottom-six role. Barnaby worked his way into the ECHL from the SPHL and will now seek to do the same in Finland, putting some good games on tape to potentially earn a contract later on in a higher-level European league.
  • Former college hockey star Ian Scheid, once a top defenseman for Minnesota State Mankato, has reached an agreement on a mutual contract termination with his club, HC Slovan Bratislava of the Slovak Extraliga. Scheid, 28, signed a two-way, AHL/ECHL deal at the end of his collegiate career and split 2020-21 between the AHL’s Colorado Eagles and ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies. He used that campaign s a launching pad to land him a deal with the DEL’s Straubing Tigers, a club he would spend two seasons with. After helping Straubing to the German playoffs for two consecutive seasons, Scheid signed with Slovan but struggled to make an offensive impact. He’ll now look for a new team after scoring just four points in 15 games in the Slovak capital.
  • Johnny Walker has made the decision to end his time with the EIHL’s Dundee Stars after eight games played. The 27-year-old Arizona native, once a point-per-game scorer in the NCAA with the Arizona State Sun Devils, has left Dundee according to an official team announcement. Walker scored two points in eight games to go along with 12 penalty minutes, and one wonders if a return to the ECHL is in the cards since he spent 2022-23 with the Utah Grizzlies. Walker made more of an impact last season with Utah, scoring 12 goals and 18 points in 33 games to go along with 171 penalty minutes.
  • After spending 17 games with Liiga side HPK Hameenlinna to start the season, defenseman Elias Ulander has transferred to Västerviks IK of the Swedish HockeyAllsvenskan. A veteran of 116 Liiga contests, has had quite the hockey journey in recent years, seeing time with clubs in Liiga, Mestis, Denmark, and Slovakia. He returned to Liiga for this season after a solid 2022-23 in Slovakia that saw him help HK Spisska Nova Ves to a respectable playoff run, but his time with HPK was not the most impressive. After losing six of his last seven games with HPK, Ulander appears to have decided that playing in HockeyAllsvenskan is likely more suited to his talents at this current stage of his playing career.

This page may be updated throughout the day. 

Minor Transactions: 11/07/23

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Today’s schedule is absolutely overflowing with hockey, including 10 games in the NHL. Highlights from the game’s highest level include matchups between the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings as well as the New Jersey Devils and Colorado Avalanche, games that will be nationally televised in the United States. In addition, there is a 2021 Stanley Cup Final rematch on the docket, with head coach Martin St. Louis’ Montreal Canadiens taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Although the schedule outside the NHL is quite a bit lighter today, overseas professional leagues have kept busy adding and subtracting players. As always, we’ll keep track of notable player movement here.

  • Ottawa Senators offseason signing Jiří Smejkal has been linked to a move back overseas, where he would play for IK Oskarshamn of the SHL. The report originates from TSN’s Shawn Simpson, who wrote that Smejkal “didn’t come over to play in the minors.” Smejkal, 27, signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Senators that carries an $82.5k AHL salary. There was some hope that Smejkal could make the NHL roster after scoring 23 goals and 43 points in 49 SHL games last season, but he only registered one point in five preseason games. The hope was that Smejkal’s size and ability to play physical could lend himself to a fourth-line role, but that hasn’t happened as he’s played exclusively at AHL Belleville. If Smejkal doesn’t view there to be a viable path to the NHL with Ottawa then it appears he could very well return to Oskarshamn, where he would not only be better lined up to represent Czecha at the IIHF World Championships, but could also potentially take home more money.
  • Former Edmonton Oilers netminder Mikko Koskinen won’t be extending his time with the Swiss National League’s HC Lugano beyond this season, according to a team announcement. The team has instead decided to bring in former Red Wings prospect Joren Van Pottelberghe on a three-year deal beginning next season. Van Pottelberghe was the starter for NL rival EHC Biel-Beinne from 2020-2022, but he has been relegated to backup duty due to the arrival of Harri Säteri. He’ll get another shot to be a starter with Lugano, while Koskinen will have to continue his career elsewhere. Since arriving in Switzerland from Edmonton, Koskinen has posted an .895 save percentage in 44 games for Lugano.
  • 2009 New York Rangers second-round pick Ethan Werek has signed with Slovakia’s HC Slovan Bratislava, a club in Slovakia’s capital. Werek, 32, split last season between the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star and Czechia’s Mountfield HK. He’s scored decently well in spurts in both the KHL and Czech Extraliga, and could end up a productive forward in the Slovak league. Werek also brings some international experience to Slovan, having represented China at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
  • A bit of a rare occurrence happened in European hockey yesterday, as a team in the Finnish Liiga and the Czech Extraliga made a “trade” of sorts. Liiga’s SaiPa reached a mutual contract termination with Jan Lukáš, while Czechia’s HK Mountfield did the same with netminder Henri Kiviaho. Then, Lukáš signed with Mountfield to replace Kiviaho while Kiviaho did the same at SaiPa. Lukáš, 30, is an experienced netminder who was a quality tandem goalie in the Extraliga last season, but struggled immensely to start the year for SaiPa. He moves to more favorable surroundings in his home country. Kiviaho is, like Lukáš, a veteran goalie with some Champions Hockey League experience. According to Mountfield’s announcement, Kiviaho had been (via his agent) pushing for a greater workload than the club was able to provide, so they’ve opted to transfer him to SaiPa instead.
  • Former NHL depth defenseman Cameron Schilling has agreed to a mutual contract termination with his club of the last two seasons, Djurgårdens IF. The 35-year-old one-time AHL All-Star has a total of 10 NHL games on his resume, though he left North America midway through 2021-22 to sign in Djurgården. The club had an immediate need for reinforcements at the time as they were trending towards relegation, a fate they did eventually suffer. Schilling played a minutes-eating role for the team last season as they fell just short of promotion back to the SHL, and now he won’t be with the team as they look to make the jump this year.
  • Philadelphia Flyers fans might remember Russian forward Roman Lyubimov from the 2016-17 season, when he played in 47 games for the club, registering eight points. Lyubimov returned to the KHL after that season, the league where he would remain a regular forward until now. After a season where he posted just three points in 43 games for Spartak Moscow, Lyubimov has left the KHL and signed in France’s Ligue Magnus, with Grenoble. Grenoble is looking to re-claim the French league title and Champions Hockey League spot from Rouen, so they’ve added a forward with experience in two of the world’s top leagues in order to do so.
  • Former college hockey star Julian Napravnik is rumored to be headed for the DEL via a report from Germany, specifically with the league’s Frankfurt Lions in mind. The 26-year-old German forward was a two-time First-Team Conference All-Star at Minnesota State Mankato, and his 49 points in 40 games helped the team reach the NCAA Men’s Hockey National Championship game. Since that point, Napravnik has struggled to get on he ice and has played in a total of 22 career AHL games, scoring a total of seven points. A move to Germany might be better suited for him, though it may come as a bit of a disappointment that he couldn’t make more of a push towards consideration for an NHL contract.
  • Justin Allen, the former captain of NCAA Division-III Utica College, has been traded from the ECHL’s Norfolk Admirals to the Allen Americans in exchange for future considerations. Allen, 26, signed with the Admirals at the conclusion of his NCAA career and made an instant impact, registering seven assists in 10 games. As the Admirals this season have taken on quite a few NHL prospects, such as 2019 third-round pick Domenick Fensore, he’s been squeezed out of a spot in the ECHL this season, and hasn’t been able to skate in a game yet this season. He’ll get a better chance to do so in Allen, a team in dire need of defensive reinforcements as they currently average over five goals against per game.
  • Canadian netminder Cody Porter has signed with HockeyAllsvenskan’s Västerviks IK, according to a team announcement. The 26-year-old former Calgary Hitmen starter has had a bit of a winding hockey journey. He suited up for five different teams in his first professional season in 2018-19, playing for clubs from everywhere including Huntsville, Alabama and Elmira, New York. He then transferred to Poland, before spending 2021-22 as the backup goalie for IPK in Finland’s Mestis, their second division. Last season, Porter played the highest-level hockey of his career, skating in five total games in Liiga. He’ll get a chance now to compete for starts with Västerviks, a club whose incumbent goalies have each posted unconvincing performances so far this season.

This page may be updated throughout the day. 

Minor Transactions: 11/05/23

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It’s another busy day for hockey, although most of the game action is happening outside the NHL. Just four teams in the world’s top league are set to do battle today, although the schedule does feature quite a few games in Germany, Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, and in the CHL.

Regular-season play poses many challenges to pro clubs around the world, with injuries and underperformance often causing player movement. As always, we’ll keep track of notable transactions here.

  • Former Detroit Red Wings prospect Seth Barton has decided to continue his career overseas, signing a contract with KooKoo Kouvola of the Finnish Liiga. According to the team, the contract contains a trial period lasting until the end of the calendar year and is of a one-year duration with an option to extend for another season. Barton, 24, was a 2018 third-round pick who this past summer signed an AHL deal with the Hartford Wolf Pack, re-uniting him with Ryan Martin. Martin, the GM of the Wolf Pack and assistant GM of the New York Rangers, was the GM of Barton’s former team, the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. With Ben Harpur, Matthew Robertson, Brandon Scanlin, Nikolas Brouillard, and Connor Mackey standing in his way, Barton was unlikely to see significant time at the AHL level. So rather than potentially spend the season playing ECHL hockey with the Cincinnati Cyclones, Barton has decided to instead play in Liiga. He’ll join a KooKoo squad that is in need of defensive reinforcement as they have surrendered the second-most goals in league play.
  • Kenny Johnson, the younger brother of veteran NHLer Jack Johnson, has signed a standard player contract with the ECHL’s Reading Royals. The six-foot-four former Penn State Nittany Lion concluded his four-year NCAA career last season and dipped his toes in the waters of pro hockey with games on two ECHL teams: the Orlando Solar Bears and Wheeling Nailers. Johnson has played in the Royals’ game yesterday and will look to secure a regular place in their lineup in what would be his rookie ECHL campaign.

This page may be updated throughout the day

Minor Transactions: 10/26/23

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There’s quite a bit of hockey on the schedule for today, including a total of 11 NHL games. Highlights from the NHL include a battle between contending teams when the Toronto Maple Leafs take on the Dallas Stars, and an important game for the Edmonton Oilers as they look to turn their season around against the New York Rangers.

Over in Europe, many of the top pro leagues in the continent have contests on schedule today, including the SHL, DEL, and Liiga. With the season well underway in every notable professional league across the hockey world, the transaction wire is active as expected. As always, we’ll keep track of notable moves here.

  • Veteran defenseman and former NHLer Brandon Manning has reportedly made the decision to leave the German DEL after two seasons with Straubing Tigers. According to SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson, Manning has signed with HockeyAllsvenskan’s IF Björklöven. Manning, 33, is a two-time AHL All-Star with over 250 NHL games on his resume. He skated in top-pairing minutes for the Tigers over the past two seasons, which were his first two campaigns playing overseas. He now heads to Björklöven, joining a club that is currently second in the HockeyAllsvenskan standings and looking to make a push for promotion to the SHL.
  • Former Pittsburgh Penguins blueliner Juuso Riikola has signed a one-year contract extension with his current club, SCL Tigers of the Swiss National League. This season has been Riikola’s first with the team, and he’s so far played in 17 games and notched seven points. Riikola was once a key depth piece for the Penguins, who dressed him in 80 total NHL games across four seasons. Riikola’s last campaign in North America was in 2021-22, when he scored 35 points for the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. Riikola returned to Europe for 2022-23 and skated in 42 SHL games for IK Oskarshamn, scoring 19 points.
  • Jérémy Grégoire, a former Montreal Canadiens prospect, has extended his short-term deal with Ilves Tampere into a full one-year contract. Grégoire, 28, is currently in his second season playing hockey overseas. The Canadian center joined the ICEHL’s Vienna Capitals last season after seven years in the AHL and led them to the playoffs scoring 35 points in 39 games. That performance earned him a chance in one of Europe’s top leagues, Liiga, and so far he’s played in 13 league games for Ilves, scoring three points. Grégoire has played more of a down-the-lineup role for Ilves, and has helped his new team get off to a strong start in the Liiga standings as well as reach the playoffs of the Champions Hockey League.
  • Ilves has made another transaction, loaning Florida Panthers prospect Jakub Kos to HC Kometa Brno in Kos’ native Czechia. The 20-year-old winger was a 2021 sixth-round pick of the Panthers who has spent most of the last few years playing second-division Finnish hockey with KooVee Tampere. Rather than stick in Tampere for another season, though, it appears Kos is opting to play top-level hockey in his home country with Brno, a team that currently sits in the middle of the Czech Extraliga standings.
  • One-time Liiga scoring leader Henrik Haapala has signed a one-year contract with Swiss National League club Lausanne. The 29-year-old Finnish forward has transferred from Genève-Servette HC, the club he scored 10 points in nine games with this season. Haapala is one of the more accomplished in-his-prime scoring forwards in Europe, having served as a point-per-game force for both Ilves and Tappara Tampere. He’ll now likely become a go-to scoring option for Lausanne, joining former NHLers Michael Raffl and Jiří Sekáč with the team.
  • Former Los Angeles Kings prospect Johan Södergran has signed a two-year contract extension with the SHL’s MoDo Hockey Ornskoldsvik. Södergran was a playoff hero of MoDo’s promotion-winning 2022-23 campaign after he scored just 17 points in 52 regular-season games but added 12 points in 17 postseason contests. He’s started off decently well for MoDo this season, scoring six points in 12 games, and now will get to remain with the club for what it hopes will be a few more seasons in the Swedish top flight.
  • Veteran SHL defenseman Gustav Backström has signed a four-year contract extension with his club Örebro Hockey. This is a somewhat expected transaction, as Backström has been a part of Örebro in some form or another for 11 straight years. Now 28, the six-foot-two blueliner has settled into a top-four, minutes-eating role at Örebro, and has helped them to the playoffs in three straight years. Those performances have been rewarded today with this four-year contract extension.
  • Anthony Firriolo, the former captain of Army’s NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey program has been claimed off of waivers in the ECHL by the Indy Fuel. Firrolo concluded his NCAA career last spring and dipped his toes into the waters of pro hockey with the ECHL’s Jacksonville IceMen, skating in five total games for the club. He signed with the Atlanta Gladiators in July, but did not end up suiting up for the team in any regular-season games. Now he’ll join a Fuel team seeking improved defensive performances after surrendering 10 goals in its first three contests of this young season.
  • Carter Allen has decided to sign in Europe for the 2023-24 season, leaving the ECHL after two years. Allen, 27, is a physical defenseman who broke into the ECHL as a member of the South Carolina Stingrays in 2021-22. He scored 10 points in 63 games for the club, adding on 58 penalty minutes as the team stumbled to a 28-38-6 record. He then split 2022-23 between South Carolina and the Cincinnati Cyclones, who claimed him off of waivers in late March. Now he’s joining the Coventry Blaze, a club in the EIHL, the top division of pro hockey in the United Kingdom. The Blaze have just one win in league play so far this season and have surrendered the most goals in the EIHL, so this defensive reinforcement comes at an urgent time for the team.

This page may be updated throughout the day. 

Minor Transactions: 10/24/23

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It’s the busiest day in the world of hockey in recent memory. Every one of the NHL’s 32 member clubs play tonight as part of the NHL’s “Frozen Frenzy” coverage. In addition to the NHL, teams in the SHL, Liiga, Swiss NL, KHL, AHL, and more are also playing today.

There are far more hours of competitive pro hockey on offer today than anyone could realistically expect to keep up with, though that’s not to say many won’t try. Just as many fans will be looking to keep track of all the hockey on the schedule today, we’ll keep track of all the notable transactions from minor and overseas leagues here.

  • Former AHL All-Star Andy Welinski has signed a PTO with the AHL’s Iowa Wild, according to a team announcement. Welinski, 30, split last season between the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack and Rockford IceHogs, scoring 19 points in 54 games. The injury situation facing the Minnesota Wild’s blueliners (Jared Spurgeon and Alex Goligoski are injured) has had a ripple effect for Iowa, as two of its more important defenders (Daemon Hunt, Dakota Mermis) have been called up to the NHL. Welinski will provide some cover for the Wild in the midst of these injury issues, offering nearly 300 games of AHL experience. His experience looks needed at this moment, as Iowa has surrendered the second-most goals against in the AHL so far this season and has won just one of its first four games. Seeing as the development of top goalie prospect Jesper Wallstedt is a major priority for Iowa this season, Welinski could even have a chance to earn a full-time AHL contract if he plays well, as Iowa may not want to let a quality defensive player go after he settles into their lineup.
  • Rihards Bukarts, a 27-year-old forward and hero of Latvia’s historic bronze medal-winning run at the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championships, has signed in Switzerland. The National League’s EHC Biel-Bienne have signed Bukarts to a contract set to run through the end of January. Citing injury issues, Biel-Bienne have added Bukarts to reinforce an offensive attack that has sputtered so far this season, scoring the third-fewest goals in league play. Bukarts, once the top rookie goal scorer in the WHL for the Brandon Wheat Kings, played for Klagenfurt in the ICEHL last season and scored 25 points in 28 games.
  •  TPS Turku of the Finnish Liiga have signed netminder Julius Pohjanoksa to a contract valid through November 4th. Starting goalie, former Pittsburgh Penguins farmhand Filip Lindberg, is currently dealing with an illness and backup Eetu Anttila is injured, prompting the need for an extra body in net. Pohjanoksa has played in 17 games total for TPS, most of them coming in 2019-20. He spent last season in Finland’s second division, Mestis, posting a .909 save percentage in 18 games for TUTO Turku.
  • Another team is making moves in net: the EIHL’s Cardiff Devils. The Welsh squad, who compete in the EIHL, the top tier of professional hockey in the United Kingdom, have parted ways with former Carolina Hurricanes prospect Callum Booth and replaced him with former New York Rangers prospect Tyler Wall. Booth, 26, signed in Wales after bouncing between three teams last season, but didn’t end up skating in any league games for the Devils. As for Wall, the 25-year-old starred at UMass-Lowell during his college hockey days. As a professional, Wall has struggled to see the ice but last season finally got a chance to be a full-time member of a tandem. He posted a solid .912 save percentage for the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, posting a 22-10-1 record in the process. Wall will compete with longtime Devils goalie and three-time EIHL Netminder of the Year Ben Bowns for starts in Cardiff.
  • 23-year-old German-Swedish forward Magnus Eisenmenger has signed a one-year contract with AIK of the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second tier of pro hockey. Eisenmenger is a defensive center at heart, having led his peers in face-off percentage playing in Sweden’s U-18 level. He cut his teeth in professional hockey with the Frankfurt Lions, then of the German second-tier DEL2, before breaking into the DEL full-time with the Augsburg Panthers in 2021-22. Last season, Eisenmenger split his season between the Lions in the DEL and the Allsvenskan’s Almtuna IS. While he’s not much of a scorer, (Eisenmenger has just three points in 20 career Allsvenskan games, and 13 points in 87 DEL games) this signing could help bolster AIK’s forward depth in the midst of some injury issues, and help them patch up a team defense that has surrendered the seventh-most goals in league play.
  • Polish-Geman defenseman Arkadiusz Dziambor has signed a contract with the DEL’s Schwenninger Wild Wings. Dziambor is a 21-year-old left-shot defenseman with above-average size at six-foot-two, nearly 200 pounds. Despite his young age, Dziambor already has 91 career DEL games under his belt, mostly coming with Adler Mannheim between 2021 and 2023. Dziambor even got to represent Mannheim in eight Champions Hockey League contests, though he didn’t make Mannheim’s squad for this season. So far this year he’s played on loan with the DEL2’s Bietigheim Steelers, but now with this signing, he’ll return to Germany’s top league with the Wild Wings.
  • Big changes have hit the historic Romanian club SC Csíkszereda. The 15-time Romanian Cup champions have gotten off to a horrific start in the Erste Liga, a league comprising of Hungarian and Romanian pro teams. The club has lost all of its first 10 games and has surrendered 53 goals against, with the next-highest team having surrendered just 32. As a result, the team has released head coach Bradley Gratton, as well as two import players: Fabrizio Ricci and Brandon McNally. Gratton has coached across Europe and once in the ECHL, including last season with the AlpsHL’s Meran/Merano. Ricci, 28, is the former captain of the EIHL’s Dundee Stars and former ECHL All-Star who scored six points in seven games in Romania. McNally, 31, is a former ECHL power forward who scored three points in seven games for Csíkszereda. The trio will now continue their careers elsewhere as the club they leave behind looks to turn around what has so far been a dreadful campaign.
  • Former New York Rangers prospect Dávid Skokan has announced his retirement on social media today. The 34-year-old was a 2007 seventh-round pick of the New York Rangers who played three total seasons of hockey in North America, all in the QMJHL with the Rimouski Oceanic. Skokan had a long and successful career in Europe, winning a Slovak Extraliga title in 2011-12 and Slovak Extraliga All-Star honors in 2020-21, after a scored 52 points in 49 games for HK Poprad. Skokan also had the honor of representing his country internationally over the course of his career, earning Slovakia caps at three IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship tournaments and two IIHF Men’s World Championships.

This page may be updated throughout the day. 

Adam Clendening Signs In Finland

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According to a team announcement, longtime AHL defenseman Adam Clendening has signed a one-year contract with Ilves Tampere of the Finnish Liiga.

Clendening has yet to make his debut in European professional hockey. He’s spent the past four seasons exclusively in the AHL, including a strong 2021-22 campaign where he scored 42 points in 74 games. Clendening split last season between the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs and Hartford Wolf Pack, before joining the New York Rangers’ training camp on a PTO.

He did not earn a full-time deal with the Rangers, whose minor-league defensive depth chart is crowded with six players on NHL contracts. Rather than potentially return to the AHL, where Clendening has over 500 career games and is a two-time All-Star, he has opted to try his luck in one of Europe’s top professional leagues.

Clendening joins an Ilves team with the opportunity to make an impact on both ends of the ice. The team hasn’t received a ton of offense from blueliners so far this year (their leading scorer from the back end has just six points in 14 games) and despite sitting third in Liiga standings, has surrendered the sixth-most goals in league play.

With Ilves targeting long playoff runs in both the Champions Hockey League and Liiga, getting an experienced defensive reinforcement like Clendening is a major addition. For Clendening, he’ll have the chance to, at 30, begin his overseas career playing in a state-of-the-art arena while competing for some of the continent’s top trophies.

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