14th year right wing Kevin Clark(32) has carved out a heck of a career for himself playing and scoring in leagues, such as the SHL, KHL (only 1/2 one session), NL and returns to DEL for his 5th season, signing with Düsseldorfer EG for 2023/2024.
Not too crazy bad for a player that skated only 2.5 campaigns in the AHL after 4 years at University Of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves.
He really blew up scoring in his senior year at school with 23 goals and 14 assists, making him a twice 30+ point guy in college hockey, as he achieved that feat as a junior too.
The 5’9″ 172 lbs. 35-year old from Winnipeg, MB has run up awards where he is in one campaign and last year helped win his 1st title, the 2022 DEL Championship in his 2nd year with Eisbären Berlin, so likely wants more with someone else.
Despite doing decently with 13 goals of production in 49 games, he decides at 36-years old to become the player development coach for Tri-City Storm, despite playing no American-based junior hockey.
He is maybe still getting the itch to play some hockey and signs with EC-KAC of IceHL should be a good challenge for him.
Undrafted center Patrick Grasso(21) signs his first pro contract with Utica Comets for 2021/2022 after 5 seasons at University Of New Hampshire Wildcats.
Almost oddly his best scoring year was as a freshman, when he struck for 20 goals and 13 assists, which followed up a particularly good 3rd/4th USHL campaign for close-to-home Des Moines Buccaneers.
The small 5’7″ 170 lbs. 25-year old quick pivot will likely do well in the AHL.
He actually had a goal and 3 assists in 9 games, but was mostly sent down to skate with affiliate Adirondack Thunder, where he was stellar scoring 26 goals and 24 assists in 68 ECHL games.
For 2022/2023, he goes a bit of the easy route, signs to stay in Glens Falls, NY and will potentially score some loans up to the higher league.
He comes up with a new league and team best 37 goals and 59 assists in 64 games and is loaned up to 2 teams for 9 games, gaining 2 assists.
The Des Moines, IA native is back for a 3rd run with his favorite team.
He’s taking some good 3rd year stats with him to a new adventure, signing for 2024/2025 with HC Innsbruck Sharks of the IceHL and should do very well in Austria’s top hockey.
In 45 games, he strikes for 21 goals and 14 assists, but is a horrible -25 rating, so looks to explore other pro hockey and signs with Vasteras IK of HockeyAllsvenskan.
JYP left wing C.J. Smith(49) quickly signs up for a 1-year extension after 1 goal and 4 assists through 5 games looks like a lock for him to score goals in Liiga after starting the season late with the team.
After 3 years at UMASS-Lowell Riverhawks, the 5’11” 183 lbs. forward signed an NHL entry level deal as an unrestricted free agent with Buffalo Sabres and stayed in their system for 4 years.
The 29-year old from Des Moines, IA is said to be coming back from surgery due to an injury, so this is a nice landing spot for him to re-stake his game.
He comes away with 8 goals and 12 assists in 33 games, which gains interest from Barys Astana of the KHL for 2024/2025.
So much for the tryout in Germany, as he will head home under contract to Charlotte Checkers, where he should do well and help.
3rd year center Carter Johnson(18) was traded late last ECHL season from Wheeling Nailers to Maine Mariners, giving him a chance to make a deep playoff run after wracking up 13 points (4-9) in 14 games during the regular frame, then adding another 5 points in 6 games in the postseason.
The 6’3″ 201 lbs. forward was a decent scorer earlier after never really connecting through 4 years at Miami University (Ohio) Redhawks, but seemed to jump to his new team.
For 2023/2024, he signs a 1-year deal to skate for Dundee Stars.
The 27-year old from Gimi, MB will likely put up good numbers in the EIHL.
In 27 games, he scores 4 goals and 8 assists with a -10 rating and is maybe a little unhappy, so decides to head back overseas, hooking up with Esbjerg Energy of Metal Ligaen for the rest of the current frame.
Carolina Hurricanes‘ rookie center Jack Drury(72) scores a first recall for his debut and pots a first NHL goal in the process to help the win.
Who had those odds?
The 5’11” 174 lbs. forward skated 23 shifts for 16:05 of ice time with 4 shots, 2 hits, 2 blocks and 2 penalty minutes, leaving the contest with +1 rating.
He’ll easily always where his former school, Harvard University Crimson on his sleeve.
As a rookie, playing in the AHL for affiliate Chicago Wolves, he wins himself a 2022 Calder Cup Championship with very good numbers.
He would split duties for just 1 more frame before becoming full-time in the show, where 8 goals and 19 assists in 74 games with a +4 rating, then adding another 5 points in 11 playoff matchups with a +7.
The restricted free agent picks himself up a nice 2-year deal to stay in a Hurricanes‘ sweater, moving forward through at least 2025/2026.
In an epic deal, he is traded to Colorado Avalanche, where in his debut, he scores a 1st goal with the team.
9th year defenseman Alex Wall(46) signs on to stay for a 3rd season in 2025/2026 on the blue line for Villacher SV of IceHL after posting 4 goals and 16 assists in 35 games with a +6 rating.
He did even better through more games in his 1st season with the team, his 6th in the league.
The 5’11” 190 lbs. started with 4 years of QMJHL junior hockey before heading to University Of Prince Edward Island Panthers for 3 years, then 2 at University Of New Brunswick Reds.
He turned pro with 2 ECHL games upon graduation and signed for his rookie frame with Adirondack Thunder, recording big points with 6 goals and 38 assists with a +10 rating.
His time last only 1 year, as he headed to GET-ligaen, joining Frisk Asker.
The 34-year old from St. John’s, NL obviously likes playing his pro hockey in Austria.
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.
He is seemingly doing ok over there for a couple different teams, but has decided to return to strap on an Idaho jersey yet again.
Edmonton Oilers‘ 6th round pick in the 2019 draft (#162 overall), St. Lawrence University Saints‘ sophomore transfer, Czechia-born Tomas Mazura(10) is putting up college career best 3 goals and 6 assists in 20 games after only skating 8 as a freshman at Providence College Friars.
The big frame 6’4″ 205 lbs. forward is a power force out there, only played 4 USHL games after a monster senior year at Kimball Union Academy, serving as captain, recording an eye-popping 60 assists in 35 USHS-Prep games.
It looks as though the 22-year old will play out his college term and continue to escalate and grow his game.
He posts a new college best 6 goals and 13 assists for 19 points as a junior and scores the only goal his team needs to head to the ECAC Finals.
After 17 games with good output, 1 goal and 13 assists, he decides to head back home and signs with BK Mlada Boleslav of Tipsport Extraliga.
10th year veteran left wing Derek Whitmore(21) hasn’t played a pro game since 2017/2018, but he returns at 40-years old to sign with Maine Mariners, where he may act a little more as a coach.
He returns to the city, where he played most of his AHL hockey with Portland Pirates.
The 5’11” 185 lbs. forward also played a few seasons overseas with decent luck.
He has 349 games experience in the higher league and left Reading Royals as team captain.
We aren’t sure how much scoring the former Bowling Green State University Falcons‘ 27-goal scorer as a senior has left in the tank, but he is going to be pivotal in the locker room.
And he scores in his 1st game back, just for good measure.
Florida Everblades‘ 6th year center Joe Widmar(72) was just obtained from Allen Americans, where he seemed to struggle with only 3 assists in 14 games after starting the season decently for the lowly Norfolk Admirals, scoring 5 goals and 4 assists in 13 contests.
The big 6’1″ 210 lbs. forward has struggled to stay with one team for an entire frame, except for his one complete season overseas, where he skated 26 Polish Hockey League games for Cracovia Krakow.
A former 2-year UMass Minutemen wasn’t a big scorer in college before turning pro.
The 27-year old from Northbrook, IL still can be an elite player in the ECHL, but needs to not get traded.
He has definitely struggled in the higher league some, as he started the 2024/2025 frame with Roanoke Rail Yard Dawgs and scored 3 goals and 6 assists in 2 SPHL games to earn a quick loan up, but there he has been perplexed hitting the scoresheet.
With only 1 assist in 20 games, he moves for a 3rd time, claimed from waivers by Fort Wayne Komets, where he hopes to find luck.
