Komets ink Dean Ouellet

Fort Wayne, IN-- The Komets announced Tuesday that forward Dean Ouellet has agreed to terms and becomes the first player to be officially named to the 2015-16 roster.Ouellet, who will be 28 this summer, will be returning to Fort Wayne after appearing in 16 regular season games (1g, 10pts) and nine playoff games (4g, 6pts) during the 2013-14 season. Ouellet began that year appearing in 38 games with San Francisco of the ECHL. Ouellet was acquired by Fort Wayne after leading the Bulls with 20 assists and 30 points before becoming a free agent due to San Francisco's demise.Last year the Edmundston, New Brunswick native skated 26 games with Lyon in the French Elite league, ranking second on the Lions with 11 goals and placed fifth with 21 points. 2015-16 will be Ouellet's fourth pro year after making his pro debut with San Francisco in 2012-13. During 2012-13 Ouellet ranked third among ECHL rookies with 24 goals and tied for fourth with 52 points in 66 games while earning a spot on the All-Star Team. Ouellet also made his AHL debut appearing in five games with Hamilton.

Barteaux dealt to Gwinnett-- The Komets also announced Tuesday that defenseman Ian Barteaux has been traded to the Gwinnett Gladiators to complete the trade for futures with Gwinnett for goaltender Mark Guggeneberger on March 12, 2015.

Fort Wayne announces Season-Ending Roster-- The Komets announced their Season-Ending Roster Tuesday. Players appearing on the roster include Pat Nagle (G), Drew Daniels (D), Connor Kucera (D), Cody Sol (D), Mikael Tam (D), William Lacasse (D), James Martin (D), Brett Perlini (F), Mike Embach (F), Matt Lowry (F), Paul Crowder (F), Christian Ouellet (F), Shawn Szydlowski (F), Matthew Pistilli (F), Eric Faille (F) and Kaleigh Schrock (F).Season-Ending Rosters may include up to 20 players. Season-Ending Rosters cannot include any players who did not sign an ECHL contract in 2014-15.Each team is entitled to reserve rights to a maximum of eight players from the list of 20 by extending a qualifying offer no later than July 1. Of the eight qualified players, no more than four can be veterans (260 regular season professional hockey games played as of the start of the 2015-16 season). Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded. Teams are not required to extend a qualifying offer to players who sign a contract prior to July 1.The qualifying offer must remain open for acceptance until Aug. 1 at which time the qualifying offer becomes null and void and the team may sign the qualified player to any salary or may elect to take no further action. Teams that extend a valid qualifying offer to a non-veteran player shall retain the rights to that qualified player for one playing season.A team that extends a valid qualifying offer to a veteran player, or to a goaltender who has played more than 180 regular-season games, will retain the rights to that player until Aug. 1. After Aug. 1, if the veteran player or goaltender is not signed to a contract by the team, the veteran or goaltender shall be deemed a restricted free agent and shall be entitled to seek and secure offers of employment from other ECHL teams. Restricted free agents may not be traded. When a restricted free agent receives a contract offer from a team other than the team with the player’s rights and the restricted free agent wishes to accept the contract offer, the restricted free agent and the offering member must, within 24 hours, notify the ECHL, the team with the player’s rights and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association. The member with the player’s rights shall have seven days after the date it is notified to exercise its right to match the contract offer.If a restricted free agent is not signed to either an offer sheet or a contract by an ECHL team by Aug. 31, the player shall be deemed an unrestricted free agent.

Season tickets for 2015-16 are on sale at the Komet office at 1010 Memorial Way in Fort Wayne. Call the Komet office at 260-483-0011 or visit komets.com for information.Opening night for the 64th season of Komet Hockey in Fort Wayne is Saturday, Oct. 17 against the Kalamazoo Wings!