As July marches on and we get closer to arbitration hearings and contract holdouts, teams continue to fill our their organizational depth charts. Here are some minor moves from around the league:
- The Toronto Marlies continue to add more depth, signing Ryan Johnston and Michael Kapla to AHL contracts. Kapla spent last season with the Binghamton Devils and Iowa Wild, recording 24 points in 66 games. The defenseman is a former Umass-Lowell captain that played five games in the NHL during the 2016-17 season. Johnston meanwhile spent the last two seasons in the SHL, but also has ten games of NHL experience under his belt.
- The Hershey Bears have signed Tariq Hammond to an AHL deal, bringing in another former Binghamton defenseman. The 25-year old played 43 games for the AHL Devils last season, recording three points. Hammond was part of the 2017 NCAA champion University of Denver squad alongside other NHL players like Troy Terry, Henrik Borgstrom, Dylan Gambrell and Will Butcher, and took over as captain the following season.
- The Hartford Wolf Pack have signed Ryan Dmowski to another AHL deal, keeping him in the organization after he joined them earlier this spring out of college. The 22-year old left winger had four points in ten games down the stretch for the Wolf Pack, and will likely be asked to play a bigger role in his first full professional season.
- Carolina has brought in some AHL depth, announcing the signings of wingers Hunter Shinkaruk and Colin Markison plus defenseman Derek Sheppard to AHL deals. Shinkaruk, a first-round pick of Vancouver back in 2013, had a disastrous season with Montreal’s farm team and was non-tendered last month. Meanwhile, Markison has posted back-to-back 27-point seasons with Texas of the AHL while Sheppard was quite productive at the ECHL last season with 40 points in 57 games.