FUEL ANNOUNCE 2023 PROTECTED LIST

INDIANAPOLIS - The Indy Fuel have announced their 2023 Protected List today. The Fuel have retained the rights to 24 players, consisting of 12 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders.

Mitch Gillam (G), Jordan Schneider (D) and Darien Craighead (F) were the only three players not to make appearances for the Fuel in 2022-23 (all last played for the club in 2021-22). Forward and Czechia native Jan Mandat, who joined the team in December 2021, left the Fuel in January 2023 in order to re-sign with HC Dynamo Pardubice of the Czech Extraliga.

Six players will qualify as veterans (Keoni Texiera, Chase Lang, Bryan Lemos, Alex Wideman, Jan Mandat and Spencer Watson) and four will qualify as a rookie (Cam Gray, Zach Vinnell, Ross MacDougall, and Trevor Zins) for the 2023-24 season.

In the ECHL, the protected list, released by teams in early June, means that teams have the exclusive ECHL negotiating rights to those players through June. There is no limit to how many players can be added to the protected list. 

2023 INDY FUEL PROTECTED LIST

FORWARDS (12):

Chase Lang, Andrew Bellant, Chad Yetman, Luc Brown, Bryan Lemos, Darby Llewellyn, Alex Wideman, Spencer Watson, Nate Pionk, Jan Mandat, Jared Thomas, Darien Craighead

DEFENSEMEN (9):

Zach Vinnell, Cam Bakker, Chris Cameron, Kirill Chaika, Keoni Texiera, Ross MacDougall, Matt Watson, Trevor Zins, Jordan Schneider

GOALTENDERS (3):

Mitch Gillam, Zach Driscoll, Cam Gray

Teams are allowed to protect as many players as they wish provided the players protected meet the guidelines as defined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the ECHL and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association which state that teams shall retain the rights to each player that: 

1. Signed an SPC in 2022-23 with the Member, and has not been traded or released, OR

2. Signed an SPC in 2022-23, and was recalled to the NHL/AHL or IIHF team, and has not been traded or released, OR

3. Had received a Qualifying Offer last summer for the current Season, DID NOT sign an SPC, and has not been traded or released, OR

4. Has been suspended by the Member or League, and has not been traded or released, OR

5. Signed an SPC on or after the first day of the 2022-23 Regular Season, then subsequently signed an NHL/AHL contract, and has not been traded or released, OR

6. Has executed the ECHL Retirement Form, and has not been traded or released. 

Protected lists may exceed 20 players.

The ECHL also announced that teams must complete all Future Consideration trades by 3 p.m. ET on June 20 and that teams must submit their Season-Ending Roster by 3 p.m. ET on June 22. 

Season-ending rosters may include up to 20 players and cannot include any players who did not sign an ECHL contract in 2022-23.

ABOUT THE INDY FUEL:

The Indy Fuel are the proud ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawks and the American Hockey League’s Rockford IceHogs and will return to Indiana Farmers Coliseum for their tenth season this fall.

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--INDYFUELHOCKEY.COM--