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Cole Schneider

Snapshots: Lawrence, Wassilyn, Schneider

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2026 projected top-10 pick Tynan Lawrence was a high pick in the QMJHL Entry Draft one year ago by the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, leading to speculation he may jump there for his draft year. That doesn’t appear to be the case, per Jonathan Hudon of Le Quotidien, who relays Lawrence is expected to remain with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks for 2025-26 instead.

Lawrence, a late birthday for the class who turns 17 next weekend, is a 6’0″ center currently pegged to go in the No. 6-No. 10 overall range in preseason rankings. The New Brunswick native has played in the United States since 2022, when he opted to head to renowned prep school Shattuck St. Mary’s to continue his development. He joined Muskegon last season, posting 54 points in 56 regular-season games before guiding the Lumberjacks to a Clark Cup championship, posting 18 points in 14 playoff games to be named MVP as a 16-year-old rookie in the high-end junior league.

He would have been a big get for Chicoutimi and joined what looks like a stronger-than-normal class out of the QMJHL next season, but he’ll instead stay south of the border with a commitment to Boston University for the 2027-28 campaign still on the books (although that will presumably get moved up to the 2026-27 campaign).

Elsewhere from around the hockey world:

  • Sticking with next year’s draft, projected first-rounder Braidy Wassilyn is also a Boston University commit. There was some speculation he might join them as a 17-year-old freshman for the upcoming season but that won’t happen, according to Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects. The 5’11” forward will instead remain with the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs, where he had an 8-31–39 scoring line in 62 games last season.
  • Heading overseas, former NHLer Cole Schneider has signed with Italy’s HC Bolzano in the ICEHL, the club announced. The 34-year-old American headed to Europe last summer after a lengthy AHL career, winning the Norwegian league scoring title with 64 points in 45 games for Storhamar. Schneider, who had one assist in six career games for the Sabres, also has 574 points in 776 career AHL games.

International Notes: Schneider, Richards, Melnick

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An AHL fixture is heading a bit off the beaten path this season. After 13 minor-league seasons and six NHL games, forward Cole Schneider has signed a two-year deal with Norway’s Storhamar, the team announced yesterday.

Schneider, 33, is coming off a tough campaign. The Williamsville, New York native signed on with the independent Chicago Wolves last season and was expected to be one of their top scorers, but he faltered with only 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) in 56 games. In the two seasons prior, Schneider had served as the captain of the Predators’ affiliate in Milwaukee and put up seasons of 60 and 51 points.

Since making his AHL debut all the way back in 2012, Schneider has totaled 247 goals, 327 assists and 574 points in 776 career games. That puts him inside the top 50 in league history in both goals and appearances. But his NHL call-ups were few and far between, only appearing in a half-dozen contests with the Sabres across the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, recording one assist and a +2 rating.

Schneider heads to a Storhamar team that went 33-3-9 last season and won the Norwegian Eliteserien championship, putting them in the continent-wide Champions Hockey League for 2024-25. He’s a major reinforcement for Storhamar’s first appearance in the continental cup since 2018-19. He joins former Avalanche, Blackhawks and Canadiens winger Andreas Martinsen as Storhamar’s only players with NHL experience under their belt.

More recent international signings:

  • Free agent center Justin Richards is heading overseas for the first time, signing a one-year deal with Germany’s Dusseldorfer EG. The 26-year-old Orlando native spent all of last season in the minors while on a two-way deal with the Sabres and became a Group VI UFA at the end of the year. The son of former Blue Jackets head coach Todd Richards took a step back with AHL Rochester after a career-best campaign with Cleveland the year prior, only contributing 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 58 games with a -13 rating. Richards has two assists in three career NHL games with the Blue Jackets and Rangers across the 2020-21 and 2022-23 campaigns.
  • After six years of solid play in the AHL, center Josh Melnick signed a one-year deal with Karpat of the Finnish Liiga today, per a team release. Melnick, 29, had spent the last two seasons with the Chicago Wolves and four years before that in the Stars’ system with Texas. He was signed to an NHL contract by Dallas coming out of Miami Ohio in 2019 but never got a call-up. The 5’10”, 181-lb pivot has 129 points in 300 career AHL games.

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