5th year right wing Shane Walsh(7) took all of last season off, and looks as though it took him half a year to figure out he still wanted to skate, signing for the remainder of 2021/2022 with South Carolina Stingrays, who could use some goal scoring.
The former 18-goal scorer as a senior for UMass Minutemen, has definitely put up some decent numbers in the ECHL, most recently for Worcester Railers, getting 14 goals and 16 assists in 44 games.
He had allegedly toyed with retirement at 30-years old, but laces them up for another chance.
7th year right wing Colin Markison(28) leaves a single game for Jacksonville Icemen to join rivals, who he scored an assist in a win against, South Carolina Stingrays.
The 5’10” 185 lbs. forward has skated 267 AHL games, scoring 24 goals and 59 assist with a +14 rating.
He almost oddly reached his high marks for the league in two stints with Texas Stars, getting 27 points in each frame, and did the exact same feat through a pair of USHL years with Omaha Lancers, but 17 was the totals.
Putting together a solid ECHL frame may just serve as the energy to send the former 4-year University Of Vermont Catamounts overseas to experience some different kind of hockey before he retires.
6th year defenseman Ian McCoshen(22) signed his 1-year AHL deal to stick with Henderson Silver Knights after scoring 5 assists with a +3 in 24 games.
The big 6’3″ 218 lbs. Florida Panthers‘ 2nd round pick in 2013 (#31 overall) spent the 1st three years of his pro career in their system and played all of his NHL games, 60, 4 goals, 3 assists with the team before being traded to Chicago Blackhawks very early in his 4th year.
He was next signed late, just before the start of the 2020/2021 season to a new deal with Minnesota Wild and looks to have split time between the taxi squad and affiliate Iowa Wild.
This is the 26-year old from Anaheim, CA, former 3-year Boston College Eagles first minor league contract, but we don’t doubt he plays himself back up or take off for some overseas hockey.
Undrafted 3rd year left wing Ara Nazarian(22) has been lighting up the ECHL since arriving at Adirondack Thunder as a rookie after graduating 4 years at University Of New Hampshire Wildcats.
The small 5’9″ but stocky 185 lbs. forward has 6 goals and 12 assists in 27 games this season, which are consistent with career highs set in 2020/2021 with 2nd year club, Jacksonville Icemen (25-26-51 in 70 games).
His consistent play at the lower level has earned him a loan up to Rochester Americans, and in a few AHL games he has a 1st goal in the league.
The 25-year old from Boxford, MA is doing well playing himself up.
6th year center Matt Lane(21) has himself a decent enough start with new team Nottingham Panthers, scoring 2 goals and 3 assists in 14 EIHL games with a +1 rating.
The 5’11” 187 lbs. forward is coming off ECHL bests for Tulsa Oilers with 20 goals and 23 assists for 43 points as assistant captain.
He had equally strong scoring his first session away with Ritten/Renon, blitzing for 28 goals and 32 assists in 44 AlpsHL games.
The Rochester, NY native has always produced pretty well, consistently taking up his marks through 4 years at Boston University Terriers.
It will be interesting to see if the 27-year old looks elsewhere next or stays around England.
12th year center Andrew Rowe(19) scores a nice loan up to after 3 years of captain for SC Rapperswill-JonaLakers to participate with HC Davos for the upcoming Spengler Cup.
The 3-year Michigan State University Spartans‘ had a seriously good junior year before deciding to turn pro under contract with Adirondack Phantoms.
He split mostly of his playing time in North America, equally between the AHL and ECHL with just over 200 games in each league.
The 6’2″ 185 lbs. forward was a point-per-game guy at the lower level with a +69 rating, but got a contract in his final frame before leaving overseas, where he posted a 13 goals, 26 assists and 39 points for Bridgeport Sound Tigers to take to a nice new deal with Mora IK.
At 33-years old, he’s got to be pretty happy still contributing, signing good deals in great places to play hockey.
Colorado Avalanche sign 2nd year right wing Callahan Burke(68) after spending the entirety of his rookie campaign inked with affiliate Colorado Eagles.
The 5’10” 185 lbs. forward has 6 goals and 8 assists in 19 AHL games this season.
He had a pair of successful junior campaigns for Cedar Rapids Roughriders of the USHL before committing to University Of Notre Fighting Irish.
The 20-year old, Boxborough, MA native (down the street from where we grew up) was team captain as a senior and will likely continue to push the envelope for a 1st recall.
2nd year in Florida Panthers‘ system (6th overall), left wing Ryan Lomberg(94) gets a new contract extension for a couple more seasons after opening 2021/2022 with 2 goals and 3 assists in 14 NHL games with a +5 rating.
The scrappy 5’9″ 187 lbs. forward started his pro career on a minor league deal and even was sent to the ECHL for most of his rookie session to Adirondack Thunder, putting up close to point-per-game production, then helping the playoff push with more strikes.
He spent the entirety of his sophomore campaign up in the AHL, scoring 13 goals and 16 assists with a +15 in 68 games to gain final notice of the parent club, Calgary Flames, who signed him to a 2-year entry deal with a one year follow-up.
He received some big league time and had an assist, but couldn’t hang on with the parent club.
The 2-year University Of Maine Black Bears’ averaged close to 10 goals while he was there, but in an almost oddball move, left and returned to become captain of Youngstown Phantoms for another run through the USHL before turning pro.
While not exactly a fighter, he has gotten into some scraps with guys much bigger than him, which shows disregard but a level of balls for sure.
As an unrestricted free agent, he waited right up until the start of the new season before agreeing to terms, but almost oddly played entirely up in the show.
The 26-year old has to laugh a little at the ride he’s taken to make it stick.
Buffalo Sabres‘ 4th round pick in the 2016 draft (#99 overall), 3rd year left wing Brett Murray(57) played his first season under the guide of the parent club on an AHL contract with affiliate Rochester Americans.
The kinda giant 6’5″ 228 lbs., former year and a half Penn State University Nittany Lions‘ forward posted 9 goals in each of his first two seasons and 10+ assists before dropping a goal and 7 assists in 6 games in the current frame to earn a 2nd recall.
In his first re-appearance, he failed to connect in a win, but had an assist the next night and topped it with a two point, first NHL goal and an assist performance in a loss that should have earned him a third star award.
The Bolton, ON native took an interesting path from a first year at juniors, directingly into a first year at college hockey, but only stayed one run before returning to Youngstown Phantoms to absolutely detonate the stat sheet with a league best 41 goals and 35 assists with a +13 rating.
That was basically all the now 23 year old needed to turn pro and now he’s looking at some extended time up.
Undrafted 4th year 6’1″ 209 lbs. center tower Nic Pierog(61) decides to head for some new kind of hockey, signing with HKM Zvolen of Slovak Extraliga for 2021/2022.
The former two-time Clarkson University Golden Knights‘ captain always keeps it exciting on the ice and maybe what he had yet to develop scoring in college, he’s definitely a new kind of player as a pro.
Through 179 ECHL games, he’s popped in 78 goals and 56 assists.
He would end up signing an AHL deal with Springfield Thunderbirds after agreeing to head off, but aside from one appearance played 4 games for Worcester Railers (2 goals, 2 assists), but is now set to head to some tougher hockey in the top Slovakian league.
