4th year center Mike Zalewski(14) was not given a qualifying offer by Vancouver Canucks as his one-year extension was expiring.
He leaves North American pro hockey with 2 NHL assists and will join Straubing Tigers of DEL for 2017/2018.
The very decently sized forward didn’t have a spectacular scoring season like he did in his previous campaign, where he was re-upped midseason by the big club but despite only 18 points in 54 AHL games he was a +11 on a non-playoff team.
The still young 25-year old’s game should go to a new level in Germany.
6th year defenseman Nikita Nesterov(89) was surprisingly left unqualified after a trade sent him from draft team Tampa Bay Lightning to Montreal Canadiens.
He finished 2016/2017 scoring a career high 4 goals and 13 assists for 17 points in 48 NHL games.
It was his first full year in the big league after playing a best 57 games in the previous campaign but also spent 10 games with affiliate Syracuse Crunch.
He skated almost equal time between the two leagues in his 2nd year.
For 2017/2018 the 24-year old heads back home to the KHL signing with HC CSKA Moskva.
It’s a bit of a wonder why he was released after such a good showing, other than he may have been able to command more money than they were willing to give him.
Tampa Bay Lightning 7th year left wing Ondrej Palat(18) was just rewarded bigger than he probably ever dreamt back in Czech Republic before turning pro.
The #208 draft pick from 2011 is consistently good for 50-60 points with a somewhat mind boggling +86 rating over his 4+ NHL seasons.
He earns himself a new $5+M per 5-year deal to continue with the only team he knows.
At 26-years old he could even be just getting started, getting stronger and be more of a scoring laser out there on a team that’s full of those type weapons.
No doubt, he’s consistently fun to watch.
After a 13-year career defenseman Bruno Gervais(5) calls it a career.
He spent the last pair of seasons with Eisbaren Berlin of DEL.
The former New York Islanders‘ 6th round pick in the 2003 (#182 overall) played 419 NHL games.
He last played 39 contests for Philadelphia Flyers after the lockout thaw of 2012/2013.
It was his sixth full season exclusively skating in the big league.
No word as to what the 32-year old will do after hanging up his skates but the Longueuil, Quebec-native would be a great asset to any club.
8th year defenseman Nick Crawford(4) has spent the last three seasons in EBEL for Dornbirner EC playing a total of 124 games (3 goals, 36 assists).
The one-time Buffalo Sabres‘ deep draft pick will spend 2017/2018 with Esbjerg Energy of Metal-Ligaen.
As a blue liner that at times has been known to move the puck up and get in on the scoring, he will likely do well in Denmark hockey.
We’ll see if the 27-year old spends three years here as is his term with the last two squads he’s skated for.
Undrafted 6th year 3 time South Carolina Stingrays‘ assistant captain center Patrick Gaul(22) re-signs his 5th contract extension with the team after posting a career high 11 goals, 26 assists and 37 points with a +9 rating in 67 ECHL games.
He’s a three time 10+ goal and 4 time 10+ assist guy who first played with Mississippi Riverkings of the SPHL.
The 5’8″ 175 lbs. forward scored 10 goals and 10 assists in 31 games and after the turn of the new year, the rookie would get a recall and not look back.
He won the 2009 NCAA/CCHA Championship as a first year skater at University Of Notre Dame, where he almost ironically at this point never really scored much.
In junior hockey with the USNTDP of the NAHL, he put up better numbers closer to his current totals but he may be having a bit of a scoring renaissance.
It will be interesting to see if he can keep up the pace on the score sheet if he continues to stick or explores some overseas action next.
Philadelphia Flyers‘ 4th year center Scott Laughton(21) grabs himself a heck of a good 1-way 2-year extension through 2019 after not appearing in a game with the parent club in 2015/2016 and only 2 games, no points last season.
The former 1st round pick did record a new career high goals (19), assists (20) and points (39) in 60 AHL games in 2016/2017 with a +17 rating, so the thinking must be that he’s starting to get that scoring mojo happening.
He did play a healthy calendar of 71 NHL games in his sophomore campaign 2015/2016 getting 7 goals and 14 assists, then appeared in 3 playoff contests.
At still only 23-years old, it seems like it’s his time to start flourishing or might be looking for a new home when his new contract is up.
Undrafted rookie right wing Max French(16) signs his first pro deal, agreeing to skate for Texas Stars in 2017/2018.
This comes after 4 solid years maybe a bit under the radar at Bentley College, where the West Kelowna, BC native was a more than a point-per-game guy and serve as team captain as a senior.
He was a Hobey Baker Award consideration.
The 5’10” 185 lbs. forward actually also played 4 seasons in the BCHL with West Kelowna Warriors and his stats were similar to his college ones.
It would be nice to see parent club Dallas Stars extend a training camp appearance.
He’ll turn 25-years old as his first year begins and from what we’ve seen plays a smart game and should be able to continue to affect the score sheet.
Los Angeles Kings‘ 6th year left wing Andy Andreoff(15) agreed to a quick two-year extension as he was heading into his last restricted free agency.
The extra tough forward spent his 2nd full season in the big league, but also played a career low 36 games after skating 60 in 2015/2016 scoring 8 NHL goals (crashing the net) and 2 assists (probably just happened to touch the puck), while dropping the gloves for 8 fighting majors protecting the peace.
The 26-year old will likely be on the ice more regularly next season and may pull up those scoring totals some as he did in juniors.
Undrafted 7th year left wing Darren Archibald(25) signs on for a third season with Utica Comets after scoring a new best, team leading 23 goals and 47 points in 2016/2017.
He also put up 184 shots on net in a career high 76 AHL games.
The big 6’3″ 209 lbs. forward was originally on a three year entry deal with Vancouver Canucks after point-per-game totals in his last pair of campaigns in the OHL with Niagara IceDogs and Barrie Colts.
Somewhat slow to start once turning pro he spent most of his rookie year on reassignment with Kalamazoo Wings, but took up where he left off on the scoring sheet through juniors.
As a sophomore skater he would spend more time with the direct farm club in upper state New York but still played 18 games at the lower level.
By the time the third year of his contract rolled around he was readying himself for his NHL debut, which he was allotted through 16 games on three recalls scoring a goal and 2 assists with a +1 rating but was never went back up again even after twice extending.
For 2015/2016, he initially agreed to a term back in the ECHL but after 6 games was promoted and signed.
With another strong performance, the 27-year old could potentially play himself into another big league contract, as he stays on the radar of the only team he’s played for, or will split overseas and likely make quite an impact.
