On a day when we got an offer sheet… not much happened in Bridgeport. Closest thing was probably Tom Kuhnhackl’s official re-signing. Meanwhile, almost everybody else was AHL-active on Day 1 of the New Year. Aaron Ness went to Arizona. The Rangers signed a couple of non-Panarin players and added three AHL contracts, including Harry Zolnierczyk. Charlotte is getting picked apart. Simsbury’s Tommy Cross signed with Florida. Philadelphia signed like everybody else, including J.F. Berube, and Parker Wotherspoon’s older brother, Tyler.
Up top, Anders Lee re-upped, finally, and Semyon Varlamov is their new goalie. GM Lou Lamoriello said there are internal candidates to replace Valtteri Filppula, who returned to Detroit, so while he’s always looking to improve, he wasn’t calling it urgent. Whether Russian goalie Ilya Sorokin’s relationship with Varlamov made Varlamov a more attractive signing: “It’s a fringe benefit,” Lamoriello said.
In the amateur ranks, Newtown’s Mackie Samoskevich was named to the United States’ team for the Hlinka/Gretzky Cup.
And RIP, Tyler Skaggs and Det. Luis Alvarez.