Greenville, S.C. — As ECHL teams are making roster moves to prepare for the upcoming 2024-25 season, former players from the previous season are either resigning in this league, above it, or away from it with overseas teams. A lot of former ECHL players, including some who put up exceptional stats, are signing with teams in Europe. What makes European teams so special, other than the change of scenery from North America? Well, a good handful of teams in upper Europe offer more benefits than teams in the ECHL and even the AHL. Including but not limited to tax breaks for contracts and more cash money for those contracts.
Recently, as a big unfortunate blow to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits’ club, it was reported that their top point maker last season will be playing in Sweden next season: Carter Souch. Souch, 22, put up incredible numbers and performances as a young left-wing forward. Just joining the league a few weeks into the 2022-23 season at age 20, the rookie forward would score nine goals and 19 assists for 28 points after 64 games played. As a rookie at that age joining the third-highest professional hockey league, those stats aren’t bad. For his first run at the Kelly Cup Playoffs in his inaugural season, Souch would put up a pair of goals and a single assist for three games played. In his second but full run in the ECHL, Souch would go on to play a full season of 72 games and be the top point maker for his club. As the top point maker, he wasn’t just the highest goal scorer, but also the highest assists maker, too. After 72 games played he collected 26 goals and 34 assists for 60 points. His point per game was 0.83 with a -4 after this season, and compared to other players within the Premier Double-A League, he was ranked 28th amongst his peers, with the top point maker, Brandon Hawkins, earning 93 points with the Toledo Walleye. During the short run of the 2024 Kelly Cup Playoffs, the team’s leading point maker would fall short from his fellow teammates with only four points generated from two goals and two assists after six games played. However, despite being the teams leading scorer and assists maker, he would receive no AHL call-ups during the entire 2024 ECHL season.
As a result, the young left-wing forward from Edmonton, Alberta would ultimately sign with the Södertälje SK, a Swedish professional team within HockeyAllsvenskan — the second tier of professional hockey in Sweden. Souch’s journey to play in Sweden, by far one of the best places to play pro hockey in Europe, was gravitated by his exceptional career as a player. Before playing for the Rabbits and turning pro, Souch played five seasons for the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL — one of the top junior leagues in North America. The Edmonton native would start his junior career during the 2017-18 season at age 16, where he would play an abbreviated season of just 38 games and post four goals and five assists. For his first full season in the Western Hockey League, he would play 68 games and tally up 10 goals and 35 assists. And for his final season with the Oil Kings, Souch recorded his best season in the WHL by far, as he would play 68 games and tally up 71 points for 22 goals and 49 assists. Overall, after playing a total of 260 games, he would record 191 points from 60 goals and 131 assists.
Into the 2024 season, I was able to get multiple interviews with the forward: where we discussed subjects on his status as top point maker, and sensitive topics like being one of few players to wear a neck guard during games.
