Norwich University Cadets‘ Austrian-born junior left wing Paul Schmid(19) is heading back to AlpsHL, joining Die Adler EC Kitzbuhel for 2024/2025.
He scored a new college best 7 goals and 8 assists in 25 games with a +7 rating last season.
The 6’1″ 187 lbs. forward did 1 season at University Of St. Thomas Tommies after 1 NAHL campaign with Amarillo Bulls upon coming across.
It could simply be the 23-year old missing back home and wants to just go play pro.
Quinnipiac University Bobcats‘ Swedish-born, graduate defenseman Jacob Nordqvist(12) sure picked the right school to go to after completing 4 fine years at Lake Superior State University Lakers, as he wins himself a 2023 NCAA Division 1 Championship with his new college club.
He finished 38 games with a college career tying his 3-time low 11 assist mark with a +15 rating.
The 5’9″ 181 lbs. blue liner had 15 assists as a freshman and 12 as a junior, leaving with a +43 on the plus/minus side.
He did most of his junior hockey back home, but came across for a single USHL session with a couple different clubs, amassing yes, 11 assists.
The 25-year old signs a 1st pro contract for 2023/2024 and will skate for Kalamazoo Wings, which we think will lead to some more on ice success.
He does ok scoring 1 goal and 8 assists in 48 games with a 0 rating, but decides to play his hockey maybe a little closer to home, signing with Herning Blue Fox of Metal Ligaen for 2024/2025.
16th year left wing Ryan Stoa(13) re-signs with Nurnberg Ice Tigers for a 4th season, where 3 times he has scored 10+ goals in a season.
The one-time University Of Minnesota Golden Gophers‘ senior captain, 40+ point player has done quite well overseas with 6 KHL campaigns and 3 in the SHL before heading to Germany.
Originally a Colorado Avalanche 2nd round pick in the 2005 draft (#34 overall), he has skated 40 NHL games, scoring 4 goals and 3 assists, but has 290 AHL games of experience.
The 6’3″ 223 lbs. from Bloomington, MN did 2 junior seasons with the USNTDP.
At 37-years old, he’s still having fun out there to sign.
EV Landshut 3rd year defenseman Nick Pageau(24) signs on to return for his 6th DEL2 season.
It’s only his 2nd team in all his time in the tier 2 German league.
He came in from a single frame in HockeyAllsvenskan and 1 and playoffs in Norway with Frisk Asker.
The 6’1″ 185 lbs. blue liner did 4 OHL seasons with Belleville Bulls before heading to 4 years at St. Francis Xavier University Mice.
He played 3 campaigns in Bakersfield Condors‘ system after school.
At 36-years old, he still has to be having fun.
Michigan State University Spartans‘ senior defenseman, captain Nash Nienhuis(4) signs a 1st pro deal for 2024/2025 to start his pro hockey overseas with EC Salzburg.
The 5’10” 185 lbs. blue liner from Sarnia, ON started junior hockey local in the GOJHL, but was quickly drafted to the USHL with Muskegon Lumberjacks before he had his best junior success in 27 games for Omaha Lancers.
He had a college best 9 goals, tied his 15 assists set as a junior and had a new high 24 points with +20 rating.
The 24-year old will likely excel nicely in the IceHL.
Kalpa‘s rookie defenseman Aapeli Rasanen(22) left his final year at Boston College behind possibly not knowing how the upcoming season would turn out during a raging pandemic, as he signed soon after 2019/2020 was aborted.
The 6′ 207 lbs. forward came to life scoring in his final year at college with 11 goals and 13 assists in 34 NCAA games with a +14 rating.
He continued on that path his first year in Liiga grabbing 13 tallies and 9 helpers.
It’s not certain what his future will be with Edmonton Oilers, who drafted him in the 6th round of 2016 (#153 overall) and still retains his contract rights.
The 22-year old is back home in Finland and maybe not looking back, which is too bad because he was always a good player to watch in Hockey East.
He spends his 1st 4 pro years with the same team, scoring decently, but maybe it’s time for a rival switch, so he signs with Tappara for 2024/2025.
12th year, small 5’9″ 161 lbs. defenseman Chay Genoway(39) maybe wants to take the edge off playing for big squads in the KHL or SHL, as he’s been doing for the past 8 seasons.
For 2022/2023, he has signed with EC Salzburg of ICEHL and will definitely find some room to score big in Austria’s top hockey league.
In fact, in his 1st 2 games, the former University Of North Dakota Fighting Hawks already has a goal and an assist.
Undrafted, he signed an entry level deal with Minnesota Wild, yet only skated 1 NHL game at the end of his rookie season, coming away with an assist.
The 35-year old from Morden, MB is likely still just having too much fun playing the game to quit.
He posts 10 goals and 17 assists in 45 games, then adds another 8 points in 16 playoff matchups en route to the 2023 ICEHL Championship to earn himself another year on the now 36-year old’s contract.
At 37-years of age, he continues to contribute for a 2nd league title in a row and he is to be kept on in a Red Bulls‘ uniform for a 3rd straight year, 2024/2025 (and another championship).
American International College Yellowjackets‘ Finnish-born, senior center Julius Janhonen(11) heads home to Liiga to sign with HPK for 2024/2025.
The 6’1″ 185 lbs. forward played a college high 40 games and scored a best 19 assists and 24 points last season.
He did all his youth and junior hockey back home for the 25-year old and should do well upon returning.
9th year defenseman Davis Vandane(55) will head back to IceHL, where he was for most of 2021/2022, before leaving at the end to help Lowen Frankfort win the DEL2 Championship, scoring 3 goals and 7 assists in 12 games.
The big 6’4″ 207 lbs. blue liner was rewarded with a 1-year move up to DEL with the same club, where he would score 7 goals and 20 assists with a +11 rating in 56 games.
He decides not to stay and return to Austrian hockey for 2023/2024, signing with HC Bolzano Foxes.
From Yorkton, SK, the 31-year old played 3 WHL seasons for Spokane Chiefs and Prince Albert Raiders before heading to 2 sessions at University Of Calgary Dinos.
He’s got to be pretty happy with the way things have turned out.
It looks like he’s in a habit of jumping back-and-forth in between Germany and Austria and heads back to the former for 2024/2025 with Krefeld Pinguine.
Brown University‘s 2nd year Finnish-born defenseman Samuli Niinisaari(7) leaves college for hockey season to head back home and play in tier 3 league Suomi-sarja for Kotkan Titaanit and already has a nice 3 goals and 10 assists in 17 regular season games and has added another pair of helpers in the playoffs.
The 6’1″ 194 lbs. blue liner took spent most of his early game in his home country but did stretch out for one campaign of juniors in Saskatoon and then agreed to a year with Lincoln Stars of the USHL before making the college commitment.
It would be surprising to not see the 22-year old return to school as soon as the coast is clear.
He does return for the 2021/2022, recording a new best 11 assists and 12 points, then appeared in 30 games last season with 8 helpers to his credit.
For his senior year, he has decided to go for some new frozen waters, enters the transfer portal and comes out a member of the 2023/2024 UMass Minutemen.
He ups his challenge to take on Hockey East.
Through 27 games, he takes up his scoring to 3 goals and 9 assists with a +2 rating for possibly his best college frame.
He takes it back home to sign a 1+ year deal with Saipa and will skate his games in Liiga for 2024/2025.
