There was just one Newfoundlander who became a National Hockey League unrestricted free agent on Monday. That was defenceman Cody Donaghey of St. John’s, whose NHL entry-level deal expired and who hadn’t received a qualifying offer from the San Jose Sharks, the NHL team that had held his rights.
Centre Clark Bishop also saw his three-year entry-level contract come to an end, but he had been qualified by the Carolina Hurricanes, meaning the 23-year-old from St. John’s, who won a Calder Cup with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers this spring, will almost certainly re-sign with the Hurricanes as a restricted free agent.
But there are a number of Newfoundlanders who played in the minor leagues last year who are also free agents, including Zach O’Brien, James Melindy and Marcus Power, three St. John’s natives with the ECHL champion Newfoundland Growlers.
And then there is veteran forward Colin Greening, the 33-year-old from St. John’s who is set to retire as a player according to a tweeted report from Jacob Stoller, the Toronto Marlies reporter with the online site Leafs Nation.
Greening, 33, was a huge part of the #Marlies leadership group over the course of the last three seasons. He was a great role model for the #leafsforever prospects and even as his game declined on the ice, his presence in the room was a valued commodity. https://t.co/7fG2cN7pda
— Jacob Stoller (@JLStoller) June 30, 2019
Greening, an unrestricted free agent. has appeared in 286 NHL games for the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs, but hasn’t played in the big leagues since 2015-16. Greening spent the last three seasons with AHL Marlies, playing last season on an AHL contract.
Greening won two Calder Cup AHL championships, one as a professional rookie with the 2011 Binghamton Senators and another with the Marlies in 2018.
A message left with Greening by The Telegram on Monday night was not returned.
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