6th year left wing Garrett Thompson(48) takes a first solid season away from North America for Frisk Asker scoring 12 goals and 27 assists with a +14 rating in 48 games, then adds another 9 points en route to the 2019 GET-ligaen Championship to a new adventure overseas, signing a one-year deal with HKM Zvolen and doing ok at the higher level with 6 goals and 20 assists in 39 Slovak Tipsport Liga outings.
It will be interesting to see if the 29-year old will be able to stay or move on yet again.
Fischtown Pinguins‘ 7th year defenseman Patch Alber(50) signs a two-year extension to stay on after scoring 5 goals and 17 assists in 44 DEL games, his 2nd season with the team.
He was initially loaned up after signing with Eispiraten Crimmitschau and things clicked.
The 30-year old is probably happy to settle somewhere decent to play as he wraps up a pretty great playing career but could circle back and play one more ECHL campaign before he calls it quits entirely.
Anaheim Ducks‘ 9th year left wing Nicolas Deslauriers(20) re-ups for another 2-years on one-way terms mid-season.
The big forward has 2 goals and 5 assists in 45 NHL games with a -5 rating and a career high 12 fighting majors to his credit, so he’s being employed to protect teammates.
The soon to turn 29-year old can’t complain as he’ll earn $1M per AAV
9th year defenseman Brandon Burlon(7) switches up teams for a third time since leaving for overseas hockey in 2017/2018 signing with Dusseldorfer EG of DEL.
He scored 3 goals and 8 assists.
His next move would leave for Norway’s GET-ligaen agreeing to terms with Stavanger Oilers and although limited to 30 games managed a tidy 5 goals and career 2nd best 22 assists.
The former University Of Michigan blue liner strategically moves over to Sweden’s tier 2 Allsvenskan inking with Vasterviks IK, where he didn’t do so well, oddly scoring no points in 29 games.
At 29-years old, he moves on to accept terms with Orli Znojmo of EBEL to see if his fortunes can change for the better.
Boston Bruins‘ 3rd year defenseman Jeremy Lauzon(79) scores a new 2-year one-way extension as he was approaching a first restricted free agency.
That bullet diverted.
He’s appeared in 8 NHL games this season scoring a goal in his first game back and is a +4 rating.
The 22-year old can breathe a little easier knowing he’s guaranteed some decent money going forward.
Belfast Giants‘ 8th year left wing Bobby Farnham(46) is doing well in his new hockey home scoring a career high 13th goal and looks to surpass the 28 points he put up with St. John’s IceCaps 2016/2017 in his first session overseas.
He only played one full NHL season in 2015/2016 first with Pittsburgh Penguins before being claimed off waivers by New Jersey Devils, where he spent the next 50 games scoring 8 goals and 2 assists.
The 31-year old has done pretty well, so hopefully he can simply just enjoy pro hockey away from home as the former Brown University forward and veteran of 404 AHL games moves into what’s next, but who’s thinking about that. .
Montreal Canadiens‘ 7th round pick in the 2014 draft (#207 overall) 2nd year center Jake Evans scores a 1st NHL goal in his third game playing an average of 13 shifts for just under 10 minutes total ice time per appearance.
The 6’1″ 181 lbs. forward was leading scorer for affiliate Laval Rocket with 22 assists and 34 points before his recall.
He was coming off a rookie campaign that saw him grab 13 goals and 32 assists in 67 AHL games.
Almost ironically he left four years at University Of Notre Dame scoring 13 goals in each of his last two frames, so ran that total goals three straight seasons.
The 23-year old is set to become a first time restricted free agent but should be due at least a one-year extension to stick.
11th year defenseman Steve Oleksy(65) signed as the new season was starting with Toledo Walleye, a team he spent 3 ECHL games with as a rookie in 2009/2010 and played 36 games with the team helping guide them to a solid start getting a goal and 14 assists.
He’s decided to explore as he agrees to terms with EHC Linz Black Wings of Erste Bank Eishockey Liga for the rest of 2019/2020.
The 34-year old could find some fun playing in Austria’s top league and continue or may even seek out a better deal before calling it quits.
Montreal Canadiens‘ 7th year France-born defenseman Xavier Ouellet(61) scores a first NHL recall of the season, as he has in each of his pro campaigns.
In his 2019/2020 debut, he skated 16 shifts for 10:38 of total ice with 2 shots on net, 2 hits, 1 shot block and had an assist with a +1 rating in a 2-1 overtime win.
Originally a Detroit Red Wings‘ 2nd round pick in the 2011 draft (#48 overall), he spent 5 years and 160 games in the big league with the team (5 goals, 22 assists).
The rugged 6’1″ 193 lbs. blue liner three time ascended to 30+ assists in QMJHL and has been twice named captain of affiliate Laval Rocket, where he has a career high 9 goals in the current session.
At 26-years old, he is set to become an unrestricted free agent but will likely want to stay where he is as he seems to be getting comfortable.
