Entering his 15th season as a pro (drafted by St. Louis in 1995, round 6 #153 overall), 34-year old vet Denis Hamel(17) returns to Adirondack for another season with the Phantoms.
Not only is he well-liked by the organization but he put up 50 points in 66 games to lead the team in scoring. He’s a leader in every aspect of the game.
Drafted by Boston Bruins in the 2005 (4th round, #100 overall) defenseman Jonathan Sigalet(5) spent three years with P-Bruins before being signed by Columbus and spending another three years in the minors with their AHL affiliate.
He’s skated in only one career NHL game.
For 2011/2012, he has jumped at an opportunity he likely couldn’t pass up, joining HC Lev Poprad in the KHL.
Chaz Johnson(8) enters his 7th year pro signing an ECHL contract with Chicago Express for the 2011/2012 season.
He’s played most of his games in the ECHL over the last 5 years but has seen time in the AHL each season.
After 5 seasons in the AHL (the past two as part of Worcester Sharks), TJ Trevelyan(24) signs to play in Germany next season with Augsburger Panther.
We wish him well and remember listening to games he played early on as a rookie in the ECHL with Long Beach Ice Dogs.
Fan favorite and all around good guy, veteran defenseman Sean Sullivan(37) signed another one-year, two-way contract with San Jose.
In his four years since turning pro in 2007 with Phoenix Coyotes, he has yet to see any NHL action. He was the leading scorer with Worcester last season. Hopefully he gets a shot this year but he’s probably low on their depth chart and is seen as a leader for the guys in the AHL.
2nd year pro defenseman Nick Schaus(6) has found himself a new team to play for next season as San Jose Sharks decided not to re-sign him after a year in the AHL with Worcester. Syracuse Crunch saw an opportunity to help their team on the blue line and inked an AHL contract with him for 2011/2012.
I expect him to make this move a good one for the Crunch.
After a couple of seasons under AHL contracts with Worcester Sharks, Brockton, MA native Cory Quirk(11) leaves North American hockey and signs to play in Germany with Starbulls Rosenheim for 2011/2012.
Undrafted goaltender Carter Hutton(30) came off a whirlwind rookie year, where as the back-up for Worcester Sharks he played 22 games due to starting goalie Alex Stalock‘s year-ending injury. He also freakishly saw time with San Jose Sharks, when their back-up goalie went down with injury and with Stalock out too, there was only one guy left to turn to. He didn’t appear in any NHL games but likely took some shots in practice from a couple guys named Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.
The Sharks didn’t re-sign him for another season, as they kind of have a glut of goalie prospects in the system, but Rockford Ice Hogs did the right thing and signed him to an AHL contract.
Looks like he’ll be trading in that shark on top of his mask in for a hog next season. I can see it now.
Seems strange to be using the word veteran when describing Minnesota Wild‘s 2003 2nd round pick (#56 overall) Patrick O’Sullivan(16), but the 2011/2012 season will be his 7th year as a pro.
Last season he came full circle ending up with Houston Aeros in the AHL Calder Cup Finals but made stops along the way in Los Angeles, Manchester, Edmonton and Carolina, where he played in 311 NHL games (56 goals, 101 assists).
Minnesota decided not to re-up with him, so Phoenix stepped in offering a one-year, two-way contract. He will likely see time in Portland, which will return him to AHL play in New England for the first time since 2007.
After his season-ending injury last February, the word is Sharks‘ 2005 4th round (#115 overall) draft pick, goalie Alex Stalock(32) won’t be seeing the ice again until sometime late in the 2012 season. Click here to view the story.
Despite the injury that effectively puts him out of action for the upcoming season, the Sharks still re-signed him for another one-year, two-way contract. Why not two? He’s earned it.
