Kevin Labanc is taking his next swing overseas. SC Rapperswil-Jona in Switzerland announced a one-year deal with the veteran winger, who won’t be back in North America for the upcoming season.
Labanc, 30, once looked like he was on the verge of becoming a major scorer in San Jose. In 2018-19, he put up 56 points in 82 games, but he never got back to that level after that and eventually saw his role shrink.
His 2024-25 stop in Columbus didn’t change the story much either, as he managed just 12 points in 34 games. That sent him to the KHL last season, where he suited up for Shanghai and produced 15 goals and 19 assists in 55 games.
Now he’ll get a chance in yet another league.
The hockey moves didn’t stop there. Victoria Royals announced the addition of Filip Novak, a Blue Jackets prospect who is headed to the WHL after being taken in the seventh round last month out of Sparta Praha’s junior program in Czechia.
Novak, 18, posted 35 points in 28 junior games last season and also appeared in nine Extraliga games. Victoria had to pay up for his rights, sending a pair of third-round picks to Lethbridge after Novak went in the first round of the 2025 CHL Import Draft.
In Florida’s system, the Panthers locked in more time with ECHL Savannah, signing a three-year affiliation extension with the Ghost Pirates. Savannah is entering its fifth season and has served as Florida’s affiliate for the last two years. The club reached the playoffs for the first time last season, and a few Panthers prospects have already passed through there, including goaltenders Cooper Black and Kirill Gerasimyuk and winger Kai Schwindt.
And in the college ranks, unrestricted free agent defenseman Kyle Masters has chosen the University of Alberta for next season. The school announced the commitment on Instagram.
Masters, 23, spent most of his three-year entry-level deal in the ECHL and was traded four times, with two of those moves involving Carolina. The Hurricanes then non-tendered him last month.
In Other News...
Brady Tkachuk Is Already Embracing The Panthers Physical Identity
Brady Tkachuk is wasting no time leaning into what Florida wants to be. The forward has added MMA work to his offseason routine, a sign that he is preparing for the kind of aggressive, physically demanding hockey that has long defined the Panthers when they are at their best. It is a familiar fit for a player who has built his reputation on edge and contact, even if the way he delivers that edge has shifted a bit over the years.
What makes the training stand out is who Tkachuk has been working with, including Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev and Usman Nurmagomedov. The sessions underscore how seriously he is approaching this next chapter, and they also come at a time when his fighting frequency has dipped compared with earlier seasons. For Florida, the encouraging part is less about the optics of the workouts and more about what they suggest he is trying to bring back to his game. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Add Two Forwards As One Charlotte Battle Takes Shape
The Charlotte Checkers added a pair of forwards this week, bringing in Riley Hughes and Philip Tresca on AHL contracts as they continue to shape the roster around players who can handle both depth minutes and the grind of a long season. Hughes, 26, is back in familiar territory after previous AHL and ECHL experience, giving Charlotte a player the staff already knows well as it sorts out its forward mix for 2026.
Tresca brings a different kind of intrigue. The 24-year-old Harvard graduate is stepping into pro hockey for the first time, and his path could start in the ECHL before he gets a chance to push for an AHL job. For a Panthers organization that leans on Charlotte to develop and evaluate options, the battle for those roster spots is already taking shape. [Read more 🡒]