15th year veteran right wing Brian McGrattan(16) leaves North American pro hockey for the first time joining Nottingham Panthers of the EIHL for 2016/2017 after tying a career high AHL mark of 9 goals in a season that he set twice as a rookie and sophomore skater.
His 17 points for San Diego Gulls, while under contract with Anaheim Ducks, was also a third best but he also managed 144 in penalty minutes and 96 shots on net were probably the most he ever recorded.
The burly forward didn’t skate a single NHL game but has fielded a big league contract for 10 straight seasons.
For the just turned 35-year old this could be a last twirl around the ice in completely different surroundings but he could also do pretty well and find a nice temporary home in the new land.
4th year right wing Vinny Saponari(34) leaves North American pro hockey after three seasons of bouncing around between two leagues for Frisk Asker of Norway’s GET-ligaen.
He started 2015/2016 on a pto with Portland Pirates after competing for a spot in their training camp but was released a month in after playing only 6 AHL games but scored a nifty 1 goal and 3 assists with a +4 rating, so it’s a bit of a wonder what happened.
The 6’1 195 lbs. forward signed to return to Greenville Swamp Rabbits, where he spent most of the previous campaign on reassignment while under contract with Hartford Wolf Pack.
In that season he put up a career high 18 goals and 51 assists for 69 points with a +17, which had him first on the team in helpers and tied for overall scoring.
The former Boston University won the 2009 NCAA Championship but was sent away a year later for disciplinary issues and joined Dubuque Fighting Saints producing at better than a point-per-game before heading back into the college ranks with Northeastern Univerity Huskies to complete his degree.
Upon graduation he signed an ato with St. John’s IceCaps appearing in 7 games grabbing his first goal and assist.
He agreed to a first minor league contract with Milwaukee Admirals for his rookie season doing admirably with 15 goals and 18 assists but also spent 14 contests down with Cincinnati Cyclones.
Originally an Atlanta Thrashers‘ 4th round pick in the 2008 draft (#94 overall), the 26-year old should find his space to connect overseas and climb the European hockey ladder.
Undrafted 3rd year right wing Bryce Van Brabant(48) signs his first minor league contract for 2016/2017 with Idaho Steelheads, keeping him sort of close to his Alberta home to continue playing.
The rang-y 6’3″ 210 lbs. forward has never been a big point-getter but in the final year of three at Quinnipiac University he basically doubled what he did in the previous two scoring 15 and caught folks attention.
He signed a two-year entry level deal with Calgary Flames and at the completion of his final college season was on the roster in the big league.
In 6 NHL games he was unable to reach the score sheet.
He played exclusively for the parent club’s affiliates Adirondack Flames and last season Stockton Heat having fairly equal AHL seasons with 15/16 points.
Left unqualified heading in the new season, the 24-year old became an unrestricted free agent.
It would be little surprise to see him score an affiliate Dallas Stars‘ training camp invite and played some more games in the higher league again but also should do pretty well in the ECHL.
13th year veteran center Erik Christensen(24) signs for a fourth season with HV71 of the SHL, where he set a career high 31 assists mark just a couple years ago.
After finishing 2011/2012 with Minnesota Wild, the unrestricted free agent left for the KHL joining HC Lev Praha but left 12 games into his second campaign and headed to Sweden in hopes of finding better fortunes.
He has been fairly lucky in the country scoring 35 goals and 60 assists in 126 games with a +9 rating, adding another 9 points in 11 playoff contests.
The 32-year old will turn 33 at the midpoint of the current calendar and may be considering his next move once he hangs up the skates of a long and must be very satisfying hockey career.
New York Islanders‘ 4th year center Alan Quine(10) scores himself a nice 2-year 1-way extension through 2017/2018 after appearing in a pair of big league games and scoring his first NHL goals.
It wasn’t until being inserted into the Stanley Cup Playoffs that he really made it stick though, as he added another tally and 4 assists through 10 contests.
The forward spent most of his time with affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers, where he has skated exclusively except for the tail end of his rookie season when he was reassigned to Stockton Thunder to gain some playoff experience.
He would follow-up the demotion with his best season playing a career high 75 AHL games scoring a best 23 goals and 38 assists for 61 points with 139 shots on net.
The 23-year old will still be a restricted free agent when his new contract expires but if he is sent down to the farm team at any point expect him to get claimed on waivers.
Undrafted 4th year defenseman Charlie Dodero(91) returns for a third run to the team he had his best point-production success with as a rookie, Idaho Steelheads.
He scored a career high 4 goals and 15 assists for 19 points in 44 ECHL games.
The fairly large 6’2″ 209 lbs. is mostly thought of as a stay-at-home shutdown style d-man and only reached and eclipsed the 20 assists mark in the final years of OHL as assistant captain for Sudbury Wolves.
He spent 2015/2016 with Greenville Swamp Rabbits, on a trade from Idaho, which returned him to where he started his pro career in 2013/2014.
In his sophomore campaign the blue liner was loaned just before the halfway mark to Syracuse Crunch on a pto, but was offered an AHL contract to stay a couple months later.
He would score one goal and two assists with a +7 rating, setting himself up for another 10 games in the higher league last year.
The soon-to-be 25-year old will likely get more face time on recall again in the new calendar but may even have another breakout on the stat sheet back in familiar territory.
Undrafted 2nd year left wing Gunnar Hughes(28) re-signs to stay with Adirondack Thunder for another season.
He had a very decent rookie campaign scoring 11 goals and 11 assists in 64 ECHL games with a -14 rating (that needs some work), then added another pair of tallies in 12 Kelly Cup Playoff match-ups.
The feisty 6’1″ 200 lbs forward has never been an outstanding point producer through a season with Waterloo Blackhawks in the USHL and four years at St. Lawrence University but seems poised to eclipse all those earlier marks as he gains more pro experience.
His hard ethic and tough style play was noticed by nearby Albany Devils, where he was loaned late in the calendar for a few games notching one assist.
He also isn’t afraid to drop the mitts and was involved in 5 fights during the season.
The soon-to-be 24 year old is fun to watch and it would be little surprise to see him grab a training camp invite from the higher league and stick but he’ll have to continue to work for it.
8th year center James Wright(18) signs a last minute one-year contract with Admiral Vladivostok returning for a second campaign to the KHL, where he skated 53 games for Medvescak Zagreb just a couple seasons ago scoring 15 goals and 4 assists.
The fairly big 6’4″ 210 lbs. power forward returned last year signing a two-way contract with New York Islanders but spent all his playing time with affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
He would put up a career high 2nd best in AHL scoring with 41 points (14-27) but was left unrestricted at the end of the run.
Originally a Tampa Bay Lightning 4th round pick in the 2008 draft (#117 overall), he was signed to a 3-year entry level deal at the beginning of the following campaign and actually made the squad out of training camp, but after 48 games with 2 goals and 3 assists he was loaned back to Vancouver Giants to finish out his fourth year of WHL juniors.
It would be in his rookie season reassigned to the farm club Norfolk Admirals that he put up still unbeaten numbers with 48 points (16-32).
In the final year of his first contract, he would get dealt to Florida Panthers but saw playing time only with San Antonio Rampage.
Somehow his short time in Texas was enough for the parent club to extend him for another pair of years.
That wouldn’t long though as he would be claimed off waivers by Winnipeg Jets just as the lockout thawed season started and stuck.
He finished out the 2012/2013 in the NHL getting another pair of tallies and 3 assists.
They must have liked what they saw though, as 2013/2014 would be his first full season in the big league.
The still fairly young 26-year old seems to be still awaiting a truly breakout offensive explosion and it’s possibly he could be a later bloomer especially with the size he brings to the table.
4th year left wing Kyle Flanagan(8) had a good rookie season with Adirondack Phantoms scoring a career high 6 goals and 16 assists for 22 points in 63 AHL games but had a woeful -15 rating.
On just a 1-year entry level deal, he was left unqualified and split for the SHL signing for 2014/2015 on a deal with MODO, where he struck for four goals and 11 assists in 38 contests.
The small forward didn’t decide to stay overseas, instead inked a one-year deal to head back to Glens Falls, NY, where it all started and skate for Adirondack Thunder in a lower league.
After only 12 ECHL games he was quick to prove he was better suited to move back up and loaned to Binghamton Senators.
He would once again produce 6 goals and only two fewer assists than his bests as a first year player (14) but did it in almost 20 fewer games (44) and with more accountability, a 0 plus/minus.
This offensive output has earned him a return to Bingo and you have to think he’s ready for a breakout campaign at age 27.
Undrafted 3rd year goaltender Doug Carr(31) signs for 2016/2017 with Wheeling Nailers, who he watched make it all the way to the Kelly Cup Finals last season.
He started his sophomore campaign on a pto with Albany Devils and stay with them for the first pair of months before signing to play out the campaign with Manchester Monarchs.
The 6’1″ 195 lbs. net minder appeared career high 24 ECHL games posting a 10-8-5 record with a 2.77 GAA and .915 SV%, then played his first four postseason matchups but saw his team drop a tough battle in the opening round.
He was also loaned back up twice but only served as back-up.
The four year UMass-Lowell graduate had some pretty exciting college hockey winning the 2013 NCAA (Hockey East) Champion, following that season up with a 1.80 GAA and .935 SV% before signing an ato with Abbotsford Heat and continuing his outstanding play through 4 AHL games.
For his rookie season he would sign a minor league deal with Adirondack Flames but first attend Calgary Flames‘ training camp.
He played only 13 games with the farm club spending the majority of his playing time with affiliate Colorado Eagles.
The 27-year old should assume the starting role duties with his new team and could see a spike in stats with more minutes in the cage.
