I was about to post this list up of the remaining RHD from Patrick Williams AHL UFA list tweets who Cap Friendly still have as unsigned.
It’s not very robust at this point so it great to hear we actually picked up one of the RHD still on it. (The Ducks grabbed Greg Pateryn on a one year two-way today and I was pretty jealous.)
Mark Alt (RHD) 29
405 AHL GP 20 NHL GP
Dylan Blujus (RHD) 27
295 AHL GP
Jack Dougherty (RHD) 25
285 AHL GP
Mitch Eliot (RHD) 23
53 AHL GP
Zach Giuttari (RHD) 25
23 AHL GP
Cody Goloubef (RHD) 31
342 AHL GP 160 NHL GP
Luke Green (RHD) 23
28 AHL GP
Jordan Gross (RHD) 26
118 AHL GP 9 NHL GP
Josh Jacobs (RHD) 25
AHL 247 GP NHL 3 GP
Nate Prosser (RHD) 35
186 AHL GP 360 NHL GP
Mitch Reinke (RHD) 25
140 AHL GP 2 NHL GP
Robbie Russo (RHD) 28
358 AHL GP 19 NHL GP
Ben Thomas (RHD) 25
290 AHL GP 5 NHL GP
Andy Welinski (RHD) 28
191 AHL GP 46 NHL GP
Josh Wesley (RHD) 25
98 AHL GP
Colby Williams (RHD) 26
223 AHL GP
The bolded names are players who played in the NHL last season. Ben Thomas is a UFA but I wonder if he really is a UFA or if he has a handshake deal with the Lightning.
Stay away from Eliott and Wesley.
Reinke is not bad. Was a Comet last season and did a good job. Can move the puck. Was a PP QB, sometimes #1 and sometimes #2. He is a .56 PPG AHL D-man over 3 seasons. His own end leaves a little to be desired, but he has often been saddled with a rookie and as a young D-man himself that's not the best situation to be in. He wasn't secure in his own game yet, let alone being asked to shelter a rookie. I'm not pushing for him ,but if push came to shove he is a lot better than some on that list.
Now, that would be a job for Blujus who sheltered many a Comet including a guy in his 3rd year as a Comet when Dylan arrived in Ashton Sautner. Sautner played his best D over the course of the next 3 seasons when when paired with Blujus.
Blujus is just a steady adequate D-man. Can contribute offensively but is primarily a defensive D-man. He played for Utica for 3 seasons between 2017 and 2020. He was a Binghamton Devil last season.
Sautner is also still out there, but there are better choices at the moment.
I mentioned Robbie Russo a few days ago and said he wouldn't be a bad option and now it appears he has been acquired.