The Charlotte Checkers today announced that they have signed goaltender Evan Fitzpatrick to a two-year AHL contract and forward Karch Bachman to a one-year AHL contract.
Fitzpatrick, 23, enters his fourth professional season. Originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland, the 6-foot-3, 206-pound Fitzpatrick went 2-0-0 with a 1.65 goals-against average, .930 save percentage and one shutout in three games with the AHL’s Utica Comets last season. The St. Louis Blues’ second-round draft choice (59th overall) in 2016, Fitzpatrick played eight other AHL games with the San Antonio Rampage in 2018-19, going 2-3-0 with a 2.66 goals-against average and .901 save percentage.
Fitzpatrick has also appeared in 37 career ECHL games with Tulsa and Brampton, where he posted a 15-5-5 record, 3.50 goals-against average and .873 save percentage. Prior to turning pro, he won a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship and Memorial Cup with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in 2017-18. He also earned QMJHL All-Rookie honors in 2014-15 and played in the CHL Top Prospects Game in 2015-16.
Bachman, a 24-year-old native of Wolcottville, IN, enters his second professional season after spending the entirety of the 2020-21 campaign with the Checkers’ ECHL affiliate in Greenville. In 32 games played for the Swamp Rabbits, the 5-foot-11, 179-pound Bachman recorded 14 points (10g, 4a) and 13 penalty minutes. Originally the Florida Panthers’ fifth-round draft choice (132nd overall) in 2015, Bachman posted 69 points (29g, 40a) in 143 games over the course of a four-year career at Miami University in Ohio. In his senior season, he tied for second on the team with 31 points and earned the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year award.
The Checkers begin the 2021-22 regular season on the road in Hershey on Oct. 16 before returning to Charlotte to host Opening Weekend on Oct. 22 and 23. Season tickets, mini plans and group outings are on sale now. For more information, contact the team at (704) 342-4423 or [email protected].