The Rapid City Rush have yet to announce any player signings for the 2023-24 season, but players from the 2022-23 season have started to sign overseas. Rittner Baum SkyAlps announced that they signed Max Coatta for the 2023-24 season on July 12.
Max Coatta has played four seasons in the ECHL, splitting his time between the Wheeling Nailers, Idaho Steelheads, and the Rapid City Rush. Coatta also spent a short period of the 2021-22 season in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners.
For the last two seasons, Coatta has been with the Rapid City Rush, where he seemed to really find his game with the Rush. In the 2022-23 season with the Rush, Coatta was one of two ironmen on the team playing in all 72 regular season games. In the 72 games he played, he had 17 goals and 24 assists for 41 points. He had 26 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -13. Through two seasons, Coatta played 135 games where he had 40 goals and 53 assists for 93 points. He had 63 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -25. Coatta also played in the playoffs with the Rush in the 2021-22 season, where he played in all 11 games and had three goals and five assists for eight points. He had two penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +1.
Throughout Coatta’s entire ECHL career, he has played in 179 games, where he has 47 goals, and 61 assists for a total of 108 points. He has 75 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -29.
In Coatta’s short time in the AHL, he played six games with the Tucson Roadrunners, who were Rapid City’s affiliate at the time. Through six games, Coatta had zero goals and one assist for one point. He had two penalty minutes and a plus/minus of -2.
This will not be Coatta’s first time playing overseas. In the 2020-21 season, Coatta played for the Tyringe SoSS of the HockeyEttan league in Sweden. He played in 13 games, where he had eight goals and six assists for 14 points. He had four penalty minutes and a plus/minus of 0. He also played in six relegation games for the Tyringe SoSS, where he had four goals and two assists for six points. He had zero penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +2. With Coatta being a more skilled player and less physical, playing overseas could really benefit his game and may line up with his style of play more.
How This Could Effect the 2023-24 Rapid City Rush Season (Opinion)
While on the Rush, Coatta was not known for being physical or having a big body on the ice. But he made up for it with his determination and hustle on the ice. With Coatta now playing overseas, there will be a gap on the roster that will need to be filled. A few guys from last season that were also on the small side and could fill that spot are Zach Court or Blake Bennett if they return for the 2023-24 season.
