Category: Minor League Deal

07Jan

Carter Savoie (8)

Posted in College Hockey Player, Europe, Juniors, Minor League Deal, NHL Draft Pick | Leave a comment

Edmonton Oilers‘ 4th round pick in the 2020 draft (#100 overall), University Of Denver Pioneers‘ sophomore left wing Carter Savoie(8) is this close to knocking off first year totals in fewer games.

He already has a college best 12 assists and 22 points, with goal-scoring just one off his total from 2020/2021.

The small 5’9″ but stocky 190 lbs. forward has always been a heck of a point-producer through youth hockey, then blew up juniors with Sherwood Park Crusaders, notching a crazy 172 points (84 goals, 88 assists) in 112 AJHL games.

At just 19-years old, we’ll see what the parent club says about having him turn pro before his four years are up.

And just like that, as he finishes up a 2022 NCAA Division 1 Champion, he signs an at0 with affiliate Bakersfield Condors, which just may be the dawn of him officially signing an NHL entry level deal, turning pro.

After 2 years in the AHL, he gets a nice deal to leave and joins TPS of Liiga.

In 5 games in Finland’s top league, he records only 1 assist and decides to leave and return on a 1-year deal with Ontario Reign for 2024/2025.

Reassigned to Greenville Swamp Rabbits, he puts out a team leading 20+ goals and assists in 57 games and signs for 2025/2026 with Allen Americans.

He actually gets a trade right back to the Rabbits before the new season starts.

Through 22 ECHL games, he has 7 goals and 8 assists and maybe decides he would like a little more competition and heads off to Tipos Extraliga, signing with HK Spisska Nova Ves.

In 2 games, he has 1 assist.

07Jan

Gustavs Davis Grigals (31)

Posted in College Hockey Player, Europe, Free Agent Signing, Juniors, Minor League Deal, Transfers | Leave a comment

UMass-Lowell Riverhawks‘ Latvian-born, graduate goaltender Gustavs Davis Grigals(31) signs a 1st pro deal with Milwaukee Admirals for 2023/2024, but has joined the club for the Calder Cup playoff push, although not likely to see action.

The 6’2″ 196 lbs. net minder had a 12-9-2 record with a 2.05 GAA and .924 SV%, including 2 shutouts.

He was better than any previous season he played at University Of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks, but did have 1 outstanding run through the NAHL juniors with Shreveport Mudbugs.

The 24-year old should be a standout performer as a rookie.

Parent club, Nashville Predators step in as the season is wrapping up and sign him for the current frame to an NHL contract, in a move we can only feel has implications for next season moving forward.

He is mostly sent to play in the ECHL for his rookie season and he decides to move back closer to home, signing with HK Dukla Trencin of Slovak Extraliga, where we think he re-finds his game.

After 5 games, he will switch things up and move on to Finland’s top hockey, Liiga signing with SaiPa for 2024/2025.

We do think it gels for him here.

In 15 games, he has a 8-6-1 record with a 2.96 GAA and .899 SV%, which is good enough for him to earn an invite for another season, 2026/2027 to stay at SaiPa.

06Jan

Anthony Firriolo (23)

Posted in College Hockey Player, Juniors, Minor League Deal | 1 Comment

Jacksonville Icemen signed 4 year Army West Point Black Knights‘ senior defenseman Anthony Firriolo(23) to an ato.

In 5 ECHL games, he has 1 assist.

The 5’11” 165 lbs. blue liner had a college career best 24 assists and 29 points last season.

He put up 34 helpers in his 2nd NAHL campaign for Corpus Christi Ice Rays.

We would be surprised if the 24-year old from Towaco, NJ does find more room to head man the puck for points.

He’s not sticking around to see if the team he’s moving forward with, as he signs with Atlanta Gladiators for 2023/2024.

Released during training camp, Indy Fuel step right in to offer him a deal.

9 games in with 1 goal to his credit, he gets shipped to Iowa Heartlanders.

He stays here 21 games to record 2 goals and 8 assists with a -2 rating and once again during his rookie frame gets moved to Tulsa Oilers, who seem to want to add him.

In 7 games, he scores 1 goal and 3 assists with a -3 rating and Toledo Walleye see something in his game that they sign him for 2024/2025.

After just 2 games with no scoring, he goes back to the Gladiators, who he didn’t play with after signing.

He is scoring decently with the team in a 2nd frame, but gets himself dealt back to Iowa Heartlanders for the remainder of the 2025/2026 season.

06Jan

Ryan Kuzmich (23)

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University Of New England Nor’easters‘ senior Ryan Kuzmich(23) scored a college best 21 goals in 29 games with a +23 rating for his final season.

The 6’2″ 205 lbs. forward had 22 assists and 37 points in 29 games, as a sophomore with a +25 rating.

From Norton, MA, the 24-year old signed a 1st pro deal with Knoxville Ice Bears for 2025/2026, his rookie frame.

In 23 games, he has 9 goals and 5 assists.

05Jan

Brady Keeper (25)

Posted in College Hockey Player, Europe, Free Agent Signing, Juniors, Minor League Deal | Leave a comment

Vancouver Canucks have picked up unrestricted free agent Brady Keeper(25) as his one-year extension to stay in Florida Panthers‘ system was up.

And even though the undrafted, 6’2″ 196 lbs. blue liner has only ever skated 2 NHL games, he is given a 2-year one-way deal to come play zone in the big league.

He originally came from three seasons of juniors in the MJHL for OCN Blizzard, serving as captain in his final session, before committing to University Of Maine Black Bears.

The Cross Lake, MB native played one full AHL campaign for affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds, earning 6 goals and 18 assists in 61 games.

He was loaned last season to Syracuse Crunch, where he figured into 11 games, scoring a goal and 2 assists.

They must see something in the 25-year old that looks ready to step it up full-time and it just may work.

He wouldn’t actually figure into any games for 2021/2022 after breaking 2 major bones in his leg, but returned for the next frame, contributing 1 goal and 5 assists in 35 games.

For 2023/2024, he has options and signs with Montreal Canadiens, but really is on a high-priced minor league deal with affiliate  Laval Rocket.

He only figures into 22 games last season, but his accountability is good.

For 2024/2025, he signs with HK Poprad of Slovak Extraliga, which should provide the challenge the 28-year old needs.

Instead of reporting to his new, overseas team, he elected to sit last year out and returns in 2025/2026 to sign with Glasgow Clan of the EIHL.

Injuries continue to nag him, as he tries to move towards a comeback, but it turns out to be too much and he needs to hang up the skates, having 2 goals in 4 NHL games.

Something is nagging him and he signs for 2025/2026 with South Carolina Stingrays.

He actually heads to the semi-pro SaskEHL, but with 7 goals and 2 assists in 5 games, maybe thinks he should really play, gets a trade to and signs with Rapid City Rush.

05Jan

Jack Robilotti (28)

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UMASS-Lowell Riverhawks‘ graduate defenseman Jack Robilotti(28) came over after scoring a college best, as a senior at Holy Cross College Crusaders 3 goals and 6 assists in 35 games with a +9 rating.

In 5 games in the current frame, he has 1 assist with a +5.

We’re looking for that big smile on the 6’3″ 215 lbs. blue liner from New York, NY, when he scores a 1st Hockey East goal.

He comes away with 2 goals and 4 assists with a +6 rating in 36 games.

Upon finishing up tournament play, he signs an ECHL contract and joined Bloomington Bison.

In 8 games, he had 1 assist before bowing out without playoffs.

He signs a contract for his rookie season with Atlanta Gladiators, 2025/2026.

In 13 games, he has no points, but Iowa Heartlanders spot him and trade to bring him aboard.

05Jan

Louis Boudon (40)

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Lake Superior State University Lakers‘ French-born junior center Louis Boudon(40) finds himself tied for the lead in NCAA Division 1 scoring with a handy 20 points in 14 games.

He looks to easily eclipse marks he set as a sophomore and a freshman, although he had 21 assists in his first year.

The 5’11” 181 lbs. forward skated two seasons for Northeast Generals, notching better than point per game numbers after a run lighting it up for Metro Jets in the NA3HL, got a NAHL tryout that produced a couple of goals and a deal.

He played all of his youth hockey back home and it will definitely be interesting to see who scoops on the future NHL unrestricted free agent.

Upon completing 4 years at college, he signs a 1st pro contract, leaving a 2nd season as team captain, an ato with Laval Rocket.

There’s not much time left to impress, but you can bet he’ll be constantly looking to connect as soon as he arrives in the AHL.

He doesn’t stick in Canada and signs with Iowa Wild, but splits time with Iowa Heartlanders and gets 1 goal and 2 assists in 3 ECHL games with a +7 rating.

In the next season, he is re-signed, but spends most of his time down, scoring 18 goals and 28 assists in 56 games on a non-playoff team.

The listed as Gernoble, FRA-born skater decides to head off for another pro hockey look, agreeing to terms with Nybro Vikings IF of HockeyAllsvenskan.

After a decent 47 game session in Sweden’s 2nd tier league, he returns to sign with Atlanta Gladiators and has popped scoring to the tune of 12 goals and 18 assists in 25 ECHL games and maybe gets a little antsy for a bit more and signs in Liiga with Jukurit, where he will be duly challenged for the rest of 2025/2026.

He will also skate the Olympics on the French national team.

04Jan

Kyle Rau (42)

Posted in College Hockey Player, Free Agent Signing, Juniors, Minor League Deal, NHL Draft Pick | Leave a comment

8th year center Kyle Rau(42) signed his 1st minor league deal to play for Abbotsford Canucks in 2022/2023.

He was coming off his 4th season in Minnesota Wild system, where he played NHL games in each frame, equally 28 appearances with 4 assists to his credit.

The 5’8″ 173 lbs. forward has 369 AHL games to his credit and rolls a fairly decent 119 goals and 142 assists with a bit of a woeful -24, but has 3 times struck for 20+ goals and 4 times 20+ assists in the league.

From Eden Prairie, MN, the Florida Panthers‘ 3rd round pick in the 2011 draft (#91 overall) attended nearby University Of Minnesota Golden Gophers, always good for point-per-game or better numbers.

In 7 games this season he has 2 goals and 2 assists with a +2 rating, so is right on track at 30-years old.

For what we thought was a fairly solid frame for the Eden Prairie High captain, takes a little time as he enters into his 9th season to sign with San Jose Barracuda, who can likely use hims

After a pretty good season, scoring 23 assists, he somewhat late signs with Kunlun RedStar for 2024/2025.

He actually has a pretty good session with 6 goals and 5 assists in 20 games, but decides to head off to Switzerland’s NL and signs HC-Fribourg-Gotteron for 2025/2026.

04Jan

Jack Bar (25)

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Harvard University Crimson senior captain, defenseman Jack Bar(24) signed a 1st pro contract with San Jose Barracuda for 2025/2026, his rookie season, but has been reassigned to affiliate Wichita Thunder to get started.

In 26 ECHL games, he has 2 goals and 8 assists with a +7 rating.

The 6’2″ 209 lbs. blue liner was a Dallas Stars‘ 5th round pick in 2021 (#138 overall), but was left unsigned.

From Newmarket, ON, we believe the 23-year old gets an AHL look before too long and was a pto in San Jose Sharks‘ training camp.

 

04Jan

Ben Raymond (3)

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Colgate University Raiders‘ senior center Ben Raymond(3) posted a college best 9 goals and 9 assists in 36 games, then after tournament play concluded signed with Iowa Heartlanders, getting a 1st assist.

For his rookie season, 2025/2026 the 5’11” 179 lbs. forward signs with Maine Mariners.

In 10 ECHL games, he has 2 assists.

The Newton, MA native went to Dexter-Southfield USHS-Prep, then took off to the BCHL for the Covid-filled 2020/2021 before committing.

The 24-year old should continue to up his game.