Greyhounds Notebook: NHL signing, coaching shuffle

Soo Greyhounds goaltender Brandon Halverson has signed with the New York Rangers.

The Rangers made the signing official on Thursday afternoon, announcing that the 19-year-old had agreed to a three-year entry level contract.

Halverson posted a 40-5-0-2 record with a 2.63 goals against average and a 0.913 save percentage in 50 games as the Greyhounds starting goaltender in his second full season with the club.

In the playoffs, Halverson posted a 2.94 GAA and 0.893 save percentage in the playoffs as the Greyhounds advanced to the OHL’s Western Conference final before bowing out in six games to the Erie Otters.

Thursday was a busy day for the Greyhounds as another member of the organization’s coaching staff has moved up to professional hockey.

After two seasons as an assistant coach with the Greyhounds, A.J. MacLean has been hired in the same capacity with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League where he will join former Greyhounds Coach Sheldon Keefe.

The Marlies staff will now include three former Greyhounds in Keefe, MacLean and Rich Rotenberg, who spent the last four seasons as the Greyhounds head therapist and strength coach and will serve as the Marlies performance coach in his new post.

As NHL teams announce invites for their summer prospect camps which will be occurring over the next few weeks, a group of players with ties to the Greyhounds have found themselves getting an opportunity to impress.

Defenceman Connor Boland and forward Gabe Guertler have been invited to the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect camp, which will also include former Greyhounds goaltender Justin Nicholas as an invite.

Overage forward Bryan Moore was invited to the Anaheim Ducks camp, marking the second consecutive summer that the Indian Trail, North Carolina product earned a development camp invite. Last summer Moore attended the development camps of the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers.

(Photo: Soo Greyhounds goaltender Brandon Halverson. Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday)