Undrafted 5th year left wing/defenseman Mathieu Gagnon(21) takes a career best ECHL campaign over to the EIHL signing with Nottingham Panthers for 2017/2018.
He scored a new high 4 goals and 11 assists for 15 points with a +10 rating in 45 games with Brampton Beast.
The 6’2″ 215 lbs. tough as nails forward/d-man even kept his time in the penalty box to a minimum with only 5 fighting majors, down from 15 in 2015/2016 and 18 as a rookie in 2013/2014.
He’s had one full stint in the higher league with Springfield Falcons 2014/2015 but was limited to only 20 AHL games.
The 24-year old will honestly take his game up to another level in England and could even find himself to be a bit of a formidable offensive threat.
Undrafted right wing Devin Mantha(10) returns for a 5th season with Mississippi RiverKings.
He’s played 170 SPHL games scoring 63 goals and 87 assists with a monster +48 rating and currently serves as team captain.
The 6’1″ 190 lbs. forward has been loaned up to play 26 ECHL games in 2015/2016 (5-5-10) for Norfolk Admirals and 25 with Fort Wayne Komets (2-4-6) with a combined +4.
He’s twice won NCAA Championships with different teams: 2011 Miami University(Ohio) and 2013 University Of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Division III but was never that great of a point-getter in college hockey.
The 28-year old left briefly for France2 but stayed for only one appearance before returning to southern cooking.
It seems like he could earn a tryout from a higher level hockey and make it stick but it’s also possible because how many veterans a team can carry his time is running out and he’ll just stay and play where he’s at.
Last season he had a league tying 7 points (5 goals, 2 assists) in a single game.
His dad, Moe Mantha played over 650 NHL games from 1980-1992 and will take over as GM/Head Coach of Brookings Blizzard in the NAHL for 2017/2018.
Philadelphia Flyers‘ undrafted 3rd year right wing Cole Bardreau(9) extends for two more years as his entry level deal expires.
Although he did better on the scoresheet as a rookie (13-17-30) in less AHL games, he was able to remain healthy to appear in 72 contests last season.
The 5’10” 193 lbs. forward spent four years at Cornell University and previously two in the USNTDP but seemingly had to rehab an endless stream of injuries and never quite put up a load of points.
He was on a pair of WJC Gold Medal teams in 2011 and 2013, so knows how to win.
With 4 fighting majors to his credit in each of his two campaigns, it shows he’s unafraid to step in to help protect his teammates.
The 24-year old today (happy birthday!) is likely looked to possibly fill in an agitating fourth line role with the big club and will likely see some time in the NHL to see what he’s got in the upcoming year.
8th year left wing Nicolas Deschamps(7) spent the past two decently successful seasons with IK Oskarshamn of Allsvenskan (the first time he’d stayed anywhere) but leaves to sign with Rouen of Ligue Magnus for 2017/2018.
In the year previous to signing with the tier two Swedish club he bounced around between four teams and three countries including a short 12-game AHL stint back with original club Syracuse Crunch and 13 contests to end the year with Florida Everglades, which included 12 playoff appearances.
This strange season followed what was probably his best and first away from North American pro hockey, when on a one-year extension with Washington Capitals he posted a career high tying 15 goals and 2nd 25 assists for 40 points, rivaling what he was able to achieve as a rookie in 2010/2011.
The 6’1″ 205 lbs. forward also skated his only three NHL games.
At 27-years old, he likely set all new personal scoring totals in France and may even set up shop there if it’s as successful as we think it could be.
7th year left wing Evan Bloodoff(10) has decided it’s time to take his game elsewhere, signing with Fife Flyers of the EIHL for 2017/2018.
After a bit of an uneasy season, where he was traded from league frontrunners Florida Everglades to another formidable club Reading Royals, his 9 goals and 11 assists in 45 ECHL games were down from some of his best marks.
The decently enough sized forward had three 20+ goal campaigns from 2012-2014 and he’s always had 10+ assists in each frame.
As a former Kelowna Rockets‘ assistant captain when they won the 2009 WHL Championship, the 26-year old should be able to get his game fully back on track in England, then move up the European hockey ladder from there.
5th year defenseman Darren Dietz(44) goes unqualified for a 2nd time in his pro career as Washington Capitals decide to not re-up after he played 39 AHL games with affiliate Hershey Bears before being involved in a minor league deal that sent him to Texas Stars for the remainder of the calendar.
Originally a Montreal Canadiens‘ 5th round pick in the 2011 draft (#138 overall), the fairly sizable 6’1″ 205 lbs. blue liner played three years in the system and even appear in 113 games with the big club in his third season scoring his first NHL goal and 4 assists but was not retained.
Could be they feared he would get more money than they were willing to offer, so released him.
For 2017/2018, the former Saskatoon Blades‘ d-man, who scored a WHL league leading 24 goals in 2012/2013 agreed to a one-year deal with Barys Astana of the KHL, where he should excel nicely.
12th year center Gilbert Brule(19) takes a career best scoring season (18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points) with a couple of KHL squads to a fourth, new team in the league, Traktor Chelyabinsk for 2017/2018.
The 30-year old may not eclipse what he was able to produce last campaign but has seemingly found a good place to play through his final years on ice.
Ottawa Senators‘ 6th year center Jean-Gabriel Pageau(44) gets a brand new 3-year deal that keeps him with his 2011 draft team through 2020.
The small forward is coming off a similar one-way but less lucrative 2-year agreement, where he twice skated the full schedule of 82 NHL games.
He was less explosive on the score sheet last season (12-21-33) than he was in his career best year (so far) 2015/2016 when he pocketed 19 goals, 24 assists for 43 points.
Two important factors may have influenced the restricted free agent’s new deal: he put up a team high 8 goals in 19 Stanley Cup Playoff contests and is a very accountable combined +32 over 251 games.
The 24-year old split most of his time during his first three campaigns between the big club and affiliate Binghamton Senators but at this point is probably not looking back.
Undrafted 5th year defenseman Tyler Elbrecht(4) re-signs to return to Kansas City Mavericks, the team he was originally under contract with before trades sent him to Manchester Monarchs(16 ECHL games) and a very short stint with Cincinnati Cyclones(2).
He actually posted his best career stats with the team scoring 4 goals and 10 assists for 14 points, adding another 2 goals and 4 assists (6-18-24) with 13 fighting majors.
The big 6’4″ 210 lbs. blue liner has never really posted offense numbers in 4 years at Minnesota State University Mankato, two as team captain, or in US juniors through a pair of seasons in the NAHL and one in the USHL.
He actually won back-to-back championships, first the 2008 Clark Cup with Omaha Lancers then the 2009 Robertson Cup skating for St. Louis Bandits.
The 28-year old plays a tough as nails style and might not even look out of place at a higher level of hockey but he’s likely headed overseas next or the Edwardsville, IL native may just ride it out.
4th year center Ryan Rupert(20) was left unqualified by Ottawa Senators making him an unrestricted free agent heading into 2017/2018.
The small 5’9″ 190 lbs. pivot has signed a one-year deal to join Indy Fuel, where he’ll join his twin brother, who was with the team last season.
They have been on a number of squads together.
Originally a Toronto Maple Leafs‘ 6th round pick in the 2012 draft (#157 overall) he has 3 years ECHL experience on reassignment, most recently skating 29 games to Wichita Thunder, where he scored 9 goals and 12 assists.
In 149 AHL games for Binghamton Senators and Toronto Marlies, he has 31 goals and 28 assists with an highly accountable +18 rating.
The two-time OHL Champion with London Knights, 2012/2013 was a very decent point-getter through four years of junior hockey but what really stands out is his +65 plus/minus.
As a still super-young 23-year old he may play a full season at double A, looking for a loan to the higher level but we expect him to seek better competition overseas before too long.
