It must have been a frustrating offseason for Landon Ferraro, after his two-year contract expired with the Minnesota Wild and he became an unrestricted free agent. Contracts were rare for veteran depth players looking for work, given the tight salary cap system and limit of 50 contracts per team. Ferraro would eventually sign a professional tryout with the Vancouver Canucks, but failed to crack the roster or even earn an NHL deal. Now, he’ll take his talents overseas and sign with Berlin of the German DEL.
Ferraro, 28, was the 32nd overall pick in 2009 thanks to his goal scoring ability and famous last name—his father is Ray Ferraro, who scored 408 NHL goals over a long career—but had trouble catching on at the highest level. Though he has performed admirably in the AHL, the younger Ferraro has only been given 77 games at the NHL level. The vast majority of those games came in 2015-16 with the Boston Bruins when he suited up 58 times, recording ten points in the process.
A career marred by injury recently, playing in Germany will not only give him some financial stability but also allow him to showcase the upside he has left in his game. If Ferraro can prove he is able to compete at a high level still, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be an option for an AHL or even perhaps an NHL team down the road.