I wrote about European leagues back in January and March with an eye on potential signings (prospects and veterans). I thought I’d revisit the article. Of those listed only one (Damien Brunner with Detroit) has signed a North American deal, but the 11 players who appear in green have moved to different leagues or higher levels of competition. Besides Brunner very few free agents were signed out of Europe this off-season (Roman Cervenka with Calgary and Viktor Fasth with Anaheim are the only other ones who are definitely going to play in the NHL, other older players–like Christopher Nihlstop in Dallas, Harri Pesonen in New Jersey, Daniel Bang in Nashville–have no such assurances).
The SEL and Allsvenskan:
Richard Gynge, RW, AIK, 36-28-16-44 (undrafted 24-year old; 6th in league scoring) – signed with Dynamo Moscow (KHL)
John Norman, LW, Djurgarden, 55-4-13-17 (21-year old; #174 CSE 2009) – signed with Karpat (SM-Liiga)
Niclas Burstrom, D, Skelleftea, 51-6-6-12 (20-year old undersized blueliner; #153 CSE 2009) – remains with Skelleftea
Nils Andersson, D, Vaxjo, 45-1-7-8 (20-year old defenseman; #72 CSE 2010) – signed with Djurgarden (Allsvenskan)
Oscar Fantenberg, D, HV71, 37-3-4-7 (20-year old defenseman) – remains with HV71
Frederik Styrman, D, Skelleftea, 19-1-3-4 (20-year old undersized blueliner; #46 CSE 2009) – remains with Skelleftea
Adam Pettersson, C/RW, Sundsvall (Allsvenskan), 52-10-19-29 (20-year old; #9 CSE 2010) – remains Skelleftea property
Alexander Hilmerson, C/RW, Mora (Allsvenskan), 52-18-11-29 (21-year old) – remains with Mora
Victor Backman, LW/RW, Boras (Allsvenskan), 44-10-16-26 (20-year old; #39 CSE 2011) – remains Frolunda property
Jesper B. Jensen, D, Rogle (Allsvenskan), 50-6-13-19 (20-year old; #84 CSE 2010) – remains with Rogle (now promoted to the SEL)
The Finnish league (SM-Liiga) and Mestis:
Sakari Salminen, RW/LW, KalPa, 53-23-23-46 (undrafted 23-year old) – remains with KalPa
Jesse Mankinen, LW/RW, SaiPa, 58-16-13-29 (20-year old undersized winger; #182 CSE 2009) – remains with SaiPa
Julius Junttila, LW/RW, Karpat, 56-13-15-28 (20-year old undersized winger; #41 CSE 2010) – remains with Karpat
Charles Bertrand, LW, Lukko, 54-11-11-22 (20-year old; #104 CSE 2010) – remains with Lukko
Juha-Pekka Pietila, D, Pelicans, 17-0-6-6 (20-year old blueliner with good size) – remains with the Pelicans
Olavi Vauhkonen, RW, Jokipojat (Mestis), 42-24-11-35 (big 22-year old; #159 CSE 2008) – signed with SaiPa (SM-Liiga)
Toni Jalo, C/LW, TuTo (Mestis), 45-5-30-35 (22-year old) – signed with Sport (also in Mestis)
Samuli Virkkunen, C/RW, Sport (Mestis), 41-10-21-31 (21-year old) – signed with Assat (SM-Liiga)
The Swiss league (NLA) and the NLB:
Damien Brunner, RW, Zug, 4525-35-60 (25-year old was never drafted; 1st in league scoring) – signed with Detroit (NHL)
Simon Moser, LW/RW, Langnau, 50-18-16-34 (22-year old; #154 CSE 2009) – remains with Langnau
Ronalds Kenins, LW, ZSC, 47-6-12-18 (20-year old) – remains with ZSC
Anthony Huguenin, D, Biel, 50-0-15-15 (20-year old undersized blueliner) – remains Biel
Jeremie Kamerzin, D, Lausanne (NLB), 44-12-25-37 (23-year old blueliner) – remains with Lausanne
Marco Pedretti, C/LW, Ajoie (NLB), 39-12-22-34 (20-year old) – remains in Ambri-Piotta organisation
The German league (DEL):
Daniel Pietta, LW, Krefeld, 52-17-30-47 (undrafted 25-year old, 10th in league scoring) – remains with Krefeld
David Wolf, LW, Hamburg, 46-12-23-35 (big undrafted 22-year old) – remains with Hamburg
Laurin Braun, RW, Eisbaren, 47-9-14-23 (20-year old undersized forward; #109 CSE 2009) – remains with Eisbaren
The Czech league (Extraliga):
Jan Kovar, LW/C, HC Plzen, 52-18-33-51 (undrafted 21-year old, 7th in league scoring) – remains with HC Plzen
The Austrian league (Erste Bank Liga):
John Hughes, C, Olimpija, 50-21-47-68 (undrafted 24-year old, 1st in league scoring) – signed with Villacher (EBL)
Istvan Sofron, RW, Szekesfehervar, 50-31-21-52 (undrafted 23-year old, 6th in league scoring) – signed with HC Lev Praha (KHL), but was released
The Slovakian league (Extraliga):
Martin Bakos, LW, Bratislava, 53-13-22-35 (21-year old; #148 CSE 2008) – remains with Bratislava
Michael Vandas, C, SKP, 36-10-23-33 (20-year old) – currently unsigned
Andrej Stastny, C, Trencin, 50-11-18-29 (big 20-year old; #42 CSE 2009) – Trencin is now in the KHL
The Danish (AL-Bank Ligaen) and Norwegian (Get Ligaen) leagues:
Fredrik Killi Csisar, C, Valerenga, 44-16-35-51 (21-year old) – signed with Neman Grodno (Belarus)
Mats Rosseli Olsen, LW, Valerenga, 35-17-30-47 (20-year old) – signed with Frolunda (SEL)
Andreas Martinsen, C/RW, Lillehammer, 45-17-26-43 (21-year old) – signed with Dusseldorf (DEL)
The KHL:
Vadim Shipachyov, C, Severstal, 54-22-37-59 (undrafted 24-year old, 3rd in league scoring) – remains with Severstal
eyeonthesens 