Red Wings Sign Ondrej Becher To Entry-Level Deal
According to a team announcement, the Detroit Red Wings have signed one of their third-round picks from last year’s draft. The organization announced that forward Ondřej Becher has signed a three-year, entry-level contract and will be assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Detroit selected Becher with the 80th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. He skated for the WHL’s Prince George Cougars in his draft year, scoring 32 goals and 96 points in 58 games.
Becher also stole the show on the international stage, particularly in the 2023-24 World Junior Championships. He scored three goals and 10 points in seven games for Team Czechia, helping the country to its second straight top-three finish.
His scoring has dropped this year in his brief stint with the AHL Griffins but it’s nothing the Red Wings’ brass appears concerned with. He’s scored one goal and three points in 16 games for Grand Rapids this season managing a -4 rating.
The sudden lack of scoring is likely due to the competitiveness of the Griffins’ roster this season. The team is running away with the AHL’s Central Division and leaning on veteran players like Austin Watson and Joe Snively rather than the newer prospects in Detroit’s system.
Snapshots: Ersson, Becher, Tokarski
Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson suffered an injury in the first period of today’s game against Boston and did not return. Following the game, the team clarified (Twitter link) that the netminder sustained a lower-body injury. It has been a tough year between the pipes for the Flyers who came into this game with a combined save percentage of just .863 (including empty-netters allowed), the lowest in the Eastern Conference. However, Ersson has had a reasonable start to his year, putting up a 2.72 GAA with a .897 SV% heading into today’s action. Aleksei Kolosov came on in relief while Ivan Fedotov, who has struggled mightily in his limited NHL action so far, is also on the active roster should Ersson miss any more time.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Red Wings prospect Ondrej Becher has signed an ATO agreement with AHL Grand Rapids, per a team release. Detroit took the 20-year-old in the third round of the draft back in June following a dominant showing with WHL Prince George that saw him score 32 goals and 64 assists in 58 games last season, good for 13th in league scoring. While he remains eligible to spend an overage year at the junior level, it appears the Red Wings would prefer to see how he fares in the pros first but the tryout agreement suggests that they’re open to the idea of sending him back to junior if things don’t go well.
- With the Hurricanes needing Spencer Martin due to Fredrik Andersen’s injury, their AHL affiliate in Chicago has made a move, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve signed veteran goalie Dustin Tokarski to a PTO agreement. The 35-year-old was in Ottawa’s training camp on a tryout but wasn’t signed. He spent last season with AHL Rochester, posting a 3.32 GAA and a .890 SV% in 24 games and is a veteran of more than 400 appearances at that level over 14 seasons along with 80 NHL contests. The PTO agreement can last for up to 25 games.