Earlier today, the Savannah Ghost Pirates announced their season-ending roster, which consists of 19 skaters. Some big names for Savannah have been named to their season-ending roster, including captain Logan Drevitch, Devon Paliani, Reece Vitelli, Patrick Guay, and Ross Armour. An explanation of the season-ending roster from the ECHL is as follows:
Season-Ending Rosters may include up to 20 players. Season-Ending Rosters cannot include any players who did not sign an ECHL contract in 2024-25.
Rules Of The Season-Ending Rosters
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.
Savannah Ghost Pirates Season-Ending Roster
Now that everything has been explained, we can evaluate exactly what it means for Savannah. Savannah opted to name 15 forwards to the season-ending roster. Kyle Jeffers, Graham McPhee, Ross Armour, Ryan Sullivan, Matt Choupani, Patrick Guay, Zachary Krajnik, Nick Granowicz, Seth Fyten, Connor Gregga, Cristophe Tellier, Logan Drevitch, Liam Walsh, Devon Paliani, and Reece Vitelli were all named to Savannah’s season-ending roster. The most impactful player in this forward group is Devon Paliani, leading the team with 32 goals and 27 assists . The next two key pieces in the forward group are Reece Vitelli and Logan Drevitch. Both players put up 52 points last season and will be seen as key pieces next year. Patrick Guay and Ross Armour also contributed over 30 points and will hopefully add to that total in 2025-2026.
Defensively, Ghost Pirates fans should expect a bit of a shake-up on the blueline and a possible overhaul in net. Keith Kinkaid and Evan Cormier are both free agents heading into the off-season as they are coming off one-year AHL deals. Four total defenseman were added in Michael Suda, Ethan Szmagaj, Chris Lipe, and Will Riedell. Look for Suda, Smagaj, and Lipe to all take steps forward next season as they will likely be expected to play significant roles for Savannah, especially since Will Riedell has gone overseas. Last season was a struggle defensively for the Ghost Pirates. They were clearly selective with who they named to the season-ending roster. Next season fans should expect an increased focus on the defensive side of the game.
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