Offseason Guide Part 2 - AHL Free Agents (Western Conference)

The wild, wild Western Conference is gaining another team in the Pacific Division for the 2016-17 season. Photo: Amanda Statland

Here's Part Two to the American Hockey League's (AHL) offseason guide, taking a look at the Western Conference teams. If you missed it, Part One featured the Eastern Conference teams.

The plan is to make a big board of all the free agents at the AHL-level that will impact the AHL teams during this summer's free agent frenzy. I'll have a position-by-position breakdown of the top AHL free agents online shortly after the deadline to qualify restricted free agents passes (more details below).

Feel free to post any updates on player movement of these guys in the West either in the comments section of this story with a link to a team's press release or by simply tweeting an official team press release link at me on Twitter (@H_P_Hockey and @TonyAndrock). This will be an updated story throughout the month of June leading up to July 1st.

A team's restricted free agents (RFA) will become unrestricted free agents (UFA) if not tendered a qualifying offer by Monday June 27th at 5:00 p.m. ET, meaning they will be free to sign with any team they choose when the NHL's free agency period begins on Friday, July 1st at noon ET.

Here's a brief explanation I wrote for The Home News last month on understanding the differences between UFA's and RFA's as well as some insights to the process a team goes through to tender qualifying offers to their RFA's.

After the jump, a look at all the AHL's Western Conference teams. A special thanks to several of the league's daily beat reporters for helping check my team lists for accuracy.

Bakersfield Condors (Edmonton Oilers)

Under Contract

Forwards: Scott Allen (AHL), Taylor Beck, Joey Benik (AHL), Drake Caggiula, Gregory Chase, Braden Christoffer, Josh Currie (AHL), Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Hamilton (2-year AHL deal), Jujhar Khaira, Mitchell Moroz, Tyler Pitlick, Kyle Platzer, Patrick Russell, Jere Sallinen, Anton Slepyshev and Bogdan Yakimov

Defensemen: Ben Betker, Mark Fayne, Caleb Jones, Joey Laleggia, Darnell Nurse, Jordan Oesterle, Griffin Reinhart and Dillon Simpson

Goaltenders: Laurent Brossoit, Nick Ellis and Eetu Laurikainen

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: defensemen Brad Hunt (signed a one-year, two-way contract with St. Louis Blues) and Nikita Nikitin and forwards Rob Klinkhammer (signed a 1-year deal with Dinamo Minsk in KHL) Luke Gazdic, Kale Kessy and Andrew Miller (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Carolina Hurricanes)

NHL RFA: goaltender Niklas Lundstrom (signed 1-year deal with IF Björklöven in Sweden2), defenseman David Musil 

AHL UFA: goaltender Ty Rimmer, defenseman Nick Pageau (signed 1-year deal with Frisk Asker in Norway) and forwards Matthew Ford, Alexis Loiseau, Philip McRae, Marc-Olivier Roy and Joshua Winquist

Charlotte Checkers (Carolina Hurricanes)

Under Contract

Forwards: Sebastian Aho, Clark Bishop, Phil Di Giuseppe, Brock McGinn, Erik Karlsson, Andrew Miller, Andrew Poturalski, Derek Ryan, Aleksi Saarela, Sergey Tolchinsky, Lucas Wallmark and Valentin Zykov

Defensemen: Trevor Carrick, Jake Chelios, Haydn Fleury, Tyler Ganly, Kyle Hagel (signed a 1-year AHL deal), Roland McKeown and Josh Wesley

Goaltenders: Daniel Altshuller and Alex Nedeljkovic

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Rasmus Tirronen, defensemen Danny Biega, Ryan Murphy and Dennis Robertson and forwards Zach Boychuk, Anthony Camara, Dane Fox, Carter Sandlak and Justin Shugg

NHL RFA: defenseman Keegan Lowe and forwards Patrick Brown, Brody Sutter and Brendan Woods

AHL UFA: defensemen Rasmus Rissanen (signed 2-year deal with Jokerit in KHL) and forwards Ethan Werek and David Wohlberg

Chicago Wolves (St. Louis Blues)

Under Contract

Forwards: Andrew Aggozino, Kenny Agostino, Ivan Barbashev, Samuel Blais, Jordan Caron, Emerson Clark (AHL), Jacob Doty, Alex Friesen, Bryce Gervais (AHL), Mackenzie MacEachern, Wade Megan, Zachary Pochiro, Sam Povorozniouk (PTO) and Justin Selman

Defensemen: Chris Butler, Vince Dunn, Morgan Ellis, Brad Hunt, Jordan Schmaltz, Dmitrii Sergeev and Thomas Vannelli

Goaltenders: Luke Opilka

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: defensemen Andre Benoit, Chris Butler (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with St. Louis), Peter Harrold and Richard Nedomlel and forwards Cody Beach, Pat Cannone (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Minnesota Wild), Danny Kristo, Ryan Tesink, Jeremy Welsh and Yannick Veilleux

NHL RFA: goaltenders Jordan Binnington and Pheoix Copley and forwards Jordan Caron (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with St. Louis), Jacob Doty (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with St. Louis), Zack Phillips (signed 1-year deal with Tingsryds AIF in Sweden2), Ty Rattie, 

AHL UFA: defensemen Jeremie Blain, Scooter Vaughn, forwards Spencer Asuchak, Eriah Hayes, Justin Hodgman, Zach O'Brien and Evan Trupp

Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings)

Under Contract

Forwards: Jack Barre (AHL), Tyler Bertuzzi, Mike Borkowski (AHL), Martin Frk, Axel Holmstrom, Matt Lorito, Zach Nastasiuk, Tomas Nosek, Dylan Sadowy, Ben Street, Evgeny Svechnikov, Eric Tangradi, Dominic Turgeon 

Defensemen: Matthew Caito (AHL), Joe Hicketts, Nick Jensen, Brian Lashoff, Xavier Ouellet, Nathan Paetsch (AHL), Daniel Renouf, Robbie Russo and Vili Saarijarvi

Goaltenders: Jake Paterson

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Tom McCollum and forwards Joakim Andersson (signed 2-year deal with Orebro HK in SHL), Daniel Cleary and Andy Miele (signed one-year, one-way contract with Philadelphia Flyers)

NHL RFA: goaltender Jared Coreau and defensemen Ryan Sproul and forwards Louis-Marc Aubry, Mitch Callahan, Colin Campbell

AHL UFA: defenseman Joel Chouinard, Scott Czarnowczcan and Derek Docken and forwards Colin Campbell, Alden Hirschfield, Jeff Hoggan and Mark Zengerle

Iowa Wild (Minnesota Wild)

Under Contract

Forwards: Sam Anas, Chrisoph Bertschy, Brady Brassart, Pat Cannone, Grayson Downing, Marc Hagel, Kurtis Gabriel, Adam Gilmour, Tyler Graovac (re-signed to two-year contract), Pavel Jenys, Chase Lang, Mario Lucia, Zack Mitchell and Alex Tuch

Defensemen: Christian Folin, Guillaume Gelinas, Alexander Gudbranson, Dylan Labbe, Gustav Olofsson, Mike Reilly, Nick Seeler and Hunter Warner

Goaltenders: Steve Michalek, Alex Stalock and Adam Vay

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Brody Hoffman, defensemen Conor Allen and Tyson Strachan and forwards Brett Bulmer, Raphael Bussieres, Ruslan Fedotenko, Jared Knight and Scott Sabourin 

NHL RFA: defenseman Zach Palmquist and forward Jordan Schroeder

AHL UFA: goaltender Leland Irving, defenseman Joe Finley (signed a 1-year deal with HIFK in Finland), Maxime Fortunus, forwards Olivier Archambault, Colton Beck, Rob Bordson, Matt Carey and Tanner Eberle

Lake Erie Monsters (Columbus Blue Jackets)

Under Contract

Forwards: Josh Anderson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Paul Bittner, Ryan Craig (AHL), Brett Gallant, Markus Hannikainen, Keegan Kolesar, Jordan Maletta, Sonny Milano, Nick Moutrey, Justin Scott, Lukas Sedlak, Kole Sherwood, Jamie Sifers and Daniel Zaar

Defensemen: Dillon Heatherington, Dean Kukan, Markus Nutivaara, John Ramage, Blake Siebenaler and Oleg Yevenko

Goaltenders: Oscar Dansk, Anton Forsberg Joonas Korpisalo

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: defenseman Justin Falk (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Buffalo Sabres) and Michael Paliotta (signed a one-year, two-way contract with New York Rangers) and forward Michael Chaput (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Vancouver Canucks)

NHL RFA: defenseman Scott Harrington  and forwards Alex Broadhurst and T.J. Tynan

AHL UFA: goaltender Brad Thiessen, defensemen, Steve Eminger and Eric Roy and forwards Seth Ambroz, Derek DeBlois, Peter Quenneville and Trent Vogelhuber (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Colorado Avalanche)

Manitoba Moose (Winnipeg Jets)

Under Contract

Forwards: Alex Blomqvist, Kyle Connor, Brandon Denham (AHL - 1 year), Jiri Fronk (AHL - 1 year), Darren Kramer (AHL - 1 year), Chase De Leo, Scott Kosmachuk, Brendan Lemieux, James Lodge and Ryan Olsen 

Defensemen: Jake Baker (AHL - 1 year), Jan Kostalek, Julian Melchiori, Joshua Morrissey, Nelso Nogier, Tyson Wilson (AHL - 1 year)

Goaltenders: Eric Comrie and Connor Hellebuyck

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: defenseman Andrew MacWilliam (signed a one-year, two-way contract with New Jersey Devils) and forwards Austen Brassard, Patrice Cormier and Thomas Raffl

NHL RFA: defensemen Brenden Kitchon and Julian Melchiori (re-signed a two-year, two-way contract with Winnipeg Jets) and forward J.C. Lipon

AHL UFA: goaltender Jussi Olkinoura, defensemen Aaron Harstad, Brennan Serville and Peter Stoykewych and forwards John Albert, Dan DeSalvo, Jiri Fronk (re-signed a one-year AHL contract with Manitoba), Darren Kramer (re-signed a one-year AHL contract with Manitoba), Ben Walker and Kelly Zajac (retired from pro hockey)

Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville Predators)

Under Contract

Forwards: Pontus Aberg, Kevin Fiala, Frederick Gaudreau, Felix Gerard, Max Gortz, Vladislav Kamenev, Justin Kirkland, Adam Payerl, Anthony Richard, Trevor Smith, Yakov Trenin, Matt White (AHL) and Harry Zolnierczyk

Defensemen: Alexandre Carrier, Jonathan-Ismael Diaby, Teddy Doherty (AHL), Jack Dougherty, Matt Irwin, Trevor Murphy , Jimmy Oligny (AHL) and Jaynen Riddling

Goaltenders: Jonas Gunnarsson, Marek Mazenec,  Juuse Saros and Brandon Whitney (AHL)

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: defenseman Patrick Mullen, Garrett Noonan and Corey Potter (signed a 1-year deal with Kolner Haie in the DEL) and forwards Jamie Devane and Cody Hodgson

NHL RFA: defensemen Stefan Elliot and forward and Max Reinhart (a 1-year deal with Kolner Haie in DEL)

AHL UFA: defensemen Taylor Aronson (signed a 1-year deal with HC Lada in the KHL), Johan Alm (signed a 2-year deal with Skelleftea in the SHL) and Kristian Nakyva (signed a 2-year deal with HC Linkoping in the SHL) and forwards Joe Pendenza, Eric Robinson

Ontario Reign (Los Angeles Kings)

Under Contract

Forwards: Michael Amadio, Justin Auger, Sean Backman (AHL - 1 year), Paul Bissonnette (AHL - 1 year), Jonny Brodzinski, TJ Hensick (AHL - 1 year), Adrian Kempe, Miles Koules (AHL - 1 year), Joel Lowry and Michael Mersch, Brett Sutter, and Spencer Watson (AHL)  

Defensemen: Erik Cernak, Kevin Gravel, Paul LaDue, Zachary Leslie, Alex Lintuniemi, Vincent LoVerde, Kurtis MacDermid and Damir Sharipzyanov 

Goaltenders: Jack Flinn & Peter Budaj

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Patrik Bartosak, defenseman Alex Roach and Jeff Schultz and forwards Maxim Kitsyn (signed in KHL) and Brett Sutter (re-signed one-year AHL contract with Ontario Reign)

NHL RFA: goaltender Jack Campbell, defensemen Derek Forbort and forwards Andrew Crescenzi and Nic Dowd

AHL UFA: goaltender Michael Houser defenseman Kevin Raine and forwards Sean Backman (re-signed one-year AHL contract with Ontario Reign), Paul Bissonnette (re-signed a one-year AHL contract with Ontario Reign), Sam Herr, Ryan Horvat, Kris Newbury, Matt Leitner and Jordan Samuels-Thomas

Rockford IceHogs

Under Contract

Forwards: Spencer Abbott, Tyler Barnes (AHL 1 year), Kyle Baun, Sam Carrick, Chris DeSousa (AHL), Jake Dowell (AHL), Ryan Hartman, Vincent Hinostroza, Luke Johnson, Tanner Kero, Jeremy Langlois (AHL - 1 year), Martin Lundberg, Tyler Motte, 

Defensemen: Carl Dahlstrom, Gustav Forsling, Dillon Fournier, Michal Kempny, Robin Norell, Ville Pokka, David Rundblad, Cameron Schilling and Nolan Valleau

Goaltenders: Mac Carruth, Lars Johansson and Jake Hildebrand (AHL)

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Michael Leighton, defensemen Mathieu Brisebois, Kyle Cumiskey and Jay Harrison and forwards Matt Fraser, Ryan Haggerty, Tim Jackman, Michael Liambas and Garret Ross (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Arizona Coyotes)

NHL RFA: forward Mark McNeill

AHL UFA: defensemen Jonathan Carlsson, Sam Jardine and Nick Mattson and forwards Daniel Ciampini and Dane Walters

San Antonio Rampage (Colorado Avalanche)

Under Contract

Forwards: Troy Bourke, J.T. Compher, Turner Elson, Rocco Grimaldi (traded from Florida) Samuel Henley, Julian Nantel, Jim O'Brien, Reid Petryk, Mikko Rantanen, Mike Sislo, Trent Vogelhuber and Joe Whitney

Defensemen: Chris Bigras, Sergei Boikov, Mat Clark, Cody Corbett, Mason Geertsen, Anton Lindholm, Ryan Stanton and Nikita Zadorov

Goaltenders: Spencer Martin and Jeremy Smith

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: defensemen Gabriel Beaupre, Brandon Gormley, Nate Guenin (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Anaheim Ducks) and Zach Redmond (signed a two-year contract with Montreal) and forwards Andrew Agozzino (signed a one-year, two-way contract with St. Louis), Taylor Beck (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Edmonton Oilers), Patrick Bordeleau, Trevor Cheek, Andreas Martinsen, Garrett Meurs, Borna Rendulic (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Vancouver) and Ben Street (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Detroit Red Wings)

NHL RFA: goaltenders Calvin Pickard and Roman Will (signed 1-year deal with Bili Tyrgi Liberec in Czech), defensemen Duncan Siemens  Dennis Everberg (signed 2-year deal with Vaxjo Lakers HC in SHL), Joey Hishon (signed 2-year deal with Jokerit in KHL), 

AHL UFA: defensemen Justin Hamonic and Will Weber and forwards Alex Belzile, Nick Drazenovic, Daniel Maggio, Brock Montgomery, Gary Nunn, Reid Petryk (signed a two-year, two-way deal with Colorado), Michael Schumacher and Garrett Thompson

San Diego Gulls (Anaheim Ducks)

Under Contract

Forwards: Joseph Cramarossa, Kenton Helgesen, Ondrej Kase, Nicolas Kerdiles, Kale Kossila, Julius Nattinen, Nick Ritchie, Kevin Roy, Michael Sgarbossa, Nick Sorensen and Corey Tropp (re-signed two year deal with Anaheim)

Defensemen: Nate Guenin, Jacob Larsson, Jaycob Megna, Brandon Montour, Andrew O'Brien, Marcus Pettersson, Shea Theodore, Keaton Thompson and Andy Welinski

Goaltenders: Kevin Boyle, Matt Hackett and Dustin Tokarski (re-signed one-year deal with Anaheim)

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Anton Khudobin (signed a one-year deal with Boston Bruins), defensemen Shane O'Brien and Joe Piskula and forwards Matt Bailey, Brian McGrattan, Chris Mueller (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Arizona Coyotes), Charles Sarault and Harry Zolnierczyk (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Nashville)

NHL RFA: defensemen Kevin Gagne and forward Stefan Noesen

AHL UFA: goaltender Ryan Faragher, defensemen Stu Bickel and Eric Knodel and forwards Matt Berry, Antoine Laganiere, Kyle MacKinnon, Bryan Moore, Kenny Ryan

San Jose Barracuda (San Jose Sharks)

Under Contract

Forwards: Rourke Chartier, Alex Gallant (AHL), Nikolay Goldobin, Barclay Goodrow, Micheal Haley, Adam Helewka, Nikita Kevpalovs, Kevin Labanc, Jonathon Martin, Timo Meier, Danny O'Reegan, Alex Schoenborn and Marcus Sorensen

Defensemen: Julius Bergman, Michael Brodzinski, Cavan Fitzgerald, Tim Heed, Patrick McNally, Mirco Mueller, Jeremy Roy and Joakim Ryan

Goaltenders: Mantas Armalis, Aaron Dell, Jamie Murray (AHL) and Troy Grosenick

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Aaron Dell (re-signed a two-year, two-way contract with San Jose Sharks) and Joel Rumpel, defensemen Mark Cundari (signed 1-year deal with Augsburger in DEL) and Karl Stollery (signed a one-year, two-way contract with New Jersey Devils) and forwards Christopher Crane, Petter Eremanuelsson (signed a 2-year deal with Lulea HF in SHL), Micheal Haley (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with San Jose), Jeremy Langlois (signed a one-year AHL contract with Rockford), John McCarthy, Frazer McLaren and Jeremy Morin (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Tampa Bay Lightning)

NHL RFA: goaltender Joel Rumpel and forwards Ryan Carpenter

AHL UFA: defensemen Danny Federico, Rick Pinkston and Gus Young and forwards Vincent Arseneau, Daniel Doremus, Trevor Parkes, Scott Timmins

Stockton Heat (Calgary Flames)

Under Contract

Forwards: Austin Carroll, Garnet Hathaway, Mark Jankowski, Morgan Klimchuk, Emile Poirier, Brett Pollock, Daniel Pribyl, Andrew Mangiapane, Mason Raymond, Hunter Smith,

Defensemen: Ryan Culkin, Keegan Kanzig, Brett Kulak, Oliver Kylington, Kenny Morrison, Patrick Sieloff, 

Goaltenders: Jon Gillies, Mason McDonald and David Rittich

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Joni Ortio and Kevin Poulin, defenseman Jakub Nakladal and forwards Kenny Agostino (signed a one-year, two-way contract with St. Louis), Bill Arnold, Turner Elson (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Colorado), Derek Grant (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Buffalo), Drew Shore and Bryce Van Brabant

NHL RFA: defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon and forward Freddie Hamilton

AHL UFA: goaltender Kent Simpson, defensemen Aaron Johnson (signed 1-year deal with Adler Mannheim in DEL), Yann Sauve and Dustin Stevenson and forwards Mitchell Heard, Ryan Lomberg and Blair Riley

Texas Stars (Dallas Stars)

Under Contract

Forwards: Jason Dickinson, Justin Dowling, Remi Elie, Curtis McKenzie, Travis Morin, Brendan Ranford, Devin Shore, Gemel Smith, Brenden Troock and Cole Ully

Defensemen: Mattias Backman, Ludwig Bystrom, Nick Ebert, Niklas Hansson, Julius Honka, Esa Lindell

Goaltenders: Landon Bow (AHL), Maxime Legace (re-signed a 1-year contract with Dallas) and Philippe Desrosiers

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: defenseman Troy Vance 

NHL RFA: forwards Taylor Peters (retired from pro hockey) and Matej Stransky

AHL UFA: defensemen Brennan Evans, Zack Kamrass and Matt Mangene and forwards Derek Army, Derek Hulak, Corey Kane, Mike McMurty and Greg Rallo 

Tucson Roadrunners (Arizona Coyotes)

Under Contract

Forwards: Michael Bunting, Craig Cunningham, Laurent Dauphin, Christian Dvorak, Conor Garland, Ryan MacInnis, Matia Marcantuoni, Chris Mueller, Brendan Perlini, Garret Ross, Henrik Samuelsson

Defensemen: Anthony DeAngelo, Justin Hache, Dysin Mayo, Dakota Mermis and Kyle Wood

Goaltenders: Adin Hill, Marek Langhamer and Justin Peters

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltenders Niklas Treutle, defensemen Alex Grant, Dylan Reese, Philip Samuelsson (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Montreal) and Derek Smith and forwards Steve Downie, Eric Selleck, Brendan Shinnimin, Jordan Szwarz and Christian Thomas (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Washington)

NHL RFA: goaltender Louis Domingue and forwards Stefan Fournier and Tyler Gaudet

AHL UFA: defensemen Steven Delisle, Daniel New and forwards Greg Carey (signed one-year, two-way contract with Philadelphia Flyers), Phil Lane and Ross Mauermann