Coralville, Iowa- On August 15th, the Iowa Heartlanders announced the signings of two defensemen: Connor Federkow, a 21-year-old CHL veteran, and Hakon Nilsen, a Florida-born Norway International. This now increases the number of defensemen the Heartlanders have signed this week to four.
Federkow, originally from St. Catharines, Ontario, a city just outside Niagara Falls, has just completed his third season in the OHL, two with the London Knights and most recently with the Niagara IceDogs. Well-respected by his teammates, Federkow averaged 51 games per season in the OHL. The 5’10” left-hander will make his first professional appearance in the Buck and Rose. Connor’s impact is one that will be felt off the stat book, and felt in his locker room and on the ice. While he did not use it last season with Niagara, Federkow has a strong mid-range shot that he will look to make use of, which you can see here:
Nilsen will be returning to North America for hockey for the first time since 2019, when he played for the OHL’s Flint Firebirds for 68 games and made his professional debut with the Wichita Thunder, playing seven games and recording one assist. He will look to tally his first ECHL goal quickly this season. Hakon will also be looking to re-adjust to the longer North American seasons and use his experience of playing in seven different leagues across five different countries in the past six years to bring a level of experience to the team that will ideally make him a team leader. Nilsen’s long shot, as demonstrated below, could make him a must-have on the ice for Power Plays.
Last season, Hakon put together a 21-point season, a career record for the 6’2” 26-year-old, and will look to break that record for the Heartlanders.
Derek Damon now has a 19-player squad, including eight defensemen. Before the AHL and NHL reassignments come in the door, Iowa will look to sign at least one more goaltender and fill in their lines. As of August 15th, that likely means at least three more forwards and one more defenseman will come through the doors of Xtream Arena.
Here is how the roster looks today:
Goaltenders (1): William Rousseau
Defensemen (8): Jules Boscq, Lincoln Erne, Connor Federkow, Zeteny Hadobas, Louka Henault, Bogdans Hodass, Chris Lipe, Hakon Nilsen
Forwards (10): Parker AuCoin, Nico Blachman, Will Calverley, Zach Dubinsky, Adam Goodsir, Ryan Miotto, Yuki Miura, Jack O’Brien, Dakota Raabe, Jonny Sorenson
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