Wheeling Nailers sign University Of Vermont Catamounts‘ Finnish-born graduate goaltender Oskar Autio(35) to a 1-year ECHL deal for 2023/2024.
The 6′ 181 lbs. backstop played 1 game with them upon graduation, as the season was winding down.
He did 4 years at Penn State University Nittany Lions previously after 1 year in the USHL for juniors following youth hockey back home.
For 2023/2024, he returns home to Liiga, signing with TPS.
In 3 games, he goes 2-0-0 with a 2.11 GAA and .907 SV%, but is oddly traded to KooKoo.
He seems to have little luck in his homeland, so he is moving on to sign for the remainder of the frame with Starbulls Rosenheim of DEL2, which may be a much better fit.
With an 18-10 record with a 1.98 GAA and .935 SV% he is re-upped to stay for 2025/2026 with Starbulls.
14th year goaltender John Muse(40) does the easy thing and re-signs with Worcester Railers for 2024/2025 after a pretty solid season on a non-playoff team.
The 5’11” 185 lbs. has 184 games of AHL experience and 130 in the ECHL with winning records in both leagues.
He did 4 seasons at Boston College Eagles for the East Falmouth, MA native.
The 36-year old also played 4 campaigns overseas, so has definitely been around quite a bit in his pro hockey tour.
He wins a 5th game in dramatic fashion and that is all for the long-term net minder, as he accepts a job to coach a Chinese national team.
Reading Royals‘ 2nd year left wing Austin Master(21) is off to a pretty good start with 1 goal and 3 assists in 14 games with a +1 rating.
He had 2 goals and 7 assists in 40 games as a rookie.
The 5’9″ 165 lbs. forward plays a full in your face style.
He spent 4 years, served as senior captain at Stevenson University and left with 22 assists and a 2nd 30+ point season.
From Broomall, PA, the 26-year old did 2 years of juniors, finishing up with a monster EHL frame for Philadelphia Little Flyers, scoring 30 goals and 41 assists in 43 games
12th year defenseman Luke Glendening(14) signs a new 2-year NHL deal with Tampa Bay Lightning on the opening day of unrestricted free agency, so they had their eye on him to add to their organization.
The undrafted 5’11” 190 lbs. blue liner spent his 1st season under a minor league contract with his home town team Grand Rapids Griffins, where he would go on to win the 2013 Calder Cup trophy and ring up an impressive 16 points (6 goals, 10 assists) in 24 playoff games to gain notice of the parent club Detroit Red Wings, who would give him a simple 1-year entry level deal.
He even skated 27 ECHL for Toledo Walleye in his rookie season.
By his 2nd session though, the twice captain as junior and senior at University Of Michigan Wolverines was appearing in 56 games and even 5 through the playoffs, scoring a goal to earn his next 3-year 1-way deal.
The 34-year old has done well and is still having a blast doing it.
He scores a 4th season of 10+ goals in his 1st frame with the new team and twice plays almost an entire schedule of games.
For 2025/2026, he looks to activate with a new team and signs a pto during training camp that turns into a 1-year deal with New Jersey Devils.
In 38 games, he has 3 assists as a 36-year old out there.
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.
Worcester Railers‘ rookie center Matt Kopperud(18) has been scoring at a decent clip with 7 goals and 14 assists in 28 games, but has to clean up a -7 rating.
The 6’1″ 194 lbs. forward was a twice 20+ goal scoring and similar 10+ assists in 4 years at Arizona State University Sun Devils.
From Denver, CO, he did 2 BCHL seasons and 1 USHL before heading to school.
The 25-year old could very well set himself up to do well.
Holy Cross College Crusaders‘ graduate goaltender Jason Grande(30) put up quite a spectacular 10-4-2 record with a 2.06 GAA and .929 SV%, as his team heads into the Atlantic Hockey playoffs in the 2nd seed position.
The 6’3″ 201 lbs. net minder played 2 stellar years in the NAHL with Amarillo Bulls before committing to his 1st school, Bentley University Falcons.
From West Chester, PA, where he played his youth hockey, the 25-year old will likely turn pro once college hockey wraps up.
Not surprising, he signs an ato with Bridgeport Islanders that we think could get him some action.
He plays no games upon graduation, so looks elsewhere and it may be one of the best offseason signings yet, he agrees to terms for 2024/2025 with HC Nove Zamky of Slovak Extraliga, which will have him playing a very high level of pro hockey.
Things are not going so well in Slovakia, so he looks elsewhere and signs with Nottingham Panthers to try to help them right their EIHL ship.
2nd year net minder Evan Cowley(31) signed at the beginning of 2018/2019 with Wheeling Nailers but after one uneven start on a bit of a struggling squad was released.
Originally a Florida Panthers‘ 4th round pick in the 2013 draft (#92 overall), he never agreed to terms with the team but did eventually get a contract with affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds, where he split time with Manchester Monarchs of the ECHL as a rookie.
The former University Of Denver backstop put up stellar numbers in college and went on to win the 2017 NCAA Championship.
At 23-years old, it didn’t take him long to secure a new deal after he was let go, grabbing a contract with MH Automatyka Gdansk of Polska Hokej Liga, where he will likely excel and move up the European hockey ladder as he goes.
He spent the last 3 seasons in Ligue Magnus with Ducs D’Angers and put up league best GAA (2.02) and SV% (.935), but is ready to explore again and signs to Asiago and will play in the IceHL for 2024/2025.
Through 20 games, he has struggled some, so makes a decision to head to HockeyAllsvenskan and signs with IK Oskarshamn.
Rookie defenseman Matt Staudacher(25) leaves Italy2, where he scored 10 goals and 13 assists in 19 games for Brixen/Bressanone Falcons, for a contract with the new Bloomington Bison.
The 6’1″ 194 lbs. blue liner finished up a graduate year of college at Northeastern University Huskies with a new best 2 goals.
He had more assists in 4 years (3 playing) at University Of Minnesota Golden Gophers.
From Grand Blanc, MI, we expect the 24-year old to do quite well in the ECHL.
