AHL Eastern Conference Team Lists

An early look at how the AHL's Western Conference teams are shaping up before the 2016-17 season. Photo: Nina Weiss

Now that the dust has settled after a busy opening weekend of free agency, it's time to take a look at how the AHL rosters are taking shape for the Eastern Conference teams. If you're a fan of one of the Western Conference teams, simply click the link to check to see how your favorite team looks right now in the first week of July.

For the big winners of free agency in the East so far, look no further than Binghamton, Utica and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

The BSens not only retained some of their key contributors from last season but Ottawa also went out and brought in some top-tier free agent forwards such as Mike Blunden and Chad Nehring.

Vancouver quietly stocked up Utica with some talent as well including forwards Michael Chaput, Jayson Megna and Borna Rendulic.

The Pittsburgh Penguins simply signed all of the highly-regarded AHL-level free agents on defense including Cameron Gaunce, Stuart Percy an Chad Ruhwedel to go along with re-signing Steve Oleksy and Tim Erixon. The WBS Pens defense looks scary right now.

The big losers of free agency in the East so far has to be Albany, Bridgeport and St. John's.

Albany was able to add Carter Camper, Andrew MacWilliam and Karl Stollery but have seen most of their talent from last year move on in free agency including Matt Lorito, Jim O'Brien, Brian O'Neill and Mike Sislo.

Bridgeport hasn't seen the New York Islanders add any depth at the AHL level while several of their big-name in-house free agents like Mike Halmo, Kevin Czuczman, and Joe Whitney (signed with Colorado) have not been retained.

St. John's needs some more depth across the board as defensemen Mac Bennett, Darren Dietz and Morgan Ellis and forwards Michael Bournival, Gabriel Dumont and Bud Holloway have all signed elsewhere.

After the jump, an updated team-by-team look at some new names on AHL teams in the Eastern Conference as well as where their in-house free agents have signed so far. As always, be sure to check out my 2016 AHL Free Agent Tracker to see which AHL-level free agents are still available.

Albany Devils (New Jersey Devils)

Under Contract

Forwards: Brandon Baddock, Blake Coleman, Carter Camper, Luke Gazdic, Ben Johnson, Ryan Kujawinski, Nick Lappin, Jan Mandat (AHL - 1 year), Max Novak (AHL - 1 year), Rod Pelley (AHL - 1 year), Blake Pietila, Kevin Rooney (AHL - 1 year), and Ben Thomson

Defensemen: Yohann Auvitu, Josh Jacobs, Seth Helgeson, Andrew MacWilliam, Vojtech Mozik, Reece Scarlett and Karl Stollery

Goaltenders: Ken Appleby and Scott Wedgewood

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Yann Danis, defensemen Brandon Burlon, Marc-Andre Gragnani, Raman Hrabarenka and Dan Kelly (signed a one-year, two-way contract with San Jose) and forwards Pierre-Luc Leblond (signed one-year, two-way contract with Tampa Bay Lightning), Jim O'Brien (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Colorado Avalanche), Brian O'Neill (signed 1-year deal in KHL with Jokerit with option for 2017-18) and Mike Sislo (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Colorado Avalanche).

NHL RFA: defensemen Reece Scarlett (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with New Jersey) and forward Reid Boucher

AHL UFA: defensemen Joe Faust and Corbin McPherson and forwards Chris McKelvie (retired to become assistant coach at Army), Matt Lorito (signed a two-year, two-way contract with Detroit Red Wings), Max Novak (re-signed an AHL deal with Albany), Rod Pelley (re-signed a one-year AHL contract with Albany)

Binghamton Senators (Ottawa Senators)

Under Contract

Forwards: Casey Bailey, Mike Blunden, Vincent Dunn, Ryan Dzingel, Max McCormick, Chad Nehring, Nicholas Paul, Francis Perron, Tom Pyatt, Buddy Robinson, Ryan Rupert, Zack Stortini, Phil Varone

Defensemen: Frederik Claesson, Cody Donaghey, Andreas Englund, Macoy Erkamps, Ben Harpur,
Michael Kostka and Patrick Sieloff 

Goaltenders: Chris Driedger and Matt O'Connor

Impending Free Agents:

NHL UFA: defensemen Mark Fraser (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Edmonton Oilers), Michael Kostka (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Ottawa Senators), Jerome Leduc and Troy Rutkowski and forwards Jason Akeson, David Dziurzynski, Travis Ewanyk, Matt Frattin and Philip Varone (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Ottawa Senators)

NHL RFA: defensemen Frederik Claesson (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Ottawa) and forwards Casey Bailey (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Ottawa), Ryan Dzingel (re-signed a one-year, two-way deal with Ottawa), Max McCormick (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Ottawa) and Matt Puempel (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Ottawa)

AHL UFA: goaltender Scott Greenham, defensemen Chris Carlisle, Guillaume Lepine and Nick Tuzzolino and forwards Kyle Flanagan, Danny Hobbs, Ryan Penny and Alex Wideman 

Bridgeport Sound Tigers (New York Islanders)

Under Contract

Forwards: Aaron Berisha (AHL - 1 year), Michael Dal Colle, Tanner Fritz (AHL), Ben Holmstrom, Ross Johnston, Kellen Jones (AHL - 1 year), Bracken Kearns, Alan Quine, Kyle Schempp, Travis St. Denis (AHL), Carter Verhaeghe and Josh Winquist (AHL - 1 year)

Defensemen: Kyle Burroughs, Matt Carkner (retired to become BST assistant coach), Matthew Finn, Jesse Graham, Luke Juha (AHL - 1 year) Loic Leduc, Scott Mayfield, Ryan Obychowski (AHL - 1 year), Adam Pelech and Devin Toews

Goaltenders: Eamon McAdam and Stephon Williams

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: defenseman Kevin Czuczman and forwards Marc-Andre Cliche (signed an AHL deal with Toronto Marlies), Justin Florek, Mike Halmo (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Tampa Bay), Justin Vaive, Joe Whitney (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Colorado Avalanche) and James Wright

NHL RFA: goaltender Chrisopher Gibson, defensemen Scott Mayfield (re-signed a two-year, one-way contract with New York Islanders) and forwards Kirill Petrov and Alan Quine (re-signed a two-year extension with New York Islanders)

AHL UFA: defensemen Bryce Aneloski, Patrick Cullity, Kane Lafranchise and C.J. Ludwig and forwards Tyler Barnes (signed a one-year AHL deal with Rockford), Jared Gomes, Anthony Greco, Josh Holmstrom, Connor Jones, Colin Markison, Jesse Root (signed with HC Bolzano in Austria), Andrew Rowe and Sebastien Sylvestre 

Hartford Wolf Pack (New York Rangers)

Under Contract

Forwards: Chris Brown, Adam Chapie, Steven Fogarty, Ryan Gropp, Nicklas Jensen, Michael Joly (AHL), Boo Nieves, Ahti Oksanen (AHL), Malte Stromwall and Adam Tambellini

Defensemen: Calle Andersson, Mat Bodie, Troy Donnay, Ryan Graves, Tommy Hughes, Michael Paliotta, Brady Skjei and Chris Summers

Goaltenders: Brandon Halverson, Magnus Hellberg and Mackenzie Skapski 

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: defensemen Raphael Diaz (signed a multi-year contract with EV Zug in the NLA) and Samuel Noreau and forwards Luke Adam, Brian Gibbons, Michael Kantor, Matt Lindblad, Chris McCarthy, Jayson Megna (signed a one-year, one-way contract with Vancouver Canucks), Daniel Paille (signed 1-year deal in SHL with Brynas IF Gavle) and Nick Tarnasky 

NHL RFA: defensemen Mat Bodie (re-signed with New York Rangers) and Tommy Hughes (re-signed with New York Rangers) and forwards Marek Hrivik and Nicklas Jensen (re-signed with New York Rangers) 

AHL UFA: goaltender Jeff Malcolm, defensemen Kodie Curran and forwards Tyler Brown, Jack Combs (signed a tryout with Fischtown in DEL), Chad Nehring (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Ottawa Senators), Shawn O'Donnell and Travis Oleksuk

Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals)

Under Contract

Forwards: Riley Barber, Ryan Bourque (AHL - 1 year), Chris Bourque, Travis Boyd, Paul Carey, Dustin Gazley (AHL - 1 year), Brad Malone, Tim McGauley, Garrett Mitchell, Domenic Monardo (AHL - 1 year), Liam O'Brien, Zach Sill (re-signed two-year, two-way deal with Washington) and Christian Thomas, Chandler Stephenson, Jakub Vrana and Nathan Walker

Defensemen: Madison Bowey, Darren Dietz, Christian Djoos, Hubert Labrie (AHL - 1 year), Joey Leach (AHL - 1 year), Tyler Lewington, Aaron Ness, Jonas Siegenthaler and Colby Williams (AHL - 1 year)

Goaltenders: Joe Cannata, Adam Carlson, Parker Milner (AHL - 1 year) and Vitek Vanecek 

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltenders Dan Ellis and Justin Peters (signed a one-year, two-way deal with Arizona Coyotes), defensemen Mike Moore (signed a one-year contract with Fischtown in Germany) and Ryan Stanton (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Colorado Avalanche) and forwards Ryan Bourque (signed a one-year AHL contract with Hershey), Carter Camper (signed a one-year, two-way contract with New Jersey Devils), Sean Collins and Ryan Herbert

NHL RFA: None

AHL UFA: goaltender Mark Dekanich, defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer and forwards Austin Fyten and Dustin Gazley (re-signed one-year AHL contract with Hershey)

Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Philadelphia Flyers)

Under Contract

Forwards: Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Cole Bardreau, Greg Carey, Chris Conner, Radel Fazleev, Tyrell Goulbourne, Taylor Leier, Danick Martel, Colin McDonald, Andy Miele, Petr Straka, Steven Swavely (AHL) and Mark Zengerle (AHL)

Defensemen: Mark Alt, T.J. Brennan, Robert Hagg, Max Lamarche (AHL), Sam Morin, Will O'Neill, Jesper Pettersson, Travis Sanheim and Reece Willcox

Goaltenders: Alex Lyon, Martin Ouellette (AHL) and Anthony Stolarz

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Jason LaBarbera, defenseman Davis Drewiske and forwards Brandon Alderson, Tim Brent (retired from pro hockey), Derek Mathers and Aaron Palushaj

NHL RFA: forward Petr Straka (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Philadelphia)

AHL UFA: goaltenders Martin Ouellette (re-signed an AHL deal with Lehigh Valley) and Connor Knapp, defensemen Adam Comrie, Mike Marcou (signed an ECHL deal with Reading), Nick Luukko and Logan Pyett and forwards Phil DeSimone, Kevin Goumas (signed a one-year deal in Allsvenskan with IK Mora), Pavel Padakin (signed 1-year deal in KHL with HK Sochi), Michael Parks, Jay Rosehill, Dalton Smith and Geoff Walker (signed 1-year deal in Allsvenskan with Tingsryds AIF)

Providence Bruins (Boston Bruins)

Under Contract

Forwards: Noel Acciari, Anton Blidh, Colby Cave, Austin Czarnik, Jake Debrusk, Seth Griffith, Colton Hargove, Danton Heinen, Justin Hickman, Sean Kuraly, Mark Naclerio (AHL), Zac Rinaldo and Tim Schaller

Defensemen: Linus Arenesson, Brandon Carlo, Tommy Cross, Rob O'Gara, Alex Grant, Matt Grzelcyk and Jakub Zboril

Goaltenders: Zane McIntyre and Malcolm Subban

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Jeremy Smith (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Colorado Avalanche), defensemen Chris Breen, Tommy Cross (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Boston Bruins) and Matt Irwin (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Nashville Predators) and forwards Brandon DeFazio, Joonas Kemppainen (signed a 1-year deal with Sibir Novosibirsk in KHL), Alexander Khokhlachev (will sign 1-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg in KHL), Ben Sexton and Max Talbot (signed a 1-year deal with HC Locomotiv in KHL)

NHL RFA: defensemen Chris Casto and Colin Miller (re-signed a two-year, one-way contract with Boston) and forward Brian Ferlin

AHL UFA: goaltender Matt Ginn, defensemen Brett Bellemore, Frankie Simonelli and Ben Youds (signed a 1-year deal with Leksands IF in the SHL) and forwards Andrew Cherniwchan, Eric Neiley

Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres)

Under Contract

Forwards: Justin Bailey, Nicholas Baptiste, William Carrier, Daniel Catenacci, Eric Cornel, Jean Dupuy, Vaclac Karabacek, Justin Kea, Matt Lane (AHL), Cal O'Reilly, Evan Rodrigues and Cole Schneider

Defensemen: Mac Bennett, Austin Brady, Martin Brycen, Justin Falk, Taylor Fedun and Paul Geiger (AHL)

Goaltenders: Linus Ullmark

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Nathan Lieuwen and Andrey Makarov (signed with Spartak Moskva in KHL), defensemen Matt Donovan, Chad Ruhwedel (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Pittsburgh Penguins), Bobby Sanguinetti and Michael Sdao and forwards Jerry D'Amigo, Colin Jacobs, Alex Guptill, Jack Nevins
Eric O'Dell, Tim Schaller (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Boston Bruins) and Cole Schneider (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Buffalo Sabres)

NHL RFA: forward Daniel Catenacci (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Buffalo)

AHL UFA: defensemen Josh Chapman, Spiro Goulakos, Joey Mormina, Matt Prapavessis and Colby Robak and forwards Matt Ellis, Matt Garbowsky, Patrick Kaleta and Allan McPherson

Springfield Thunderbirds (Florida Panthers)

Under Contract

Forwards: Chase Balisy, Graham Black, Connor Brickley, Shane Harper, Jayce Hawryluk, Steven Hodges, Dryden Hunt, Juho Lammikko, Greg McKegg (re-signed one-year, two-way NHL contract with Florida), Kyle Rau, Logan Shaw and Paul Thompson

Defensemen: Joshua Brown, Michael Downing, Linus Hultstrom, Michael Matheson, Brent Regner and MacKenzie Weegar

Goaltenders: Reto Berra, Sam Brittain, Mike McKenna and Colin Stevens

Impending Free Agents 

NHL UFA: defensemen Sena Acolatse, Cameron Guance (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Pittsburgh Penguins) and Dylan Olsen and forwards Rob Flick, Corban Knight, John McFarland and Brett Olson (signed a one-year contract with EC Salzburg in Belgium)

NHL RFA: defensemen Jonathan Racine (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Florida) and forward Logan Shaw (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Florida)

AHL UFA: defenseman Matt MacKenzie and forwards Wade Megan (signed a one-year, two-way contract with St. Louis Blues), Rob Schremp (signed a 1-year deal with Langnau in NLA), Wayne Simpson, Tony Turgeon and Garrett Wilson (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Pittsburgh)

St. John's IceCaps (Montreal Canadiens)

Under Contract

Forwards: Daniel Audette, Daniel Muzito-Bagenda (AHL - 1 year), Tim Bozon, Connor Crisp, Jacob De La Rose, Max Friberg, Jeremy Gregoire, Charles Hudon, Artturi Lehkonen, Mark MacMillan, Michael McCarron, Martin Reway, Nikita Scherbak and Chris Terry

Defensemen: Jeremie Blain (AHL - 1 year), Josiah Didier (AHL - 1 year), Joel Hanley, Ryan Johnston, Brett Lernout, Tom Parisi, Philip Samuelsson, Dalton Thrower

Goaltenders: Zachary Fucale

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Ben Scrivens, defensemen Mac Bennett (signed a one-year AHL contract with Rochester Americans), Darren Dietz (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Washington Capitals) and Morgan Ellis (signed a one-year, two-way contract with St. Louis Blues) and forwards Michael Bournival (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Tampa Bay Lightning), Gabriel Dumont (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Tampa Bay Lightning), Bud Holloway (signed 2-year deal CSKA Moskava with in KHL) and John Scott

NHL RFA: None

AHL UFA: defensemen Travis Brown, Josiah Didier (re-signed a one-year AHL contract with St. John's IceCaps) and forwards Markus Eisenschmid, Brandon McNally, Angelo Miceli, Eric Neilson (signed a 1-year deal with the Manchester Storm in the EIHL), Alexandre Ranger and Andrew Yogan

Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Under Contract

Forwards: Michael Bournival, Cameron Darcy, Gabriel Dumont, Adam Erne, Mike Halmo, Brian Hart, Henri Ikonen, Pierre-Luc Leblond, Tye McGinn, Jeremy Morin, Matthew Peca, Brayden Point, Jonne Tammela, Tanner Richard and Joel Vermin

Defensemen: Dylan Blujus, Jake Dotchin, Slater Koekkoek, Dominik Masin, Matt Taormina, Ben Thomas, Luke Witkowski and Daniel Walcott

Goaltenders: Kristers Gudlevskis and Adam Wilcox

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: forwards Mike Angelidis, Mike Blunden (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Ottawa Senators), David Broll, Jonathan Marchessault (signed a one-year contract with Florida Panthers), Philippe Paradis, Jeff Tambellini (signed 1-year deal with Djugardens IF in the SHL)

NHL RFA: goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis (re-signed to a one-year, two-way contract with Tampa Bay Lightning) and forward Yanne Gourde

AHL UFA: goaltender Nick Riopel, defensemen Charlie Dodero and forwards Ryan Martindale

Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Under Contract

Forwards: Connor Brown, Marc-Andre Cliche (AHL - 1 year), Richard Clune (AHL - 1 year), Shane Conacher (AHL), Eric Faille (AHL - 1 year) T.J. Foster (AHL), Cason Hohmann (AHL - 1 year), Andreas Johnson, Frederik Gauthier, Zach Hyman, Kasperi Kapanen, Brendan Leipsic, Tobias Lindberg, Mason Marchment, William Nylander, Colin Smith (AHL - 1 year) Nikita Soshnikov and Chase Witala (AHL)

Defensemen: Nikolas Brouillard (AHL), Justin Holl, Viktor Loov, Rinat Valiev and Nikita Zaitsev

Goaltenders: Antoine Bibeau, Kasimir Kaskisuo and Garret Sparks

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Alex Stalock (signed a one-year, two-way deal with Minnesota Wild), defenseman T.J. Brennan (signed a two-year, two-way deal with Philadelphia) and Stuart Percy (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Pittsburgh Penguins) and forwards Mark Arcobello (signed a two-year deal with Bern in the NLA), Sam Carrick (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Chicago Blackhawks), Richard Clune (signed an AHL deal with Toronto Marlies), Ben Smith, Colin Smith (signed a one-year AHL contract with Toronto Marlies) and Raffi Torres 

NHL RFA: goaltender Garret Sparks (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Toronto), defensemen Connor Carrick,  forwards Josh Leivo and Kerby Rychel

AHL UFA: goaltender Rob Madore, defensemen Zach Bell, Taylor Doherty, Justin Holl (signed a one-year entry level contract with Toronto Maple Leafs), David Kolomatis, James Martin and Brenden Miller and forwards Eric Faille (re-signed a one-year AHL contract with Toronto), Brett Findlay, Justin Johnson, Jack Rodewald and Patrick Watling

Utica Comets (Vancouver Canucks)

Under Contract

Forwards: Darren Archibald (AHL - 1 year)Carter Bancks (2-year AHL), Cole Cassels, Michael Chaput, Brendan Gaunce, Wacey Hamilton (2-year AHL), Derek Hulak (AHL - 1 year), Joseph LaBate, Yan-Pavel LaPlante, Jayson Megna, Borna Rendulic, Mackenzie Stewart, Curtis Valk (AHL - 1 year) and Michael Zalewski

Defensemen: Anton Cederholm, Evan McEneny, Jordan Subban, Ashton Saunter, David Shields (AHL - 1 year) and Troy Stecher

Goaltenders: Richard Bachman, Thatcher Demko and Michael Garteig

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: goaltender Joe Cannata (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Washington Capitals), defenseman Taylor Fedun (signed a one-year, two-way contract with Buffalo Sabres) and forwards Ludwig Blomstrand (signed 2-year deal in Sweden with Almtuna IS), Alex Friesen (signed a one-year, two-way contract with St. Louis Blues), T.J. Hensick (signed a one-year AHL contract with Ontario Reign), Blair Jones and Ronalds Kenins

NHL RFA: defenseman Andrey Pedan and forwards Alexandre Grenier and Michael Zalewski (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Vancouver)

AHL UFA: defensemen Travis Ehrhardt, Jon Landry, John Negrin and David Shields (re-signed a one-year AHL contract with Utica) and forwards Darren Archibald (re-signed a one-year AHL contract with Utica), Milos Bubela, Kellen Jones, Brandon Marino (signed 1-year deal in Slovakia with HC Nove Zamky), Mike Periera and Curtis Valk (re-signed a one-year AHL contract with Utica)

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Under Contract

Forwards: Josh Archibald, Teddy Blueger, Jean-Sebastien Dea, Sahir Gill (AHL - 1 year), Jake Guentzel, Christian Hilbrich (signed 1-year AHL deal) Tom Kostopoulos (re-signed a 1-year AHL deal), Adam Krause (AHL - 1 year), Kevin Porter (re-signed a 1-year, 2-way NHL deal), Carter Rowney, Dominik Simon, Daniel Sprong, Oskar Sundqvist and Garrett Wilson

Defensemen: Lukas Bengtsson, Tim Erixon (re-signed a 1-year, 2-way NHL deal), Cameron Gaunce, Barry Goers (AHL - 1 year) Reid McNeill, Steve Oleksy, Stuart Percy, Ethan Prow, Chad Ruhwedel and Michael Webster (signed 1-year AHL deal)

Goaltenders: Casey DeSmith (AHL - 1 year), Tristan Jarry and Sean Maguire

Impending Free Agents

NHL UFA: defensemen Nicklas Andersen (signed 1-year deal with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg in KHL), James Melindy, Steve Oleksy (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Pittsburgh Penguins), Will O’Neill (signed a two-year, two-way contract with Philadelphia Flyers) and Harrison Ruopp and forwards Tyler Biggs, Dan O'Donaghue, Dustin Jeffrey (signed 1-year deal with Lausanne in NLA), Kael Mouillierat, Matthias Plachta (signed with Adler Mannheim in DEL), Tom Sestito (re-signed a one-year, two-way contract with Pittsburgh Penguins) and Anton Zlobin (signed a tryout with Dynamo Moskva in KHL)

NHL RFA: forward,Dominik Uher (signed 1-year deal wih HC Sparta Praha in Czech) and 

AHL UFA: goaltender Casey DeSmith (re-signed an AHL deal with W-B/Scranton), defensemen Barry Goers (re-signed a one-year AHL contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), Ryan Parent and Clark Seymour and forwards Sahir Gill (re-signed a one-year AHL contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), Adam Krause (re-signed a one-year AHL contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), Ty Loney, John McCarron and Patrick McGrath