Well I did the statistics for the North American junior, senior and university leagues back in late December but now that the National Hockey League are on their Olympic break, I thought I would give you finally the stats for professional leagues in North America, Europe and Asia.
Looks like Nathan MacKinnon will once again be going back and forth as the league leader this season but against Connor McDavid this time. The 30-year-old leads all former Mooseheads players at this point of the season in points and takes that offence to Italy. He also recently recorded his 700th career assist earlier this week.
Note: some players have played for more than one team in different leagues *Stats as of February 6, 2026 (numbers according to Elite Prospects)
WORLD JUNIORS There isn't officially a Halifax Mooseheads representative that will be playing at the 2025 World Juniors but alum forward Mathieu Cataford was named last week to Team Canada's roster for the annual holiday tournament. He is one of only two QMJHL players on the team. It is the first time that the 19-year-old will wear the red and white in his career. Meanwhile, Herd rookie defenceman Carlos Handel was invited to Germany's selection camp and will be hoping to prove himself that he deserves to be on the final team.
Teams don't have to submit their final roster until late Christmas Eve. Congrats to Cataford on making Team Canada and good luck to Handel at the selection camp with Team Germany.
SPRYNAR Forward Jan Sprynar has made the decision to not return to the Mooseheads after the Christmas break and has signed a contract with HC Verva Litvinov in Czechia to continue his career. The 19-year-old will play professionally in his home country after recovering from an upper-body injury that he sustained on December 6th. He had 9 points for Halifax this season and a total of 29 points in 47 games for the club since being acquired by the Herd at last year's trade deadline.
Thank you Jan for your contributions in Moose Country and good luck with your new team.
MOOSE TRACKS Episode 4 of the second season of Moose Tracks has been released on the team's YouTube channel but you can find it below. This one includes scenes from Liam Kilfoil's billet house, captain Brady Schultz on a ride to the game and Shawn Carrier discussing his move to Halifax.
BARRON Former Herd defenceman Justin Barron is on the move again. The 23-year-old was traded to the Nashville Predators on Wednesday by the Montreal Canadiens and will be back with former teammate Zach L'Heureux. After being drafted by Colorado 25th overall in the 2020 NHL draft, the Halifax, NS native has played 111 games in the top professional league so far with all but two of those for Montreal. Barron has scored 1 goal only in 17 games played in 2024-25 but has 13 goals and 31 points in his career.
Good luck to Justin in Nashville.
Photo - LeNouvelliste.ch
POINT LEADERS There are a few Moose alumni who sit on top of some different leagues at the time of this writing. James Swan (2020-2022) leads all former Herd players in points so far this season with a total of 56 points but is third in the QJHL in 28 games suiting up for the Valleyfield Braves. Star Nathan MacKinnon (2011-2013) became the first NHL player to hit 50 points in 2024-25 and he actually recorded his 600th career assist on December 10 against Pittsburgh. The 29-year-old has 13 goals and 37 assists in 33 games. Forward Peter Reynolds is tied for the AUS league lead at the Christmas break with 29 points (16G & 13A) for the top-ranked UNB Reds. He and teammate Benjamin Corbeil actually lead all of the U-Sports players and this is only his first year of university hockey.
Another forward that is tied for a league lead is Samuel Asselin (2018-2019), who decided to move to Europe to play pro hockey in the summer and seems like it was the right choice. The 26-year-old has 44 points (19G & 25A) for HC Sierre in the SL. His current teammate Josh Lawrence (2022-2023) is third in scoring with 36 points in 30 games played. Meanwhile, Randy Gazzola is the defensive leader of the ICEHL while suiting up for Asiago.
PODCAST The third episode of the new podcast "This is Moose Country" was released today and includes guest appearances by newcomer Quinn Kennedy and veteran Owen Phillips.
MURPHY There might be more stories like this one regarding alum but its the only one I have seen recently. Former Herd d-man Matt Murphy has been acquired by the Lake Tahoe Knight Monsters in the ECHL from the Cincinnati Cyclones. Murphy skated in 20 games for the Cyclones in 2024-25, scoring two goals and adding six assists. The 29-year-old has suited up for multiple teams since spending five years at UNB and was able to win a professional title with the Fort Wayne Komets in 2021.
UP NEXT The QMJHL is on Christmas break and the winter trade period opened on Monday. Our Halifax Mooseheads will be back on the ice on December 28 visiting the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at 7pm. The Herd will be looking to end a losing streak against the Titan as they are 0-2-2-0 versus Bathurst this season. Halifax will then head to Sydney to take on the Cape Breton Eagles on December 30 before the two clubs battle each other again in Moose Country the following afternoon to finish 2024. Puck drops at 2:00 p.m., tickets are still available.
NEW COACHING POSITIONS More former Halifax Mooseheads coaches have been given positions with new teams. Townsend, ON native Jim Midgley has joined the National Hockey League's New York Rangers staff as an assistant coach. Midgley, who head coached the Herd during the 2017-18 season, is currently an assistant coach on Team Canada at the Women's World Championships in Calgary. Check out the reaction from the ladies when they were told of Jim's new job here.
The Saint Mary's Huskies announced last week that Cole Harbour native Jon Greenwood has been added to their coaching staff as the new defense coach. Greenwood had spent the last 7 seasons with our Mooseheads.
Photo - Rangers website
RECENT CUTS After the pre-season game on Friday night, Cam Russell, Sylvain Favreau and the staff announced another round of cuts which leaves 26 players now in training camp. A surprise to many, the Herd reassigned free agent Bryson Boudreau along with Liam Welsh and Merle Putnam. Boudreau was on another level during the first week of camp, scoring 8+ goals over the multiple intrasquad games and picked up 3 assists in 3 pre-season matches. Many expected him to make the team after his performance the last two weeks.
With the moves, the regular season roster is starting to shape up and unlike I previously thought, we could see the announcement of who made the team sometime this week. We're getting close Moose Country.
SIGNINGS It looks like a couple more Herd alumni will be playing in the ECHL in 2021-22. The Allen Americans announced they re-signed tough guy Kelly Bent on Tuesday. The Halifax native played for the Americans last season in 18 games and collected 71 penalty minutes. Bent was apart of the Mooseheads for two seasons (2014-16) before joining the Dalhousie Tigers for university.
A teammate of Bent with both the Herd and Tigers, 25 year old forward Andrew Shewfelt will presumably turn pro after being signed by the Wichita Thunder late last week. He suited up for his hometown junior team for three seasons (2013-16) collecting 58 points with Halifax. Shewfelt was supposed to play in his fourth season with Dalhousie in 2020-21 but the pandemic cancelled university hockey.
"I'm thrilled to be coming to Wichita for my first year of professional hockey," stated Shewfelt. "I've heard nothing but great things about the city, fans, and the organization. I'm excited to get down there and get to work."
Check back later in the year to see which teams the other former players are suiting up for this season in the next Where Are They Now? blog post.
TICKETS Some new about Halifax Mooseheads tickets for 2021-22. Previous season ticket and 15-game pack holders have until September 3 to renew their tickets or their seats will be released. The team has been told that they should be able to have full capacity this year meaning that members who had season tickets in 2019-20 should have those seats again. For fans who want to become members, full season, 15-games and family flex 20 packs go on sale tomorrow August 30 at 10 a.m.
Individual tickets for the general public will go on sale September 23. For full info (including benefits) and prices, check out mooseheadstickets.ca
MCKENNA
Herd alumni Jordan Mckenna had some big news come his way on Saturday evening as he was drafted by the Toronto Rock in the National Lacrosse League. McKenna, who played 55 games for Halifax in 2019-20, plays for the Orangeville Northmen lacrosse team during the hockey off-season. The 21-year-old captained the Yarmouth Mariners last year picking up 14 goals and 41 points in 35 games. He is committed to York University for the upcoming season. The NLL is a professional lacrosse league with teams in the United States and Canada. Congrats to Jordan on being selected.
TIM HORTONS It looks like we'll get a new Tim Hortons commercial featuring a couple of the top Nova Scotian hockey players. Alumni Nathan MacKinnon shared an Instagram story of himself and fellow Cole Harbour native Sidney Crosby in front of a Tim Hortons store with both wearing Team Canada jerseys. The two have done many advertisements together for Canadian restaurant chain over the years. Hopefully Nathan will have another fantastic season and be able to lead the Colorado Avalanche past the second round.
TRADE Your Halifax Mooseheads made a minor trade on Sunday afternoon, moving prospect Alex Carr to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. In return, Halifax receives a 4th round pick in 2023. Carr was drafted by the Herd in 2020 and recently participated in the team's training camp before being reassigned on Friday. He was set to play in the Maritime Hockey League this season but could possibly make the Huskies team.
I'm sure we will see more trades in the coming days and there have been plenty already by other teams around the league as all 18 QMJHL clubs get ready for the regular season which is set to start September 30.
A couple of former Halifax Mooseheads players have won the 2021 Kelly Cup.
Defensemen Randy Gazzola, Matt Murphy and the Fort Wayne Komets are the ECHL champions. The Komets won the trophy on Friday evening after defeating the South Carolina Stingrays 2-1, winning the best-of-five series 3-1.
Gazzola, who played for the Mooseheads in 2012-13 for 39 games, picked up an assist in the game last night and was a +2. The Thorold, ON native finished the playoffs 2 goals and 7 points in 13 games played. Murphy meanwhile didn't suit up for the last few games but had 4 assists in 11 games during the post-season.
Congratulations to Randy, Matt and Fort Wayne on becoming Kelly Cup champs!
The top 5 prospects including Filip Zadina Photo - TSN Hockey
CRAIG'S LISTWith the National Hockey League draft just around the corner, Craig Button has announced his final draft rankings for the upcoming 2018 NHL entry draft. The Mooseheads have four players who are eligible to be selected this month when the pro teams meet in Dallas, TX. Craig Button, a TSN analyst, named his Top 100 players which includes the first 6 being born from outside of Canada. The first Canadian young gun named to Button’s list is Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds forward Barret Hayton at number 7. Below you’ll find how the four Herd have been ranked.
Filip Zadina; #3 Jared McIsaac; #26 Benoit-Olivier Groulx; #53 Alexis Gravel; #99
AMERICAN DRAFT On Monday the QMJHL held its first ever American draft for players eligible to play in the QMJHL. The Mooseheads had selections at 16th and 34th overall in the two round draft and picked up goaltender Gavin Fitzpatrick out of Thayer Academy.as well as forward Riley Duran from Malden Catholic High School. Both players were born in 2002. For more info click here.
BODNARCHUK The American Hockey League finals recently got underway with the Texas Stars and the Toronto Marlies battling each other for the Calder Cup. Former Herd player Andrew Bodnarchuk has spent most of his professional career in the minor leagues and is now an assistant captain on the Stars team. Bodnarchuk has a goal in 18 playoff games played so far this year while Texas finds themselves down 2-1 in the series after Game 3 last night. You can watch the whole series on TSN2 in Canada.
Photo - Naples Daily News
KELLY CUP A champion is about to be named in the ECHL as the Kelly Cup finals are almost complete with a Mooseheads alumni on one of the last two teams. Stephen MacAulay, who is probably the winningest player in the QMJHL with 2 Memorial Cups & 3 President's Cups, joined the Florida Everblades in 2016-17. The Everblades are one win away from winning the Kelly Cup with a 3-2 series lead over the Colorado Eagles. MacAulay has 5 goals and 4 assists along with 17 penalty minutes in the 2018 playoffs. Game 6 will be played tonight in Florida.
Timo Meier vs. Martin Frk. Two former Halifax Mooseheads players find themselves going head-to-head for a chance to be in the Calder Cup. Meier and the San Jose Barracuda will battle Frk and the Grand Rapids Griffins for the AHL Western Conference playoff championship. The winner of the 7 game series will continue onto the Calder Cup finals and go against the winner of the Eastern Conference championship to be named AHL champion. Both men have been big parts of their teams success this season. The series begins tonight in San Jose.
The two are the only pro alumni currently still playing in the playoffs. Marty and Timo had strong campaigns this year and so did a number of other past Mooseheads. Check out below how former Herd in the professional leagues did during 2016-17.
There are currently 5 alumni currently playing full time in the NHL while a number have stayed in the AHL or ECHL all season.
Name
Team
GP
G
A
Pts
PIM
Jonathan Drouin
Tampa Bay Lightning
NHL
73
21
32
53
16
Nikolaj Ehlers
Winnipeg Jets
NHL
82
25
39
64
38
Nathan MacKinnon
Colorado Avalanche
NHL
82
16
37
53
16
Brad Marchand
Boston Bruins
NHL
80
39
46
85
81
Jackub Voracek
Philadelphia Flyers
NHL
82
20
41
61
56
Timo Meier
San Jose Sharks
NHL
34
3
3
6
10
San Jose Barracuda
AHL
33
14
9
23
40
Andrew Bodnarchuk
Texas Stars
AHL
69
5
21
26
69
Stefan Fornier
Tuscon Roadrunners
AHL
29
2
2
4
95
Syracuse Crunch
AHL
3
0
0
0
2
Kalamazoo Wings
ECHL
2
1
0
1
0
Martin Frk
Carolina Hurricanes
NHL
2
0
0
0
0
Grand Rapids Griffins
AHL
65
27
23
50
58
Alexandre Grenier
Vancouver Canucks
NHL
3
0
0
0
0
Utica Comets
AHL
59
17
28
45
52
Stephen MacAulay
Springfield Thunderbirds
AHL
39
2
4
6
6
Florida Everblades
ECHL
23
10
9
19
14
Mackenzie Weegar
Florida Panthers
NHL
3
0
0
0
4
Springfield Thunderbirds
AHL
60
14
22
36
70
Gabriel Desjardins
Fort Wayne Komets
ECHL
64
20
26
46
38
Gerrad Grant
Wichita Thunder
ECHL
67
6
14
20
40
Daniel Moynihan
Alaska Aces
ECHL
71
22
30
52
30
Shawn O'Donnell
Cincinnati Cyclones
ECHL
47
14
28
42
37
Milwaukee Admirals
AHL
6
0
0
0
12
Name
Team
GP
Record
SO
GAA
SAV%
Zach Fucale
St. John's IceCaps
AHL
3
1-2-0-0
0
2.36
0.919
Brampton Beast
ECHL
46
25-12-2-2
4
3.17
0.898
Team Leaders There were some Moose alumni that found themselves on top of their teams stats boards. Jakub Voracek, Nathan MacKinnon and Brad Marchand led their teams during the regular season in points while Nikolaj Ehlers and Jonathan Drouin were in the top 5 on their respective teams. Martin Frk, in the AHL, led his Grand Rapids Griffins in goals this season. Danny Moynihan was top 5 on the Aces' team in their last season in Alaska. Moynihan and Frk I would say have proved themselves worthy for another look at the level above which they played this past season.
A few former Halifax Mooseheads players will be on different teams in 2016-17 than they were last season. If you follow me on Twitter, most of this will be old news but I thought I would put all this news in one post for readers.
Photo - Nauss Facebook
During training camp, the Herd made a few transactions that moved veteran players to other teams. Halifax traded defensemen Morgan Nauss and Jean-Sebastien Taillefer to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens and Gatineau Olympiques respectively, towards the end of August for a few draft picks. 18 year old Nauss has no points in 3 games played and a minus-3 so far this season for the Sags while 19 year old Taillefer has 3 assists in 11 games and is minus-1 with the Piques. Sophomores Ilya Putintsev and Dominik Blain-Dupuis apparently didn't fit in to the direction that new head coach Andre Touriney was looking to go as the team put both players on waivers. Putintsev was picked up by the Moncton Wildcats and has since played 8 games assisting on three goals. Blain-Dupuis was picked up by the Olympiques and has gotten a lot of ice time that he probably wouldn't with the Moose, playing all 11 games for Gatineau while picking up an assist. The Mooseheads also released overager Andrew Shewfelt toward the end of camp and he now plays for the Amherst Ramblers of the MJAHL. Shewfelt has 2 assists in 8 games played.
Photo - Florida Everblades Twitter
In mid-September it was announced by the Florida Everblades of the ECHL that they signed former Herd forward Stephen MacAulay for the 2016-17 season. The 24 year old has yet to play a game this season for the Everbaldes but they're only two games into the ECHL season. MacAulay, a native of Cole Harbour, NS, spent the last two and a half seasons with the Saint Mary's Huskies. This will be Stephen's second crack at securing a pro career after he split the first half of the 2013-14 season between the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) and the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL) before coming home to play university hockey.
Over the summer, the Moncton Wildcats announced that the team had traded Herd alumni Cody Donaghey to the Charlottetown Islanders. The defenseman has benefited from a high-skilled Islanders team and is currently 7th in league scoring with 15 points, twelve of which are assists. He's played 10 games and is a minus-1. This will be Donaghey's last season in the QMJHL. The St. John's, NL native played the first half of 2015-16 with the Mooseheads and recorded 11 points in 21 games.
Boston, MA native Danny Moynihan was a free-agent invite to Vancouver Canucks training camp last month before being reassigned to the team's American Hockey League affiliate, the Utica Comets who signed Moynihan to a two-way AHL/ECHL contract on October 4. The Comets reassigned the 20 year old to the Alaska Aces of the ECHL a few days later where it is unknown right now if he'll make the team. Moynihan, who split the 2015-16 season between the Mooseheads and Shawinigan Cataractes, will be on a new team this year even if he doesn't make the Aces as he has been recruited by the Dalhousie Tigers. The Tigers' coach, Chris Donnelly, discussed the prospect of Moynihan coming back to Halifax should his professional aspirations not work out with John Moore, the voice of the Mooseheads News 95.7 broadcasts (see below).
After aging out of juniors, Matt Murphy has joined the University of New Brunswick Varisty Reds hockey team for the 2016-17 season. The former Herd was invited to Winnipeg Jets training camp last month but was later released. Murphy will try to help the V-Reds repeat as University Cup champions and isn't doing to bad to start the season. The 21 year old has 5 assists in 4 games played to go with 8 penalty minutes. The defenseman played two and a half seasons in front of the Moose Country faithful and also spent time with the Val-d'Or Foreurs, Quebec Remparts and Saint John Sea Dogs while in the Q.
There will be one former Moose to start the season in the National Hockey League. It was announced last Sunday that the Carolina Hurricanes claimed alum Martin Frk off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings. Frk, from Pelhrimov, Czech Republic, spent the 2015-16 season with the Wings AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins collecting 27 goals and 44 points in 67 games. The 23 year old was named to the Hurricanes opening night roster but did not play. He is expected to make his NHL debut tonight when Carolina visits the Edmonton Oilers.
Photo - NHL.com
Former captain Timo Meier participated in San Jose Sharks training camp last month and looked like he might make the NHL this season. However, it was announced at the end of September that he would be out for four weeks with mononucleosis. The Sharks than announced that they had reassigned the Swiss forward to their minor league team, the San Jose Barracuda, on Friday and that the 20 year old will stay in the Bay area to train as he recovers. Meier will most likely begin the season with the Barracuda, possibly by the end of this month. After that it shouldn't take too long for the former Mooseheads and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies player is back with the big club.
Good luck to all the players with their new teams the rest of the season. Check back here in a few weeks for a list of where more Herd alumni are playing and the first month stats.
QAURTERFINAL MATCHES SET The quarter final match ups for the 2016 QMJHL playoffs are now set and all 5 Moose alumni are still in it. Former captain Timo Meier helped a dominant first place Rouyn-Noranda Huskies move on to the second round in 4 games, scoring a league best 13 points. Cavan Fitzgerald and Danny Moynihan scored 7 points each to get the Shawinigan Cataractes to the quarter finals for the first time since 2012. Veteran defensemen Cody Donaghey and Matt Murphy patrolled the blue line for the Moncton Wildcats and Saint John Sea Dogs respectively as 4 Maritimes division teams won their first round series'. The 13th Blainville-Boisbraind Armada had the biggest upset of the year, defeating the 4th place Val-d'Or Foreurs in 6 games.
Here are the quarterfinal match ups #1 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies vs. #13 Blainville-Boisbriand Armada #2 Shawinigan Cataractes vs. #9 Charlottetown Islanders #3 Saint John Sea Dogs vs. #7 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles #5 Gatineau Olympiques vs. #6 Moncton Wildcats
I'm predicting Rouyn-Noranda in 5 games, Shawinigan in 6 games, Saint John in 6 games, and Gatineau in 7 games
COACHES Both Halifax Mooseheads' assistant coaches will be doing more coaching this spring as Jim Midgley was named to Canada's U18 coaching staff and Jon Greenwood will head coach Nova Scotia's U16 team. Midgley has left already for Grand Forks to be the video coach for the U18 National Championship that begins April 14. Greenwood will go to Quebec for the Gatorade Excellence Challenge that showcases draft eligible players for this year's QMJHL draft. Check out this link to get more information on the Challenge.
Photo - theqmjhl.ca
BRASSARD Former Mooseheads goaltender Eric Brassard has signed a pro contract. The ECHL Brampton Beast announced on Tuesday that they have signed the 20 year old to a standard player contract. The Longueuil, QC native played in 44 games and posted a 0.892 save percentage while collecting 13 wins.
Congrats to Eric on getting a contract after a very good junior career. I am guessing that he will be invited to the Beast's training camp in September.
Photo - Herd Twitter
COIN FLIP Tomorrow is a big day for Dom Ducharme and his staff as the Halifax Mooseheads look to get stronger for the next few seasons. The Herd and 18th place Baie-Comeau Drakkar will take part in a coin flip on Thursday afternoon at 1:00pm Atlantic time and you can watch it live on Facebook. The 'event' is to determine who will get the first overall pick in the upcoming Q draft.
QJHL
According to The Q News, a few of your Halifax Mooseheads property were selected in the Quebec Junior Hockey League draft on Saturday. Over 70 players were chosen, here are the Herd players picked:
74th overall - Dominik Blain-Dupuis
115th overall - Tristan Tardif
122nd overall - Domennico Argento
132nd overall - Raphael Blais
Blain-Dupuis, Tardif & Argento were all selected in the 2014 QMJHL draft and each played a few games during the 2014-15 season with the Mooseheads with Argento playing 21 games. Blais was drafted last weekend by the Herd.
SUPPLEMENTARY DRAFT
The QMJHL supplementary draft was held this weekend during the MHL draft on Saturday and the players selected were released earlier today. 62 players were selected. Here are the Halifax players selected:
County - Samuel Hunter
South Shore - Connor Moynihan
South Shore - Maxime Fortier
Summerside - Kevin Resop
Campbelton - Taylor Ford
CALDER CUP
The American Hockey League champions was decided this weekend with the Manchester Monarchs coming out on top versus the Utica Comets in 5 games. Halifax had a vested interest in both teams as their were a former Herd on each team. Andrew Bodnarchuk helped the Monarchs win their first ever Calder Cup with 6 assists in the playoffs. Alexandre Grenier chipped in to the Comets offence with 6 goals and 15 points in the playoffs, including one in the finals in their only victory of the series but it wasn't enough to help the team win the Cup.
KELLY CUP
Photo - ECHL twitter
Konrad Abeltshauser is a champion again! The former Herd, along with another one Garrett Clarke and their Allen Americans were victorious in game 7 of the Kelly Cup finals to become ECHL champions. Abeltshauser chipped in with 5 goals and 11 assists during the playoffs. Clarke had no points in 5 games played during the playoffs. They defeated the South Carolina Stingrays 6-1 in the final game to claim the trophy.
Congratulations to all the players who were drafted as well as becoming champions.
