The Norfolk Admirals have released their 2024 Season-Ending Roster to the ECHL. This comes two weeks after they announced their 2024-25 Protected List. The Season-Ending Roster consists of 14 forwards and six defensemen.
Roster
Forwards: Denis Smirnov, Stepan Timofeyev, Austen Keating, Sean Montgomery, Gehrett Sargis, Danny Katic, Keegan Iverson, Keaton Jameson, Brandon Osmundson, Brady Fleurent, Kamerin Nault, Marko Reifenberger, Ryan Foss, Justin Young
Defensemen: Darick Louise-Jean, Dakota Krebs, Carson Musser, Josh McDougall, Andrew McLean, Connor Fedorek
Stepan Timofeyev: Timofeyev was outstanding in his second season with the Admirals. He put up career-high numbers collecting 20 goals and 33 assists in 62 regular season games, which ranked him first among the team in points with 53. During the playoffs, he tallied four goals in eight games to help the Admirals make it to the North Division Finals against the Adirondack Thunder. Timofeyev terrorized teams on the powerplay as he tallied 11 points (4g-7a).
Danny Katic: Katic was a solid two-way player in his second season as an Admiral. Katic’s point production increased significantly from the 2022-23 season. During that year, Katic played 67 games and averaged 0.60 points per game collecting 18 goals and 22 assists. During the 2023-24 season, he played in 60 games collecting 24 goals and 26 assists for 0.83 PPG. Though his offensive stats improved significantly, he even improved his defensive play, which led him to be better offensively. Katic struggled in the defensive zone during the 2022-23 season, as he was a minus-16. He improved that to be a plus-20 player, which is a huge increase and a crucial part of why this Admirals team was good.
Brandon Osmundson: The Chesapeake native had an impressive season as a pro in his first full season. Osmundson started his professional hockey career during the 2022-23 season with the Knoxville Ice Bears in the SPHL. Osmundson played four years at Utica College, now Utica University (NCAA-III), and had an amazing college career. In 97 games played for the Pioneers from 2019-2023, Osmundson tallied 37 goals and 81 assists. Oz started the 2023-24 season with the Huntsville Havoc in the SPHL and started the season on a hot start. He tallied nine goals and four assists in 16 games and received a call saying he’d be heading back home to Virginia to play for the Admirals. He stayed with the Admirals for the rest of the year as he earned his spot on the team. Playing limited minutes to start, but earning the trust of head coach Jeff Carr, he earned more playing time. Osmundson played 44 regular season games in the ECHL, where he notched nine goals and 20 assists. He was one of the top guys on the team in terms of plus/minus, with a plus-20 rating. Oz received time on special teams, collecting two points on the powerplay (1g-1a) and a shorthanded goal.
Brady Fleurent: Fleurent has a ton of ECHL experience to his name as he has 137 games under his belt. His time in the ECHL has been split between five seasons with the Atlanta Gladiators, Norfolk, Wheeling Nailers, South Carolina Stingrays, Wichita Thunder, and Adirondack. Fleurent was a great veteran addition to the team. Spending time between the Ice Bears in the SPHL and Atlanta to start the 2023-24 season, Fleurent was signed by the Admirals to a Standard Player Contract. He made an instant impact on the team as he played 32 games, notching 13 goals and 16 assists. Being a key piece to the Admirals’ powerplay, he collected 11 points with a man up (5g-6a).
Darick Louis-Jean: This would be a no-question signing should the Admirals sign him. Louis-Jean was a top defender for Norfolk while in the lineup. His size and strength to get players off the puck was a big reason the Admirals gave up just 199 goals through the 2023-24 season. Louis-Jean was in the lineup for 59 games this year and while he is not known to be a goalscorer, he contributed with nine goals and 18 assists to push him over the quarter-of-a-century mark in points. He led all defensemen in goals and plus/minus with a plus-20 rating.
Noticeable Missing Pieces
The Admirals do not have a goalie listed under their 20-man Season Ending Roster, as Thomas Milic was signed to an Entry-Level Contract with the Winnipeg Jets. Winnipeg and Manitoba Moose extended their affiliation with the Admirals, so we may see the Moose loan a young goalie to the Admirals to develop for the season. Oskari Salminen is a Restricted Free Agent with the Jets, so we could see the 24-year-old back in Norfolk should he sign with the organization and be loaned back to develop more. Yaniv Perets will also not be returning as the Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Wolves renewed their affiliation after a year off from each other. The Hurricanes own the rights to Perets and may see him in Chicago at the start of the 2024-25 season.
Though he is headed overseas to play for the Glasgow Clan in the EIHL, Keaton Jameson was listed on the 2024 Season-Ending Roster. The Admirals will hold his rights and can sign him should he choose to return to the ECHL. Jameson was a good piece in the Admirals’ roster in his first season with them. He was a solid two-way player; creating chances in the offensive zone and getting dirty in the areas to keep the pressure on teams while knowing how to play a gritty type of game in the defensive zone.
Much like Jameson, Dakota Krebs was listed on the Admirals’ Season Ending Roster, but will not return to the team as he has taken a video coaching position with his former Western Hockey League junior team, the Calgary Hitmen. The Admirals can sign Krebs should he choose to play in the ECHL, as they hold his rights being on their protected list. Krebs did not play much for the Admirals, appearing in just 10 games between the regular season and playoffs, collecting three assists.
ECHL Season-Ending Roster Guidelines
Season-Ending Rosters may include up to 20 players. Season-Ending Rosters cannot include any players who did not sign an ECHL contract in 2023-24.
Each team is entitled to reserve rights to a maximum of eight players from the list of 20 by extending a qualifying offer no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on July 7. Of the eight qualified players, no more than four can be veterans (260 regular season professional hockey games played as of the start of the 2023-24 Season). Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded. Teams are not required to extend a qualifying offer to players who sign a contract prior to July 7.
The qualifying offer must remain open for acceptance until 11:59 p.m. ET on July 22 at which time the qualifying offer becomes null and void and the team may sign the qualified player to any salary or may elect to take no further action. Teams that extend a valid qualifying offer to a non-veteran player shall retain the rights to that qualified player for one playing season.
A team that extends a valid qualifying offer to a veteran player, or to a goaltender who has played more than 180 regular-season games, will retain the rights to that player until 11:59 p.m. ET on July 22. After July 22, if the veteran player or goaltender is not signed to a contract by the team, the veteran or goaltender shall be deemed a restricted free agent and shall be entitled to seek and secure offers of employment from other ECHL teams. Restricted free agents may not be traded. When a restricted free agent receives a contract offer from a team other than the team with the player’s rights and the restricted free agent wishes to accept the contract offer, the restricted free agent and the offering member must, within 24 hours, notify the ECHL, the team with the player’s rights and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association. The member with the player’s rights shall have seven days after the date it is notified to exercise its right to match the contract offer.
If a restricted free agent is not signed to either an offer sheet or a contract by an ECHL team by 11:59 p.m. ET on August 8, the player shall be deemed an unrestricted free agent.
