Category: Europe

07Nov

Nick Master (89)

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4th year center Nick Master(89) returns to Maine Mariners for a 3rd season after scoring new bests 16 goals and 37 assists in 57 ECHL games.

The 5’11” 185 lbs. forward 4 times had 10+ assists at UMass-Lowell Riverhawks.

In the 1 season he didn’t play in Maine, because COVID knocked the entire frame out, he signed with Knoxville Ice Bears and grabbed 8 goals and 18 assists in 36 SPHL games and that seemed to help propel his game.

The 27-year old from Broomall, PA should continue his scoring streak.

He signs for 2023/2024 in DEL2 with EHC Freiburg and scores well, tying a career best 16 goals and 27 assists in 42 games with a +14 rating.

We think he may have been courted to head to Esbjerg Energy of Metal Ligaen for 2024/2025.

With little pop, 1 assist in 8 games, he decides to head to Ligue Magnus, signing with Anglet Hormadi Pays Basque.

06Nov

Haralds Egle (49)

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Manitoba Moose undrafted, rookie, Latvian-born right wing Haralds Egle(49) has a pair of goals in 17 AHL contests, and he scored those goals in successive outings, his 9th and 10th games.

The solid 5’10” 194 lbs. forward started the season on loan to DVTK Jegesmedvek of the Slovakian League and he lit it up scoring 6 goals and 11 assists in 18 appearances.

He also had solid numbers through four years at Clarkson University Golden Knights with a total of 44 goals and 61 assists in 135 NCAA ECAC Division 1 contests and a +19 rating.

Coming over early to play junior hockey he started in a pay for league but burst that bubble in a single showing and quickly was placed on Muskegon Lumberjacks, where he stay for one campaign before taking up with Madison Capitals and started to strike the stat sheet.

He split his next frame where he was before being traded to Chicago Steel running up some 30 assists to get him notice by his college of choice.

The 24-year is pretty likely to find better footing as he continues to play more.

He takes a very decent showing, scoring 5 goals and 9 assists in 30 games with a +10 rating to a new journey, signing with SC Langenthal of Swiss League for 2022/2023.

Through 41 games, he blows up scoring to the tune of 14 goals and 37 assists with a +7 rating and will take those totals to a much better hockey in 2023/2024, agreeing to terms with HK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas of Slovak Extraliga.

He finds luck in the tough to play Slovakian hockey league, scoring 11 goals and 28 assists in 49 games, then adds another 4 points in the playoffs.

For 2024/2025, he signs with rivals HC Slovan Bratislava, where we think he will find a lot of success.

Beginning of the season, he is doing well with 5 goals and 5 assists in 17 games, but finds himself returning to HK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas.

04Nov

Gustavs Davis Grigals (39)

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UMass-Lowell Riverhawks‘ Latvian-born, graduate goaltender Gustavs Davis Grigals(39) signs a 1st pro deal with Milwaukee Admirals for 2023/2024, but has joined the club for the Calder Cup playoff push, although not likely to see action.

The 6’2″ 196 lbs. net minder had a 12-9-2 record with a 2.05 GAA and .924 SV%, including 2 shutouts.

He was better than any previous season he played at University Of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks, but did have 1 outstanding run through the NAHL juniors with Shreveport Mudbugs.

The 24-year old should be a standout performer as a rookie.

Parent club, Nashville Predators step in as the season is wrapping up and sign him for the current frame to an NHL contract, in a move we can only feel has implications for next season moving forward.

He is mostly sent to play in the ECHL for his rookie season and he decides to move back closer to home, signing with HK Dukla Trencin of Slovak Extraliga, where we think he re-finds his game.

After 5 games, he will switch things up and move on to Finland’s top hockey, Liiga signing with SaiPa for 2024/2025.

We do think it gels for him here.

01Nov

Danny Kristo (79)

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9th year right wing Danny Kristo(79) has not really lasted long with many teams after his 76 NL games spent with SC Rapperswill-Jona Lakers, scoring 46 points.

He’s definitely managed to score pretty well, whether he was in the KHL, DEL or SHL, but maybe has found a niche with Rytiri Kladno, where he has 3 goals and 7 assists in 34 Tipsport Extraliga games.

The 6′ 194 lbs. Montreal Canadiens‘ 2008 2nd round draft pick (#56 overall) forward is a three time 20+ goal scorer in the AHL.

You have to think the former two-time 26 assist, senior assistant captain at University Of North Dakota Fighting Hawks, 32-year is happy to still be playing for decent enough money.

He will head to his 7th country for pro hockey in 2022/2023, signing a 1-year deal with HK Dukla Michelovce, which should be some very decent games to jump into after finishing up in Sweden’s tier 2 last frame.

After starting the frame with 6 games in Slovakia, he decides to move on, signing with Sheffield Steelers for the remainder of the season.

He will strike well in the EIHL.

And he did, through 47 games, he posted 12 goals and 18 assists with a +7 rating, then came alive more in 4 playoff matchups, striking for 2 goals and 3 assists.

For 2023/2024, he pulls the traitor move and takes his numbers to a rival, Coventry Blaze.

He would have a similar scoring season and considers 11 years to be a good term, so decides it’s time to leave the ice to a yet named next step, but could easily transition into coaching in a second.

271 AHL games and 157 at NCAA Divison 1 were mosts.

29Oct

Kodie Curran (5)

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8th year defenseman Kodie Curran(5) takes 2-years under contract to Anaheim Ducks, worth $1M per season and the only NHL contract he has ever signed to a new adventure with Metallurg Magnitogorsk for 2022/2023.

After starting his pro career with Hartford Wolf Pack following 4 years at University Of Calgary Dinos, he struck decently quickly for an assist in a pair of AHL games, but was only retained for 18 games as a rookie before being dispatched to affiliate Greensville Swamp Rabbits.

The 6’2″ 201 lbs. blue liner would leave for his 1st away contract with Esbjerg Energy and helped them to win the 2016 Metal Ligaen Championship.

He next joined Storhamar as team captain and yet again saw his club ascend to the 2017 Norway Championship and he easily came away with MVP awards.

The Calgary, AB native would be awarded a new deal with Rogle BK and once again blow up a league with assists for the next 2 SHL sessions, which easily got him the look from the highest league.

At 32-years old, he has to be pretty happy to be still playing hockey at such a high level.

He plays a career high 65 games last season for Dinamo Minsk, scoring 20 assists.

For 2024/2025, he takes off for the easier to play NL and signs with HC Ambria-Piotta.

He may have been on a tryout and after 11 games with 1 goal and 3 assists, he becomes official.

26Oct

Nick Campoli (19)

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Undrafted rookie center Nick Campoli(19) signs a 1st pro contract with Iowa Heartlanders for 2022/2023 after graduating 4 years at Clarkson University Golden Knights.

He was a solid scorer in his 3rd and final season of OJHL, where he was more than a point-per-game player, but also achieved 20+ assists in each of the frames.

The 5’11” 190 lbs. forward wasn’t as lucky in Atlantic Hockey, getting a best 5 goals as a senior.

We think that the ECHL could be a different story for the 23-year old Toronto, ON native’s scoring fortune.

1 goal and 2 assists in 12 games to start him off and they want another look to return to the new Iowa team for 2023/2024.

Through 30 games, he scores a decent 9 goals and 4 assists, but decides he wants a little more, so splits for AlpsHL and signs with Sterzing/Vipiteno Broncos, 2024/2025.

25Oct

Josh Jooris (36)

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Josh-Jooris

Undrafted 7th year center Josh Jooris(36) leaves North American pro hockey for a first time to sign with Lausanne HC of NLA for 2019/2020.

He departs having played 213 NHL (23-32-55) games for 5 different teams but was exclusively in the minors with Toronto Marlies last season, although signed by the parent club Toronto Maple Leafs.

The former high scoring 6’1″ 198 lbs. Union College forward has less AHL games to his credit at 160 (20-26) but suited up for an equal amount of teams as he did at the higher level.

He is now 34-years old and that hasn’t deter how well he does in Switzerland’s top hockey.

Staying with his new Swiss team for 2 seasons, he switches it up to sign with Geneve-Servette HC, where he signs on for a 4th frame and is scoring pretty well out of the gate.

22Oct

Carter Camper (11)

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13th year center Carter Camper(11) is heading to a new league, Finland’s Liiga for 2023/2024 after 8 games in the Swiss NL and almost 3 SHL seasons with Leksands IF.

He will next skate for Tappara.

The 5’9″ 176 lbs. forward 3 times had 10+ goals and twice 30+ assists in Sweden’s top league.

He was mostly a more than point-per-game scorer through 4 years at Miami University (Ohio) Redhawks before signing as an undrafted, unrestricted free agent with Boston Bruins.

The Rocky River, OH native played 3 NHL games as a rookie and score a 1st goal.

He is a veteran of 558 AHL games.

At 35-years old, it’s hard to believe it’s been that long.

He scores nicely with 17 goals and 31 assists in 60 games with a +19 rating, then adds 7 points on his way to a 2024 Liiga Championship.

For 2024/2025, he eyes another opportunity in HockeyAllsvenskan, signing for 1-year with IK Oskarshamn.

20Oct

Wade Murphy (6)

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6th year right wing Wade Murphy(6) returns to sign with Idaho Steelheads for 2022/2023 after spending the last 3 seasons of pandemic madness away in Norway, Austria and Slovenia, where he managed to capture that country’s 2022 league championship.

The 6′ 194 lbs. forward has 120 games of ECHL experience with decent scoring, but definitely could flatten that +/-.

Originally a Nashville Predators’ 7th round pick in the 2013 draft (#185 overall), he was never signed after an outstanding junior season based on his early college numbers.

He graduated after a 2 season transfer to Arizona State University Sun Devils from University Of North Dakota Fighting Hawks with a college career best 9 goals and 11 assists.

The 28-year old from Victoria, BC is a big frame that should be able to score goals almost at will we the right team in this league.

He takes a career high by a mile frame, scoring 21 goals and 22 assists in 54 games with a +38 rating to 20 playoff match ups and another 20 point total.

It’s an absolute no brainer that he receives a new contract to continue wearing a Steelheads‘ jersey for 2023/2024.

He is taking career scoring bests goals, assists, points with him for another foray to test his skills overseas in the tough to play Slovak Extraliga and signs with HC Slovan Bratislava for 2024/2025 and we think does very well here.

Limited to only 10 games last season, he scored 6 goals and 2 assists with a +5 rating and will next skate in the same league for HK Poprad in 2024/2025.

18Oct

Cameron Brown (9)

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6th year center Cameron Brown(9) steps away from a pair of seasons with SonderjyskE and a very solid 10 goals and 21 assists in 31 Metal Ligaen games last year with a +23 rating to a new adventure in Ligue Magnus, signing for 2022/2023 to Les Ducs d’Angers.

The small 5’7″ 157 lbs. forward has definitely found ways to score, leaving three ECHL campaigns averaging 10+ goals and 20+ assists.

He dished 35 assists in 34 NCAA Division 1 games as senior captain at University Of Maine Black Bears.

The 29-year old, Natick, MA native may be able to play his way up a bit from a good session in France.

17 games into his season abroad, he has 1 goal and 7 assists, and decides to make a move over to Metal Ligaen, joining Esbjerg Energy for the remainder of the frame.

He grabs 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) in 22 games with a +9 rating, which is pretty good, so he signs with league rivals, Herning Blue Fox for 2023/2024 and we expect him to do better.

For his 3 season, he will stay in Denmark, but returns to his original team in the country, SonderjyskE for 2024/2025.