Four Teams Make Moves Around The AHL

The deadline is Monday at 3pm for American Hockey League teams and their parent clubs in the NHL to make deals and four teams have already done so.  The four teams are the St Johns IceCaps, Portland Pirates, Peoria Rivermen and Texas Stars.

Stay tuned to see if the Sabres and/or Ron Rolston think that any moves are needed to help the Amerks down the final stretch.  The Sabres are likely listening closely to what Rolston has to say and working with him as needed.  Chris Roy of the Maine Hockey Journal wrote on Facebook, “As much as Portland folks loved the Sabres organization, they were never proactive about Portland.”  This Amerks team has had needs since prior to training camp starting but nothing was ever done.  Any moves made now that can help down the stretch would be accepted but the hope is that it won’t be too little too late.

Here’s the moves so far:

The Winnipeg Jets have assigned Peter Mannino and Kenndal McArdle from the St John’s IceCaps to the Portland Pirates.

The Phoenix Coyotes have assigned Brock Trotter from the Portland Pirates to the IceCaps.

The Jets also assigned forward Michael Forney and the IceCaps have traded forward Shawn Weller to the Texas Stars.

The Dallas Stars have re-assigned forward Raymond Sawada from the Texas Stars to St. John’s IceCaps.

Patrick O’Sullivan has been loaned from the Portland Pirates to the Peoria Rivermen.

More from TheAHL Press Release:

Trotter, 25, has played in 40 AHL games with Portland and Hamilton this season, totaling 14 goals and 24 assists for 38 points.

The Brandon, Man., native has played in 212 career AHL games, registering 173 points (71 goals, 102 assists) and 112 penalty minutes. He has also appeared in two NHL games, both for Montreal.

Mannino appeared in 10 games for St. John’s this season, posting a record of 4-5-0 with a 2.77 GAA, a .909 save percentage and one shutout. The 28-year-old netminder was a career-best 26-5-1 for Chicago during the 2009-10 season and has appeared in six career NHL games with the N.Y. Islanders and Atlanta/Winnipeg.

McArdle, 25, has recorded seven goals and five assists for 12 points in 35 games with the IceCaps in 2011-12. A first-round draft pick by Florida in 2005, McArdle established career highs in goals (14) and points (26) with Rochester last season.

Sawada, 27, has played in 26 games with Texas this season, tallying six goals, 10 assists and 19 penalty minutes. Originally drafted by Dallas in 2004 (second round, 52nd overall), Sawada has played 205 career AHL games and reached the Calder Cup Finals with Manitoba in 2009 and Texas in 2010.

Sawada has also played in 11 career NHL games with the Stars.

Weller picked up 10 goals and 14 assists for 24 points in 41 games with the IceCaps this season. The former third-round draft choice (Ottawa, 2004) has skated in 273 career AHL matches, totaling 42 goals and 42 assists for 84 points.

Forney has spent the majority of this season in the ECHL, recording 20 goals and 31 assists for 51 points in 53 games with Colorado. He is scoreless in three games with St. John’s.

Stay tuned!