Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Free agency’s opening week saw some of the American Hockey League’s top names putting pen to paper.
Now many of them will compete for NHL jobs come training camp in September.
After leading the Calder Cup Playoffs in scoring for the champion Toronto Marlies, forward Vinni Lettieri is staying put thanks to a new one-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The veteran forward is part of a reworked Toronto depth chart that includes new signees in goaltender Samuel Hlavaj (Iowa), defenseman Cole McWard (Bridgeport), and forward Henrik Rybinski (Hershey).
The AHL’s top three leaders in points by defensemen all will have new homes. Zac Jones got a two-year, two-way contract from the Utah Mammoth after winning the Eddie Shore Award in 2025-26 with Rochester. Jack Ahcan got a two-year, two-way contract from the Nashville Predators after a 50-point season (11 goals, 39 assists) with the Colorado Eagles. And Tucson’s Scott Perunovich signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Los Angeles Kings after notching a career-best 49 points for the Roadrunners.
With former Colorado Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland now the president of hockey operations and GM in Nashville, former Eagles have found a new home with the Predators Nashville added goaltender Isak Posch from the Avs in a trade June 15 and got former Eagles forward Chase Bradley signed on Friday after acquiring him in a multi-player deal June 24.
General managers clearly took note of the Eagles, who were one win away from a Western Conference championship in 2025-26. Forwards Alex Barré-Boulet and Tye Felhaber were joined by goaltender Kyle Keyser in heading from Colorado to the San Jose Sharks; Barré-Boulet finished second in AHL scoring with 70 points (26 goals, 44 assists) in 70 games last season. The Eagles also lost two-time AHL MVP T.J. Tynan, who signed a one-year AHL contract with the Springfield Thunderbirds, along with defenseman Jacob MacDonald (Washington) and forward Jason Polin (Buffalo).
The Avalanche restocked their cupboard by signing All-Star defensemen Christian Wolanin (Providence) and Domenick Fensore (Chicago), along with 30-goal scorer Adam Beckman (Bridgeport).
The Vegas Golden Knights held on to some of their top offensive talent, re-signing Second Team AHL All-Star forward Tanner Laczynski and 30-goal scorer Raphael Lavoie. Vegas also signed three established AHL defensemen in Adam Ginning (Lehigh Valley), Ville Heinola (Manitoba) and Antti Tuomisto (Grand Rapids) along with forward Marc Gatcomb (Bridgeport).
Several other proven scorers have found new homes. Trey Fix-Wolansky (Hartford) has joined the Vancouver Canucks and Riley Tufte (Providence) signed with the New Jersey Devils. Glenn Gawdin heads to the New York Rangers after two seasons in Ontario, Boston inked Brian Halonen (Utica) and Brendan Gaunce (Cleveland), and James Hamblin (Bakersfield) is headed to Anaheim. Matthew Peca (Syracuse) signed an AHL deal with Rochester, and Hugh McGing (Springfield) has joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Goaltenders, so valuable for NHL organizational depth, are also on the move.
Laurent Brossoit (San Jose) went to the Anaheim Ducks organization. Pheonix Copley signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets following four seasons with Los Angeles. Brandon Halverson is off to the Dallas Stars after a strong run with the Syracuse Crunch. The Tampa Bay Lightning signed Mads Søgaard (Belleville) and Olivier Rodrigue (Rockford) while trading for Dennis Hildeby, who divided this past season between the Leafs and Marlies. Jiří Patera (Abbotsford) went to the Boston Bruins, and Matthew Villalta signed with Buffalo.
Those are just some of the moves already in place. More than 75 players landed new jobs in the opening two days of free agency. Plenty more action remains to come.
