With five days off between games, the Checkers have released forward Gabriel Desjardins from his professional tryout contract.
Desjardins, 22, has played a total of eight AHL games under two separate stints with the Checkers this season, recording one assist. He most recently went scoreless in three games since signing his second contract with the team on Dec. 16.
The native of Montreal, Quebec, returns to the ECHL’s Florida Everblades, where he has 12 points (7g, 5a) in in 17 games. The undrafted product of the Quebec Major Junior League played just nine games at any level during an injury-shortened rookie campaign with the Lake Erie Monsters last season.
Desjardins, signed to replace Justin Shugg after the latter’s recall to Carolina on Dec. 15, was a healthy extra in the Checkers’ most recent game, a 3-1 win over San Antonio on Sunday, with Shugg returning to the lineup that morning. The move leaves the team with the minimum of 12 healthy forwards and six healthy defensemen, though Brody Sutter and Keegan Lowe may have a chance to return for the Checkers’ next game in Texas on Dec. 27.
