Still ebbing and flowing, the group had 26 on the ice today, and quickly the roster’s down to 27: Kyle Burroughs and Parker Milner were already headed to Missouri, and after practice Bob McKenzie reported that Tom Nilsson is on unconditional waivers to mutually terminate his contract. Had already talked to Brent Thompson, who then went into meetings; Paul Ryan popped his head in for us and reported that Thompson said he didn’t have anything on Nilsson.
And so ends the brief Sound Tigers career of Tom Nilsson (who didn’t skate and had been reported dealing with a minor lower-body injury), leaving Bridgeport with 17 forwards, eight defensemen (suddenly evenly split between lefties and righties) and two goalies. Andrew Rowe skated at the end of practice in red again. Connor Jones sat out but was riding the bike in the Zamboni tunnel. Louis Leblanc, in a full cage, joined the group in the spot Jones had held yesterday, and Stephon Williams was in instead of Milner, but otherwise things looked much the same as yesterday. (“Otherwise.”)
For Milner and Burroughs, it’s a matter of practice time and repetitions. It’s a bit more obvious in goal; there are two nets, after all. But there are lots of defensemen here. “Burroughs, he’s cleared 100 percent from the upper-body injury,” Thompson said. “He’s the kind of kid who’s going to work hard and fight his way back up here.”
Double-checked with Thompson, who said the AHL-contract guys who’ve been reassigned so far are all headed to Missouri.