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.
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.
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.
9th year center Mark Zengerle(89) wins a pair of DEL Championships with Eisbaren Berlin and leaves for a new opportunity with rival Straubing Tigers.
It will be his 5th season in the league.
The University Of Wisconsin Badgers‘ forward scored 34 assists and 44 points in 37 NCAA Division 1 games as a senior.
He has never had an NHL contract and played 4 AHL seasons with one short stop in Sweden’s SHL before leaving for his half birth nation to continue his game.
The 33-year old from Rochester, NY must have a nice smile on his face playing in Germany.
He’s been with the same club for 2 years and by his previous marks, he needs to sign with a 4th team on that soil and takes a new country best 15 goals and will skate with Augsburger Panther 2024/2025.
5th year right wing JJ Piccinich(14) decides it’s time to look outside the box, signing a 1-year deal with Belfast Giants for 2021/2022.
The Paramus, NJ native had an interesting path to turning pro.
Originally a Toronto Maple Leafs‘ 4th round pick in the 2010 draft (#105 overall), he only ever signed with their affiliate Toronto Marlies.
He would next sign to San Antonio Rampage, but was reassigned mostly to affiliate Tulsa Oilers, where he popped in a massive 42 assists.
The 6′ 190 lbs. forward also had a pair of amazing sessions for London Knights, including his 2nd as team captain, scoring 138 points (56-82) in 132 games.
This followed up just a single season at Boston University Terriers.
The 25-year old will bring some good winning to his new club: 2016 Memorial Cup, 2016 OHL Championship and 2019 ECHL Kelly Cup with Newfoundland Growlers.
It’s almost as if he can’t stop winning titles, as his Ireland lands the 2022 EIHL Championship and he ends a career scoring season with a league most goals, assists, points, plus/minus and forward of the year award.
He’s decided to up and leave and try something different though, signing in Norway with Stjernen Hockey.
As he posted a 25 goal and 40 assist frame in 45 games with his new club and has gone on to include an assist in one playoff match, the almost point-per-game Youngstown Phantoms re-signs to stay.
In roughly 90 games, he amasses 110 points and decides to head back to England with the Giants to explode more scoring and look for a title.
