2023 Tucson Roadrunners Offseason Player Tracker

SEASON SYNOPSIS

The Tucson Roadrunners started the 2022-23 regular season out strong, but inconsistency (a familiar problem) almost kept the boys in brick red out of the Calder Cup Playoffs for a second straight year.

The Roadrunners started off 6-1-0 in their first seven games of the season, but then proceeded to drop four in a row. Tucson then won four of their next five before losing five straight. The back and forth continued throughout the winter: win three out of four, lose nine out of ten, win six of eight, and lose five straight. At the end of March, the Roadrunners won five of six games before finishing the season on the six-game skid.

The hot-and-cold, streaky Tucson Roadrunners almost parlayed that into an opening round victory against the eventual Western Conference Champions, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. After dropping Game 1 in a best-of-three series, the Roadrunners eked out a 4-3 victory in Game 2 to force a winner-take-all Game 3. The Firebirds sandwiched 5-1 victories in both Game 1 and Game 3, sending Tucson packing & back to Arizona.

Forward Michael Carcone was head and shoulders above not only his teammates, but the entire AHL this past season. His 31 goals plus 54 assists totaled 85 total points earned him the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL’s most prolific scorer. Carcone also accrued accolades throughout the 2022-23 campaign. He was an AHL All-Star in Laval this past February, received a First-Team All-Star nod in April, and AHL Player of the Month honors in December 2022. Oh, and his goals, assists, and points totals were all new Tucson Roadrunners team records.

(List accurate as of Sept. 20th, 10:40am MST)

UNDER CONTRACT AND RE-SIGNINGS

Forwards

• Curtis Douglas – Last year of entry-level contract
• Milos Kelemen – Last year of entry-level contract 
• Ben McCartney –Last year of entry-level contract
• Micah Miller – Last year of AHL contract (played two games for Tucson and for St. Cloud State Univ. [NCAA] in 2022-23)
• Josh Doan – Signed a three-year, entry-level NHL contract on March 16 (played with Tucson on an ATO and Arizona State Univ. [NCAA] in 2022-23)
• Michael Carcone – Signed a two-year, one-way NHL contract extension on June 21
• Ryan McGregor – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract extension on June 27
• Travis Barron – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 1
• Cameron Hebig – Signed a one-year AHL contract extension on July 5
• Reece Vitelli – Signed a one-year AHL contract extension on July 5 (spent majority of 2022-23 season with ECHL Atlanta)
• Nathan Smith – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 7
• Michael Lombardi – Signed a one-year AHL contract on September 11 (played with Tucson on an ATO and Quinnipiac Univ. [NCAA] in 2022-23)
• Colin Theisen – Signed a one-year AHL contract extension on September 18
• Jan Jeník – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on September 20 (extended qualifying offer on June 30)

Defensemen

• Michael Kesselring – Last year of entry-level contract
• Vladislav Kolyachonok – Last year of entry-level contract
• Victor Söderström – Last year of entry-level contract
• Steven Kampfer – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract extension on June 20
• Cameron Crotty – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract extension on June 30 (was not extended qualifying offer)

Goaltenders

• Ivan Prosvetov – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 16

NEW ADDITIONS

Forwards

• Aku Räty – Signed a two-year, entry-level NHL contract on May 3 (played for Ilves of Liiga in 2022-23)
• John Leonard – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 2 (played for Nashville and Milwaukee in 2022-23)
• Zachary Sanford – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 14 (played for Nashville and Milwaukee in 2022-23)
• Justin Kirkland – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 16 (played for Anaheim and San Diego in 2022-23)
• Hunter Drew – Signed a one-year AHL contract on July 18 (played for San Diego and Rockford in 2022-23)

Defensemen

• Maksymilian Szuber – Signed a three-year, entry-level NHL contract on May 1 (played for EHC München of the DEL in 2022-23)
• Patrik Koch – Signed a one-year, entry-level NHL contract on June 5 (played for HC Vitkovice of the Czechia Tipsport Extraliga in 2022-23)
• Montana Onyebuchi – Signed a two-year, entry-level NHL contract on July 2 (played for the San Jose Barracuda in 2022-23)
• Travis Dermott – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 11 (played for the Vancouver and Abbotsford Canucks in 2022-23)

Goaltenders

• Anson Thornton – First year of entry-level contract (entry-level slide; played for the Barrie Colts of the OHL in 2022-23)
• Matt Villalta – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract on July 1 (played for Ontario in 2022-23)

DEPARTURES

Forwards

• Laurent Dauphin – Signed a one-year contract (plus option) with HC Ambrì-Piotta of the Swiss NL on June 2
• Bokondji Imama – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract with Ottawa on July 1
• Adam Cracknell – Signed a one-year AHL contract with Henderson on July 5
• Hudson Elynuik – Signed a one-year AHL contract with the Chicago Wolves on July 10
• Tyson Empey – Signed a one-year AHL contract with Hershey on July 24 (split time between Tucson and ECHL Atlanta in 2022-23)
• Jean-Sébastien Dea – Signed a one-year contract with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL on August 9 (placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination on August 5)
• Liam Kirk – Signed to a one-year contract by HC Litvinov of the Czechia Tipsport Extraliga on September 7; waived by Arizona for the purpose of contract termination on September 6 (played for Tucson, ECHL Atlanta, and loaned to Jukurit of Liiga in 2022-23)

Defensemen

• Ronald Knot – Signed a three-year contract with Bili Tygri Liberec of the Czechia Tipsport Extraliga on May 9
• Noah Laaouan – Signed a one-year, two-way AHL contract with Laval on July 5 (played almost all of 2022-23 season with ECHL Atlanta)
• Devante Stephens – Signed a one-year AHL contract with Syracuse on July 10
• Will Reilly – Signed a one-year, two-way AHL contract with Charlotte on August 7

Goaltenders

• Tyler Parks – Signed a one-year AHL contract with Bakersfield on July 1 (split time between Tucson and ECHL Atlanta in 2022-23)

FREE AGENTS

Forwards

• Kaid Oliver – UFA (AHL); spent all of 2022-23 season with ECHL Atlanta

Goaltenders

• David Tendeck – UFA (was not extended qualifying offer on June 30; played vast majority of 2022-23 season with ECHL Atlanta)

(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