Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
The Calder Cup Playoffs rage on but planning for the 2026-27 season is already well underway.
With next season’s October start only four months away, several NHL organizations and their AHL affiliates have started to make moves to build out their rosters and depth charts. Whether those players stick in the NHL this fall or go to the AHL remains to be seen. The NHL Draft, development camp, prospect tournaments, and training camp will all help determine those rosters. Coaching vacancies also need to be filled for the Abbotsford Canucks and Hartford Wolf Pack.
Here is a look at the NHL’s Western Conference teams that have made moves involving players who competed in the AHL this season as well as potential newcomers who have signed two-way contracts for next season. TheAHL.com had a look at the Eastern Conference earlier.
Anaheim Ducks (San Diego Gulls)
Add another good prospect to the Anaheim payroll.
The Ducks have 19-year-old forward Ethan Procyszyn, a 2024 third-round pick, ready to go with a three-year entry-level contract after he captained the North Bay Battalion of the Ontario Hockey League this season. He posted 59 points, including 31 goals, in 65 regular-season games before adding four more goals in 10 playoff games.
Gulls captain Ryan Carpenter will help mentor those Ducks prospects again after San Diego signed him to a one-year AHL contract extension. Carpenter, 35, had another typically productive season, ranking third on the Gulls with 48 points (17 goals, 31 assists) in 71 games.
Edmonton Oilers (Bakersfield Condors)
Forward Aku Räty is coming back to North America following an outstanding season in Finland with Kärpät Oulu. His 57 points (20 goals, 37 assists) in 51 games tied him for seventh in Liiga scoring. That work secured him a one-year, two-way contract with the Oilers.
A 2019 fifth-round pick by the Arizona Coyotes, he went on to play two seasons in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners and Rockford IceHogs, tallying 69 points (21 goals, 48 assists) in a combined 120 games.
Nashville Predators (Milwaukee Admirals)
Nashville has long made heavy use of Milwaukee to develop top prospects, and the list of Admirals alumni who went on to long-term success with the Predators is a lengthy one.
Nashville has signed forward Felix Nilsson to his three-year entry-level contract after he had 40 points (14 goals, 26 assists) in 52 SHL games with Rögle BK at just 20 years old. He went to Nashville as a 2023 second-round pick and already has three full SHL seasons behind him. He also had six points (two goals, four assists) in 17 playoff games for this season’s SHL finalist.
San Jose Sharks (San Jose Barracuda)
May proved to be a big month for forward prospect Carson Wetsch. He signed his NHL entry-level deal with the Sharks on May 13 and completed the month by captaining the host Kelowna Rockets at the Memorial Cup.
The 20-year-old had 72 points, including 50 assists, in 65 regular-season games. Taken in the third round of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Sharks, he is the latest player under contract for an ever-growing stash of prospects in the San Jose organization.
The Sharks also added a defenseman to the organization in 22-year-old Phillip Sinn from EHC Red Bull München of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Sinn, who went undrafted, played 35 DEL games this season and another 11 in the postseason. He also played five games for Germany at the IIHF World Championship and captained his country at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Seattle Kraken (Coachella Valley Firebirds)
Another Memorial Cup participant is defenseman Alexis Bernier, who has a three-year entry-level deal with the Kraken.
Seattle took him in the third round of the 2024 NHL draft. After being limited to 21 regular-season games with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, he helped lead the team to the league title. He had seven points (four goals, three assists) in 20 playoff games before playing four more at the Memorial Cup. Bernier, who turns 20 this month, was a QMJHL First All-Star team selection with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in 2024-25.
Utah Mammoth (Tucson Roadrunners)
Utah has found some strong talent from the Kontinental Hockey League recently. Two KHL alumni, forward Daniil But and AHL All-Star defenseman Dmitri Simashev, divided time between Utah and Tucson this season.
Forward Yegor Borikov is their latest signing. The 20-year-old agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Mammoth after he had 16 goals and 30 points in 59 games for Dinamo Minsk. He later went to Metallurg Zhlobin of the Belarusian Extraleague on loan for the postseason and had eight points (two goals, six assists) in four games to help that team to a championship. Utah took Borikov in the fourth round of last year’s NHL Draft.
Nilsson’s Rögle teammate, defenseman Gregor Biber, has joined the Utah organization on a three-year entry-level contract. He played 38 SHL games, plus 15 more in the postseason. Then he went to the IIHF World Championship, where he got more high-level experience representing Austria in seven games. Utah took him as a fourth-round pick in 2024.
Vancouver Canucks (Abbotsford Canucks)
Massive change has already impacted Abbotsford with Ryan Johnson’s promotion to Vancouver general manager. It did not take long for Johnson to give Vancouver another Abbotsford touch. After that promotion on May 14, Johnson hired Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra as his new head coach with Vancouver on Monday. The Johnson-Malhotra partnership led Abbotsford to the Calder Cup last year and will oversee a Vancouver roster featuring several alumni from that championship group.
Johnson also brought some experience into the organization, signing 25-year-old forward Ilya Safonov to a one-year two-way contract the day after Malhotra’s elevation. Safonov is coming off a strong KHL season with AK Bars Kazan, where he had 33 points (16 goals, 17 assists) in 68 games before adding nine more points (two goals, seven assists) in 20 playoff games as the team finished as the Gagarin Cup finalist.
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
