Minor Transactions: 01/26/23

It’s a busy Thursday night on the NHL schedule, with nearly twenty teams set to do battle. Highlights from tonight include a heated rivalry matchup between Alex Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals and Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins, and a showdown between the league-leading Boston Bruins and the defending three-time Prince of Wales Trophy winners, the Tampa Bay Lightning. As hockey fans soak in all of tonight’s matchups, teams from across the hockey world have been making tweaks to their rosters. We’ll track those moves here.

• Former WHL star and New York Rangers prospect Ty Ronning has decided to continue his professional career in Europe. The 25-year-old 2016 seventh-round pick is perhaps best known for scoring 61 goals in the 2017-18 WHL season. He’s been a decent scorer at the AHL level, potting 18 goals and 39 points last season, and is now headed to Germany to play for ERC Ingolstadt in the DEL. Ingolstadt has been ravaged by injuries this season, so the addition of Ronning should be able to help them during a crucial stretch of their DEL campaign.
• Ingolstadt made another move today, signing 22-year-old defenseman Leon Huttl to a two-year extension, meaning he will be under contract with the Bavarian side until 2026. After spending several seasons in the German second division, Huttl has firmly established himself as a regular in Germany’s top division in Ingolstadt. He routinely plays over 20 minutes per night, with some games reaching closer to 25 minutes. He represented Germany at the 2020 World Juniors and now gets some early stability in his pro career.
• Former Boston Bruins prospect Cedric Pare has had a successful PTO with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, and today had that PTO made into a full contract according to the AHL’s official transactions page. The big 24-year-old had a solid professional debut in 2020-21, scoring 17 goals and 40 points in 67 ECHL games for the Utah Grizzlies. That performance earned him an AHL deal for 2021-22, but he struggled immensely, scoring just 10 points in 41 games. This season, he’s spent most of his time in the ECHL until being signed to a PTO by the Eagles in November. He’s got seven points in 19 games for Colorado, and will now get to finish his season there.
• Daniel Glad has helped two teams to promotion from the HockeyAllsvenskan to the SHL in his career, and now he’s set to try to help a third team make the jump. Djurgardens IF, a prominent Swedish club recently relegated to the Allvenskan, has announced the signing of Glad to a two-year deal. Glad, a 30-year-old blueliner with extensive experience in the top two divisions of Swedish hockey, should be able to help add some valuable experience to a Djurgarden team filled with talented prospects, such as 2022 first-rounders Liam Ohgren and Noah Ostlund.
• Trey Bradley, a star scorer in the ECHL, is headed to Sweden to continue his professional career. Ostersunds IK, a club in the HockeyAllsvenskan, has announced the signing of Bradley on one of the team’s social media channels. The 26-year-old has scored 82 points in his last 68 ECHL games, and heads to Sweden now with a strong track record of being a difference-maker at North America’s third tier of pro hockey.
• Olli Palola is switching from Liiga to the SHL. The Finnish scorer, who has a track record of production in Liiga, the KHL, and the SHL has transferred from HIFK Helsinki to Timra IK. The 34-year-old scored just six points in 21 games in the Finnish capital this season, and now heads to Sweden with the hope that a change of scenery can get him back to his old scoring ways.
• Carolina Hurricanes prospect Simon Forsmark could also be on the move to Timra. One of two Hurricanes’ 2022 fourth-round picks, Forsmark has struggled to see the lineup consistently this season for Orebro. Johan Svensson of SportExpressen reports that Forsmark has signed with Timra, leaving Orebro. The move is presumably with the intention of earning more ice time, which is likely of interest to the Hurricanes who will want to see Forsmark put forth as much tape as possible as they eventually weigh whether to sign him to an entry-level deal.
• Veteran minor league defenseman Mathieu Brodeur, a 2008 third-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes and 2020-21 Kelly Cup Champion, has chosen to hang up his skates. In an announcement released by the ECHL’s Trois-Rivieres Lions, Brodeur detailed the reasons behind his choice. The 32-year-old defenseman finishes a career that spanned from San Antonio to Slovakia and France playing for the ECHL affiliate of his hometown team, the Montreal Canadiens.
• The ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates have acquired forward Dylan Sadowy from the Iowa Heartlanders, per the ECHL’s official transactions page. The Heartlanders claimed Sadowy off of waivers yesterday, and have now dealt him to Georgia without having dressed him for a single game. Sadowy, the 81st overall pick at the 2014 draft, is a Calder Cup champion and former ECHL All-Star. He scored 50 points in 51 games for the Tulsa Oilers last season, but was waived by the team this year having scored just 14 points in 30 games. He’ll now get a change of scenery in Savannah, joining a team that is currently struggling to find consistent scorers.
• The ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers have released defenseman Roy Kanda. The 22-year-old defenseman has taken a unique developmental path to North American professional hockey. He hails from Hokkaido, Japan, and he played hockey in Japan before heading to Finland to continue his development and has begun his pro career in the SPHL. With three games of ECHL experience now under his belt, Kanda will look to earn another look in the East Coast league by continuing his SPHL career.
• The ECHL’s Allen Americans have signed goaltender Justin Kapelmaster. The 27-year-old won the Kelly Cup with Allen in 2020-21, before bouncing around to four additional teams in the ECHL. Kapelmaster signed with the Reading Royals in August and earned a PTO with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. In December, Kapelmaster was released by the Royals, who elected to run with 22-year-old Nolan Maier as their starter. He signed with the Jacksonville Icemen shortly afterward but didn’t get into a game there before being released on New Year’s Eve. Now he lands back in Allen and will look to recapture the success he found in his first go-around with the Americans.
• The EIHL’s Nottingham Panthers have released veteran defenseman Craig Moore. The Scottish blueliner has been a fixture in the United Kingdom’s top league for several seasons, suiting up for the Cardiff Devils, Fife Flyers, Glasgow Clan, Dudee Stars, and the Panthers. Moore has played almost 250 games in the EIHL in his career, and will likely look for another contract in that league in order to continue his professional career.

This page will be updated throughout the day.