St. Louis defenseman Shively signs NAHL tender
June 1, 2018
The St. Louis Jr. Blues, proud members of the NA3HL, are pleased to announce that defenseman John Shively has signed an NAHL tender agreement with the Topeka RoadRunners. The RoadRunners compete in the NAHL’s South Division.
Acquired by the Jr. Blues after starting the 2017-18 season in the NAHL with the Bismarck Bobcats, the 5’11/175 lbs. native of West Dundee, Illinois, quickly established himself as one of the most important blue-liners as St. Louis made a run to the Fraser Cup Final.
In 37 regular-season games, Shively scored nine goals and added 12 assists, and finished the year with a plus-minus rating of +43. He was also named to the Orange team for the 2018 NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament, and in the playoffs he suited up for all seven games, finding the back of the net four times while contributing two assists.
“From the first day he got here to St. Louis we knew John would be a special player,” said Jr. Blues head coach Chris Flaugher. “He’s got a high hockey IQ, is strong on his skates and can build up attacks well, and is a great weapon on special teams. Topeka’s a great club that develops its players well for the next level, and we couldn’t be happier to see him return to the NAHL with the ‘Runners.”
Shively becomes the fourth Jr. Blues player to sign a NAHL tender for the 2018-19 season, joining fellow defenseman Mark Capkovic (Shreveport) and forwards Dante Jones (Bismarck) and Bud Winter (Corpus Christi).
A tender is a contract, of sorts, a player signs announcing his intentions to play for that particular NAHL team and that NAHL team only. Once a player signs a tender with an NAHL team, his playing rights belong to that team within the NAHL and he may not be recruited by any other NAHL team. Each team is granted ten (10) tenders, which include one tender exclusively used on players from the NA3HL - plus or minus any trades - which became active on Nov. 1. Tendered players are not eligible for the NAHL draft, which will be held on June 5, 2018.
