Category: Europe

05Aug

Ralfs Bergmanis (39)

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Minnesota State University (Mankato) Mavericks‘ Latvian-born senior defenseman Ralfs Bergmanis(39) scored 2 goals and new college hockey best 14 assists and 16 points with a +12 rating in 40 games last season.

The 5’11” 179 lbs. blue liner signs a 1st pro contract in Czechia2 for his rookie season with HC Dukla Jihlava in 2026/2027.

He did most of his youth hockey in Finland, but played 1 season pro back home, then 1 more junior where he did his youth before coming to the USHL.

From there, he 1st committed to University Of Vermont Catamounts for 2 seasons.

He will do well and play up the ladder, if that’s what he’s looking to do.

04Aug

Travis St. Denis (74)

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Straubing Tigers‘ 7th year center Travis St. Denis(74) re-ups to return to the German club, his 2nd year in DEL.

He scored 22 goals and 17 assists in 51 games last season.

The 5’7″ 170 lbs. forward was twice a 40+ point scorer in the AHL for Bridgeport Sound Tigers, while under contract to New York Islanders for at least one of those sessions.

He spent 4 seasons at Quinnipiac University Bobcats, always increasing his totals to leave as a senior with 49 points in 43 NCAA Division 1 games.

The Trail, BC native played his junior hockey up north and won a 2012 BCHL Championship with Penticton Vees, scoring 37 goals and 51 assists in 54 games, then adding 13 more points in the playoffs.

At 29-years old, he is likely to be happy still playing hockey at a very high level.

After spending 2 years with the same club, recording just about exact excellent numbers, he reaches out and signs with rivals, ERC Ingolstadt for 2023/2024.

His season with a new German team doesn’t go maybe as planned and he heads right back, where he scored 22 goals in each of his 2 frames, the Tigers for 2024/2025.

He continued to play well, but maybe after 4 years in 1 league was looking for something different and signed with EC Salzburg of IceHL.

Scoring in this league increases to levels reached when he initially hit Germany, but for 2026/2027 he signs with rivals, EC-KAC.

04Aug

Justin Bean (26)

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5th year Fife Flyers‘ defenseman Justin Bean(26) has 7 assists in 7 EIHL games to start the 2025/2026 season.

He recorded an ECHL best 7 goals and 28 assists last season with Maine Mariners.

The 6’3″ 205 lbs. blue liner from Pickering, ON did 4 years in juniors, then 5 at York University Lions, taking the COVID 2020/2021 off.

At 29-years old, he seemingly has found a good league to play in.

in 43 games, he gets 4 goals and 17 assists, but once again he looks back and signs with South Carolina Stingrays for 2026/2027.

03Aug

Miles Gendron (10)

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4th year defenseman Miles Gendron(10) exchanges 2 contracts with Colorado Eagles, including 2 goals and an assist in 15 AHL games and 116 ECHL appearances to a new adventure for 2022/2023, signing with Storhamar of Fjordkraft-ligaen.

Originally an Ottawa Senators‘ 3rd round pick in the 2014 draft (#70 overall), he only skated parts of his rookie season in the system before moving on.

The 6’2″ 181 lbs. blue liner skated only one year of juniors, winning the 2015 BCHL Championship with Penticton Vees, amassing 12 assists in 22 playoff games before heading off to school.

He did 4 years, including serving as senior captain at University Of Connecticut Huskies.

The still young 25-year old should do very well in Norway’s top league.

After 19 games with 3 goals, 5 assists and a +9 rating, he decides to return and signs with Greenville Swamp Rabbits for 2023.

He takes an impressive little run into the playoffs with his new club, but will look to branch out again and head over to the EIHL for 2023/2024, signing with 2 time champs, Belfast Giants.

In just 19 games, he didn’t actually connect as he would have thought, so returns home on a deal with the Swamp Rabbits.

He plays 60 games and that season goes better for him to sign as 1st time captain with Reading Royals in 2025/2026.

In 45 games, he gets 2 goals and 12 assists with a +9 rating to get himself a new deal to stay a Royals in 2026/2o27.

03Aug

Matt Cairns (22)

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Undrafted rookie defenseman Matt Cairns(22) signs a one-year AHL contract with Rochester Americans for 2021/2022 after completing his senior year at University Of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs.

The big 6’3″ 213 lbs. blue liner skated three seasons at Cornell University Big Red, but we think saw the writing on the wall of a suspended 2020/2021, so entered the transfer portal to continue playing college hockey.

He won an OJHL Championship in his 2nd year of juniors in the league with Georgetown Raiders, scoring all bests 9 goals and 24 assists for 33 points, then added another 3 goals and 16 assists in 21 playoff games to the title.

The Mississauga, ON native would next try his hand at American junior hockey, signing on with Fargo Force, but leaving after 17 USHL games to join Powell River Kings and would keep scoring 2 goals and 14 assists in 18 BCHL games.

We’re not sure how much the 23-year old will be able to connect with points in his new top notch pro league, but do think he’ll be able to shut down offense as necessary.

He was mostly reassigned down to Cincinnati Cyclones for his 1st season, scoring 2 goals and 14 assists with a +21 rating.

For 2022/2023, he re-signs to stay in Ohio and should have another good ECHL year.

1 goal and 5 assists in 45 games with a +17 rating, then 11 playoff match ups, and he is invited to return again for 2023/2024.

Splitting his time between affiliates, his league rights get traded to Maine Mariners, but things get confusing and before you can blink he is going to Indy Fuel for some future rights considerations, so was wanted in the midwest.

He actually sticks through 49 games, 3 goals and 13 assists with a +13 rating, so does pretty well for himself, but is heading to the IceHL, signing for 2024/2025 with Asiago.

We think he does really well in this top Austria league.

He scores pretty decently, but is off on the +/-, so figures he will do better in Sweden’s tier 2 HockeyAllsvenskan and signs with IF Bjorkloven.

After 27 games with only 1 goal, but a +14 rating, he decides to leave for HC Bolzano.

He picks up 5 assists there, but continues to move on and signs with Esbjerg Engergy of Metal Ligaen for 2026/2027.

02Aug

Tanner Kero (64)

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Dallas Stars re-signed 7th year center Tanner Kero(64) to a two-year two-way NHL contract through 2022/2023.

The former Michigan Tech captain put up some good numbers through his 4-year college career, but nothing like he did, when he was a senior captain and popped in 20 goals and 26 assists in 41 NCAA WCHA games.

He’s already a veteran of 111 total appearances with initial signing club Chicago Blackhawks and 39 games in 2020/2021 with current team, scoring 3 goals and 7 assists to earn his new deal.

The 28-year old has played 248 AHL games, and must be smiling but has worked hard to achieve all he has.

He spends the entire frame with affiliate, Texas Stars, but scores well through the playoffs.

Not re-signed to continue, he inks a minor league deal with Colorado Eagles.

For 2024/2025, he has likely made the best decision and agrees to terms with HV71 of the SHL, where we think he will find new life.

He throws up a decent frame in Sweden, but decides to head for Germany next and signs with Kolner Haie of DEL.

In 41 games, he scores 11 goals and 18 assists, but decides to sign with rivals Krefeld Pinguine for 2026/2027.

02Aug

Georgii Merkulov (10)

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Ohio State University Buckeyes‘ Russian-born, freshman left wing Georgii Merkulov(10) leads NCAA Division 1 players in goal scoring with 18.

The 5’11” 185 lbs. forward spent all of his youth hockey in his homeland and played junior hockey in the MHL for a couple seasons, including 6 VHL games for HK Tambov before leaving during the 2019/2020 session to start his American.

He joined Youngstown Phantoms and was a bit of an instant success with 6 goals and 27 assists in 36 USHL games.

The 21-year old played one more successful campaign of juniors before committing to school.

Undrafted, he will easily be a player to watch.

Boston Bruins waste no time and scoop him from one successful year at college hockey to a 3-year NHL entry level deal starting next season.

He scores a meager 24 goals and 31 assists with Providence Bruins and is back up in rookies training camp to begin the 2nd year of his entry level deal for 2023/2024 and by the looks of it is ready to compete for a spot on the big club.

After a 3rd season of 30+ assists, with a new high 39 last season, he gets a new 1-year deal to stay a Bruins and keep building.

He’s still our pick to make the big club on a more permanent basis.

After 4 years looking to break through the system, it’s time to move on and he signs a 1-year deal with Colorado Avalanche to see if a new environment can improve his chances.

02Aug

Matt Marcinew (8)

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5th year right wing Matt Marcinew(8) makes a decision he maybe should have made earlier in his career, heads off to Europe after a career year, scoring 23 goals and 25 assists in 57 ECHL games for Indy Fuel.

The 5’10” 190 lbs. forward signs with HPK of Liiga for 2021/2022.

While the former 4-year University Of Denver assistant captain as a senior consistently been a great scorer at the lower level (59-82-141 in 184 games with a +15 rating), but almost oddly has been given much opportunity in the AHL with only 1/2 season on the books.

Finland’s top hockey will be very competitive for the 27-year old that could excel his game and start a great career away from home in Calgary, AB.

He finds limited success in Finnish hockey, so decides to sign with Sodertalje SK, scoring 7 goals and 8 assists in 35 Allsvenskan games.

For 2022/2023, he returns to sign a 2-way deal with the brand new Calgary Wranglers.

After spending all of last season running up the scoresheet for Rapid City Rush to the tune of a career high 30 goals and 38 assists for 68 points in 64 ECHL games.

For 2023/2024, he signs with Allen Americans, where those scoring talents are once again very likely to flourish.

He scores 8 goals and 13 assists in 18 games to start the new session and might be looking for another step, so signs for the rest of the year with Krefeld Pinguine of DEL2.

In a full frame, he is essentially a point-per-game performer, but decides to look for another league to conquer and signs in the EIHL with Nottingham Panthers for 2025/2026.

Not surprising, he is a point-per-game player for his new club and decides to return to Germany, but signs with rivals EC Bad Nauheim for 2026/2027.

30Jul

Daniel Eruzione (21)

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Curry College Colonels‘ graduate transfer Daniel Eruzione(21) signs a 1st pro deal with Brixen/Bressanone Falcons of Italy2 for his rookie season 2022/2023.

The small-ish 5’9″ 165 lbs. forward is coming off a college career low goal and 9 assists in 22 NCAA Division3 games, but 3 times was a 20+ point scorer for his 1st school, Salve Regina University Seahawks.

He started his junior hockey with tier 3 Walpole Express after graduating Cushing Academy and lit up with 41 points in 40 EHL games, then was selected in the NAHL draft and played the next frame for New Jersey Junior Titans.

The 26-year old, Winthrop, MA native should light up where he is headed and may even get a promotion to a higher level club.

He has a very successful first run in Italy’s tier 2 league (12 goals, 19 assists in 20 games) and will return, but signs with rivals Feltre for 2023/2024.

25 assists ties a mark twice set in college play and 17 goals goes back to his 2nd junior season for that total, so he is scoring and will take that to a 3rd Italy2 team for 2024/2025, HC Eppan Pirates, maybe in hopes of winning a championship.

He blows up scoring with 20 goals and 35 assists in 32 games, then adds another 4 in 4 playoff matchups and will return for 2025/2026 in a Pirates‘ jersey.

After a 2nd 50+ points season, he is taking it up a notch an signs AlpsHL with Cortina for 2026/2027.

30Jul

Joey Musa (8)

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UMass Minutemen senior left wing Joey Musa(8) signs a 1st pro deal in France2 with Les Dogs de Cholet for his rookie season, 2025/2026.

The 5’9″ 160 lbs. forward has a pretty crazy 10 goals and 7 assists in 11 games with a +12 rating.

From Orange Park, FL, he did 3 years at Dartmouth University Big Green before transferring.

After a successful 20 goal, 29 game season with 14 points in the playoffs, he next takes off for Italy2 and signs with Varese for 2026/2027.