SHARKSPAGE

AHL’s best defenseman, Worcester Sharks blueliner Danny Groulx, in negotiations with KHL

Worcester Sharks defenseman Danny Groulx, recipient of the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s best defenseman in 2009-10, signed with the Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod franchise in the Kontinental Hockey League according to Russian sources. (Correction from Sharkspage.com’s Darryl Hunt, Groulx is currently in negotiations with the KHL.)

A Calder Cup winner with Hamilton in 2007, Groulx was named as a first team AHL allstar this season after registering a career highs in assists and points. He lead all AHL defenseman with 52 assists and 66 points in 80 games played. Danny Groulx’s AHL ironman streak was halted at 208 straight games, playoff and regular season included, suffering a concussion when he ran into a teammate during the third game of the playoff series with Manchester.

In his 8th AHL season, the 6-foot-0, 200-pound offensive blueliner from Quebec signed a 1-year free agent contract with Worcester last July. Terms of his latest contract with Nizhny Novgorod are not available as of this posting. He joins a Torpedos Nizhny Novgorod team that finished 4th in the Tasarov division in 2009-10, and 9th in the KHL’s Western Conference with a 24-27-5 record for 75 points.

The Sharks recently re-signed defenseman Taylor Doherty, forwards Tommy Wingels and Marek Viedensky, and goaltenders Harri Sateri and Carter Hutton. Defenseman Julien Demers (2008, fifth), Samuel Groulx (2008, fourth) and Patrick Zakrisson (2007, fifth) were not signed and will re-enter the 2010 NHL Entry Draft (Los Angeles, June 25-26).

[Update] Semi-confirmation from this Czech hockey website — hokej.cz.

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