2017-18 AHL Western Conference Team Lists - Central Division

Photo: Nina Weiss/Highland Park Hockey

Westward Bound!

Written by: Tony Androckitis - Twitter/Facebook

It's that time of the year! With the expansion draft, the NHL Entry Draft and restricted free agent deadline rapidly approaching it won't be too long before the start of free agency.

Here at Highland Park Hockey (and soon transitioning to a brand new AHL website!), we aim to be the source for all AHL-related off-season news/notes/transactions throughout the summer.

Back again this summer is our team-by-team lists, now broken down by division for a clearer look at each of the 30 AHL clubs - their free agents (both NHL and AHL, RFA/UFA) and more.

As soon as all four divisions' team lists are published online, I'll add links to the others below.

2017-18 Atlantic Division Team Lists
2017-18 North Division Team Lists
2017-18 Pacific Division Team Lists

After the jump, fans of Central Division teams - Chicago, Cleveland, Grand Rapids, Iowa Manitoba, Milwaukee and Rockford - can take a look at how their favorite team is shaping up for the 2017-18 season prior to the start of free agency on July 1st.

The Central Division is not only home to the defending Calder Cup Champions - the Grand Rapids Griffins - but also to the new Vegas Golden Knights AHL affiliate which will be the Chicago Wolves in 2017-18 and beyond!



Chicago Wolves (Vegas Golden Knights & St. Louis Blues)

NOTE: Until it's officially determined, included in this list are all of both teams' expected AHL'ers for 2017-18.

STL = St. Louis
VGK = Vegas Golden Knights

Under Contract

Forwards: Ivan Barbashev (STL), Samuel Blais (STL) Connor Bleackley (STL), William Carrier (VGK), Reid Duke (VGK), Bryce Gervais (AHL contract), Tomas Hyka (VGK), Mackenzie MacEachern (STL), Steffan Matteau (VGK), Wade Megan (STL), Adam Musil (STL), Tomas Nosek (VGK), Zachary Sanford (STL), Justin Selman (STL), Paul Thompson (VGK), Alex Tuch (VGK), TJ Tynan (VGK) and Tyler Wong (AHL contract)

Defensemen: Jake Bischoff (VGK), Chris Butler (STL), Chris Casto (VGK), Vince Dunn (STL), Brad Hunt (VGK), Kenney Morrison (AHL), Jordan Schmaltz (STL), Dmitrii Sergeev (STL), Thomas Vanelli (STL), Scooter Vaughn (AHL) and Jake Walman (STL)

Goaltenders: Jordan Binnington (STL), Oscar Dansk (VGK), Ville Husso (STL) Maxime Legace (VGK)

Impending Free Agents

NHL RFA: goaltender Jordan Binnington (re-signed by St. Louis), defensemen Petteri Lindbohm (qualified by STL) and forwards Brendan Leipsic (VGK), Wade Megan (re-signed one-year, two-way deal - STL), and Oskar Sundqvist (re-signed by St. Louis, on NHL roster)

NHL UFA: defensemen Chris Butler (re-signed a two-contract with St. Louis) and Reid McNeill (STL - signed AHL deal with Syracuse) and forwards Kenny Agostino (STL - signed NHL contract with Boston), Andrew Agozzino (signed a two-year contract with Colorado), Connor Brickley (VGK - signed one-year/two-way contract with Florida), Jordan Caron (RFA not qualified by STL), Jacob Doty (signed one-year contract in EIHL with Braehead Clan), Landon Ferrero (signed a one-year/two-way contract with Minnesota), Brad Malone (signed two-year contract with Edmonton) & Ty Rattie (signed a one-year contract with Edmonton)

AHL UFA (All property of Chicago Wolves): defensemen Jared Nightingale, Kevin Tansey, Scooter Vaughn (re-signed a one-year AHL contract with Chicago) and James Wisniewski and forwards Ty Loney, Sam Povorozniouk (signed two-year contract in Liiga with Sport) and Brett Sterling

Cleveland Monsters (Columbus Blue Jackets)

Under Contract

Forwards: Vitaly Abramov, Paul Bitner, Carter Camper (AHL - 2 year), Zac Dalpe, Keegan Kolesar, Jordan Maletta, Tyler Motte, Nick Moutrey, Dante Salituro (traded to Minnesota), Justin Scott, Kole Sherwood, Kevin Stenlund, Calvin Thurkauf and Sam Vigneault

Defensemen: Andre Benoit, Ryan Collins, Cameron Gaunce, Jacob Graves, Dean Kukan, John Ramage and Blake Siebenaler

Goaltenders: Matiss Kivlenieks, Ivan Kulbakov and Brad Thiessen (AHL contract)

Impending Free Agents

NHL RFA: forward Alex Broadhurst (re-signed with Columbus)

NHL UFA: goaltender Oscar Dansk (signed a one-year contract with Vegas Golden Knights), defensemen Marc-Andre Bergeron, Oleg Yevenko (RFA not qualified by Columbus), Jamie Sifers (signed a two-year AHL contract with Utica) and Ryan Stanton (signed a two-year contract with Edmonton) and forwards Brett Gallant and T.J. Tynan (signed a one-year/two-way contract with Las Vegas)

AHL UFA: goaltender Michael Houser and forwards Ryan Craig (retired to become part of Vegas' coaching staff) and Joe Pendenza

Grand Rapids Griffins (Detroit Red Wings)

Under Contract

Forwards: Tyler Bertuzzi, Christoffer Ehn, Corey Elkins (AHL), Turner Elson, Luke Esposito (AHL), Matt Ford (AHL), Martin Frk, Axel Holmstrom, Matt Lorito, Zach Nastasiuk, Dylan Sadowy, Evgeny Svechnikov, Dominik Shine (AHL), Givani Smith, Ben Street, Eric Tangradi, Dominic Turgeron,

Defensemen: Dennis Cholowski, Joe Hicketts, Filip Hronek, Brian Lashoff, Patrick McCarron (AHL), Dylan McIlrath, Daniel Renouf, Vili Saarjarvi, Libor Sulak,

Goaltenders: Jared Coreau, Tom McCollum, Matej Machovsky and Pat Nagle (AHL)

Impending Free Agents

NHL RFA: defensemen Brian Lashoff (signed two-year extension) and Robbie Russo (qualified) and forward Martin Frk (signed one-year contract with Detroit)

NHL UFA: goaltenders Edward Pasquale (signed a one-year contract with Edmonton) and Jake Paterson (signed a one-year AHL contract with Milwaukee), defensemen Dylan McIlrath (signed two-year extension) and forwards Mitch Callahan (signed a two-year contract with Edmonton) and Ben Street (signed one-year extension)

AHL UFA: goaltender Cal Heeter, defensemen Conor Allen, Matthew Caito (signed a one-year contract with Iowa) and Nathan Paetsch, and forwards Mike Borkowski, Colin Campbell, Daniel Cleary (retired), Kyle Criscuolo (signed two-year, two-way contract with Buffalo), Alex Globke, Carter Sandlak and Mathew Santos (attending Ryerson University in CIS)

Iowa Wild (Minnesota Wild)

Under Contract

Forwards: Sam Anas, Colton Beck (AHL), Christoph Bertschy, Patrick Cannone, Landon Ferraro, Kurtis Gabriel, Adam Gilmour, Pavel Jenys, Justin Kloos, Luke Kunin, Chase Lang, Mario Lucia, Geralad Mayhew (AHL), Zack Mitchell, Cal O'Reilly, Kyle Rau, Dante Salituro,

Defensemen: Gustav Bouramman, Matthew Caito (AHL), Alex Grant, Dylan Labbe, Gustav Olofsson, Zach Palmquist, Mike Reilly, Nick Seeler, Carson Soucy and Hunter Warner

Goaltenders: Steve Michalek, Adam Vay

Impending Free Agents

NHL RFA:

The following were all re-signed by Minnesota - goaltender Steve Michalek, defensemen Gustav Olofsson, Zach Palmquist and Mike Reilly and forwards Kurtis Gabriel and Zack Mitchell

NHL UFA: defensemen Alex Gudbranson (signed AHL contract with Toronto) and Mike Weber and forwards Brady Brassart (signed an ECHL contract with Idaho), Patrick Cannone (re-signed one-year/two-way contract with Minnesota) and Ryan Carter

AHL UFA: defenseman Maxime Fortunus and forwards Jeff Hoggan (retired) and Nick Saracino

Manitoba Moose (Winnipeg Jets)

Under Contract

Forwards: Mason Appleton, Francis Beaullivier (AHL), Kyle Connor, Patrice Cormier (AHL), Chase De Leo, JC Lipon, Jansen Harkins, Patrice Cormier (AHL), Brendan Lemieux, James Lodge, Nicolas Petan, Buddy Robinson, Jack Roslovic, Michael Spacek and Brody Sutter (AHL)

Defensemen: Christopher Dienes (AHL), Kirill Gotovets (AHL), Jan Kostalek, Jake Kulevich (AHL), Josh Morrissey, Sami Niku, Nelson Nogier, Tucker Poolman, Cameron Schilling, Peter Stoykewych (AHL)

Goaltenders: Eric Comrie, Colton Phinney (AHL) and Jamie Phillips

Impending Free Agents

NHL RFA: forward JC Lipon (re-signed a one-year/two-way contract with Manitoba)

NHL UFA: defensemen Brenden Kitchon (signed a one-year/two-way contract with Carolina) and Brian Strait (signed a one-year/two-way contract with New Jersey) and forwards Quinton Howden (RFA not qualified), Scott Kosmachuk (RFA not qualified), Ryan Olsen (RFA not qualified) and Anthony Peluso (signed a one-year/two-way contract with Washington)

AHL UFA: defensemen Jake Baker, Kevin Czuczman (signed a one-year/two-way contract with Pittsburgh , Peter Stoykewych (re-signed AHL contract with Manitoba) and Tyson Wilson (signed a one-year ECHL contract with Brampton) and forwards Patrice Cormier (re-signed AHL contract with Manitoba), Brandon Denham, Dan DeSalvo (signed AHL deal with Hartford), Darren Kramer (re-signed AHL contract with Manitoba)

Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville Predators)

Under Contract

Forwards: Derek Army (AHL), Cody Bass, Victor Ejdsell, Vladislav Kamenev, Tyler Kelleher (AHL), Justin Kirkland, Pierre-Cedric Labrie, Tyler Moy, Stephen Perfetto (AHL), Emil Pettersson, Anthony Richard, Trevor Smith and Yakov Trenin

Defensemen: Frederic Allard, Alexandre Carrier, Jack Dougherty, Samuel Girard, Petter Granberg, Trevor Murphy, Andrew O'Brien, Jimmy Oligny (AHL) and Rick Pinkston (AHL)

Goaltenders: Anders Lindback, Matt O'Connor, Jake Paterson (AHL) and Juuse Saros

Impending Free Agents

NHL RFA: None

NHL UFA: goaltender Jonas Gunnarsson, defenseman Adam Pardy and Jaynen Rissling and forwards Michael Liambas (signed a one-year/two-way contract with Anaheim) Adam Payerl and Mike Ribeiro

AHL UFA: goaltender Mark Visentin (signed in EBEL with Fehérvár AV19) and forwards Justin Florek (signed in DEL with Iserlohn) and Matt White (signed in DEL with Augsburger)

Rockford IceHogs (Chicago Blackhawks)

Under Contract

Forwards: Kyle Baun, Laurent Dauphin (acquired from Arizona), Alexandre Fortin, John Hayden, Matthew Highmore, Vinnie Hinostroza, Matheson Iacopelli, Luke Johnson, David Kampf, Graham Knott, Anthony Louis, Nathan Noel, Tommy Olczyk (AHL) and William Pelletier (AHL)

Defensemen: Carl Dahlstrom, Gustav Forsling, Erik Gustafsson, Robin Norell, Jordan Oesterle, Ville Pokka, Robin Press (AHL), Darren Raddysh (AHL), Jan Rutta, Luc Snuggerud and Viktor Svedberg,

Goaltenders: Anton Forseberg, Jeff Glass and Matt Tomkins (AHL)

Impending Free Agents

NHL RFA: defensemen Erik Gustafsson (qualified) and  Ville Pokka (qualified)

NHL UFA: goaltenders Mac Carruth and Lars Johansson (signed a one-year contract in KHL), defensemen Nolan Valleau and forwards Kenton Helgeson, Pierre-Cedric Labrie (signed a one-year/two-way contract with Nashville), Michael Latta (signed a one-year/two-way contract with Arizona) and Brandon Mashinter

AHL UFA: goaltenders Jake Hildebrand and Eric Levine, defensemen Nick Mattson, Evan Mosey (signed a one-year contract in EIHL with Nottingham) and Robin Press (re-signed AHL contract with Rockford) and forwards Tyler Barnes, Bryn Chyzyk, Jake Dowell (signed in EBEL with EHC Linz), Chris DeSousa, Jeremy Langlois