Providence College Friars‘ sophomore right wing Bennett Schimek(23) takes a pair of good seasons with 19 goals and 18 assists over 73 games with a +15 rating to Arizona State University Sun Devils for his junior year.
The 6′ 186 lbs. forward played 2 successful junior frames for Sioux City Musketeers, winning the 2022 USHL Clark Cup Championship.
From Mendota Height, MN, the 21-year old will likely do well playing the independent schedule.
4th year Latvian-born defenseman Janis Jaks(72) signs on for a 2nd season to stay with HC Litvinov of Czechia Extraliga for 2023/2024.
The 6’1″ 190 lbs. blue liner played a lot of his youth hockey and beginnings of juniors before coming over to the NAHL with Minnesota Wilderness, where he was twice a +10 player fully grounded in his own zone and helped his team with the 2015 Robertson Cup.
After spending 4 fairly strong sessions at American International College Yellowjackets, he signed with Dinamo Riga, but after 17 KHL games, the relationship soured and he agreed next to Bakersfield Condors and things were looking decent with 2 goals and 4 assists in 20 AHL games with a +3 rating.
He would return to Russia to skate for HK Sochi, but the results didn’t yield much, so he turned his attention to where he is now with much better results, 8 goals, 17 assists in 47 games with a +3 rating to move forward.
The 27-year old has to have at least a little smile on his face to how things are going, especially after winning Bronze at the recent IIHF Worlds.
After 2 strong seasons with the same team, he was in a pretty good spot for himself, but decides to sign with rivals, HC Energie Karlovy Vary.
12th year, Swedish-born defenseman Philip Samuelsson(34) left 3 seasons of playing in his home country’s top league, SHL for a new adventure, signing for 2022/2023 with Fischtown Pinguins.
In 22 DEL games, he has 12 assists, so is on pace for a big first season in Germany.
The former Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 2nd round pick in the 2009 draft (#61 overall) has played 512 AHL games, scoring 27 goals and 124 assists with a massive +76 rating.
He’s also appeared in 13 NHL games.
Because his dad, Ulf Samuelsson(5) was playing hockey in the US, he did his high school and junior hockey here.
The 6’2″ 194 lbs. blue liner even did 2 years at Boston College Eagles before turning pro on a 3-year entry level deal.
At 31-years old, he is still able to pull down good contracts, so must have at least a little smile on his face.
He finishes up his debut frame in Germany with 4 goals and 27 assists in 47 games only to be wooed by rivals Straubing Tigers to stay in the country and sign for 2023/2024.
After an exceptionally strong year, scoring 4 goals and 12 assists with a +5 rating through 49 games, then adding another 4 points in 11 playoff matchups, it’s a no brainer to keep him in a Tigers‘ jersey for 2024/2025.
10th year center Brett Cameron(91) steps down a notch in German hockey to Germany3, signing with Hannover Scorpions for 2024/2025 at 34-years old.
He did well for the last 2 seasons with EV Landshut of DEL2 scoring almost 40 points each session.
The 6’2″ 203 lbs. forward has always consistently scored in the ECHL, 2 years in Norway and 2 in Switzerland.
From Edmonton, AB, he skated 5 seasons at University Of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves.
We think he will absolutely blow up scoring in the upcoming frame.
Norwich Sea Captains‘ 2nd year center Sava Makarenko(10) commits to Oswego State University Lakers ACHA for 2024/2025 after putting up an NA3HL best 16 goals and 14 assists in 43 games with a +18 rating.
From Yonkers, NY, the 6’2″ 185 lbs., 20-year old will fit right in with his new club.
13th year center Andrew Rowe(19) has spent the last 4 seasons skating for SC Rapperswill-Jona Lakers of NL, a team he served as team captain of the past 3 sessions.
The 6’2″ 185 lbs. forward started with two season in the SHL for Mora IK upon leaving on his best AHL numbers, 13 goals and 23 assists in 66 games for Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
He has 206 appearances in the league to his credit and 214 in the ECHL with point-per-game numbers.
The 34-year old, former 3-year Michigan State University Spartans is likely happy to still be pulling in good contracts.
After playing hockey for the last 4 years in one away from home country, he has decided to switch things up and head to DEL for his next experience with ERC Ingolstadt in 2023/2024.
He will only spend 1 frame in Germany, as he is maybe unhappy with his performance and makes a great move to skate next in the IceHL and signs with the famous EC Red Bull Salzburg for 2024/2025.
Ottawa Senators step in to sign 5th round pick in the 2018 draft (#126 overall) left wing Angus Crookshank(9) to a three-year entry deal, leaving one year of school at University Of New Hampshire on the table, after scoring 9 goals and 9 assists in 20 games in a completely broken NCAA season.
The 21-year old from North Vancouver, BC has always been a fairly consistent scorer netting more than a point per game in his 2nd year with Langley Rivermen of the BCHL before committing to college and getting on the radar fully to be selected.
He has finally arrived to make his debut with affiliate Belleville Senators and notched an assist in his debut, a resounding 7-2 win.
With the season continuing and the parent club being out of the playoff hunt, he could garner a look.
He is running totals with their affiliate Belleville Senators and has 10 goals and 11 assists in 24 games this season to earn a 1st NHL recall.
In his debut, he skates 16 shifts for 10:11 ice time with 3 hits in a 6-3 loss to one of the best teams in the league.
He is basically a point-per-game player for the affiliate and gets 2 goals and 1 assist in 13 games in the big league to earn himself a 1-year extension.
3rd year center Jacob Hayhurst(14) is most definitely off to his quickest star, getting 4 goals and 3 assists in 5 ECHL games for a +6 rating for 9-0 Worcester Railers and already has been loaned up to Springfield Thunderbirds for a pair of AHL appearances.
The undrafted 5’10” 180 lbs. forward had a strong 2nd session, scoring easy bests 15 goals and 33 assists in his 1st season with current club.
He also scored very decently in college, especially as a sophomore and junior at RPI Engineers, when he got 23 points in both frames, but did it a 2nd time in 7 less outings.
For his senior year, he maybe looked to take his game up a bit and transferred to University Of Michigan Wolverines with a decent enough showing.
The 25-year old from Mississauga, ON must be smiling pretty big.
He scored the insurance goal last night to secure his team’s historic season start.
After 10 goals and 12 assists in 25 games last season, he gets a look for 2023/2024 from Coachella Valley Firebirds and we believe this is a player who has played himself up.
He is actually reassigned to affiliate Kansas City Mavericks and blows up regular season and playoff scoring to be a single step away from the league championship, but he will take his game elsewhere for the future, signing with Vasteras IK of HockeyAllsvenskan, where he should absolutely blow up on the stat sheet in Sweden’s tier 2.
Ogden Mustangs‘ right wing, captain Dimitri Voyatzis(17) takes a 1st year USPHL/NCDC 17 goals and 37 assists in 49 games, then adds another 7 points (3-4) in 10 playoff matchups that ends in the finals.
The 6’1″ 194 lbs. forward played 2 seasons of Premier with the team, blowing up scoring in his 2nd session.
He commits to Nichols College Bison for 2024/2025, which should be a fantastic choice for the 20-year Fountain Valley, CA native.
EHC Red Bull München‘ 4th year center Ben Smith(12) re-ups after a 3rd 15+ assist season with a monster +61 rating.
It’s the 5’11” 203 lbs. forward’s 15th pro year.
A former Boston College Eagles‘ assistant captain, he twice had 20+ assists in college hockey, yet played no junior hockey after Westminster Prep USHS-Prep.
He was a Chicago Blackhawks‘ 6th round pick in the 2008 draft (#169 overall).
The Winston-Salem, NC native has 237 NHL games experience.
At 35-years old, he seems well happy playing his game in Germany.
