The Walleye signed defenseman Randy Gazzola and forward Abbott Girduckis on Wednesday.
Both young players recently wrapped up college careers.
Gazzola, a native of Thorold, Ont., played at the University of New Brunswick.
The 25-year-old defenseman helped lead New Brunswick to a University Cup Championship in Canada for the third time in his five years this season. He posted 20 points with three goals and 17 assists this past season in 24 games for the Reds. Over his five year career, Gazzola appeared in 134 games and produced 19 goals and 86 assists for 105 points to go along with 60 penalty minutes.
Gazzola, who is 6-foot-3 and 201 pounds, earned rookie of the year honors in 2014-15 season when he averaged nearly a point per game with two goals and 22 assists in 28 games.
Girduckis, 23, just finished a four-year career at Rochester Institute of Technology. The 6-foot-2 and 190 pound native of Belleville, Ont., averaged nearly a point per game this past season. He finished with 36 points (11 G, 25 A) in 38 games.
In his career, Girduckis played in 146 games and produced 93 points (30 G, 63 A).
In other moves, the team put veteran forward A.J. Jenks on the injured reserve list and signed forward Felix Chamberland, who had been on an amateur tryout agreement with the team. Defenseman Marcus Crawford also has been re-assigned to Toledo from Grand Rapids, the Walleye's American Hockey League affiliate.
The Walleye, who have seven games left in the regular season, host three straight home games this weekend. They play Kansas City on Friday, Kalamazoo on Saturday, and Cincinnati on Sunday.
First Published March 27, 2019, 4:14 p.m.
