The Islanders added two more forwards this morning, both of whom played for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last year, both of whom have family ties to the state. Brandon DeFazio, as broken last night by teammate Paul Thompson, was one of them. The other is Colin McDonald, a veteran of 374 AHL games and seven more up top. McDonald was an all-star last year for the Penguins with 49 points, then scored 13 more in 12 playoff games, coming off his league-leading 42 goals the year before for Oklahoma City.
McDonald’s dad, Gerry, played for both the Nighthawks and Whalers, and we’ve mentioned Dean DeFazio’s brief New Haven stint.
Meanwhile, Jon Landry tweets his excitement. Hershey got in on the fun today as Washington signed Garrett Stafford and re-signed Kevin Marshall.
–Eric Boulton’s buyout is now official, and so is his Islanders contract.
–According to CapGeek, Trevor Smith did nicely for himself: He’ll earn $300,000 on the back end of his two-way deal or $575,000 up top. I’d have to double-check the math and service time and the like, but given the numbers on that page, if Smith is in Wilkes-Barre all year, I think he’ll still make more (not counting bonuses) than he did in three years in the Islanders organization.
–Danny Groulx, 2009-10 AHL defenseman of the year, is back with the Sharks after two years in the KHL. San Jose also signed Bracken Kearns and re-signed Matt Irwin and Alex Stalock.
–Steve Oleksy signs with Hershey. Nice landing spot. Also going to the Bears: South Windsor’s Jon DiSalvatore and veteran Jeff Taffe.
–Marty St. Pierre says he’s going back to the Blackhawks.