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.
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.
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.
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.
