It’s another busy day in the world of hockey, with four NHL first-round Game Threes set to be played. The New York Islanders host the Carolina Hurricanes with the goal of avoiding falling into a 3-0 hole, the Florida Panthers host the Patrice Bergeron-less Boston Bruins in Sunrise, the Minnesota Wild are taking on the Dallas Stars in Filip Gustavsson’s return to the crease, and the Los Angeles Kings will be looking to hold off the Edmonton Oilers without Blake Lizotte in their lineup.
In Europe, the top Central European professional league with teams in Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, and Italy wrapped up its season today. A late third-period game-winning goal from Nikolaj Meyer pushed EHC Red Bull Salzburg past HC Bolzano Foxes to win the club’s second title in as many years. In Germany, EHC Red Bull Munich took a 3-1 lead in the DEL finals against ERC Ingolstadt, powered by an impressive shutout performance from number-one netminder Mathias Niederberger. In Sweden, former Philadelphia Flyers prospect David Bernhardt’s overtime winner stunned a sold-out crowd in Stockholm to give MoDo Hockey Ornskoldsvik a 2-1 series lead against Djurgarden in the HockeyAllsvenskan finals, with a place in the SHL on the line.
While all these important games are still being played, teams whose seasons have ended are getting a head start on offseason work. Multiple players have already signed with new teams, inked extensions, or announced departures. We’ll keep track of those moves here.
- A talented Buffalo Sabres prospect might be leaving the organization after just a year in North America. Klaus Zaugg of Swiss news outlet Watson reports that Lukas Rousek could be headed back to Europe, and has been identified by HC Ambri-Piotta as a potential replacement for former Ottawa Senator Filip Chlapik. Rousek, a 2019 sixth-rounder, had an impressive 2022-23 season for the Rochester Americans, scoring 56 points in 70 games. It was a major improvement from the four points in 19 games he posted last season and is more in line with how he played in his native Czechia for HC Sparta Praha. Despite that performance, only got into two NHL games (scoring two points) so he could now be opting for a return to Europe, and his destination could be in Switzerland.
- Recently-relegated SHL side Brynas IF have signed a former Anaheim Ducks prospect for their upcoming promotion push: Jack Kopacka. The 25-year-old signs a one-year contract coming from Kristianstads IK in HockeyAllsvenskan, the league Brynas will now be competing in. This past year was Kopacka’s first playing pro hockey overseas, having spent the past four years before that point in the AHL and ECHL. The 2016 top-1o0 selection scored 27 points in 40 games this season and will help bolster Brynas’ attack after the departure of Dmytro Timashov.
- Former Chicago Blackhawk and longtime Liiga and KHL scorer Petri Kontiola is retiring, according to Jatkoika’s Pasi Jokinen. The 38-year-old has had an illustrious playing career as an overseas pro, compiling a combined 744 points in 1,068 games in the KHL, Liiga, and AHL. Kontiola, who spent the last two seasons in Tampere with Ilves, has taken home quite a few honors over the course of his career: he’s an Olympic Bronze Medal Winner (2014), three-time IIHF World Championship Silver Medalist, and an All-Star in each of the three non-NHL pro leagues he’s played in.
- Former Winnipeg Jets farmhand Kevin Clark is leaving the DEL’s Berlin Polar Bears a year early, having the second year of his contract terminated by mutual agreement. The 35-year-old won the DEL title in his first year in the German capital, and scored 20 goals and 37 points this season. The 2014-15 DEL Player of the Year could now be looking elsewhere to continue his pro career, and would likely be a player of interest to quite a few clubs.
- Breakout SHLer Okar Stahl-Lyrenas is transferring from Rogle BK to HV71, per a team announcement. The 25-year-old Champions Hockey League winner has enjoyed a fast rise over the past three years and seems to have now established himself as a scoring option in Sweden’s top division. He scored 25 goals and 44 points in 2020-21 with Mora IK in HockeyAllsvenskan, earning a spot next season at Rogle. His first year in the SHL last season was uneven (18 points in 47 games) but showed promise, and this season he had a breakout, potting 15 goals and 33 points in 46 games. Now, he joins HV71, a club where his 33 points would have ranked third in team scoring, meaning he may have more to work with than at Rogle where his 33 points ranked second-highest on the team.
- The SHL’s Orebro has announced the signing of defenseman Robin Norell, a former Chicago Blackhawks prospect, from IK Oskarshamn. Norell is an undersized defensive defenseman who has skated in nearly 400 SHL games but produced single-digit points production in all but one season. His career highlights include helping his hometown club, Djurgarden, earn promotion to the SHL in 2013-14 and a 2021-22 season with Oskarshamn where he featured in a run to the SHL semifinals.
- Big six-foot-three blueliner Henry Haase, a veteran of nearly 500 DEL games, will not be returning to his club of the last five years, the Augsburg Panthers. Per a team release, Haase is eyeing a return closer to home, which for him is Berlin. Haase developed into a professional with the Berlin Polar Bears’ junior teams and eventually broke into their first team around 2012, helping them win a DEL title in 2012-13. Haase ended up playing three seasons as a regular in Berlin before signing with Dusseldorf in 2016, and now he could be headed back there just in time for his 30th birthday.
- In terms of players confirmed to be making a return to Berlin, the Polar Bears announced the signing of Blaine Byron, a former Pittsburgh Penguins draft pick who scored 42 points in 43 games in the 2021-22 DEL season. His 14 points in 11 playoff games contributed significantly to Berlin’s 2021-22 title, and after the success of his first overseas pro campaign, he signed with IK Oskarshamn in the SHL. He only managed 12 points in 26 games, though, so despite signing a two-year deal with the Swedish side he’s now headed back to his old stomping grounds to see if he can help lift the Polar Bears back to the DEL championship.
- Five-year college hockey blueliner and former NAHL Defenseman of the Year Eric Gotz has landed his first professional contract. He signed a one-year deal with Krefeld Pinguine, a club in Germany’s DEL2. Gotz scored 15 points in 36 games for Vermont this season and will look to help Krefeld get back to the top division of German hockey, the level they were relegated from last season.
- Former Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Nicolas Mattinen, a big six-foot-five blueliner, has earned a contract in the DEL after a strong first season in European professional hockey. Mattinen is headed to the DEL’s Augsburg Panthers after a year spent with VSV EC in the ICEHL. He scored 42 points in 46 games and clearly excelled at that level of hockey, paving his way to the new challenge he’ll face next fall in the DEL.
This page will be updated throughout the day