After two years back with Brampton Beast, undrafted 8th year center Luke Pither(11) leaves once again signing with Almtuna IS of Allsvenskan for 2017/2018.
The tough as nails 5’11” 187 lbs. forward was more than a point-per-game player last season scoring 17 goals and 27 assists in 37 ECHL games, then added another 2-6-8 in 12 Kelly Cup Playoff contests.
He received three call-ups to the AHL but was only able to connect for 3 assists in 6 games with St. John’s IceCaps in 2015/2016.
Originally signed by Philadelphia Flyers after 5 years of OHL junior hockey, he spent most of his time with affiliate Adirondack Phantoms but was seemed to struggle some getting on the score sheet.
His rights were traded halfway through the final year of his entry level contract to Carolina Hurricanes, where played 23 games with their farm club, Charlotte Checkers doing quite well collecting points.
Left unqualified heading into 2013/2014, he decided to move on agreeing to a year with KalPa of Liiga but had only modest success.
He would move on to Austria’s Klagenfurter AC and was able to raise his game grabbing 11 goals and 14 assists in 48 EBEL games.
The 28-year old should do very well in Sweden’s tier 2 league and potentially move up to a higher level of overseas pro hockey.
San Jose Sharks‘ 5th year goaltender Troy Grosenick(1) appeared in a new career high 49 AHL games with affiliate San Jose Barracuda posting a best 30 wins against 10 losses with an outstanding 2.04 GAA and .926 SV% to go along with a league high 10 shutouts, which helped him win Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as best goalie.
He also started all 15 of the team’s playoff games, which ended in the Calder Cup Western Conference Finals.
This play earns the 27-year old unrestricted free agent a 2-year 2-way extension to stay with the only club he’s known and continue to try to play his way into a permanent NHL roster spot.
The net minder has only appeared in 2 games for the parent club in 2014/2015 earning a 45-shot blanking in his debut with a stunning 1.53 GAA and .948 SV% but somehow has not made his way back since those pair of starts.
He may have to wait until the injury bug bites one of the two net minders to be given another chance but certainly will be well-prepared when it happens.
Undrafted 8th year left wing Andrew Rowe(18) leaves the nest agreeing to a one-year deal with Mora IK of the SHL.
He had his best season yet in 2016/2017, his second with Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
Playing a career high 66 AHL games, he potted new bests 13 goals and 23 assists for 36 points with a +6 rating and unloaded 124 shots on net.
It wasn’t that easy though as he was a healthy scratch for much of the start of his 7th campaign before eventually cracking the lineup.
Just one year earlier he split time between the higher league and as captain of South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL.
He was actually under contract with the team a season earlier as a more than point per game player but loaned up to Charlotte Checkers for 28 games.
The 29-year old should be able to do extremely well overseas but we’ll miss seeing him play on the east coast.
Boston Bruins‘ 2nd round pick in the 2013 draft (#60 overall) Swedish-born defenseman Linus Arnesson(28) will head back home leaving restricted free agent status on the table, signing a one-year deal with Orebro HK.
It’s his first foray away from Djurgardens IF, the team he’d play all his junior hockey and first three years, initially in Allsvenskan but spent the last year up in the SHL before heading to North America.
The decently sized 6’1″ 187 lbs. blue liner played his first 11 games with affiliate Providence Bruins at the end of 2014/2015 scoring 1 goal and 3 assists for a nice start.
He’s not really a point guy though with still the one goal and 9 assists in 79 AHL games.
It’s actually a bit of a wonder why he was selected so high as he’s not exactly the shutdown style of a d-man either.
He’ll turn 23-years old as the new season gets underway and likely have his rights retained just in case there’s some sort of explosive development.
8th year right wing Danick Paquette(16), a veteran of 341 ECHL regular season and playoff games, will make his first visit overseas with Conventry Blaze of the EIHL for 2017/2018.
The 6’1″ 215 lbs. tough as nails skater only had one outstanding scoring season with 23 goals and 26 assists in a career high 67 games for the 2013/2014 Utah Grizzlies.
Almost a bit ironically he posted a league high 277 penalty minutes through that campaign.
The former Atlanta Thrashers‘ 3rd round pick in the 2008 draft (#64 overall) also led his junior team with time spent in the sin bin as a captain (230).
In a crowning moment he won the 2009 QMJHL Championship as a rookie.
It’s likely the 26-year old will explode on the score sheet in England’s top league and may stick or seek out better hockey as he ascends.
Boston Bruins‘ 5th round pick in the 2014 draft (#146 overall) center Anders Bjork(51) signs his 3-year entry level deal after his third year at University Of Notre Dame, as a Hobey Baker Finalist with his team leading 21 goals and 31 assists for 52 points.
The 6′ 185 lbs. is definitely starting to find his footing and although a bit of a deep selection is expected to compete for an NHL roster spot in the upcoming training camp.
He spent a pair of years with the USNTDP of the USHL and even more skating time in the USDP before committing to school, where he was also a point per game player as a sophomore.
The 21-year old was also the last remaining NCAA top scorer to compete in the Frozen Four.
He’s easily been outstanding in all his camps pointing to a big future for this young prospect.
Undrafted 6th year left wing David Vallorani(97) will head back over to Europe after another hugely successful season in the ECHL signing for 2017/2018 with Almtuna IS of Sweden’s tier 2 Allsvenskan.
He was the league’s 5th top scorer with 83 points (new career highs 32 goals and 51 assists) with a +8 rating for Brampton Beast.
The small 5’8″ 180 lbs. forward spent his last two campaigns overseas, first as an almost two point-per-game player with Milano Rossoblu of Italy’s Serie A, then moved on to Starbulls Rosenheim putting together 41 points (21-20) in 46 DEL2 games.
He had a pair of 59 point campaigns to start his pro career with Reading Royals and Utah Grizzlies and helped win the 2013 Kelly Cup Championship with the former club.
This scoring trend continued from what he was able to achieve through 4 years at UMass-Lowell, where he was once a 31 point guy and got very close to that mark in each of his other three seasons.
The 28-year old obviously still has a lot of gas left in his tank but it remains to be seen if he’ll continue to jump around from country-to-country in his quest for the best hockey.
8th year left wing Blair Riley(25) re-signs for a second run with Belfast Giants after a career season that saw him put up his best totals since he was a rookie skating for Las Vegas Wranglers, when he got 20 goals and 20 assists in 2010/2011.
He bumped that up significantly grabbing 28 goals and 28 assists through 52 EIHL games equaling over point-per-game numbers for the one-time Bridgeport Sound Tigers‘ tough guy that amassed 165 minutes penalty minutes and 21 fighting majors.
The 31-year old veteran of 330 AHL games looks to have found a nice home late in his career.
8th year right wing Sean Backman(16) has decided over 500 regular season and playoff games in the AHL through 7 seasons is quite enough and will try the ice overseas signing with Eisbaren Berlin of DEL for 2017/2018.
The small forward that posted career high 21 goals and 34 assists for 54 points only a couple of seasons ago in his initial run with Ontario Reign and has definitely been able to connect with the score sheet through four years at Yale University and in the pros.
He also managed to be a part of the storybook Manchester Monarchs that went on an impressive postseason run to the 2015 Calder Cup.
His 5 goals and 12 assists were a team 5th best (on a stacked squad) en route to the title.
The 31-year old only ever signed a few one year NHL deals with Dallas Stars as a rookie and New York Islanders as a 2nd and 3rd year player, so has been a trooper in the minor league.
We have little doubt he’ll continue to put up big stats in his new surroundings.
Undrafted defenseman Alex Wall(5) takes a successful rookie season with Adirondack Thunder scoring 6 goals and a blue liner high 38 assists and 44 points in 66 ECHL games to GET-ligaen joining Frisk Asker for his sophomore campaign.
Taking a fairly long route to turning pro he first spent 4 years in the QMJHL with three different squads before engaging in five runs at a pair of universities in Canada before signing his first pro deal.
The 5’11” 190 lbs. d-man also skated a two AHL games on loan to Utica Comets without recording a point.
At 26-years old, he continue to do well overseas and could very well work himself up the hockey ladder quite nicely.
