2023 Coachella Valley Firebirds Offseason Player Tracker

SEASON SYNOPSIS

The Coachella Valley Firebirds had a fantastic inaugural season that brought them all the way to the Calder Cup Finals. While a Cup was not in the cards for them in 2022-23, they still had a lot to celebrate in their first year as a team and affiliated the Seattle Kraken.

The Firebirds finished the regular season second overall in the AHL just behind the Calgary Wranglers. This also put them second in the Pacific Division. They battled with Calgary all year for that top spot and it came down to the last game of the year where they just came up short. Their regular season record was 48-17-5-2 and their points finished up at 103. 

In the postseason, Coachella Valley played a best-of-three series against the Tucson Roadrunners to start. They won that series two games to one. In the second round, they faced the Colorado Eagles for a best-of-five series, winning three games to two. In the next round, they faced the Calgary Wranglers, where they won the series three to two.

In the conference finals, they faced the Milwaukee Admirals, where the games increased to a best-of-seven and they won four games to two. In the finals, they faced the Hershey Bears and despite their best efforts, they fell in Game 7 and were runner-up to this season’s championship. 

Max McCormick led the team in points with 28 goals and 39 assists through the regular season for a total of 67 points. Behind him was Kole Lind, who finished the year with 30 goals and 32 assists for a total of 62 points. The third skater in team scoring was Tye Kartye, who earned 28 goals and 29 assists for 57 total points. 

In playoffs, Lind led the team in scoring with nine goals and 22 assists for 31 total points. McCormick still cracked the top three and led in goals with 14. His points total was up to 27 with another 14 assists tacked on in the postseason. 

Between the pipes, Joey Daccord was a workhorse for Coachella Valley in the regular season and especially in the playoffs. He played in all 26 postseason games and finished up with a 2.22 GAA, a .926 save percentage and a 15-11-0 record. In the regular season, he was right near the best netminders in the league with 38 games played, a 2.38 GAA, .918 save percentage and a 26-8-3-3 record. 

Their season play earned the Firebirds the title of Western Conference Champions. Individually, Andrew Poturalski and Ryker Evans earned All-Star recognitions and represented Coachella Valley at All-Star weekend in February. Kartye was also recognized as the AHL’s best rookie, being awarded the Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award.

(List accurate as of Sept. 20th, 11:45am PT)

UNDER CONTRACT AND RE-SIGNINGS

Forwards

• Luke Henman – Last year of entry-level contract
• Cameron Hughes – Last year of two-year, two-way NHL contract
• Tye Kartye – Second year of entry-level contract
• Max McCormick – Last year of two-year, two-way NHL contract
• Jacob Melanson – First year of entry-level contract (entry-level slide in 2022-23)
• Ville Petman – Last year of entry-level contract
• Andrew Poturalski – Last year of two-year, two-way NHL contract
• Ryan Winterson – First year of entry-level contract (entry-level slide in 2022-23)
• Shane Wright – First year of entry-level contract (entry-level slide in 2022-23)
• Max Andreev – Signed ATO and one-year AHL contract on March 30
• David Goyette – Signed a three-year, entry-level NHL contract on April 10 (played for Coachella Valley on an ATO and the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL in 2022-23)
• John Hayden – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 1
• Kole Lind – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 8
• Ian McKinnon – Signed a one-year AHL contract extension on July 19
• Jeremy McKenna – Signed a one-year AHL contract extension on July 27

Defensemen

• Ryker Evans – Second year of entry-level contract
• Peetro Seppala – Last year of entry-level contract
• Gustav Olofsson – Signed a two-year, two-way NHL contract on June 27
• Jimmy Schuldt – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 1
• Jake McLaughlin – Signed a one-year AHL contract on August 9 (played almost all of 2022-23 with ECHL Kansas City)

NEW ADDITIONS

Forwards

• Logan Morrison – Signed a three-year, entry-level NHL contract on April 11 (played for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL in 2022-23)
• Jagger Firkus – Signed a three-year, entry-level NHL contract on April 28 (played for Coachella Valley on an ATO and the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL in 2022-23)
• Jani Nyman – Signed a three-year, entry-level NHL contract on June 11 (played for Ilves of Liiga in 2022-23)
• Marian Studenic – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 1 (played for the Dallas and Texas Stars in 2022-23)
• Tucker Robertson – Signed a three-year, entry-level NHL contract on July 5 (played for the Peterborough Petes of the OHL in 2022-23)
• Jacob Hayhurst – Signed a one-year AHL contract on August 2 (split time between Springfield and ECHL Worcester in 2022-23)
• Kyle Jackson – Signed a one-year AHL contract on August 16 (played for the North Bay Battalion of the OHL in 2022-23)
• Devin Shore – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on August 31 (played 47 games for Edmonton and five games for Bakersfield in 2022-23)
• Justin Nachbaur – Signed a one-year AHL contract on September 13 (played two games for Ontario and 40 games for ECHL Greenville in 2022-23)
• Patrick Curry – Signed a one-year AHL contract with Coachella Valley on September 20 (played for the Iowa Wild in 2022-23)

Defensemen

• Ty Nelson – Signed a three-year, entry-level NHL contract on May 11 (played for the North Bay Battalion of the OHL in 2022-23)
• Ville Ottavainen – Signed a three-year, entry-level NHL contract on March 20 (played for Coachella Valley and JYP of Liiga in 2022-23)
• Connor Carrick – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 3 (played for the Boston and Providence Bruins in 2022-23)
• Mitch Reinke – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on September 2 (played for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2022-23)
• Ryan Jones – Signed a one-year AHL contract on September 6 (played for Syracuse in 2022-23)

Goaltenders

• Ales Stezka – Signed a one-year, entry-level NHL contract on May 2 (played for HC Vitkovice of the Czechia Superliga in 2022-23)
• Niklas Kokko – Signed a three-year, entry-level NHL contract on May 8 (played for Kärpät & SaiPa of Liiga and Hermes of Mestis in 2022-23)
• Jack LaFontaine – Signed a one-year AHL contract on August 23 (played in five games for Syracuse and 30 games for ECHL Orlando in 2022-23)

DEPARTURES

Forwards

• Nick Pastujov – Signed a one-year ICEHL contract with Pioneers Vorarlberg on June 22
• Jesper Froden – Signed a two-year NL contract with ZSC Lions on June 24
• Alexander True – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract with the Florida Panthers on July 2
• Tristan Mullin – Signed a one-year AHL contract with Hartford on August 15 (played majority of 2022-23 with ECHL Kansas City)
• Austin Poganski – Signed a PTO with Arizona on September 13

Defensemen

• Brogan Rafferty – Signed a two-year, two way NHL contract with the Detroit Red Wings on July 1

Goaltenders

• Shane Starrett – Signed a one-year AHL contract with the Providence Bruins on July 1
• Christopher Gibson – Signed a PTO with Dallas on September 18

FREE AGENTS

Forwards

• Carsen Twarynski – UFA
• Luke Stevens – UFA (AHL); played almost all of 2022-23 with ECHL Kansas City

Defensemen

• Matt Tennyson – UFA (AHL)
• Eddie Wittchow – UFA (AHL)

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

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Other 2023 AHL Off Season Trackers :

Links will be updated as articles are released.

Central

• Chicago Wolves
• Grand Rapids Griffins
• Iowa Wild
• Manitoba Moose
• Milwaukee Admirals
• Rockford IceHogs
• Texas Stars

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

Atlantic

• Bridgeport Islanders
• Charlotte Checkers
• Hartford Wolf Pack
• Hershey Bears
• Lehigh Valley Phantoms
• Providence Bruins
• Springfield Thunderbirds 
• Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

North

• Belleville Senators
• Cleveland Monsters
• Laval Rocket
• Rochester Americans
• Syracuse Crunch
• Toronto Marlies
• Utica Comets