• Longtime AHL sniper Martin Frk’s stint with Swiss National League club SC Bern is over after just 11 games despite signing a two-year deal this summer. However, he won’t need to travel very far to find his next opportunity – he’s staying in the NL with SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers on a contract for the remainder of 2023-24, according to a team release. The team has been hit with injuries to their import players, including former NHL forward Brett Connolly, who will miss the rest of the season after undergoing hip surgery. That opened up a spot for a non-Swiss-born player, so the Czech goal-scorer will enter the lineup. Frk, 30, had three goals and four assists for seven points with Bern until his tenure with the team ended today.
• With Frk off the roster, SC Bern has exercised the option of another import player with NHL experience – Finnish winger Joona Luoto, who will remain in Bern through the end of the season after signing a tryout contract in September. Luoto, 26, is currently sidelined with an undisclosed injury but is expected to return to the team in December. He’s off to a strong start this year, recording seven goals and four assists for 11 points in 17 games, leading the team in goals. He made seven NHL appearances with the Columbus Blue Jackets last season, failing to register on the scoresheet.
• Former Florida Panthers forward prospect Henry Bowlby is on his way overseas, signing a contract with Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League for the remainder of 2023-24. In doing so, Bowlby terminates the one-year AHL deal he had signed this season with the Colorado Eagles after scoring one goal and three points in seven games. The 26-year-old hasn’t shown the ability to produce much more than an average middle-six AHL forward since turning pro in 2020 and will now try his hand in the European ranks of pro hockey.

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Bowlby, 25, was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Harvard in 2020, and quickly showed that there may have been some underutilized offensive talent in the winger. In his short run with the Syracuse Crunch in 2020-21 (when the Florida teams shared an AHL affiliate), he scored eight goals and 14 points in 23 games. This year, those numbers dipped a bit but he still managed to put up 12 goals and 28 points in 64 games for the Charlotte Checkers.

For a player who never scored more than eight goals or 16 points in any of his three college seasons, but still managed to land an entry-level contract, it’s been a strong first impression at the professional level. Now, if he’s to ever push for an NHL job, he’ll have to take another step forward and prove he can be a reliable, two-way force for the Checkers this season. Still waiver-exempt, he’ll be headed for the AHL to start the year.