ECHL: Utah Grizzlies Captain Heads Overseas

The Utah Grizzlies will need a new captain next season as defenceman Josh Wesley is heading back overseas, this time to Italy; he spent the 2022-23 season in Czechia, where he would put up just two goals and one assist for three points in 34 games. Wesley spent last season with the Colorado Eagles and Utah Grizzlies, playing in a combined 66 games. In 57 games with the Grizzlies as their captain, he would put up 18 goals and 22 assists for 40 points and led all ECHL defencemen with those 18 goals. In nine games in the AHL with the Colorado Eagles, he would put up one assist.

Welsey, who was originally drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the fourth round of the 2014 NHL Draft, has spent parts of five seasons in the ECHL. He’s scored 39 goals and added 65 assists for 104 points in 192 games while playing for the Florida Everblades, Maine Mariners, Tulsa Oilers, and Utah Grizzlies. He would make the Kelly Cup Playoffs with the Everblades in 2017, where he put up one assist in 12 Kelly Cup Playoff games. The Connecticut native has also spent parts of eight seasons in the AHL, putting up nine goals and 19 assists for 28 points in 172 games while spending time with the Charlotte Checkers, Hartford Wolf Pack, San Antonio Rampage, Utica Comets, Springfield Thunderbirds, and Colorado Eagles. The 28-year-old forward would play in three Calder Cup Playoff games with the Thunderbirds in 2022 but would fail to find the scoresheet.