St. Louis forward Solimando signs NAHL tender
May 27, 2020
The St. Louis Jr. Blues, proud members of the NA3HL, are pleased to announce that forward Joey Solimando has signed a North American Hockey League (NAHL) tender agreement with the Jamestown Rebels of the NAHL’s East Division.
Solimando, 19, joined the Jr. Blues after a standout career with Carshield AAA of the NAPHL. In his rookie season of junior hockey, the A 6’0/190 lbs. left-hander from St. Peters, Missouri, scored 16 goals and 28 assists for 44 points in 40 games played, finishing the season with a +26 rating. Seven of those goals this season were on special teams, with five coming on the man advantage and two short-handed markers.
He also represented the Central Division at the 2020 NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament, held in February in Attleboro, Mass.: there he played in three games and recorded an assist.
“Joey’s a great, modern power forward,” said Jr. Blues head coach Chris Flaugher. “He’s got excellent vision and scoring touch, but isn’t afraid at all to get physical and play in the dirty areas. He’s useful in all situations, as seen by his scoring numbers on the PP and PK. The Rebels are an organization with a great track record of advancement and development, and we’re confident [Rebels head coach] Joe Coombs will be getting a player that’s a great fit for his system.”
Solimando becomes the third Jr. Blues player to sign an NAHL tender this season, joining forward Seamus Campbell (Aberdeen) and defenseman Joey Boccardi (Bismarck).
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 July 21, 2020.
