Minor Transactions: 06/25/21

The Montreal Canadiens have punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals, defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in six games. Artturi Lehkonen was the hero, scoring less than two minutes into the overtime period sending the Bell Centre (and the surrounding area) into a frenzy. While Montreal waits to see which team they’ll face for the chance to lift the chalice, the rest of the hockey world isn’t sitting on their hands. We’ll keep track of all the notable minor moves right here.

• Colin Campbell (the player, not the league executive) has signed a new contract with the Augsburger Panther in Germany for the upcoming season. Now 30, Campbell left his AHL career last year to play for the Vienna Capitals in Austria, and will now continue his European sojourn in the DEL. In 2019-20 with the Colorado Eagles, he scored 26 points in 48 games.
• David Ullstrom, who once played 49 games for the New York Islanders isn’t coming back to North America anytime soon. The 32-year-old forward signed a contract with HV71 as they load up to pursue promotion. A fourth-round pick in 2008, Ullstrom had multiple stints on this side of the pond, most recently in 2018-19 with the Tucson Roadrunners. Though he has always done extremely well at the AHL level, his career has taken him all over the world, with stops in Sween, Russia, the Czech Republic, Belarus, Latvia, and Switzerland just in the past eight years.
• Iowa Wild defender Turner Ottenbreit re-signed on a one-year AHL deal today, the team announced. Now entering his fourth professional season, the 23-year-old Canadian has struggled offensively at the AHL level. After serving as the captain for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds in 2017-18, Ottenbreit showed decent flashes of production in the ECHL, including 11 points in 17 games with the Allen Americans in 2019-20. However, Ottenbreit’s offensive numbers declined at all levels this year, making this a rather important season for his professional development.
• Veteran minor league defenseman Matt Register is making an interesting career move. The 31-year-old rearguard initially made the rare jump from the Junior-A level in Canada to pros, moving from the Alberta Junior Hockey League to the then-Central Hockey League in 2011 (after taking a year off nonetheless). After a decade and 472 ECHL games, as well as 43 AHL games, Register is making another unorthodox transition. The Iowa Wild defenseman has signed with the Cardiff Devils of the United Kingdom’s Elite Ice Hockey League, a major change in the caliber of competition from North America. However, if Register is looking for any way to extend his unique career, he may as well become a star in the UK.