Blake Wheeler Reaffirms Retirement
July 19, 2025: Wheeler again ruled out a comeback bid when speaking with Cam Poitras and Jim Toth on 680 CJOB’s Jets at Noon program earlier this week. “I just haven’t felt like a rush to like make a formal announcement or anything,” Wheeler said. “But yeah, after my injury and kinda the way things ended last year, I just didn’t have anything left in the tank for it. So yeah, I was at peace with it almost immediately after last year and yeah, I’m just enjoying being a dad and kinda slowing things down a little bit, and being around my family.”
Dec. 19, 2024: Winger Blake Wheeler has all but officially decided on retirement, as Paul Friesen of The Winnipeg Sun relays. Neither Wheeler nor the NHL Players’ Association has released a statement. Still, the former Jets captain told Dan Leffelaar of the Beyond High Performance podcast earlier this week that “there’s only so much gas in the tank” emotionally for an 82-game regular season.
In July, Wheeler, 38, hit unrestricted free agency after completing a one-year, $1.1MM contract with the Rangers. He joined the Blueshirts for the final season of his NHL career after having the captaincy stripped from him in Winnipeg in 2022 and seeing the final season of his five-year, $41.25MM contract with an $8.25MM cap hit bought out a year later. There wasn’t much buzz around his services on the UFA market aside from a report in August from Shawn Hutcheon of The Fourth Period that the Bruins were considering extending him a professional tryout. One way or another that never came to fruition, and Wheeler didn’t appear with any club during training camp.
A serious leg injury sustained in February ended his final regular season prematurely. However, he did return to the active roster near the end of New York’s second-round playoff win over the Hurricanes. He was a frequent healthy scratch upon returning to the lineup, though, with a lone postseason appearance against the Panthers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final likely standing as his final NHL appearance. In 54 regular-season appearances with the Rangers, he posted nine goals and 12 assists for 21 points with a +2 rating while averaging a career-low 12:43 per game.
Wheeler was a highly touted prospect. In the 2004 draft, the Coyotes selected him fifth overall, immediately after eventual longtime teammate Andrew Ladd was taken off the board by the Hurricanes. However, he opted not to sign in Phoenix. He took the long route through college at the University of Minnesota before becoming a free agent in 2008 and signing with the Bruins.
The right-winger’s debut season was solid, posting 21 goals and 45 points with a +36 rating in 81 games as Boston won 53 games and finished atop the Eastern Conference. He was one of many future under-25 impact players on that Bruins squad, featuring Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic, Phil Kessel and David Krejčí in the infancies of their careers. However, after his goal-scoring dropped off slightly in his second and third years in the league, Boston traded him to the Thrashers before the 2011 deadline for Rich Peverley.
Wheeler racked up 17 points in 23 games down the stretch for Atlanta, giving Thrashers fans a bittersweet taste of things to come for his production before the team packed up and moved to Winnipeg in the offseason. Now entirely in the prime of his career at age 25, Wheeler kicked off a dominant nine-year stretch in Winnipeg that saw him record 569 points in 616 games, ranking eighth in the NHL scoring between the 2011-12 and 2018-19 campaigns. His 384 assists during that time were fourth, trailing only Nicklas Bäckström, Sidney Crosby and Claude Giroux. He received All-Star consideration eight years in a row and finished as high as eighth in Hart Trophy voting in 2017-18 when he led the league with 68 assists in 81 outings.
After a 20-goal, 91-point showing in 2018-19, 2019-20 spelled out the beginning of Wheeler’s decline. He still managed a respectable 65 points in 71 games that year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. However, that was accompanied by an artificially high 12.2% shooting rate and a significant drop-off in his assist totals. He kept up reasonable offensive production in his final three seasons in Winnipeg, logging 161 points in 187 games. But the Minnesota native became a defensive liability as he aged and became a significant drag on the Jets’ possession quality control at even strength. Combined with just three playoff series wins during his time in Winnipeg, including a run to the 2018 Western Conference Final in which he had 21 points in 17 games, the Jets parted ways with their captain and bought him out.
While the end of Wheeler’s career may have been marred by declining all-around play and injuries, the former All-Star was a high-end top-line talent throughout the 2010s. The 6’5 “, 225-lb right-winger puts a bow on his career with 321 goals and 622 assists for 943 points in 1,172 regular-season games. He logged a +67 rating, posted 764 PIMs, and racked up nearly 3,000 career shots on goal, averaging 18:11 per game. He pairs that strong regular-season production with 10 goals and 45 points in 66 career postseason games. Pro Hockey Rumors congratulates Wheeler on a phenomenal career.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Grigori Denisenko Linked To KHL
Once viewed as a key prospect for Florida, Grigori Denisenko’s stock has slid in recent years, even after a move to Vegas. Now, it appears the unrestricted free agent could be heading back home as Artur Khairullin of Sport-Express reports (Telegram link) that the winger is in contract talks with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL.
The 25-year-old was a first-round pick by the Panthers back in 2018, going 15th overall after showing promise in Yaroslav’s minor league system at the MHL level. Denisenko made the jump to the KHL level the following year and spent two seasons there before coming to North America.
Denisenko spent most of his time with Florida in the minors, notching 63 points in 101 games over parts of three seasons while also getting into 26 games with the Panthers. However, they waived him in training camp in 2023 with Vegas putting in a claim, picking up the two seasons of his one-way contract in the process.
The change of scenery didn’t help Denisenko stay in the NHL for long as just one day later, he was back on waivers with Florida declining to place a claim to take him back.
Denisenko played in just seven games for the Golden Knights over those two years, with only one of those coming last season. He notched 10 goals and 14 assists in 42 games with AHL Henderson in 2024-25 before being moved to Nashville for future considerations back in February. But the change of scenery didn’t yield any NHL playing time as Denisenko stayed in the minors, picking up 15 points in 23 games with Milwaukee.
Denisenko has actually seen NHL action in five straight years, his only five seasons in North America. But the total of those outings was only 33 appearances, meaning that Denisenko qualified for Group Six unrestricted free agency this summer. Rather than try to land a two-way deal with another NHL team in the hopes of earning an in-season recall while injuries arise, it appears he has decided that returning home to the program he had success with earlier in his career makes the most sense.
Kings To Ramp Up Extension Talks With Adrian Kempe
Kings forward Adrian Kempe is now eligible for a contract extension and is currently slated to be one of the better options in a 2026 UFA pool. In an appearance on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio earlier this week (Twitter link), GM Ken Holland acknowledged that he’d like to get a deal done with Kempe and intends to ramp up discussions on that front soon.
The 28-year-old was a first-round pick by Los Angeles in 2014, going 29th overall. At the time, he was playing a regular role in the SHL which is impressive in itself for a draft-eligible player but Kempe wasn’t producing much offensively. Accordingly, one of the bigger questions at the time was around his potential to become a legitimate threat offensively, complementing his strong defensive game.
It has taken a while but Kempe has done just that. After having limited offensive production in the minors soon after being drafted with AHL Manchester and his first few seasons with Los Angeles, Kempe had a breakout year in 2021-22, notching 35 goals and making his first (and only) All-Star appearance. Considering his sluggish production beforehand, it was fair to question whether this was a blip or a sign of things to come so the two sides negotiated a four-year, $22MM contract that summer, one that bought the Kings two years of extra club control.
Kempe has certainly outperformed that contract in the first three seasons of it. He has notched at least 67 points in each one and is coming off a 35-goal, 73-point campaign in 2024-25, one that saw him edge past 19 minutes per night of playing time, a career best. Kempe has also been quite productive in the playoffs over that stretch, potting 13 goals and 10 assists in 17 postseason games, all against Edmonton. Suffice it to say, he’s looking at a substantial raise next time out.
Earlier this offseason, AFP Analytics projected a seven-year, $64.225MM deal for Kempe, one that would carry a $9.175MM AAV. When this contract kicks in for the 2026-27 campaign, the salary cap is expected to be $104MM at that time, a jump of $8.5MM. This year, the biggest contract for a winger was Nikolaj Ehlers’ six-year, $51MM deal with Carolina (a cap hit of $8.5MM) so it would make sense that Kempe’s number should check in a bit above that, at least based on the way the market has operated this summer.
A contract in that price range would make Kempe their highest-paid forward and second-highest-paid player behind defenseman Drew Doughty. With Kempe being among several contracts set to expire next summer, the Kings have nearly $38MM in room for that season, per PuckPedia, so Holland will have plenty of flexibility to work with to get a deal done for his top scorer from 2024-25.
East Notes: Panarin, Senators, Prokhorov
Players in the final year of a multi-year contract are now eligible to sign contract extensions. A few have but most of the headline names in the 2026 UFA class have yet to do so, including Rangers winger Artemi Panarin. Vincent Z. Mercogliano of the Rockland/Westchester Journal News argues that New York should hold off on trying to get the 33-year-old locked up to a new deal right away, wondering if there might be an opportunity to get a younger top-liner on the open market next summer when they will have a significant amount of cap space. Panarin saw his production drop considerably last season after putting up a career-high 120 points in 2023-24 but he still managed 37 goals and 52 assists in 80 games to lead New York in scoring once again. Panarin has a $11.643MM cap charge and given that he’ll be 34 when his next deal starts, he’ll be in tough to match that price tag at that time.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:
- The Senators are making significant progress on securing the land agreement at LeBreton Flats as the site for their next arena, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The team has been in discussions for this parcel of land for several years now and signed an agreement in principle to buy the land last September, assuming that an agreement on the price could be reached. After both sides had separate land valuations done that were well apart in value, there was still a gap to be bridged which apparently, progress is being made on. The belief is that even if this is finalized, the Sens will remain in their current arena for at least the next five years.
- Sabres prospect Yevgeni Prokhorov has signed a tryout deal with Dinamo Minsk of the KHL, per a team announcement on its Telegram page. The netminder was a seventh-round pick last month after spending last season in Dinamo’s MHL program where he posted a 2.19 GAA and a .903 SV% in 28 games. Prokhorov was a first-round pick in last month’s CHL Import Draft, going 23rd overall to OHL Flint, leading to some speculation that he could come to North America but it appears that isn’t on the table at the moment.
Canucks Have Had Discussions With Jack Roslovic
Earlier this week, it was reported that the Canucks had interest in some remaining free agents but lacked the cap space to sign any. That changed on Thursday when Vancouver dealt forward Dakota Joshua to Toronto, freeing up an additional $3.25MM in flexibility, enough to take a run at someone still unsigned.
It appears that one of their targets might be forward Jack Roslovic. Shortly following yesterday’s swap, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reported (Twitter link) that there have been talks between the Canucks and Roslovic’s camp. Last month, Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma noted that Vancouver pursued the 28-year-old last summer so he’s someone they’ve had their eye on previously. Meanwhile, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported recently that Toronto was another team interested in Roslovic although it’s unclear if the addition of Joshua takes them out of that market now.
Roslovic, of course, didn’t sign with them last summer, instead inking a one-year, $2.8MM with the Hurricanes on the heels of an up-and-down year between the Blue Jackets and Rangers that saw him notch nine goals and 22 assists in 59 games. The hope was that a good showing in Carolina could bolster his value heading into the open market this time around.
To his credit, Roslovic was able to bounce back offensively, matching his career high in goals with 22 in 81 games while adding 17 assists. However, his playing time dropped below 14 minutes a night while in the playoffs, he was a healthy scratch six times in Carolina’s run to the Eastern Conference Final which didn’t exactly give his value the boost he was hoping for.
Still, Roslovic has shown he can play both center and the wing, something of note for a Vancouver roster that lost center Pius Suter to St. Louis without finding another middleman to replace him. With Filip Chytil currently pegged to be their second-line pivot, there is certainly a role that Roslovic could fill in the middle six for the Canucks.
As things stand, Vancouver has $3.27MM in cap space for next season, per PuckPedia. That’s enough to afford Roslovic on a similar price to last season although that will once again have them very tight to the cap ceiling, hardly an ideal scenario when teams like to leave room for injury insurance. But with the Canucks certainly looking to get back into the playoff picture, it seems likely that a good chunk of that freed-up cap space will be used; perhaps it will be spent to bring Roslovic into the fold.
Senators Re-Sign Xavier Bourgault
The Senators have reached an agreement with one of their remaining restricted free agents as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed forward Xavier Bourgault to a one-year, two-way deal. The contract will pay Bourgault $775K in the NHL and $90K in the minors.
The 22-year-old was a first-round pick by Edmonton back in 2021, going 22nd overall after showing some offensive promise with QMJHL Shawinigan. In his final three seasons with the Cataractes, Bourgault potted 89 goals and 97 assists in 135 games, providing some enthusiasm that he could be a cost-controlled contributor for an Oilers roster that certainly could use that.
However, Bourgault wasn’t able to produce anywhere near those numbers with AHL Bakersfield. After a respectable rookie season in 2022-23 that saw him record 34 points in 62 games, his output dipped the following year to just eight goals and 12 assists in 55 outings. That was enough for GM Stan Bowman to decide to make a change, dealing Bourgault to Ottawa that summer along with prospect Jake Chiasson for winger Roby Jarventie and a fourth-round pick.
Bourgault spent last season with AHL Belleville and was able to rebound a bit, notching 12 goals and 14 assists in 61 games. While that wasn’t enough to match or surpass his rookie-season output, it was enough to earn him a qualifying offer last month. Bourgault didn’t take it, instead foregoing a bit of a higher potential NHL salary in exchange for a slight raise in his AHL pay.
Bourgault will be waiver-eligible for the first time next season. While a player with his type of numbers generally wouldn’t be a candidate to be claimed, his draft pedigree might be enough for a team or two to at least ponder giving him a look, assuming he doesn’t break camp with Ottawa in training camp which is the likeliest scenario. Assuming he makes it back to Belleville, he’ll look to position himself to get his first regular season recall.
With Bourgault’s signing, Ottawa now has three remaining restricted free agents to re-sign this summer: forward Jan Jenik and defensemen Donovan Sebrango and Max Guenette.
Snapshots: Flames, Pridham, Humphreys
The Calgary Flames have signed a multi-year extension with the Rapid City Rush, their ECHL affiliate. The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed. This will continue a partnership that began in the 2022-23 season. Rapid City has finished sixth in the ECHL’s Mountain Division, and missed the postseason, in all three of their seasons under Calgary’s organizational roof.
The Rush are among the middle siblings of the ECHL, entering the league as an expansion team ahead of the 2008-09 season. They had a stunted inaugural season, but managed to blaze their way to a Kelly Cup Championship win in 2010. That kicked off a string of playoff appearances that continued through 2015. Rapid City announced their first NHL affiliate, a partnership with the Arizona Coyotes, on the heels of those six consecutive postseason appearances. They’d stay with Arizona for two seasons, only to be dropped by the club for two years, and then reaffiliated from 2019 to 2022. Rapid City was once again dropped by Arizona ahead of the 2022-23 season, opening the door for a quickly-organized partnership with the Flames. While the club hasn’t found much league success under Calgary’s guard, they have managed to promote 14 players to the AHL and NHL lineups over the course of three seasons. That includes top Flames prospect Rory Kerins, who scored 37 points in 38 games with the Rush in 2022-23.
Other notes from around the league:
- Chicago Blackhawks forward prospect Jack Pridham has announced he will stay with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers for one more season, rather than moving to Boston University, per Josh Brown of The Waterloo Region Record. Pridham scored 27 goals and 54 points in 48 games with Kitchener last season. His marks led the team in both goals and points per game. It was his first year in the OHL, after spending all of last season and the start of this season with the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors. Pridham ranked second in scoring on the Warriors with 48 points in 54 games last season, prompting Chicago to select him in the third round of the 2024 NHL Draft. He’s a burly winger with a heavy, physical frame and hard shot. He’ll look to step into a starring role with the Rangers next season, then continue his career with the BU Terriers in 2026-27.
- Joining Pridham in a return to Kitchener will be Colorado Avalanche prospect Christian Humphreys, per Brown. Humphreys began the season at the University of Michigan, but opted to move to the OHL after scoring just one assist in the Wolverines’ first 10 games of the season. He went on to score 11 goals and 33 points in 28 games with Kitchener, and added 10 more points in 13 playoff games. Humphreys formally entered the NCAA transfer portal earlier this summer, but will instead opt to stay in juniors in hopes of joining Pridham on Kitchener’s top-line. He was a seventh-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, following two seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program, where he spent time on the wing of James Hagens and Brodie Ziemer, or centering Teddy Stiga and Max Plante.
Jets Sign Parker Ford To Two-Year Contract
The Winnipeg Jets have signed forward Parker Ford to a two-year, two-way, $1.625MM contract. The deal will carry an $812.5K salary at the NHL level. Ford entered restricted free agency this summer after spending the last three seasons on an entry-level contract.
Ford went undrafted through his years of eligibility in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Those years spanned his final year in the USHL and first two seasons at Providence College. He didn’t catch NHL attention until his upperclass seasons with the Friars, where he became known for his endless motor and strong play in the dirty areas of the ice. He looked like a true coach’s favorite, made impacts in all three zones, and worked his way to 53 points in 75 games over his junior and senior seasons.
Those marks were enough to earn Ford a three-year, entry-level contract at the end of the 2022-23 season. He joined the AHL’s Manitoba Moose for their final eight games of the regular season, and jumped to scoring with four points, only to go without any points in five postseason games. Ford found better balance in the lineup as an AHL rookie last season. He finished the year with 18 goals and 41 points in 72 games, good for sixth on the Moose in scoring. That carved him out a hardy role in Manitoba’s top-six this season – a role Ford vindicated with 14 goals and 21 points in 41 games. He also earned his NHL debut this season, and scored one goal in three games with the Jets lineup.
A two-year deal will reward Ford’s carved out role in the AHL. He’ll likely head straight back to Manitoba’s top-six next season, but could find his way into a fourth-line, NHL role after fellow Jets depth forward Mason Appleton signed with the Detroit Red Wings this summer. Ford is a hard-working, well-rounded winger who is still largely undefined at the top flight, with only a few games in his NHL career and 121 games in his AHL career.
Jets Sign Gabriel Vilardi To Six-Year Contract
The Winnipeg Jets have signed forward Gabriel Vilardi to a six-year, $45MM contract extension. The deal was first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. It will carry an annual cap hit of $7.5MM. As Friedman points out, Vilardi will avoid salary arbitration with the Jets with this contract. He had filed for arbitration earlier in the summer, after entering restricted-free agency with a $3.6MM qualifying offer a the start of the off-season.
PuckPedia reports that the deal carries a $3.5MM salary and a $3.5MM signing bonus for next season with a straight $7.6MM salary in each of the remaining five years. There is no trade protection in the contract.
Winnipeg will check a big box off of their summer list with this move. Vilardi was Winnipeg’s second-highest scoring free agent this year. The other, Nikolaj Ehlers, signed a six-year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes on July 3rd. Winnipeg had more control over RFA Vilardi, who will commit to a long-term deal with the club after spending the last two seasons on a short-term, prove-it contract.
The Jets acquired Vilardi’s negotiating rights alongside Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and a 2024 second-round pick in the trade that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings in the summer of 2023. It put the Jets in the awkward position of rewarding Vilardi for scoring 23 goals and 41 points in 63 games of Los Angeles’ 2022-23 season, after scoring 37 points in 69 career games in the prior three seasons. Winnipeg landed on a two-year, $6.88MM bridge contract.
With a new deal in place, the Jets honed in on adjusting Vilardi to the top-six, winger role that he began to take on in his latter years with the Kings, after entering the NHL as a center. Vilardi took on the role well, and scored 22 goals and 36 points in his first 47 games with the Jets. Unfortunately, those performances were spread around numerous injuries that forced Vilardi out of much of October, November, and March during the 2023-24 season.
An injury-shortened season to kick off a bridge contract swelled the pressure around Vilardi’s 2024-25 season. He entered the year not only playing for a contract, but looking to vindicate multiple seasons of promising scoring cut short by injuries. Vilardi jumped at the opportunity right out of the gates, scoring eight points in 10 games of October and 14 points in 14 games of November. His scoring carried through the extent of the season, and he finished the year with career-highs across the board – including 27 goals and 61 points in 61 games. He added four more points in nine playoff games.
Vilardi will be rewarded for a hot year with a contract in line with many high-scoring wingers entering their prime. The Utah Mammoth recently signed 23-year-old winger JJ Peterka to a five-year, $38.5MM contract; and the Toronto Maple Leafs signed 22-year-old Matthew Knies to a six-year, $46.5MM deal. Vilardi is older than both Peterka and Knies, but earns a richer annual salary than an older peer like Brock Boeser, who just inked a seven-year, $50.75MM contract in Vancouver.
A new, long-term deal will commit Vilardi to a major role in Winnipeg. Ehlers leaves behind a hardy, second-line role and routine power-play presence. Some of those minutes will be eaten up by summer signing Gustav Nyquist, and potentially prospects like Brad Lambert, but Vilardi could still see a boost from the 18 minutes of ice time he averaged this season. He has totaled 138 points in 181 games over the last three seasons — an 82-game pace of 33 goals and 63 points. With that scoring pace, and good health, on his side; Vilardi could be set to start his new deal with another breakout this season.
Photo courtesy of Terrence Lee-Imagn Images.
Hurricanes Promote Daniel Bochner Among Multiple Staff Changes
The Carolina Hurricanes have announced multiple staff and structure changes across their hockey operations and management departments. Most notably, they’ve hired Daniel Bochner as a full-time development coach, after he spent the last two seasons in a part-time coaching role with both the Hurricanes and the KHL’s SKA St. Petersburg. Bochner will move to Raleigh, from Russia, for this hire and work with both the NHL and AHL lineups.
Bochner has built up a rich career across the hockey world. He was originally born in Toronto, but began playing for Israel’s U18 club at the age of 15. He joined the club in their debut at the World Junior Championship Division-III tournament in 2001, and debuted with the country’s men’s roster at the World Championship Division-II tournament later that year. Bochner continued to be a fixture of Israel’s national roster through 2011, and racked up three points across 13 total appearances at the World Championship.
Bochner retired from his playing career in 2011, and turned towards head coaching with the Don Mills Flyers’ AAA club in 2013. He led the Flyers’ 2000-birth year through their 14U, 15U, and 16U seasons. Current Utah Mammoth forward Jack McBain served as the team’s captain in all three seasons. Bochner left Don Mills for a youth coach role with the KHL’s Ak Bars Kazan in 2016, briefly returned to coach the Vaughan Kings 14U AAA team in 2017, then moved full-time into a development coach role with SKA St. Petersburg in 2018.
His role with SKA included serving as a development coach for the KHL and MHL (junior) clubs, as well as with Russia’s National Men’s roster. He also served as an assistant coach for the KHL club from 2020 to 2023. Bochner’s role spanned some impressive rosters, and allowed him to work closely with top NHL skaters and prospects – including Yaroslav Askarov, Ivan Demidov, Matvei Michkov, Kirill Marchenko, and Hurricanes prospect Timur Kol. Bochner will now leave seven years with SKA behind to work full-time with Carolina’s top two rosters.
The Hurricanes have also announced that CBA-specialist Earl Schwartz has been promoted to the role of CBA and Salary Cap Analyst. He will the title of Compliance Assistant after three years in the role. Schwartz began his niched career publicly, writing CBA-related analysis for LeafsNation and a personal newsletter. Now, he’ll take another step forward in a Hurricanes organization that’s seen multiple staff take unconventional paths into their roles.
Carolina has further promoted Jorge Alves into the role of head equipment manager. He will take over for Bob Gorman, who has worked with the Hurricanes since 1976 and will continue to support the team in a reduced role. Alves will be joined by Patrick Budds, who has been promoted to assistant equipment manager from his role of equipment assistant. Filling that latter role will be CJ Reif, who worked with the Chicago Wolves last season.
The Hurricanes have also hired Zach Ellenthal and Dennis King as pro scouts. Ellenthal spent the last four seasons with the SHL’s Rogle BK, while King previously served in the Edmonton Oilers’ analytics department. King will join former Oilers peer Tyler Dellow in Carolina.
Carolina rounds out the hires with changes in their athletic training and nutrition rooms. Koryd Lavimoniere will step into an assistant trainer role after serving as the head trainer of the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds last season; and Kristin Pirigyi will move into a newly-created, full-time nutritionist role after previously serving as a nutrition consultant.
Photo courtesy of David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports.