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Summer Synopsis: Minnesota Wild

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In 10 out of the last 11 years, the Stanley Cup playoffs have featured the Minnesota Wild. Unfortunately for the Wild, the playoffs have not featured them for very long, as the team has been unable to appear in the Western Conference Finals since the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Still dealing with the financial ramifications of buying out both Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, Minnesota has had little cap space to work with, but General Manager Bill Guerin has done some solid work doing the best with what he has. After the 2024-25 season, the team will be off the hook for most of the financial penalty caused by the buyouts, and they are hoping to tread water with this team until then.

However, with the team continuing to age, especially the defensive core, it may prove to be a bit difficult for the Wild to become one of the top teams in the Western Conference. The team did well in retaining some key players this summer but mostly nibbled around the edges in terms of the free agent and trade markets.

Draft

1-21: F Charlie Stramel, Wisconsin (NCAA)
2-53: F Rasmus Kumpulainen, Pelicans (U20 SM-Sarja)
2-64: F Riley Heidt, Prince George (WHL)
5-149: D Aaron Pionk, Waterloo (USHL)
6-181: D Kalem Parker, Victoria (WHL)
7-213: F James Clark, Green Bay (USHL)

In their first-round selection in Stramel, the Wild have found a player with a similar frame to Marcus Foligno, with a higher ceiling. Stramel is a solid player in the tight areas of the game, proving an ability to battle and score goals in front of the net. In his first season playing for the University of Wisconsin last year, Stramel played in 33 games, scoring seven goals and five assists. There are some concerns about Stramel, however; as many scouts have noted that his early growth spurt may have caused him to look more talented than he actually was at the time, noting that his development pace has slowed in recent years.

The team’s second-round pick, Kumpulainen, appears to be a bit of a reach. In last year’s U18 World Juniors Championships, he was a big part of Team Finland, scoring five points in five games, and playing in nearly all situations for the team. However, although he is incredibly competitive, meaning he could certainly will his way to the NHL level, his raw talent doesn’t strike much confidence in his development. It will be very difficult for the Minnesota development coaches to grow his skating ability to a professional standard, and that may prove too difficult to overcome.

Trade Acquisitions

F Pat Maroon (from Tampa Bay)
F Maxim Cajkovic (from Tampa Bay)

Acquired in the same trade from the Tampa Bay Lightning back in July, the move to acquire Maroon is likely to replace the void left in the absence of Ryan Reaves. After being acquired from the New York Rangers in late November, Reaves provided a lot of energy and fire into the Wild lineup and became a solid leader for the club. Much like Reaves, Maroon should slot into the bottom six of the Minnesota forward group, and provide the same leadership and physical presence as he did with the Lightning.

A throw-in player for the most part, Cajkovic has split the past two seasons between the AHL and the ECHL. A third-round pick for Tampa Bay back in the 2019 NHL Draft, Cajkovic spent the majority of last season with the Orlando Solar Bears, scoring 10 goals and 17 assists in 41 games. There is a chance that he could earn a spot on the Iowa Wild’s roster next year, but his most likely landing spot will be with the Iowa Heartlanders of the ECHL.

Key UFA Signings

F Vinni Lettieri (two years, $1.55MM)*
F Jacob Lucchini (one year, $775K)*

* denotes two-way contract

This summer, most of Minnesota’s available cap space was reinvested back into the team, locking in players such as Brandon Duhaime and Filip Gustavsson, as well as seeing a big contract extension kick in for forward Matt Boldy. Keeping that in mind, it was no surprise to see the Wild only make a pair of two-way signings.

Both Lettieri and Luccini will spend the majority of next season in the AHL, and assuming the health of the Wild this year, may not see NHL minutes at all.

Key Departures

D Matt Dumba (Arizona, one year, $3.9MM)
D John Klingberg (Toronto, one year, $4.15MM)
F Gustav Nyquist (Nashville, two years, $6.37MM)
F Ryan Reaves (Toronto, three years, $4.05MM)
F Sam Steel (Dallas, one year, $800K)
F Oskar Sundqvist (St.Louis, one year, $775K)

Fortunately for Minnesota, most of this group were trade deadline acquisitions, meaning they did survive for much of last season without much of this group. However, it is a lot of NHL talent to see walk away from your team over a summer. Due to the $14MM of dead cap on their books for the next two seasons, there was just no possible reality in which the Wild could retain most of this group. Because Minnesota did lose so much talent and failed to replace them in any meaningful way, it is tough to say the Wild got better this offseason.

Dumba and Reaves will make up the largest holes for the team to fill in terms of leadership. Dumba had spent the last decade making up a significant part of Minnesota’s defensive core, and although his offensive numbers took a significant dip along the way, his presence will surely be missed by the Wild.

Salary Cap Outlook

Over the next seasons, given their financial circumstances due to the Parise and Suter buyouts, the Wild will merely have to try and survive in a competitive Western Conference. In a top-heavy Central Division, there is a pathway for them to clinch a playoff spot as a third seed, but they are simply not improving enough to be considered a legitimate playoff threat.

Going into this year, the Wild have a touch over $1.6MM available to them in cap space, and much like they did last year, should spend a good chunk of that at next year’s deadline. They will have a bit of breathing room next summer, as the cap is expected to increase by a more favorable margin for them, but with Foligno and Mats Zuccarello scheduled to hit the unrestricted free agent market next offseason, there may be another repeat of some notable players walking out of the door.

Key Question

What Is This Team Missing? To put it into perspective, last year, the Wild had a 40-goal scorer star in Kirill Kaprizov, a formidable defensive unit (especially post-trade deadline), and a goalie with a SV% above .930. On the other hand, the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, the Vegas Golden Knights, only had one of those things during the regular season. Yet, once again, the Wild were simply outmatched in the first round of the playoffs, losing in six games to the Dallas Stars. Because the organization has put together some solid teams and continues to lose early in the playoffs, it has become difficult to point the finger at any individual part of the lineup.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Brad Maxwell Passes Away

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Longtime Minnesota North Stars defenseman Brad Maxwell passed away Sunday after a battle with lung cancer, the Minnesota Wild said today. He was 66 years old.

Born in 1957 in Brandon, Manitoba, Maxwell played his junior hockey for the WCHL’s New Westminster Bruins before going seventh overall to the North Stars in the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft. As a rookie the following season, he was arguably the best player on a team that managed just 18 wins, recording 47 points in 75 games while hitting 100 penalty minutes, a mark the physical playmaker would hit six more times in his career. He would go on to become a premier defender for parts of nine seasons in Minnesota, spending some later career stops with the New York Rangers, Quebec Nordiques, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Vancouver Canucks.

In his 613-game career spanning from 1977 to 1987, Maxwell spent years quarterbacking the North Stars’ power play and finished with 98 career goals, 270 assists and 368 points. He would add a -83 rating and 1,292 penalty minutes. His final entire season as a North Star, 1983-84, was his best. It was the only season of his career that earned him All-Star consideration, recording career-highs across the board with 19 goals, 54 assists and 73 points in 78 games.

Maxwell would become a mainstay in the Minnesota community after retiring, starting a business and making the state his post-hockey home. He would go on to become the Minnesota NHL Alumni Association president and was responsible for bringing the alumni contingent that represented the North Stars against the Chicago Blackhawks at the contest preceding the 2016 Stadium Series game in Minneapolis between the Wild and Chicago.

We at Pro Hockey Rumors extend our condolences to his family, friends and the Minnesota hockey community.

Current Projections For Addison's Contract Would Eliminate Remaining Cap Space

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  • Ian Mendes and Shayna Goldman of The Athletic assess (subscription link) the remaining restricted free agents around the NHL including Wild blueliner Calen Addison. Last month, it was reported that the team hopes Addison would either take his qualifying offer worth $787.5K or sign for close to it.  However, the contract various projection models place his value closer to twice that value.  Minnesota has around $1.6MM in cap space at the moment per CapFriendly but also needs to keep some money for in-season movement.  Signing Addison for what the models value him at – which could be what his camp is seeking – would certainly limit their in-season flexibility.

August Free Agency Update: Central Division

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As even most mid-tier free agents are now off the market, it’s a good time to look at how each team has fared on the free agent market this offseason. We’re publishing a list of one-way signings (i.e., likelier to start the season on the NHL roster) by team, per division, to keep you updated on NHL player movement since the new league year began on July 1.

Asterisked players denote a restricted free agent. Double-asterisked players denote the contract starts in the 2024-25 season. Next up is the Central Division. You can check out the list of Atlantic Division signings here and the list of Metropolitan Division signings here.

Arizona Coyotes

F Jason Zucker (one year, $5.3MM cap hit)
D Mathew Dumba (one year, $3.9MM cap hit)
F Alexander Kerfoot (two years, $3.5MM cap hit)
*F Matias Maccelli (three years, $3.425MM cap hit)
F Nick Bjugstad (two years, $2.1MM cap hit)
*F Jack McBain (two years, $1.599MM cap hit)
D Troy Stecher (one year, $1.1MM cap hit)

Chicago Blackhawks

*F Philipp Kurashev (two years, $2.25MM cap hit)
F Ryan Donato (two years, $2MM cap hit)

Colorado Avalanche

*F Ross Colton (four years, $4MM cap hit)
*D Bowen Byram (two years, $3.85MM cap hit)
F Miles Wood (six years, $2.5MM cap hit)
F Jonathan Drouin (one year, $825K cap hit)
F Andrew Cogliano (one year, 35+ contract, $825K cap hit)
D Jack Johnson (one year, 35+ contract, $775K cap hit)
*F Ben Meyers (one year, $775K cap hit)

Dallas Stars

F Matt Duchene (one year, $3MM cap hit)
F Craig Smith (one year, $1MM cap hit)
*F Ty Dellandrea (one year, $900K cap hit)
F Sam Steel (one year, $850K cap hit)
D Joel Hanley (two years, $787.5K cap hit)
D Gavin Bayreuther (one year, $775K cap hit)

Minnesota Wild

*G Filip Gustavsson (three years, $3.75MM cap hit)
*F Brandon Duhaime (one year, $1.1MM cap hit)

Nashville Predators

F Ryan O’Reilly (four years, $4.5MM cap hit)
F Gustav Nyquist (two years, $3.185MM cap hit)
D Luke Schenn (three years, $2.75MM cap hit)
*F Cody Glass (two years, $2.5MM cap hit)
*D Alexandre Carrier (one year, $2.5MM cap hit)
F Denis Gurianov (one year, $850K cap hit)

St. Louis Blues

*F Alexey Toropchenko (two years, $1.25MM cap hit)
F Mackenzie MacEachern (two years, $775K cap hit)
F Oskar Sundqvist (one year, $775K cap hit)

Winnipeg Jets

*F Gabriel Vilardi (two years, $3.438MM cap hit)
F Vladislav Namestnikov (two years, $2MM cap hit)
G Laurent Brossoit (one year, $1.75MM cap hit)
*D Dylan Samberg (two years, $1.4MM cap hit)
*F Morgan Barron (two years, $1.35MM cap hit)
*F Rasmus Kupari (two years, $1MM cap hit)
G Collin Delia (one year, $775K cap hit)
F Jeffrey Viel (one year, $775K cap hit)

Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Update On This Year’s August 15 Free Agents

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Most NHL free agent business is dealt with in the early summer months. There is one important date later each year, however. August 15 marks the date when NHL teams lose their exclusive signing rights to most college-drafted players if they’ve graduated (or completed without graduating) college and are not yet signed to an entry-level contract.

Earlier this month, we published a list of players slated to hit the UFA market yesterday if not signed to an ELC within the coming days. However, the guidelines the NHL uses to determine a college graduate are some of the most complex sets of rules relating to contractual obligations in pro sports. That means it’s often impossible to glean a full list of players whose rights have expired (or not expired) until after the August 15 deadline has passed.

This year was no different, as CapFriendly issued multiple updates today on their X account regarding the list of August 15 free agents they’d made public earlier in the month. Three players who were slated to expire actually remained on their team’s reserve list: Calgary Flames 2018 fourth-round pick F Demetrios Koumontzis, Ottawa Senators 2018 seventh-round pick F Jakov Novak, and Senators 2018 second-round pick D Jonny Tychonick.

On the flip side, 12 players they expected to remain on teams’ reserve lists hit the free-agent market yesterday. With that in mind, we have a revised, accurate list of players who became unrestricted free agents yesterday. Asterisked players were not originally expected to come off their team’s reserve list.

Anaheim Ducks

*F Trevor Janicke (2019 fifth round, 132nd overall)

Arizona Coyotes

F John Farinacci (2019 third round, 76th overall)
*F Anthony Romano (2019 sixth round, 176th overall)

Boston Bruins

*D Dustyn McFaul (2018 sixth round, 181st overall)

Calgary Flames

*F Joshua Nodler (2019 fifth round, 150th overall)

Carolina Hurricanes

F Kevin Wall (2019 sixth round, 181st overall)

Chicago Blackhawks

F Jake Wise (2018 third round, 69th overall)

Colorado Avalanche

*F Matt Stienburg (2019 third round, 63rd overall)

Columbus Blue Jackets

D Robbie Stucker (2017 seventh round, 210th overall)

Detroit Red Wings

F Robert Mastrosimone (2019 second round, 54th overall)
*F Ethan Phillips (2019 fourth round, 97th overall)

Edmonton Oilers

F Skyler Brind’Amour (2017 sixth round, 177th overall)

Minnesota Wild

*D Marshall Warren (2019 sixth round, 166th overall)

New Jersey Devils

*D Case McCarthy (2019 fourth round, 118th overall)
*F Patrick Moynihan (2019 sixth round, 158th overall)

New York Islanders

D Christian Krygier (2018 seventh round, 196th overall)
F Jacob Pivonka (2018 fourth round, 103rd overall)

New York Rangers

*F Eric Ciccolini (2019 seventh round, 205th overall)
*F Riley Hughes (2018 seventh round, 216th overall)

Ottawa Senators

*F Luke Loheit (2018 seventh round, 194th overall)

Philadelphia Flyers

F Jay O’Brien (2018 first round, 19th overall)

San Jose Sharks

D Arvid Henrikson (2016 seventh round, 187th overall) Originally drafted by the Montreal Canadiens

Toronto Maple Leafs

D Ryan O’Connell (2017 seventh round, 203rd overall)

Winnipeg Jets

G Jared Moe (2018 sixth round, 184th overall)

Of the list above, Krygier and Pivonka are remaining in the Islanders organization on confirmed AHL contracts for 2023-24, although they remain eligible to sign with another NHL team should one come calling. All others are either returning to school for 2023-24, have contracts signed in other leagues, or are not signed for next season.

Notably, this is the official confirmation that the Flyers’ exclusive signing rights of O’Brien have lapsed. As compensation for not signing a first-round pick to their entry-level contract, the Flyers will receive a compensatory second-round pick from the league in the 2024 NHL Draft.

Wild Open To Playing Yurov At Center Down The Road

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  • Minnesota is open to trying to turn prospect Danila Yurov into a center down the road, relays NHL.com’s Jessi Pierce. The 19-year-old was a first-round pick (22nd overall) by the Wild last year and is set to remain with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL next season before coming to North America.  Generally speaking, teams often allow center prospects to develop on the wing to start so it might take some time before Minnesota determines whether this is an experiment worth pursuing.  However, finding and developing an impact young middleman has proven to be a challenge in recent years so if Yurov could be up to the task down the road, he’d help fill a big organizational void.

Jesper Wallstedt Named Best Goalie Prospect By NHL Network

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  • NHL Network released their yearly list of the league’s Top 50 Prospects, with 2023-drafted players taking the first four spots on the list. To no one’s surprise, Chicago Blackhawks projected first-line center Connor Bedard tops the list as a projected generational talent, but a fair amount would argue recency bias was quite strong in this year’s list. New Jersey Devils 2021 draft pick Luke Hughes was ranked as the top defenseman at number five on their list, while Minnesota Wild netminder Jesper Wallstedt was ranked as the top netminder at #21.

Lessening Suter, Parise Buyouts Will Free Up Cap Space For Kaprizov Extension

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The most obvious of these is the Boston Bruins. As we mentioned last week, the team is not shy about looking to replace the roles of David Krejčí and Patrice Bergeron by any means possible. Lindholm, who finished second in Selke Trophy voting in 2022 and posted positive relative Corsi for percentages in the first four of his five seasons in Calgary, is easily the closest stylistic replacement for Bergeron available in terms of his two-way acumen. However, as McKenzie and Goldman rightly note, the likelihood of the Bruins being unable to pony up the assets needed to win a bidding war for Lindholm is high, given the rather ghoulish state of their prospect pool and draft pick stash. McKenzie and Goldman also mentioned the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Vancouver Canucks as teams with a need for center help and assets available to spend.

  • The Minnesota Wild’s offseason hasn’t been dominated by the moves they’ve made, but rather the moves they can’t make because of $14.75MM in dead cap allocated to the buyouts of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise. With their combined cap hits set to decrease to just $1.67MM ahead of the 2025-26 season, Joe Smith and Michael Russo of The Athletic examined what options the additional cap space might open up for the Wild in two seasons. They note the biggest use of that cap space will undoubtedly be an extension for star winger Kirill Kaprizov, who will be entering the final season of his five-year, $45MM contract and will require a hefty extension to avoid him becoming a free agent.

Minor Transactions: 08/02/23

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The few notable NHL signings that remain are set to wrap up in the next few days with the conclusion of arbitration hearings. It may bring the North American major pro news cycle to a halt briefly, but junior, minor pro and European teams are still making waves daily as their seasons loom. Today’s notable minor transactions can be found here:

  • The OHL’s Oshawa Generals are bringing over Minnesota Wild center prospect Rasmus Kumpulainen for the 2023-24 campaign after selecting him 13th overall in this year’s CHL Import Draft, according to a release from his team in the Finnish Liiga, Pelicans. Minnesota selected Kumpulainen with the 53rd overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft after he notched 11 goals, 23 assists and 34 points in 41 games with Pelicans’ junior team in the U20 SM-sarja. Kumpulainen had a strong finish to the 2022-23 campaign at the IIHF U-18 World Junior Championship, recording five points in five games for Finland. A prototypical two-way center, Kumpulainen will continue to build on his offense and fill out his 6-foot-3 frame during his time in Oshawa. Pelicans also mentioned they’d reached an agreement to retain Kumpulainen’s Liiga rights through 2026.
  • Former Arizona Coyotes and Boston Bruins defense prospect Mitchell Miller is continuing his hockey career, but as expected, it’s not in North America. His 2016 assault conviction of a Black classmate with developmental disabilities has now cost him two NHL roles – including Boston parting ways with him just two days after signing him in free agency back in November. Late last month, the New York Post’s Larry Brooks reported the contract between Miller and the Bruins had officially been terminated via settlement. He’s now signed a one-year deal with HK 32 Liptovský Mikuláš in the Slovak Extraliga, per NorthStar Bets’ Chris Johnston.
  • Long-time Buffalo Sabres organizational farmhand Sean Malone is heading overseas, signing a two-year deal with NL club SCL Tigers. Malone had spent five of his six pro seasons in the Sabres organization after graduating from Harvard but got into just one NHL game with Buffalo during that time. He’d been an important top-six fixture for the AHL’s Rochester Americans, though, helping along Buffalo’s young prospects as they developed through their system. The 28-year-old center now heads to Switzerland, where he joins an offense led by Florida Panthers prospect Aleksi Saarela and former New Jersey Devil Harri Pesonen.
  • Forward Daniel Walcott is returning to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch on a one-year deal, according to NHL.com’s Patrick Williams. A 2014 draft pick of the New York Rangers, they dealt Walcott to the Tampa Bay Lightning just a year later after signing his entry-level contract. He’s spent eight seasons with the Crunch since then, amassing 111 points across 378 games. Walcott does have one NHL appearance to his name, coming with the Lightning in 2020-21. The physical winger, who’s also played defense at times during his career, mustered a personal record of 13 goals, 32 points, and 103 penalty minutes in 67 games for Syracuse last season.
  • The OHL’s Niagara IceDogs acquired Montreal Canadiens defense prospect Daniil Sobolev from the Windsor Spitfires in exchange for three late-round 2024 OHL Draft picks today, according to a team release. Montreal drafted the physical shutdown defender with the 142nd overall pick in 2021 after he didn’t play at all in his draft year – the 2020-21 OHL season was canceled entirely due to COVID-19. Since, he’s registered three goals, 23 assists, 26 points, 92 penalty minutes, and a +37 rating in 110 games across two seasons with the Spitfires. To finish off his junior career, Sobolev joins an IceDogs team that’s finished at the bottom of the league in each of the last three seasons, winning just 12 of 68 games last season.
  • Kumpulainen isn’t the only NHL-affiliated European prospect heading to the CHL today. Carolina Hurricanes goalie prospect Jakub Vondras has committed to the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves for next season after they selected him 22nd overall in this year’s CHL Import Draft, per the league. Vondras, a sixth-round pick of Carolina in 2022, posted a sparkling .929 save percentage and 2.19 goals-against average in 29 games with HC Plzen’s U20 club in the Czech junior Extraliga last season.
  • The AHL’s Chicago Wolves have re-signed defenseman Cavan Fitzgerald to a one-year AHL contract. This move confirms that Fitzgerald, 26, will play a fourth consecutive season with Chicago. The undrafted left-shot blueliner scored 10 points in 30 games for the Wolves last season and played 17 playoff games during the team’s Calder Cup Championship run in 2022. He has 250 games of AHL experience under his belt, meaning he is just ten games away from no longer qualifying under the first tier of “development players” according to the AHL’s rules. As a result, 2023-24 is an extremely important season for Fitzgerald as he’ll need to provide consistent value for the Wolves in order to prove he’s worthy of a non-developmental player slot moving forward. AHL clubs are limited in that they can only dress five skaters who do not qualify as development players under either of the two pro games played thresholds.
  • Former Coyotes prospect Lucas Lessio has signed a one-year contract with the ICEHL’s Bolzano Foxes, making Italy the eleventh different country he’ll have played professional hockey in. Lessio, 30, has played around the world, from Croatia to China to Latvia to Germany, and spent last season playing for Klagenfurt in Austria. He didn’t score as well for Klagenfurt (14 goals, 28 points in 47 games) as he did the year before in the DEL for the Krefeld Penguins (25 goals, 41 points in 56 games) but wasn’t useless either, and will likely play an important role for the ICEHL finalists in Bolzano.
  • The Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears have signed defenseman Colin Swoyer to a one-year AHL contract. The 25-year-old spent most of last season playing AHL hockey for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, scoring 11 points in 36 games. Swoyer was a pending RFA for the Penguins but did not receive a qualifying offer from the organization. He did also play six games in the ECHL for the Wheeling Nailers, although those games all came in early December and after being called up for a December 17th contest against the Bears Swoyer didn’t return to the ECHL. 2022-23 was Swoyer’s first full season playing professional hockey, as he concluded his four-year NCAA career at Michigan Tech last spring and only got a five-game trial run with the Penguins before the season ended. Now he’ll head to Hershey looking to continue to establish himself in the AHL.
  • The AHL’s San Diego Gulls have signed two players to one-year AHL contracts: veteran forward Eddie Matsushima and rookie Anthony Costantini. Matsushima, 29, scored 28 goals and 47 points for the Tulsa Oilers last season, earning ECHL All-Star honors. He played NCAA Division-III hockey at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and worked his way into professional hockey starting with the Pensacola Ice Flyers of the SPHL. He produced well enough there to earn a few cameos in the ECHL before breaking in full-time with Tulsa. Now, he’ll get a chance to continue his climb up the pro hockey ladder and skate in some AHL games. As for Costantini, he’s a 20-year-old right-shot blueliner who scored 36 points in 67 games for the Ottawa 67’s of the OHL and could now be making his pro debut with the Gulls.
  • The AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds have added some depth, signing 26-year-old Jacob Hayhurst to a one-year AHL contract. Hayhurst split last season between the ECHL’s Worcester Railers (22 points in 35 games) and AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds, where he played in a depth role and scored six points in 24 games. He’ll likely end up on the AHL/ECHL bubble for the Firebirds as well next season, serving as valuable depth as well as some veteran competition for prospects entering their first AHL campaigns such as Ryan Winterton and Tucker Robertson.
  • Rihards Bukarts, the leading scorer of the Latvian team that won the hockey-mad country their first-ever medal at an IIHF Men’s World Championship earlier this summer, will not be returning to his club of last season, Klagenfurt of the ICEHL. Bukarts, 27, scored 13 goals and 25 points in 28 games in Austria and as mentioned finished his season on a very high note, leading the Latvians with 11 points in 10 games. Bukarts has experience as a scorer in ICEHL, DEL, KHL, and Czechia, and last played in North America in 2016-17, when he scored 33 points in 37 games for the ECHL’s Manchester Monarchs.
  • Longtime University of Wisconsin forward Dominik Mersch and former Barrie Colts captain Luke Bignell have each signed ECHL contracts with the Jacksonville Icemen. Mersch, 24, concluded a five-year, 164-game career with the Badgers in March and got a two-game cameo in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves, his first taste of pro hockey. He’ll make his full-time debut as a professional player with the Icemen, as will Bignell. The 22-year-old left-shot defenseman played nearly 200 games in the OHL for the Colts and has spent the last two seasons playing on the Canadian university circuit for the University of Guelph.
  • Undrafted OHL blueliner Lleyton Moore, the former captain of the Oshawa Generals, will begin his pro career with the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder. He signed a one-year contract with the team and will look to translate his impressive numbers from major junior (he scored 54 points in 67 games in 2021-22) to the pro game in Kansas.
  • Bruising ECHL defenseman Josh Thrower, a veteran of nearly 250 games in North America’s third-tier league, has signed a one-year ECHL contract with the Norfolk Admirals. The 27-year-old played in 39 games with the Atlanta Gladiators last season and has spent three of the past four seasons with the club. Now he’s off to play for the Admirals where he will contend to lead the team in penalty minutes having already racked up 389 in the ECHL.
  • Former Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Stephen Desrocher has signed with the Fife Flyers of the EIHL. The six-foot-four defenseman and former Kingston Frontenacs captain heads to Scotland having played just 31 total games of pro hockey. He played four seasons and spent five years at the University of Western Ontario before signing in the ECHL with the Florida Everblades. He made his pro debut there and lifted the Kelly Cup with the team. He played 10 games in the AlpsHL last season with Merano HC and now heads to the United Kingdom to continue his young pro career.

This page will be updated throughout the day.

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