Veteran forward Daniel Carr‘s return to North American professional hockey is ending after one season. The 34-year-old forward has signed a one-year contract with HC Ajoie, a club that competes in the Swiss National League.
A former AHL MVP, Carr has played five of the last six seasons in Switzerland, all with HC Lugano. Last summer, he signed a contract to return to the AHL with the Milwaukee Admirals.
He had a solid season in Wisconsin, scoring 16 goals and 31 points in 49 games, though it was below his usual standards in the AHL.
Carr, who originally turned pro with the Montreal Canadiens as an undrafted free agent in 2014, has been a point-per-game player in the AHL in his other full seasons in the league.
In 2019-20, also with the Admirals, Carr managed 23 goals and 50 points in 47 games. In 2018-19, his MVP season, Carr scored a whopping 30 goals and 71 points in just 52 games with the Chicago Wolves.
With 117 games of NHL experience on his record, Carr did show some flashes of translating his prolific scoring at lower levels to the NHL, though he was never able to sustain those flashes over an extended period.
During the 2017-18 season with the Montreal Canadiens, Carr scored a healthy 16 points in 38 NHL games. But the following season, he only played in six NHL games after signing with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Despite establishing himself as one of the premier AHL players, and therefore being quite close to the NHL, Carr left the North American pro circuit for Switzerland in 2020. With Lugano, Carr scored 132 points in 156 games, as well as seven points in five Champions Hockey League games.
While Carr undoubtedly would have been a solid option for a team looking to bolster its scoring depth in the AHL, the player has elected to once again depart the North American pro game and sign in Switzerland. Although his age should give some reason to believe he might not be the same prolific scorer he once was, Ajoie will undoubtedly expect Carr to be among their top scorers in 2026-27.