According to George Richards of Florida Hockey Now, the Florida Panthers are expected to ink 30-year-old forward Brett Ritchie to a professional try-out agreement. Last season, Ritchie split his time between the Calgary Flames and Arizona Coyotes. He finished the 2022-23 campaign with 8 goals and 5 assists in 50 games.
Kasper Puutio was on the first defense pairing with Czech Michal Jordan in Pelicans season-opening Liiga loss to two-time defending champions Tappara. Puutio logged 19:53 of ice time and finished the game with two shots on goal and a minus-one rating.
Forward Jakub Kos did not suit up in Ilves 4-3 road win against Ässät in the Liiga opener for both teams. Ilves will take on Lukko today so this seems like a good spot for Kos to get some playing in the second half of a back-to-back.
Florida reserve Yegor Korshkov logged 5:23 of ice time in Amur Khabarovsk’s 3-2 win over HC Sibir Novosibirsk in regular season action from the KHL. Koshkov finished the tilt with two shots, two hits, a block and 4 PIM. He failed to score on his third-round chance in the shootout.
Elliot Ekmark skated on the third line in Almtuna’s 4-2 road loss to Södertälje SK in a HockeyAllsvenskan preseason contest. The statistical details of the game were not made available.
This Swedish Hockey League opens its regular season today. Panthers prospect Ludvig Jansson (Luleå HF) and reserve Logan Hutsko (IK Oskarshamn) should see the ice when the two teams clash at Coop Norrbotten Arena.
NHL News
The New Jersey Devils signed free agent goaltender Keith Kinkaid, 34, to a one-year, two-way contract. Kinkaid’s deal is worth $775,000 at the NHL level and $350,000 in the AHL. He split last season with the Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche organizations, posting a 1.37 goals-against average in NHL two games.
The Arizona Coyotes have signed former first rounder Olli Juolevi to a professional tryout agreement. If that name sounds familiar, Juolevi played ten games for the Cats during the 2021-22 season before he was claimed on waivers by the Detroit Red Wings.
PWHL News
The inaugural PWHL draft is set to take place on September 18, at 1 p.m. ET at CBC headquarters in Toronto, and will be livestreamed.
A snake format will be used for the 15-round with Minnesota, who has the first overall pick, selecting last in the second round. The order of the first round (Minnesota, Toronto, Boston, New York, Montreal, Ottawa) was determined by lottery.
A pool of 268 players (146 forwards, 78 defenders and 44 goaltenders) from around the globe are eligible to be drafted. You can see the complete list by clicking here.