Thunder Announces 2021 Protected List

WICHITA Kan. (July 1) – The Wichita Thunder, ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Edmonton Oilers, AHL's Bakersfield Condors and powered by Toyota, announced today its protected list of players from the 2020-21 season.

The list of 24 players includes eight defenseman, 13 forwards and three goalies.

Defense (8): Sean Allen, Cam Clarke, Mathieu Gagnon, Jacob Graves, Patrik Parkkonen, Alex Peters, Dean Stewart, Vincent Desharnais  

Forwards (13): 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

Goalies (3): Evan Buitenhuis, Mitch Gillam, Evan Weninger

Any Player who had originally signed with one of the 12 Teams not participating in the 2020-21 Season, and went on to sign with one of the 2020-21 Active Teams, shall have his Player Rights revert back to the original Member Team’s Protected List.

Any Player who was issued a Qualifying Offer by a Member that elected Pandemic Voluntary Suspension, but never signed the Qualifying Offer, shall be declared a Free Agent for the 2021-22 Season. 

Any Player signed as an Amateur prior to the 2020-21 Season (i.e. straight out of college or juniors with zero pro experience) whose Member Team elected to take Pandemic Voluntary Suspension, and who subsequently did not play in the ECHL during the 2020-21 Season, may be voluntarily omitted from his Member's Protected List without penalty.

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 2020-21 with the Member, and has not been traded or released, OR

2. Signed an SPC in 2020-21, 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 2020-21 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 July 5 and that teams must submit their Season-Ending Roster by 3 p.m. ET on July 8.

Season-ending rosters may include up to 20 players and cannot include any players who did not sign an ECHL contract in 2020-21.

Season tickets for the 2021-22 season are on sale now. October is not far away and the schedule has been announced. Join Thunder Nation today and lock in your seat for all 36 home games at INTRUST Bank Arena. For more information, click HERE.

FloSports is the official provider for ECHL TV for the 2021-22 season. Watch live events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast. To become a subscriber, click here.

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