As of halfway into the first day of free agent signings for Season 11, only one player had more than one team courting him.
Defenseman Patrick Wiercioch, a 30-year-old who has proven he can put the puck in the net, signed with Athens today, choosing the Gods over the Red Bulls of Munich.
He inked a deal that will pay him nearly $5.6 million this year with a no-trade clause and a player option. The former Geneva and Bratislava D-man doesn’t hit often, but he has a big slapshot and he has averaged more than 100 blocked shots the last three seasons with the Generals. In Athens, he is currently near the top of the depth chart with Erik Johnson and Esa Lindell.
Athens also signed two forwards today: stocky Irishman Gareth Roberts, 30, who scored 20 goals in Madrid last season, and 24-year-old Latvian center Rodrigo Abols, who has never played in the league.
Gothenburg fan favorite Mark Fraser agreed to a 3-year deal with the Frolunda. In eight seasons, the 6-4, 220-pound Canadian has constructed a reputation as one of the most feared fighters and physical forces in hockey. Despite not playing the first two seasons of the EURO League, the now 34-year-old is third all-time in penalty minutes and no one has been in more scraps. Fraser has fought 77 times, winning 21 of them. Milan Lucic is second in fights all-time, with 50. Fraser’s understudy in Gothenburg, Mikhail Pashnin, an apparent psycho, is smaller but fights at an even greater rate than Fraser does.
Mike Hoffman, 30, has a wicked shot, and he is taking it from Scotland to Ireland. Dublin signed the Canadian left wing to a long-term deal at $6.9 million per year and he will likely be in competition for ice time there with Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand, and perhaps Teuvo Tervainen. The team’s centers currently are Jordan Staal and youngsters Elias Pettersson and Dylan Strome. Hoffman’s best years in Edinburgh saw him score more 40 points as a second or third liner and he played well defensively.
Martin Hanzal, another giant of a man, decided to return to Finland, signing with Helsinki for nearly $5 million. After playing nearly every game the first 8 seasons in Bratislava and 82 games for the Jokerit in Season 9, Hanzal saw only 5 games in Bern last season. He won’t supplant Nicklas Backstrom on the top line in Helsinki, but he can contribute mightily, probably as the center on the second line. But at 34, his body is more fragile than it once was and he’s not a guarantee to play all season long. Helsinki also signed Reilly Smith, who hasn’t played in the league for a half-dozen years, and rookie free agents Devon Toews and Austin Wagner.
Zach Parise agreed to return to Olso for a sixth year. He is 37 now, but what a consistent performer he has been in the EURO. Parise has never scored fewer than 60 points and he has never taken fewer than 200 shots. In 800 career games, the American has 781 points. Expect him to again play the LW on the second line with Tomas Hertl on the top line. Tyler Seguin and Connor McDavid are the top two centers in Oslo.
Munich signed David Perron, a 33-year-old winger who starred with Paris in its glory years and contributed to Geneva’s recent resurgence. He and his General teammates suffered a drop in Season 10, but in Munich, Perron will be expected to play big minutes on the right wing. The Red Bulls have veteran David Krejci and 27-year-olds Sean Monahan and Fyodor Malykhin at center and Perron will be trying to find chemistry with one of them. Munich also signed rookie Lucas Wallmark, a center who is likely to play on the farm with the Hamburg Freezers this season.
Milan signed American goalie Jack Campbell, who has not yet played a EURO game. That contract might have signaled the end of Alex Stalock’s long career as a backup in Italy. Stalock, 33, is currently without a contract and hasn’t signed with anyone yet. In seven seasons as a Guerriero, Stalock has been a steady backup and even started 64 games the season before Andrew Hammond came to town as a top draft choice (3rd overall).
Mats Zuccarello was claimed on waivers and from one Swiss city to another. Bern let the 33-year-old go and Zurich picked him up. In his last four seasons with Stockholm and Bern, Zuccarello has scored 55 points or more each year with 24 goals or more each season. The left winger will battle for ice time with the Lions. Alexander Polunin is the obvious No. 1 LW, with Zuccarello and Jake DeBrusk next in line. Dmitrij Jaskin and Markus have not yet reached agreements with Zurich management and if both of them leave, then Zuccarello will become more important to the team.
