Locke Moves on

Just received a press release stating that Corey Locke has signed with Ottawa. According to the release it’s a two-year, two-way deal.

Locke’s point total of 85 this past season was the third-highest all-time in Wolf Pack history, and the second-most ever by a player who spent his entire season with the Pack (Brad Smyth had 86 in 2005-06, but only 22 of those came with the Wolf Pack, after a late-season deal to bring him in from Manchester). Only Derek Armstrong’s 101 points in 2000-01 surpassed Locke’s 2009-10 production. Still, when a team that is used to good success does not make the playoffs, as the Wolf Pack did not last season, then there are bound to be changes, and it’s looking as though the Pack’s core group might be quite a bit different when this coming season gets underway.

It will be interesting to see if the organization sees Kris Newbury or Derek Stepan (if one or both of them is in Hartford) as a number-one center in the AHL or if they will go shopping for one in the free-agent market.