Alumni Update: Champions, Signings, Records

As you will have noticed the past few seasons, I have not done well keeping my blog or social media accounts updated with news about the Halifax Mooseheads alumni. There are so many now that it is hard to keep track plus with the time differences, I don't always see things that teams post about our former players. The 2023-24 season was a pretty good year for a number of alum in terms of records broken, championships won and milestones so I thought I would share them in one post. The summer also brings along signings by hockey clubs so they can get ready for the upcoming season and there were a number of them as well. 

First, let's begin with the league that generally finishes the earliest; U-Sports. A total of 20 former Mooseheads played university hockey during the 2023-24 season. For the third straight year, goaltender Alexis Gravel, defenceman Jordan Lepage and the UQTR Patriotes were champions of the OUA playoffs. Congrats to the Patriotes on winning the Queen's Cup. 

Photo - UQTR Twitter

I did share this news on social media but figured I would post here as well. After spending about seven seasons in North America, former Herd Otto Somppi went back home to Finland and was able to win the SM-Liiga championship with Tappara on April 28. The 26-year-old recorded a goal and six assists in 16 playoff games following a 27 point regular season. On the same day, 39-year-old forward Petr Vrana (who played for Halifax between 2002-2005) once again captained HC Ocelari Trinec to a Czech Extraliga championship trophy. 

Photo - Toronto Star

It was another spectacular season for superstar Nathan MacKinnon. The year of course began with our Mooseheads raising his number to the rafters at the team's home opener and retiring #22. MacKinnon went on to record his first 50 goal season and had a career-high 140 points while playing in all 82 regular season games with the Colorado Avalanche. He scored two assists on April 18, allowing him to pass Peter Stastny for most points in a season in franchise history. 

Though he couldn't help the Avs out of the second round, the 28-year-old did pick up some hardware at the annual NHL Awards ceremony in late June. Nathan was voted as the regular season Most Valuable Player by the Writers' Association and won the Ted Lindsay Award (most outstanding player). 

Meanwhile, Ottawa, ON native MacKenzie Weegar also silently had a historic season becoming the first player in NHL history to score 20 goals and block 200 shots. The defenceman finished the 2023-24 season with a career high 52 points, which coincidently is his number with the Calgary Flames. Weegar played his 400th career game on November 10. 

Other milestones during the season for Mooseheads alumni in the NHL;
- Nikolaj Ehlers (Winnipeg): 400th point October 30, 600th game April 6
- Filip Zadina (San Jose): 200th game November 2
- Raphael Lavoie (Edmonton): NHL debut November 4
- Nico Hischier (New Jersey): 300th point December 16, 400th game December 19
- Jonathan Drouin (Colorado): 500th game November 20, 300th point January 4
- Timo Meier (New Jersey): 500th game January 17

Former Herd forward Jakub Voracek announced his retirement from hockey in mid-April after playing 1,058 regular season games split between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers. I'm sure he would like to have continued his career considering he is only 35 however, the Kladno, Czechia native suffered a concussion during a game on November 4, 2022. The Flyers traded him to the Arizona Coyotes in hopes to give him a chance at coming back but the team made the move knowing it was unlikely. Congrats to Jakub on a great career, Moose Country wishes you all the best with your next adventure. 

Photo - NHL Facebook

In his rookie pro season, Moose alumni Zachary L'Heureux broke out during the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs for the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League. Though he played less games because the Admirals didn't make it to the final series, L'Heureux scored 10 goals which tied him for the league lead in that column by the end. At one point during the post-season, the Montreal, QC native actual led the overall scoring. 

Photo - Oilers Twitter

Like I mentioned, summer brings signings and a number of alum put their name on the dotted line. Below you will find a list of them with contract details

• Jonathan Drouin: (UFA) re-signed Colorado Avalanche - 1-year contract $2.5 million
• Benoit-Olivier Groulx: (UFA) signed with NY Rangers - 1-year contract $775,000
• Justin Barron: (RFA) re-signed Montreal Canadiens - 2-year contract $2.3 million
• Raphael Lavoie: (RFA) re-signed Edmonton Oilers - 1-year 2-way contract $775,000
• Martin Frk: signed with Calgary Flames - 1-year 2-way contract $775,000

There probably have been more but these are the ones I have seen so far for signings overseas. After ending this past season in Norway, Maxim Trepanier has signed a contract with the Herlev Eagles in Denmark meanwhile Jared McIsaac is taking his talents to Czechia so he can suit up for HC Litvinov.