9th year defenseman Alexander Urbom(55) signs on for a third straight season with the team he spent most of his junior hockey with, Djurgardens IF.
He spent one campaign with Skelleftea AIK and in his next season was the most penalized player in the SHL with 95 minutes in the sin bin.
The still young 27-year old stay-at-home d-man still has a lot left in the tank and could likely play out the remaining years of his pro career with one club.
3rd year center Colin Blackwell(43) takes a career year AHL scoring under contract to Rochester Americans, a team tied 2nd 17 goals and 28 assists for 45 points with a +15 on a non-playoff squad to his first NHL contract, two-years, two-way with Nashville Predators.
The 5’10” 190 lbs. was originally a San Jose Sharks‘ 7th round pick in the 2011 draft (#194 overall) but signed his first deal with their affiliate San Jose Barracuda.
He spent 5 years at Harvard University, sat out 2013/2014 with concussion symptoms playing only 11 games in the following campaign, but when healthy three times posted 10+ assists and was part of the 2015 NCAA/ECAC Championship team.
The 25-year old will likely start with farm club Milwaukee Admirals but could impress enough to score a first big league recall.
After 192 ECHL games grabbing 80 goals and 92 assists with a +25 rating, undrafted 4th year left wing Cody Wydo(11) takes his game over to NLB for 2018/2019 signing a one-year deal with HC Thurgau.
He has always put up big numbers through two NAHL campaigns with Motor City Metal Jackets then four years at Robert Morris University, where he was a point-per-game or over performer with outstanding plus/minuses and even a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as a senior/team captain.
The 5’11” 185 lbs. forward was actually signed before 2017/2018 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins but was recalled for only 9 AHL games (1 goal, 2 assists, +1).
He was loaned up in the previous season for 3 games and grabbed a goal.
It seems the 27-year old is going to excel nicely in Switzerland’s tier two league and will get elevated to NLA, if he decides to stay.
4th year center Jeremy Gregiore(37) does not get a qualifying offer from draft club Montreal Canadiens (6th round, 2013, #176 overall) after playing a career high 63 AHL games for affiliate Laval Rocket, scoring a new best 12 goals, 13 assists and 25 points with two short-handed tallies, one game-winner, 115 penalty minutes and 9 fighting majors.
He was on a three year entry deal spending all his time in the minors.
The 6′ 193 lbs. forward was a solid point-per-game player in his last pair of seasons in the QMJHL with Baie-Comeau Drakkar serving as captain in his final campaign and was on the Canadian gold medal winning team at the 2013 Hlinka Memorial Tournament.
A tough skater always, the still super young 22-year old signs for 2018/2019 with Milwaukee Admirals, who he will help toughen up.
Undrafted 4th year right wing Justin Hickman(12) either knew he was going to be left unqualified by entry level contract club Boston Bruins or wasn’t going to wait around to find out and signed a new deal with Lillehammer of GET-ligaen for 2018/2019.
Appearing in only 32 AHL games last season for affiliate Providence Bruins, he was too often a healthy scratch on a fairly deep team but as a sophomore skater was reassigned down to Atlanta Gladiators, so was a cusp player unable to consistently land himself in the lineup.
The former 5-year Seattle Thunderbirds‘ forward was a decent scorer but only in his overage campaign of only 32 WHL games was able to elevate his marks to 9 goals and 19 assists.
At 6’2″ 220 lbs. the 24-year old should be able to find his game and connect consistently in Norway’s top league.
In a bit of a shocking move, New Jersey Devils decide not to qualify fourth year net minder Ken Appleby(41) after he was one of the few players each season to play in three different leagues.
The big goalie made his NHL debut in a pair of relief efforts and one start.
He was able to post a 1.45 GAA and .945 SV% with an 0-1 record but was returned to affiliate Binghamton Devils, where he did his best to backstop an abysmal, bottom dwelling club with a 10-13-2-2 mark and a remarkable 2.76 GAA and .901 SV%.
For a third straight campaign he also guarded the cage in two ECHL games with Adirondack Thunder and came away with a 2.03 GAA and .922 SV%.
Not sure how these numbers didn’t add up, unless they feared paying him heading into a first restricted free agency.
Sometimes that’s a strategy used by the big league club before getting into a contract negotiation but this time it didn’t work out that way and the 23-year old signed an AHL contract with Manitoba Moose.
He will likely score an invite to Winnipeg Jets‘ training camp and could impress enough to come away with a deal.
8th year left wing Curt Gogol(14) has decided to try something different signing for 2018/2019 with Fehervari Titanok of Erste Liga.
He sort of did that at the beginning of last season agreeing to play for Rubin Tyumen in Russia’s tier two VHL but that lasted exactly one game, was inked and ready to go for Greenville Swamp Rabbits at the start of training camp.
The feisty wing spent the previous campaign with Florida Everblades after a deal sent him from Colorado Eagles.
Starting his pro career on an entry level deal to San Jose Sharks, he was traded midway through the third year of his ELC to Minnesota Wild, where he suited up mostly for affiliate Iowa Wild but also split time with Alaska Aces.
The 26-year old leaves with 111 ECHL and 179 AHL games to his credit and just may find new light in the Austrian-based international league.
7th year unrestricted group 6 free agent defenseman Jarred Tinordi(24) signs for 2018/2019 with Nashville Predators after a career campaign in the minors for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins scoring 5 goals, 16 assists and 21 points with a +19 rating in 62 AHL games, while under contract to Pittsburgh Penguins.
Originally a Montreal Canadiens‘ 1st round pick in the 2010 draft (#22 overall), he’s skated 53 NHL games grabbing a pair of assists in each of his first three actual game recalls but was unable to add to that total after a trade sent him to Arizona Coyotes.
He spent a year in their system playing mostly for affiliate Tuscon Roadrunners before leaving to return east.
The extremely large 6’6″ 225 lbs. blue liner is still just 26-years old and maybe a bit of a late bloomer with potentially some of his best seasons still ahead of him.
11th year defenseman Nick Holden(44) signs a two-year deal on the opening day of unrestricted free agency with Vegas Golden Knights.
The big blue liner was sent by his club of almost two seasons, New York Rangers to Boston Bruins close to the 2017/2018 trade deadline and for the first time in a few campaigns became an extra inserted into the lineup when necessary but was always super-effective with an offensive upside.
He’s appeared in 374 NHL games with 36 goals and 76 assists with a +9 rating and 6 game-winning tallies.
The 31-year old will likely become an integral player in Sin City backline and could very well break scoring totals he set a couple years ago.
Undrafted rookie center Ryan Schmelzer(8) turns an unreal ato with Adirondack Thunder scoring 2 goals and 5 assists in 7 ECHL games, then adding another 17 points in 17 Kelly Cup matchups with a +9 rating before bowing out in the Eastern Conference Final to a one-year AHL contract with Binghamton Devils for 2018/2019.
The 6’2″ 185 lbs. forward that plays with a ton of tenacity in all three zones spent four years at Canisius College amassing 30 point seasons three times and was team captain as a senior.
He had similar success as a junior player with just over a point-per-game production in the OJHL with hometown Buffalo Jr. Sabres.
It would be little surprise to see him score an invite to an NHL training camp and he could easily make some folks want a longer look.
