Minor Transactions: 09/29/21

Though the numbers have dwindled, there are still many players looking for work this season. The includes in North America, where some are seeking minor league deals or hoping to capitalize on PTOs, as well as in Europe, where most leagues are already underway but players are still trying to find their way into the action. Keep up with all of these transactions here:

• Miraculously, 38-year-old power forward Evgeny Artyukhin is back for another year of hockey. The Russian forward has signed a one-year deal with the KHL’s Admiral Vladivostok, the team announced. Admiral becomes his ninth different KHL club in his 18-year pro career, which also included a multi-year stint in the NHL. Artyukhin is so old (how old is he?) that the last NHL club he played for was the Atlanta Thrashers in 2010. A 2001 Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick, Artyukhin spent two seasons with the Bolts, collecting 33 points in 145, before splitting his final NHL season between the Anaheim Ducks and the Thrashers with 16 points in 54 games. An effective bottom-six forward who played a physical game and could chip in on offense, Artyukhin likely could have played longer in North America, but was always drawn back to Russia. And KHL teams are drawn to him; it seemed that Artyukhin’s career could be over back in 2018-19 when he missed the whole season due to injury, but now he is on to his second contract in two years as he continues to elongate an already impressive career.
• Two Boston PTO’s have earned a contract with the Bruins, the AHL’s Providence Bruins that is. Defensemen Aaron Ness and Jack Dougherty have signed on with the junior Bruins for this season reports Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal. The organization has yet to confirm, but it would not be a shock given that both players are currently in camp. Ness, who turned down a PTO with the Seattle Kraken to join the Bruins instead, is coming of a contract with the Arizona Coyotes and saw NHL action just last year. He brings 72 NHL games and over 500 AHL games worth of experience to Providence. Dougherty, 25, is a former top prospect of the Nashville Predators who has struggled to make his mark in the pros but has been extremely consistent in the minors.
• Jared Cockrell will have to spend another year in the ECHL to prove he is ready for the next level. The former Colgate standout transferred to St. Cloud State last year and appeared in the NCAA Championship with the Huskies. Soon after he signed with the Wheeling Nailers and got in 16 games, but disappointed with only one point and a -8 rating. His college play suggests that he is far better than that performance and he will look to show that this season after re-upping with Wheeling, per a league release. Cockrell will have his eye on establishing more consistent play at both ends in the Coast and then maybe he could be in line for an AHL loan at some point this year.