2022 Coachella Valley Firebirds Offseason Player Tracker

When the Seattle Kraken were announced as the 32nd NHL franchise back in December 2018, it was only a matter of time before news of an attached AHL franchise would come to light. After Seattle’s ownership Oak View Group (OVG) narrowed down its choices to Boise, ID and Palm Springs, CA in May 2019, the official announcement was made for Palm Springs in September 2019. A new downtown arena was initially planned for the team, but a number of factors delayed and ultimately derailed the project.

After OVG pivoted to a new arena site in nearby Palm Desert, the original 2021-22 launch date for the team was postponed to 2022-23. News came out of trademarks and a preferred moniker for the AHL expansion franchise in Fall 2019, but a patent dispute (and resolution) with a major juniors club revealed a frontrunner. The nickname Firebirds was leaked as a favorite, and as Coachella Valley became the preferred location name, the whole thing became official on November 5, 2021 as Seattle introduced the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Backing up a few months to June, the Kraken organization announced that it was sending its prospects to North Carolina to play with the Charlotte Checkers for the 2021-22 season. Seattle then hired Dan Bylsma be an assistant coach in Charlotte; he was officially named head coach of the Firebirds on June 21, 2022.

With all this in mind, this offseason player tracker will be formatted a little differently than the other 31 AHL teams. All sections except for “New Additions” will be based off of Seattle-contracted players who were in Charlotte. Since only 11 players under contract to Seattle played in Charlotte last year, the “New Additions” section will be much larger than the other three.

Check out who’s joining Coachella Valley for its inaugural season!

(List accurate as of October 27th at 10:55am PT)

UNDER CONTRACT AND RE-SIGNINGS (PLAYED FOR CHARLOTTE IN 2021-22)

Forwards

• Luke Henman – Second-to-last year of entry-level contract
• Max McCormick – Signed a two-year, two-way NHL contract on May 9
• Alex True – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 12
• Kole Lind – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 21
• Carsen Twarynski – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 21

Defensemen

• Gustav Olofsson – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on June 30
• Cale Fleury – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on August 30

Goaltenders

• Joey Daccord – Last year of one-way NHL contract

NEW ADDITIONS

Forwards

• Tye Kartye – Signed a three-year, entry-level contract on March 1 (played for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL in 2021-22)
• Ville Petman – Signed a two-year, entry-level contract on June 9 (played for SaiPa in Liiga in 2021-22)
• Samuel Buček – Signed a one-year AHL contract on July 11 (played for HK Nitra of Slovakia in 2021-22)
• Ian McKinnon – Signed a one-year AHL contract on July 11 (played for Providence and ECHL’s Maine Mariners & Jacksonville Icemen in 2021-22)
• Andrew Poturalski – Signed a two-year, one-way NHL contract on July 13 (played for Carolina and AHL Chicago in 2021-22)
• Jesper Frödén – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 13 (played for Boston and Providence in 2021-22)
• Austin Poganski – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 13 (played for Winnipeg and Manitoba in 2021-22)
• Cameron Hughes – Signed a two-year, two-way NHL contract on July 14 (played for Providence in 2021-22)
• John Hayden – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 15 (played for Buffalo in 2021-22)
• David Cotton – Signed a one-year AHL contract on September 22 (played for AHL Chicago in 2021-22)
• Jeremy McKenna – Signed an AHL contract on September 27 (played for AHL Toronto and the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers in 2021-22)
• Tristan Mullin – Signed an AHL contract on September 27 (played for Cleveland in 2021-22)

Defensemen

• Ryker Evans – Signed a three-year, entry-level contract on April 22 (played for the Regina Pats of the WHL in 2021-22)
• Peetro Seppälä – Signed a two-year, entry-level contract on May 7 (played for KooKoo of Liiga in 2021-22)
• Michal Kempný – Signed a one-year, one-way NHL contract on July 24 (played for Washington and Hershey in 2021-22)
• Brogan Rafferty – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 13 (played for San Diego in 2021-22)
• Matt Tennyson – Signed a one-year AHL contract on September 1 (played for Nashville and Milwaukee in 2021-22)
• Jimmy Schuldt – Signed a one-year AHL contract on September 22 (played for Rochester in 2021-22)
• Eddie Wittchow – Signed a one-year AHL contract on September 22 (played for Hershey in 2021-22)
• Jake McLaughlin – Signed an AHL contract on September 27 (played for Milwaukee and the ECHL’s Florida Everblades in 2021-22)

Goaltenders

• Callum Booth – Signed an AHL contract on September 27 (played for Providence and the ECHL’s Maine Mariners in 2021-22)
• Christopher Gibson – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on October 27 (played for Charlotte in 2021-22)

DEPARTURES (CLAIMED OFF WAIVERS)

• Magnus Hellberg – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 13 (played for Detroit and HK Sochi of the KHL in 2021-22); claimed by Ottawa off waivers on October 3

DEPARTURES (PLAYED FOR CHARLOTTE IN 2021-22)

Defensemen

• Connor Carrick – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract with Boston on July 13
• Dennis Cholowski – Signed a two-year, two-way NHL contract with the New York Islanders on August 23

Goaltenders

• Antoine Bibeau – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract with Ottawa on July 14

 

(Special thanks to CapFriendly and Elite Prospects for all the contract terms and definitions for this offseason player tracker!)

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Other 2022 AHL Off Season Trackers :

Pacific

• Abbotsford Canucks

• Bakersfield Condors

• Calgary Wranglers

• Coachella Valley Firebirds

• Colorado Eagles

• Henderson Silver Knights

• Ontario Reign

• San Diego Gulls

• San Jose Barracuda

• Tucson Roadrunners

 

Central

• Chicago Wolves

• Grand Rapids Griffins

• Iowa Wild

• Manitoba Moose

• Milwaukee Admirals

• Rockford IceHogs

• Texas Stars

 

North

• Belleville Senators

• Cleveland Monsters

• Laval Rocket

• Rochester Americans

• Syracuse Crunch

• Toronto Marlies

• Utica Comets

 

Atlantic

• Bridgeport Islanders

• Charlotte Checkers

• Hartford Wolf Pack

• Hershey Bears

• Lehigh Valley Phantoms

• Providence Bruins

• Springfield Thunderbirds
• Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins