Utah HC officially release 3 of their top prospects
The Utah Hockey Club has officially elected not to sign three of their prospects today, so they will become unrestricted free agents, available to any team that may be interested in them.
June first is a big day in the NHL as teams are required to sign their prospects if their rights are expiring. When teams draft players, they only retain their rights for so long. How long depends on the players age, what round they were drafted in, and what league they were drafted out of. For most players, if they aren't signed within a couple of years of being drafted, they will become free agents.
Below is this years list of players that must be signed to an ELC by 5pm ET on Saturday, June 1, otherwise the team will lose their exclusive signing rights.
This is exactly what has happened with Utah Hockey Club prospects Jeremy Langlois, Filip Barklund, and Elliot Ekefjard.
Langlois is a 6'1" defenseman who was drafted in the 3rd round in 2022 out of the QMJHL. This year he put up 17 goals and 62 points in 61 games played, but those numbers are not really all that impressive for a 20-year-old playing in that league. He may get interest from other NHL teams. Filip Barklund was a 6th round pick of the team in 2020 and has since failed to progress into a legit NHL prospect. He had just 7 points in 60 games across different leagues this season. Elliot Ekefjard on the other hand 21 points in 27 regular season games followed up by 8 point in 13 qualification games in the third-tier of Swedish pro hockey. He is a longshot to sign with another NHL team, but there may be some interest in the 6'4" winger.
Source: HockeyPatrolUtah HC parts with prospects Jeremy Langlois, Filip Barklund and Elliot Ekefjard
| POLL | ||
1 JUIN | 268 ANSWERS Utah HC officially release 3 of their top prospects Do you think the Utah Hockey Club will make the playoffs in their first official year as a franchise? | ||
| Yes | 54 | 20.1 % |
| No | 214 | 79.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
