Colorado College Tigers‘ big 6’5″ 220 lbs. assistant captain, senior defenseman Jack Millar(5) signs an pto with Ontario Reign, but appears in only 1 game.
He had a college best 4 goals and 8 assists in 37 last frame.
From Westminster, CO, he stayed close to home for college, but played 2 USHL seasons with Cedar Rapids Roughriders before school.
The 23-year old also did all his youth hockey near home.
He will need a new deal for 2024/2025.
Boston College Eagles‘ graduate left wing Jamie Armstrong(25) basically mirrored scoring of his senior year at Commonwealth Ave. rival Boston University Terriers, scoring 13 then 12 points with plus ratings.
The 6’2″ 191 lbs. forward from Warwick, RI bounced around juniors, but when he arrived at Junior Bruins, he was able to get on his 1st school’s radar.
Never the biggest scorer earlier, the 24-year old has seemingly come to life some late college years and signs a 1-year, 2-way AHL deal with Charlotte Checkers.
Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 7th round pick in the 2017 draft (#217 overall), defenseman Will Reilly(8) finished up his fourth year as captain at RPI and was signed to a 2-year entry level deal.
In his final season he had a college career high of 8 goals, 14 assists for 22 points with a +14 rating.
The fairly big 6’2″ 197 lbs. blue liner was selected after his freshman campaign.
A Toronto, ON native he cycled through a couple junior leagues north of our border before committing for 2016/2017.
Through 19 AHL games with affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, he has 2 goals and 3 assists but his size has to be getting him on the radar of the big club.
Left unqualified, he signed a minor league deal with Tuscon Roadrunners for 2022/2023, scoring 1 goal and 4 assists in 30 games.
Charlotte Checkers like the looks of what they saw and swoop in to offer him a contract for 2023/2024.
Mostly reassigned to affiliate Florida Everblades, he’s able to connect for points bigger than ever with 10 goals, 28 assists and a +7 rating in 55 ECHL games and has run 9 points in 18 playoff matchups with a +9 rating.
He will take his efforts to the much tougher to play Tipsport Extraliga Czechia for 2024/2025 and signs with Motor Ceske’ Budejovice.
Boston College Eagles‘ senior right wing Jack Malone(13) transferred from 3 successful years at Cornell University Big Red to play a college best 41 games, scoring new highs 12 goals and 13 assists.
He really seemed to use that 6’1″ 190 lbs. frame to his scoring advantage last season.
The Danville, CA native played 3 USHL campaigns for Youngstown Phantoms, including 1 when the ECAC took the year off due to COVID.
He graduates and signs a 1st pro deal with Utica Comets to join the team on an ato, but will be under AHL contract through 2025/2026 and very much the watchful eye of parent club Vancouver Canucks, who selected him in the 6th round of 2019 (#180 overall).
12th year, small 5’9″ 161 lbs. defenseman Chay Genoway(39) maybe wants to take the edge off playing for big squads in the KHL or SHL, as he’s been doing for the past 8 seasons.
For 2022/2023, he has signed with EC Salzburg of ICEHL and will definitely find some room to score big in Austria’s top hockey league.
In fact, in his 1st 2 games, the former University Of North Dakota Fighting Hawks already has a goal and an assist.
Undrafted, he signed an entry level deal with Minnesota Wild, yet only skated 1 NHL game at the end of his rookie season, coming away with an assist.
The 35-year old from Morden, MB is likely still just having too much fun playing the game to quit.
He posts 10 goals and 17 assists in 45 games, then adds another 8 points in 16 playoff matchups en route to the 2023 ICEHL Championship to earn himself another year on the now 36-year old’s contract.
At 37-years of age, he continues to contribute for a 2nd league title in a row and he is to be kept on in a Red Bulls‘ uniform for a 3rd straight year, 2024/2025 (and another championship).
9th year defenseman Davis Vandane(55) will head back to IceHL, where he was for most of 2021/2022, before leaving at the end to help Lowen Frankfort win the DEL2 Championship, scoring 3 goals and 7 assists in 12 games.
The big 6’4″ 207 lbs. blue liner was rewarded with a 1-year move up to DEL with the same club, where he would score 7 goals and 20 assists with a +11 rating in 56 games.
He decides not to stay and return to Austrian hockey for 2023/2024, signing with HC Bolzano Foxes.
From Yorkton, SK, the 31-year old played 3 WHL seasons for Spokane Chiefs and Prince Albert Raiders before heading to 2 sessions at University Of Calgary Dinos.
He’s got to be pretty happy with the way things have turned out.
It looks like he’s in a habit of jumping back-and-forth in between Germany and Austria and heads back to the former for 2024/2025 with Krefeld Pinguine.
Cornell University Big Red center Zachary Tupker(51) will head to Quinnipiac University Bobcats for a graduate season 2023/2024.
The 3-time CCHL Carleton Place Canadians‘ 6’1″ 197 lbs. forward scored pretty big in his 2nd and 3rd frames for the team.
From Collingwood, ON, the 23-year old stays in the ECAC.
He finishes with another 6 goals and new best 15 assists and +20 rating to sign a 1st pro contract with Greenville Swamp Rabbits.
In 3 ECHL games, he has 1 goal and 1 assist with a +4 rating, but will need a new deal for 2024/2025.
12th year left wing Mike Connolly(22) will spend an 8th season in a Straubing Tigers‘ uniform.
The 5’9″ 181 lbs. forward had his best year scoring 19 goals and 53 points in 2021/2022.
He has 5 times put up 30+ assists for this team.
The top scorer in his 3 campaigns at University Of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, hitting 54 points in 42 NCAA Division 1 games as a senior.
He only played 2 sessions in the AHL and did appear in 2 NHL games with Colorado Avalanche after a rookie trade sent him away from San Jose Sharks‘ system.
At 33-years old, the Calgary, AB native has to be pretty happy about how his pro hockey life is still going.
He scores 16 goals and 22 assists in 50 DEL games last season and yup, will return for a 9th season in a Tigers‘ jersey.
2024/2025 will be his 10th season in a Straubing uniform, coming after a 34 assist, 45 point season.
2nd year defenseman Max Balinson(8) up and leaves for DEL2 to skate for Eispiraten Crimmitschau in 2023/2024 after bouncing around with 3 ECHL teams as a rookie, but ultimately landing at least decently successfully with Orlando Solar Bears, scoring 4 goals and 11 assists in 24 games.
The 6’1″ 198 lbs. blue liner from Ancaster, ON played 3 seasons of GOJHL junior hockey with hometown team, Ancaster Avalanche before committing to 1st school, Arizona State University Sun Devils.
He transferred after not playing during his junior campaign to Long Island University Sharks and served as assistant captain during his graduate session.
We think the 26-year old of split Canadian/German descent will do well in Germany tier 2 league.
He must have felt right at home, as he connected for 21 goals and 23 assists through 51 games with a +15 rating, then added another 3 points in the playoffs.
For his efforts, he has been elevated to DEL and signs with Dusseldorfer EG for 2024/2025.
Undrafted, Finnish-born left wing Ottoville Leppanen(7) will complete his senior year at Merrimack College Warriors after entering the transfer portal following 3 seasons with RPI Engineers.
The 5’10” 185 lbs. forward blew the lid off his scoring in a new best 42 NCAA Division 1 games, he scored new highs 9 goals and 21 assists for 30 points with a +1 rating.
He came to school after an impressive U20 SM-liiga campaign, where he scored 53 points in 53 games.
The 23-year old will do well in Hockey East competition.
Upon finishing up the tournament at the Finals before bowing out and having a pretty, nice graduate season run, he signs his 1st pro deal with Orlando Solar Bears, who may only have a couple games left to get his feet wet.
He plays 4 ECHL games, then for his rookie frame looks home to sign with Jukurit, where in 41 Liiga games he scored 7 goals and 8 assists with a +6 rating, then got another goal in the playoffs.
Loaned out for 2 Mestis games, he signs with rivals Kiekkoo-Espoo for his 2nd session in the league, 2024/2025.
