In the past week, it was Austrian clubs that were particularly busy, with Black Wings Linz, Red Bull Salzburg and the Vienna Capitals each adding a significant player. As well, goaltener Jaroslav Janus moves from Sparta Prague to HC Litvinov.

CHL News

The first week of June was a busy one particularly in Austria, where three of the country's four CHL representatives added key pieces to their rosters. Newcomers Black Wings Linz made news last Wednesday with the addition of a pair of Canadian veterans – defenceman Brett Palin and centre Brett McLean. The pair have a lot in common – both hail from Vancouver Island and played for the same junior club, the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League, though not at the same time. 

McLean, 36, is the bigger name of the two, having played almost 400 NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers. He's spent the last six seasons in the Swiss NLA.

“We asked a lot about Brett McLean, and also spoke to club managers from Switzerland,” Linz GM Christian Perthaler said on the team website. “All of them could only report positive things about him and thought that he could definitely still play a significant role as a forward.”

Meanwhile, EBEL champions Red Bull Salzburg have added youth in the form of 19-year-old defenceman Layne Viveiros. A dual citizen of Austria and Canada, Viveiros has played the last four seasons in the WHL with the Portland Winterhawks, and last season put up 50 points (9 + 41) in 88 regular-season and playoff games combined. 

“We are very happy to welcome Layne to the Red Bull organization. He is a smart, mobile defenceman with much potential to develop into a very good professional ice hockey player,” Salzburg coach Daniel Ratushny said on the club's website.

“The reason why I came to Salzburg was for a great opportunity to move forward in my hockey career,” Viveiros said. “It's a great chance for me to play at an elite level of hockey and learn from older, more veteran players. I am very excited to be able to play in the EBEL and the Champions Hockey League. I do not know too much about the CHL but I know that there are a lot of good hockey teams playing in it.”

Viveiros has big skates to fill, as he replaces Troy Milam on the Salzburg blueline. Milam, a veteran of North American and European hockey who has played in the Finnish Liiga, Czech Extraliga and EBEL, moves to the Vienna Capitals. Last season, Milam had 3 points (1 + 2) in the CHL.

Milam isn't the only player from the past week moving from one CHL club to another – Slovak goaltender Jaroslav Janus is heading from Sparta Prague to Czech champions HC Litvinov.

On the pressure of stepping between the pipes of the defending champs, Janus told the team website, “I'm not concerned about that, it's just more motivation. There's always that kind of anticipation of what will be after a championship season. The team seems to be well put together. The benchmark is so high, but I believe that we can meet expectations. Anyway, there's a lot of hard work in front of us.” 

On the prospect of playing in the CHL he said, “It's something different from the usual, I played in [the European Trophy] with Slovan Bratislava. The opponents are going to be good. All the boys will want to show up and please our fans, too.” 

Another transaction of note: Andreas Johnsson, last season's number-two scorer in the Champions Hockey League with 25 points (11 + 14) with Frolunda Gothenburg, will attend the training camp of the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

Below is the full list of transfers involving CHL clubs from the past week.