9th year defenseman Alex Wall(46) signs on to stay for a 3rd season in 2025/2026 on the blue line for Villacher SV of IceHL after posting 4 goals and 16 assists in 35 games with a +6 rating.
He did even better through more games in his 1st season with the team, his 6th in the league.
The 5’11” 190 lbs. started with 4 years of QMJHL junior hockey before heading to University Of Prince Edward Island Panthers for 3 years, then 2 at University Of New Brunswick Reds.
He turned pro with 2 ECHL games upon graduation and signed for his rookie frame with Adirondack Thunder, recording big points with 6 goals and 38 assists with a +10 rating.
His time last only 1 year, as he headed to GET-ligaen, joining Frisk Asker.
The 34-year old from St. John’s, NL obviously likes playing his pro hockey in Austria.
6th year right wing Wade Murphy(6) returns to sign with Idaho Steelheads for 2022/2023 after spending the last 3 seasons of pandemic madness away in Norway, Austria and Slovenia, where he managed to capture that country’s 2022 league championship.
The 6′ 194 lbs. forward has 120 games of ECHL experience with decent scoring, but definitely could flatten that +/-.
Originally a Nashville Predators’ 7th round pick in the 2013 draft (#185 overall), he was never signed after an outstanding junior season based on his early college numbers.
He graduated after a 2 season transfer to Arizona State University Sun Devils from University Of North Dakota Fighting Hawks with a college career best 9 goals and 11 assists.
The 28-year old from Victoria, BC is a big frame that should be able to score goals almost at will we the right team in this league.
He takes a career high by a mile frame, scoring 21 goals and 22 assists in 54 games with a +38 rating to 20 playoff match ups and another 20 point total.
It’s an absolute no brainer that he receives a new contract to continue wearing a Steelheads‘ jersey for 2023/2024.
He is taking career scoring bests goals, assists, points with him for another foray to test his skills overseas in the tough to play Slovak Extraliga and signs with HC Slovan Bratislava for 2024/2025 and we think does very well here.
Limited to only 10 games last season, he scored 6 goals and 2 assists with a +5 rating and will next skate in the same league for HK Poprad in 2024/2025.
He is seemingly doing ok over there for a couple different teams, but has decided to return to strap on an Idaho jersey yet again.
7th year left wing Anders Bjork(10) signs an AHL deal with Rockford Icehogs for 2023/2024, you have to wonder if it’s under the radar of Chicago Blackhawks, who obtained him close to the trade deadline last season and he came through with a tidy 2 goals and 6 assists in 13 NHL games with a +4 rating.
The former Boston Bruins‘ 5th round pick in the 2014 draft (#146 overall) has skated 225 games in the big league.
He was with them for 3.5 years before getting traded to Buffalo Sabres, where he stayed for roughly 2 years, but was bumped down for most of last campaign.
The 3-year University Of Notre Dame Fighting Irish from Mequon, WI scored of 21 goals and 31 assists in 39 games as a junior left 1 year on the table, but where he is could even return online to finish up.
He’s still just 27-years old.
Unrestricted free agent, he late signs with Milwaukee Admirals, where he definitely should start helping them.
Yale University Bulldogs‘ senior defenseman Brandon Tabakin(7) will head to Arizona State University Sun Devils to start a graduate program.
The 5’10” 170 lbs. blue liner didn’t play any games as a sophomore, instead deciding to return to his USHL junior team Sioux Falls Stampede for half a season.
He actually leaves his 4-year college team with a college hockey best 2 goals and 4 assists in 29 games on a team that struggled out of the gate last year.
The 22-year old from Woodbury, NY should find a little more room to skate with the schedule of his new college club.
He finishes up an extra frame with a college tying 2 goals, best 8 assists and 10 points to a 1st pro deal with Newfoundland Growlers, where he got an assist in his 2nd ECHL game.
Unfortunately, they end up closing down and parent club, Toronto Marlies step in to offer an amateur tryout offer.
He plays no games at the end of last season and for 2024/2025, his rookie frame signs a 1-year ECHL deal with the new Tahoe Knight Monsters.
After 30 games, 2 goals and 4 assists with a -3 rating, he gets himself traded to Wheeling Nailers, where his fortunes should increase.
Misericordia University Cougars‘ graduate defenseman Domenic Della Civita(2) signs a 1st pro deal with Watertown Wolves.
In 9 games, he has 2 assists.
The 6’1″ 190 lbs. blue liner had a college best 2 goals and 5 assists last season.
He came over after 4 years at SUNY Morrisville Mustangs.
From Trenton, ON, the 25-year old must feel good to being playing pro and likely looking to elevate that game.
In 14 FPHL games, he scored 3 goals and 5 assists, then added another 2 points in the playoffs and gets elevated to the SPHL and sign with Macon Mayem to start 2025/2026.
He would only come away with 1 assist in 13 games, so returns to the Wolves and has 1 goal in his 1st game back.
For the start of the new season, he would actually sign with Macon Mayhem and through 13 SPHL games had 1 assist with a 0 rating.
He was put on suspension and ultimately went back to Watertown Wolves, running up point totals to the tune of 3 goals and 7 assists in 7 games with a +5 rating, but they trade him to PeeDee IceCats.
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
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.
