Minor Signings: 07/05/26

Although the overwhelming majority of the heavy lifting is done for much of the league, teams continue to scour the free agent market to address their depth and improve their AHL affiliates. In addition, there are also players deciding to cross the Atlantic and begin professional careers overseas. Today, several recognizable names have signed, and we will continue to update the list throughout the day. Here are today’s minor signings:

• The AHL’s Providence Bruins announced the signings of two forwards to one-year AHL contracts: Wyatt Bongiovanni, Nolan Renwick. Bongiovanni, 26, is a center with 226 games of AHL experience who developed into a legitimate middle-six pivot over the last two seasons on the Belleville Senators. He enjoyed a career year in 2024-25, scoring 22 goals and 33 points in 54 games. He had 12 goals and 25 points in Belleville this past season before a March trade saw him finish out the year on the Hershey Bears. Renwick, 25, is also a center, one who recently concluded his first full season of pro hockey. He scored five points in 43 games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and also played 28 games (combined regular season and playoffs) in the ECHL.
• Providence also added two defensemen on one-year AHL deals: Max Wanner and Chris Ortiz. Wanner, 23, is actually a re-signing as he has been part of the Bruins organization for the last year and a half, since arriving from the Edmonton Oilers in the Trent Frederic trade. The 2021 seventh-round pick ranked as high as No. 4 in the Oilers’ prospect pool (back in summer 2024, per Alan Mitchell of The Athletic) but has seen his developmental momentum stall. He scored just three points in 29 games for Providence last season and was reassigned to play in the ECHL for the first time in his career. Ortiz, 25, is a left-shot defenseman who has excelled at the ECHL and more recently shown a capability to play in a depth role in the AHL. He’ll give Providence some high-level depth and likely begin as a top blueliner in the ECHL, where he has a career-high scoring pace of 39 points in 45 games.
• Michael Sgarbossa, a former No. 1 center at the AHL level, originally signed a one-year contract to play for Switzerland’s Rapperswil-Jona Lakers. That contract has now been terminated by mutual agreement, with the team’s official release citing personal reasons and a desire to stay in his native Canada. A two-time AHL All-Star and a Calder Cup champion, Sgarbossa left North America to sign in Switzerland last summer, suspending an AHL career that had lasted over 600 games. Sgarbossa was productive in Switzerland, scoring 31 points in 39 games across two clubs: HC Lugano and SC Bern. Now, it’s unclear where Sgarbossa will continue his pro career, though a return to the AHL could be in the cards.
• Former Anaheim Ducks farmhand Jaxsen Wiebe has signed a deal to join HC Presov of Slovakia’s Extraliga. The 24-year-old forward was an undrafted WHL signing by the Ducks organization who has spent the last three seasons playing in the AHL and ECHL. Wiebe has 38 points in 60 ECHL games across those three campaigns, and six points in 36 AHL games. The signing means Wiebe will exit the North American pro ranks and begin his European professional career.

This page will be updated as more signings are announced throughout the day.