11th year center Zack Torquato(51) had such a solid 1st season as captain for EHC Winterthur of the NLB scoring 10 goals and for a 5th time eclipsing 30+ assists in 44 games.
He was coming off a strong showing with Herning Blue Fox of Metal Ligaen in the prior campaign and previous to that played two years in AlpsHL with Cortina.
The 30-year old signs on to stay another season and you could easily see him getting comfortable in Switzerland’s tier 2 league.
Zack Torquato (15)
4th year center Zack Torquato(15) re-signed for 2013/2014 with Wheeling Nailers for another chance to propel the ECHL club into the postseason after missing half of last season on the injured reserved list.
Originally a Detroit Red Wings‘ 6th round pick in the 2007 draft (#178 overall) he was never signed and became an unrestricted free agent but did play games in two seasons with minor league affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins.
He would later sign an AHL contract with Rockford IceHogs but spent most of his rookie season with their affiliate Toledo Walleye, where he put up some pretty good numbers scoring 11 goals and 33 assists in 54 games.
The 6′ 195 lbs. forward is no stranger to posting record marks, as he did with 62 assists in his over-age junior hockey season with Erie Otters.
He got off to a super-hot start with the Nailers posting 9 goals and 22 assists and a crazy 100 shots on net in 25 games and was loaned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins just before Christmas.
In 7 games already chipping away at the score sheet with a pair of goals and assists.
The 24-year old could net a contract in the higher league or if he’s sent back down, it’s not likely to be for a long time.
Original story: 1/5-14
He would stay up with the Penguins for another month skating 18 games with 2 goals, 5 assists and a +1 rating before being returned.
For 2013/2014 he finished up his 4th season in the ECHL setting new scoring highs (14-38-52) and putting in another point-per-game in 6 playoff match-ups.
Just prior to 2014/2015 starting he re-signed for another year with Wheeling Nailers.
Once again he netted a couple of recalls to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton but evened out a bit with only a goal and an assists in 12 games.
In the lower league though, he once again struck for career bests of 19 goals, 40 assists and 59 points, then equal his postseason totals from a year ago.
The 26-year old has decided to stay put for a 5th campaign with the Nailers.
If he strikes on the score sheet quickly he will probably find himself recalled but could possibly go to a different AHL team to try his luck.