The St. Louis Blues, parent club of the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen, announced on Tuesday that they have signed defenseman Micki DuPont.
DuPont, 27, was a First Team AHL All-Star in 2006-07, recording 18 goals and 33 assists for 51 points in 78 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, tying for the AHL lead among defensemen in goals and ranking second in points. DuPont also notched an assist in three NHL games for Pittsburgh.
In 280 career AHL games, DuPont has registered 46 goals and 112 assists for 158 points. He won a Calder Cup championship with Saint John in 2001. The Calgary native has also skated in 21 NHL games, registering four points (1g, 3a).
Also Tuesday, the Carolina Hurricanes, parent club of the AHL’s Albany River Rats, signed Wade Brookbank to a one-year contract. Brookbank, 29, tallied one goal and 131 penalty minutes in 43 games between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Providence in 2006-07.
A native of Lanigan, Sask., Brookbank has played 68 career NHL games with Nashville, Vancouver and Boston, totaling four goals, two assists and 229 penalty minutes. In 206 career AHL games, he has totaled two goals, 16 assists and 830 PIM.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, parent club of the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, have signed defensemen Jay Leach and David Schneider to one-year, two-way contracts. Leach, 6-foot-5, 219 pounds, played 73 games with Providence in 2006-07, netting two goals and seven assists while leading the team with 128 penalty minutes. A native of Syracuse, N.Y., Leach has played in 241 career AHL games with Springfield, Providence and Bridgeport, scoring 11 goals and recording 22 assists for 33 points. He made his NHL debut with Boston in 2005-06, playing two games.
Schneider, a 5-foot-9, 190-pound native of Melrose Park, Ill., spent the last four seasons in Finland, including 53 games with HPK Hameenlinna in 2006-07. He played collegiate hockey at Princeton University, where he amassed 18 goals and 50 points in 98 games from 1998-2002.
The Minnesota Wild, parent club of the AHL’s Houston Aeros, signed goaltender Nolan Schaefer to a multi-year contract. Schaefer, 27, posted a record of 14-16-3 with a 2.64 goals-against average, a .902 save percentage and one shutout in 34 AHL games with Worcester, Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2006-07. The Rbk X-Pulse/AHL Goaltender of the Month for March 2007 has earned 57 victories over four seasons in the AHL.
Schaefer appeared in seven NHL contests with San Jose in 2005-06 and posted a 5-1-0 record with a 1.88 GAA, a .920 save percentage and one shutout, becoming the first Sharks goaltender to begin his career with five consecutive wins.
Earlier in the day, the Ottawa Senators, parent club of the AHL’s Binghamton Senators, announced the signing of four players to contracts. The club signed 2005 first-round pick Brian Lee to an entry level contact, while agreeing to two-year deals with forwards Danny Bois and Jim McKenzie, and a one-year deal with defenseman Matt Carkner.
Lee, 21, was Ottawa’s first-round pick (ninth overall) in the 2005 entry draft. The native of Fargo, N.D., recently completed his second season at the University of North Dakota, where he set career highs in assists (24), points (26) and penalty minutes (69).
Bois, 24, spent the 2006-07 season with the Binghamton Senators, scoring 14 goals and adding 13 assists while leading the team with 153 penalty minutes. The Thunder Bay, Ont., native made his National Hockey League debut during the 2006-07 season with Ottawa, playing in one game and recording seven penalty minutes. He has 34 goals, 34 assists and 666 PIM in 216 career AHL games with Binghamton.
McKenzie, 23, was a fifth-round draft pick (141st overall) by Ottawa in the 2004 entry draft. The St. Paul, Minn., native spent the last three seasons at Michigan State University, and set career highs in goals (12), assists (18) and points (30) in 2006-07.
Carkner, 26, signs with the Senators after spending last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In 75 games with the AHL Penguins, he scored six goals and added 24 assist for 30 points while recording 167 penalty minutes. He captured the Yanick Dupre Memorial Award as the AHL’s Man of the Year for his outstanding community work last season. The Winchester, Ont., native was Montreal’s second-round draft choice (58th overall) in the 1999 entry draft, and has registered 19 goals, 72 assists and 1,115 PIM in 390 career AHL contests.
