After 5 years of pro hockey, including the last three overseas, defenseman Paul Geiger(33) decides to head off into the sunset on a career that concludes with a season in Austria’s IceHL for Fehervar AV19.
He finishes with decent enough scoring but we’re mostly looking at his +20 rating of accountability through his time across the way.
The very sizable 6’3″ 210 lbs. blue liner completed 4 years at Clarkson University Golden Knights, serving as team captain for his last two.
He was signed to a pair of AHL deals, including 9 games for Albany Devils, as school was wrapping up.
The Canadian native played almost equal time in the lower league, ECHL and really took scoring onto a new level for himself with South Carolina Stingrays, where he struck for 12 goals and 23 assists.
Carolina Hurricanes‘ 2nd round pick in the 2018 draft (#42 overall) center Jack Drury(72) arrives back from his first pro experience, a 2021 SHL Championship with Vaxjo Lakers.
The 21-year old good goal scoring forward picks up a nice three year NHL entry level deal to start in the system and there’s little doubt he’s big league bound.
Former four year, UMass-Lowell Riverhawks‘ senior captain Charles Levesque(12) will take his game overseas to France’s Lique Magnus, joining Cergy-Pontoise Jokers for 2021/2022.
Not exactly always the biggest scorer in college hockey, he was at least decently efficient, pocketing 6 goals and 6 assists in just 20 games with a +11 rating in his final session.
The Ontario native was a very prolific scorer in a pair of junior seasons in the CCHL, grabbing a total of 48 goals and 87 assists for 135 points in 119 games.
At 5’10” 175 lbs., we think the 23-year old will come back to life scoring in his new league and move up and on from there.
Swedish native defenseman Philip Alftberg(14) decides to head back home to start his pro hockey career, signing for 2021/2022 with HC Vita Hasten of tier two, Allsvenskan.
The small-is 5’8″ 170 lbs. blue liner spent the last four years at St. Lawrence University Saints, fighting for ice time and probably having his most successful season as a senior with a modest goal and 4 assists and a +1 rating in a surprising ECAC Championship run for an almost shambles of a 2020/2021.
He played most of his junior hockey overseas with Brynas IF and even figured in SHL game appearances as an 18 and 19-year old.
Almost crazier, he even skated 2 regular season then 2 playoff games for tier 3 HockeyEttan, when he was all of 16 after time with first club, Wings HC J18.
The now 24-year old did have one full season of juniors before college, first with Tri City Storm, where he committed to school, then Fargo Force putting up decent USHL point totals.
There’s little doubt he’ll work his way up the ladder when he closer to where he lives.
Undrafted, Finnish-born net minder Jere Huhtamaa(1) decides to head back home after two years with Merrimack College Warriors, signing with tier 2 Mestis TUTO Hockey.
The 6’2″ 190 lbs. goalie played all his youth hockey and juniors in the homeland before committing to college.
After a not so good outing as a freshman, he unfortunately saw only 3 Hockey East games in the off and on 2020/2021, but did post reasonable ok numbers going 1-0 with a 2.97 GAA and .905 SV%.
The 21-year old will likely be happier simply playing hockey at home and trying to achieve high levels.
Undrafted rookie goaltender Aidan Pelino(30) had a split session, first joining Finland’s tier 2 league Mestis signing with RoKi but seemed to struggle some through 6 appearances.
Eying another opportunity in Switzerland’s HockeyEttan he agreed to terms with Sollentuna HC doing much better in 5 games posting a 3-2 record with a 2.61 GAA and .907 SV%.
The 6’2″ 195 lbs. net minder played four seasons at Bentley University Falcons, always putting together decent stats.
From Oakville, ON he committed to college during his second BCHL season with Chilliwack Chiefs.
Where the 25-year old heads next is still up in the air but he should continue to land in some pretty nice places to play pro hockey.
After two years with Quinnipiac University Bobcats, Swedish native, center William Fällström(90) decides to head back home to pursue pro hockey initially signing with Tingsryds AIF but ultimately finishing up 2020/2021 HockeyAllvenskan season skating 26 games for HC Vita Hasten scoring 5 goals and 4 assists.
After playing most of his youth hockey back home, he came over to play for Omaha Lancers, then started the next frame with Bloomington Thunder, but after 4 appearances returned to Djurgardens IF J20.
The 5’11” 187 lbs. forward showed up a 2nd time for his best junior outing with Fargo Force, getting new bests 14 goals, 31 assists for 45 points and a +15 rating.
He would take these totals to a 2018 USHL Clark Cup Championship, grabbing another 9 points (2-7) in 14 playoff games on the way to the title.
It would be early during this time in America that he would commit to college.
The 23-year old will likely continue to press and hopefully score with more frequency to earn space up in the highest league, SHL.
Jack Drury(13) basically had the best hockey experience he probably never even imagined, as his college team of two seasons, Harvard University Crimson had their playoff picture scrapped at the end of 2019/2020, then was going to shudder for 2020/2021 due to COVID complications.
The 6′ 175 lbs. forward took a few months to consider options and what came up was seemingly the best one to pursue, sign with Vaxjo Lakers to start his pro hockey career.
He played 41 games in 2020/2021 scoring 10 goals and 20 assists with a +10 rating, then struck for another 5 goals and 6 assists in 14 playoff appearances with a +5 en route to the 2021 SHL Championship.
The ball is now in Carolina Hurricanes‘ court, who picked him in the 2nd round of the 2018 draft (#42 overall), to sign him to an entry level deal to keep the 21-year old around.
Finland-native defenseman Veli-Matti Tiuraniemi(20) heads back home for 2021/2022 to Karpat of Liiga after four years at University Of Maine.
Never the biggest scorer through college, his best outing was as a junior, when he connected for 2 goals and 8 assists but you can hardly count the COVID interrupted 2020/2021, where he was only able to skate 14 NCAA Hockey East games for 3 points, all assists.
The 6′ 193 lbs. d-man came to the US for a single season of juniors with Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL and did produce 19 assists, but has to be seen as more of a stay-at-home style blue liner.
He did produce a decent amount of helpers through U18 and U20 play, so has the ability to contribute scoring.
We’ll see how the 23-year old readjusts to his home country’s play after most of 5 years away.
RPI Finnish-born junior forward Ottoville Leppanen(11) heads back home 0n a late loan to tier 3 league Suomi-sarja‘s S-Kiekko and has put up some stellar numbers banging home 7 goals and 5 assists in just 6 games, then moved onto the playoffs and produced similarly.
It’s thought that the 5’10” 175 lbs. pivot will return to school when there’s a full 2021/2022 schedule and better in-school academics to be had.
He played all of his youth and junior hockey back home with Blues, doing quite well to earn an invite from his current college.
The 22-year old will definitely be a player to continue to watch as is very possible he starting popping points with even more frequency.
