This morning the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL affiliate of the St. Louis Blues) shared that Brandon Wildung has been named their new goaltending coach. The 32-year-old advances to the professional rank as replacement of Dan Stewart, who had been with the Blues organization since 2020. Wildung will hope to follow the same sort of trajectory as Stewart, who earned a promotion to the NHL as goaltending coach of the New Jersey Devils.
A native of Minnesota, Wildung played in net for Mercyhurst University (NCAA DI) from 2014-18. Upon wrapping up his collegiate career, he played in seven ECHL games for the Utah Grizzlies and Manchester Monarchs before hanging up his pads in 2019. Wildung takes a big step into the AHL having been an associate head coach of the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede for the past two seasons.
The Stampede, 2026 Clark Cup champions, offered several NHL prospects during his tenure, including goaltender Carl Axelsson, a recent fourth round selection of Utah. As for who he’ll help mentor next, the Thunderbirds offer an impressive goalie for next season with NHL pedigree in Georgi Romanov, a 26-year-old who played in 10 games for the Sharks before ending up with Springfield.
The Russian took the crease for 28 games last year, not jumping off the page statistically but getting red hot in the playoffs which helped earn a contract extension. Elsewhere: Former Florida Panthers forward Maxim Mamin had his contract terminated in the KHL, Moscow Dynamo shared. Coming over to the club after a strong three year stint with CSKA including a league title in his first campaign back in Russia, Mamin skated alongside former NHLers Nikita Gusev and Jordan Weal, unable to make as large an impact, with 18 points in 56 games.
Given that he’s a Russian native himself, it’s most likely Mamin will move on to another KHL club for 2026-27. The 31-year-old skated in 73 games for the Panthers and added 18 points. He debuted in 2018, and last touched NHL ice when his Florida club were swept by Tampa Bay in the second round of the 2022 playoffs, just before they acquired Matthew Tkachuk and became a force in the East.
Mamin, now a steady KHL role player, was drafted in the sixth round of the 2016 draft by Florida with a pick acquired from Anaheim in exchange for Brandon Pirri. Carolina Hurricanes prospect Alexander Rykov signed a one-year extension with Traktor of the KHL, the team shared. A fourth-round pick of the defending champs in 2023, Rykov is a 5’11” winger who had 15 points in 56 games last season, still just 21.
Teammates of former NHLers Mikhail Grigorenko, Vitali Kravtsov, and Josh Leivo, he offers solid two-way game to go with sharp playmaking, although not considered to be among the team’s most notable prospects at this point. The Canes still hold his rights, and they’ll be looking for some sort of step forward after two not overly inspiring seasons offensively. Former Nashville Predators draft pick Juha Jatkola signed in the DEL (Germany) with the Krefield Pinguine, the club announced.
A team known for their success taking shots on Finnish goaltenders, the Preds called Jatkola’s name in the fourth round of the 2023 draft, one they were hosting. The youngster had put together a strong campaign for KalPa of Liiga, playing in 40 games. Unable to hold down a starting role again over the past three years in Finland, he did not earn an entry level contract from the Predators although the recent news shows his worth as a valued import player in Germany.