On July 1st, the Wichita Thunder along with the other teams in the ECHL released their protected list. These protected lists, with some exceptions, allow teams to retain the rights of as many players as they desire that have been on their roster for the 2020-2021 season. Players that signed originally with one of the 12 inactive teams, and went on to play for one of the active ones from the 20-21 season will have their rights go back to the original team.

The exceptions, per the ECHL website, where players can be protected are:

• The player has signed an SPC in the 20-21 season with said team and did not get traded or released.
• The player signed an SPC in 20-21 season with said team, and was called up to the NHL/AHL or an IIHF team and had not been traded or released.
• Received a qualifying offer for the 20-21 season and did not sign an SPC, get released, or traded.
• Signed an SPC for the 20-21 season, then signed an NHL/AHL contract and had not been traded or released.
• Player has been suspended by team or league, but not traded or released
• Had successfully completed the ECHL’s retirement form and had not been traded or released.

Per the Thunder’s press release, the protected list consists of:

Forwards

• Anthony Beauregard
• Charlie Combs
• Peter Crinella
• Jay Dickman
• Spencer Dorowicz
• Stefan Fournier
• Matteo Gennaro
• Stephen Johnson
• Bryan Moore
• Garrett Schmitz
• Beau Starrett
• Brayden Watts
• Ryan White

Defense

• Sean Allen
• Cam Clarke
• Mathieu Gagnon
• Jacob Graves
• Patrik Parkkonen
• Alex Peters
• Dean Stewart
• Vincent Desharnais

Goalies

• Evan Buitenhuis
• Mitch Gillam
• Evan Weninger

It’s no surprise to see this many players protected, as Ramsay said in an interview “The guys really enjoyed their time in Wichita. The fans are great and treat the players like gold. It’s a really good, positive situation.”

The league has also announced that all trades that consisted of future considerations must be completed by July 5th, at 3pm ET. Season ending rosters also must be announced by July 8th at 3pm ET.

In that same interview, Ramsay says we can start seeing player announcements roll around at the end of July.

Be sure to check out the full interview, as Jason Mals recapped the 20-21 season with Ramsay as well. It can be found here:

By Gabe Daniel