Cardiff Devils Confirmed Signings & Departures 2026/27
i think we won't do much in the league because we have'nt upgraded the offence enough and all the main teams have.it could be argued that our offence is weaker than last year with sanfords departure.the player panthers have got from the finnish league looks incredible with 186 points from 392 games and put up 48 pts in one season.i think mieho had 111 points from 334 games and a season high of 23 points.
Is it fair to say Majamaki was absolutely awful?
he came in as a hard hitting winger who could chip in with goals. From what I can remember he started well before getting a bit of an injury which hindered his physicality? Shooting ability wasn’t brilliant but he was still on course to hit double-figures before Covid hit.
Plus, the quality of the EIHL in that final season pre-COVID was still higher than it is at the moment IMHO.
he came in as a hard hitting winger who could chip in with goals. From what I can remember he started well before getting a bit of an injury which hindered his physicality? Shooting ability wasn’t brilliant but he was still on course to hit double-figures before Covid hit.
Plus, the quality of the EIHL in that final season pre-COVID was still higher than it is at the moment IMHO.
There's a verybsmall difference in Nottingham signing to Panu, but Panu had 3 seasons as an A which shows he has other qualities not measured in goals.
A fill season from Yamerko will be a big boost too.
I think the new team have commanding look.. Though I do hope Ferguson stays fit and freejust incase we get another plague of injuries.
I liked Sanford and he was a talent and put in decent shifts but he was starting to look dispondent in himself and a change can help. We should give him absolute credit for giving us some excellent seasons and goals.
A fill season from Yamerko will be a big boost too.
I think the new team have commanding look.. Though I do hope Ferguson stays fit and freejust incase we get another plague of injuries.
I liked Sanford and he was a talent and put in decent shifts but he was starting to look dispondent in himself and a change can help. We should give him absolute credit for giving us some excellent seasons and goals.
Confirmation the roster is complete then. To keep both goalies, the whole defence and add Nick Welsh I think Recruitment has been a resounding success in those areas.
Like I said yesterday I can’t say I feel the same about the forwards. I don’t think we’re miles off but I think we’re a goal scorer light and I’m also slightly concerned about depth in the bottom 6.
I can see a situation where Sacratini isn’t ready to play at EIHL level and is more of a longer term project and I’m concerned Thommo won’t trust Harewood’s defensive game so his minutes will dwindle.
Also what’s the situation with Helgesen? Is he out until October? If that’s the case I really don’t think our depth will be particularly strong to start the season. I hope I’m wrong
Like I said yesterday I can’t say I feel the same about the forwards. I don’t think we’re miles off but I think we’re a goal scorer light and I’m also slightly concerned about depth in the bottom 6.
I can see a situation where Sacratini isn’t ready to play at EIHL level and is more of a longer term project and I’m concerned Thommo won’t trust Harewood’s defensive game so his minutes will dwindle.
Also what’s the situation with Helgesen? Is he out until October? If that’s the case I really don’t think our depth will be particularly strong to start the season. I hope I’m wrong
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It never looks great on paper.
Trust in Thommo. He knows the brand of hockey we want to see. He knows what it takes to compete in this league. There is no way he’s putting together a goal shy, dull team for us all to moan about. It’ll be another enjoyable season, that’ll scream ‘value for money’ in my eyes, just like last year.
Trust in Thommo. He knows the brand of hockey we want to see. He knows what it takes to compete in this league. There is no way he’s putting together a goal shy, dull team for us all to moan about. It’ll be another enjoyable season, that’ll scream ‘value for money’ in my eyes, just like last year.
So we now learn we pulled out of (what sounds like advanced) talks with Chase Gresock this summer as accordingly to the podcast his (to paraphrase) main ambition wasn’t to become a Devil. From the podcast sounds like Guildford wasn’t Cresock’s first choice move as he wanted (but didn’t get) Sweden. Seems Thommo and the management aren’t signing players who don't portray the commitment to really want to be a member of our squad - we don‘t seem to be signing players who look good on paper but aren't all in with our/Thommo’s ethos - ‘full commitment or you're not coming’ from our management and coach.
Caron on the other hand wanted to be a Devil (not just in name but in attitude too) and in my view ignore his previous stats as he and Mieho together plus one other have the potential to be one hell of a first line.
Caron on the other hand wanted to be a Devil (not just in name but in attitude too) and in my view ignore his previous stats as he and Mieho together plus one other have the potential to be one hell of a first line.
Franny makes a great point about the likely reaction if we had signed Gresock.
If we’d signed him this summer, most people would have looked at his 32 league goals for Coventry and thought “Great! We’ve signed our main proven goalscorer”.
But, if we’d signed him in the summer of 2024 instead of him signing for Coventry, most people would have looked at his EliteProspects page and gone “Hmmm, only 2 games in the AHL, decent NCAA stats but an average season in the ECHL. 2nd or 3rd line?”
There was no indication in his career history that he would score over 20 goals let alone over 30. And yet he did.
In fact, if you compare Gresock and Caron’s ECHL stats, Caron actually has a better points per game ratio. Gresock does have a better goal per game ratio, but not by much.
At times I almost got the feeling that Franny was a bit miffed even annoyed that this signing wasn’t getting the excitement amongst our fanbase he was expecting. And I do get where he is coming from.
here’s a guy who was Captain in his final Junior Hockey season. Played over 50 games in the AHL. Two spells in the Finnish league. And he’s joining us at the age of only 25.
Im not going to go over the top and say he’s going to score over 20 goals and we do have mixed results with power-forwards, but this could be the one signing that has gone under the radar.
If we’d signed him this summer, most people would have looked at his 32 league goals for Coventry and thought “Great! We’ve signed our main proven goalscorer”.
But, if we’d signed him in the summer of 2024 instead of him signing for Coventry, most people would have looked at his EliteProspects page and gone “Hmmm, only 2 games in the AHL, decent NCAA stats but an average season in the ECHL. 2nd or 3rd line?”
There was no indication in his career history that he would score over 20 goals let alone over 30. And yet he did.
In fact, if you compare Gresock and Caron’s ECHL stats, Caron actually has a better points per game ratio. Gresock does have a better goal per game ratio, but not by much.
At times I almost got the feeling that Franny was a bit miffed even annoyed that this signing wasn’t getting the excitement amongst our fanbase he was expecting. And I do get where he is coming from.
here’s a guy who was Captain in his final Junior Hockey season. Played over 50 games in the AHL. Two spells in the Finnish league. And he’s joining us at the age of only 25.
Im not going to go over the top and say he’s going to score over 20 goals and we do have mixed results with power-forwards, but this could be the one signing that has gone under the radar.
It’s always a bummer losing a guy that gives you it all, those that leave everything out on the ice, players that are real real Devils, Caponi was one such player, another recent player who also showed you those commitments and who I loved was Petroniro, this guy gave you his all every time he was on the ice.
Another player that gives his all is homegrown Ben Davies, so much energy in him does his job , never complains and a solid pk warrior, showed up some imports over the years that just turn up for their wage with no effort at all playing for the badge, thankfully thommo knows the players that got what it takes to be a devil and skate through a brick wall if need be .