As Stars battle Marlies in Western Final, Hedden rumour swirls

By Jared Clinton (@JPDClinton)

Mike Hedden is in the midst of his best professional season to date, but a rumour out of the KHL has Hedden connected to Medvescak Zangreb.

Hedden, 29, potted 23 goals this season and racked up 55 points in 74 games. Those 74 games were a career-high for the undrafted Hedden, who played his NCAA career with Division-III Neumann University. In 10 games in the Calder Cup playoffs, Hedden’s tallied five goals and four assists.

The report, which appeared on KHL.hr, says that Hedden moving to Zangreb is “almost a sure thing”.

For three consecutive seasons, the Dunville, Ont. native has signed one-year deals with Texas, but without an NHL deal, he could be on his way to Russia.

While nothing has been firmed up as of yet, the certainty with which Hedden’s deal in the KHL is being reported raises a few eyebrows.

Advertisement

AHL Stars sign Robinson, Hedden

The Texas Stars announced a pair of signings to help the team next season.

Both Josh Robinson and Mike Hedden have signed one-year AHL contracts with the Dallas Stars top affiliate.

Robinson, a Michigan native who spent his college years with the NCAA’s Mighican Tech, comes to the Stars after a full season with the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads. Signed by Texas as an undrafted free agent, Robinson’s numbers in the NCAA weren’t the most impressive — his career best GAA was 2.83 and his SV% topped out at .909 — but in the ECHL last year Robinson put together respectable numbers.

While with the Steelheads, Robinson appeared in 39 regular season games and posted a GAA of 2.57 and SV% of .925, and was named the ECHL Rookie of the Month in November. Robinson continued his stellar play in the post season with a 2.50 GAA and .919 SV%.

With the loss of Richard Bachmann, there was a spot for another goaltender to split time between the AHL and ECHL, and Robinson fills that void.

Hedden, a 28-year-old from Dunnville, Ont., has spent the last two seasons in Texas after cracking the roster on a full-time basis. Prior to landing with the Stars, Hedden had spent time in Rockford, Rochester, Grand Rapids, and in the ECHL with the Toledo Walleye. The 5’9″ forward has played 145 games in the AHL — 139 of those with the Stars — and has tallied 34 goals and 42 assists.

This is Hedden’s third straight one-year deal with the Stars.