On Friday July 2nd, the Indy Fuel announced their 2021 Protected List, retaining the contract rights to 32 players. The team retained a total of 10 defensemen, 21 forwards and a single goaltender.
Teams are allowed to protect as many players on the roster as they’d like. In order for a player to be protected, they must meet certain guidelines as defined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the ECHL and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association. Players who were signed by a team who opted out of the 2020-21 season and signed with a participating club will have his rights returned to their original team. In the case of the Indy Fuel, players like Nick Hutchison (originally signed with Adirondack) and Billy Christopolous (originally signed with Toledo) won’t be able to be protected for next season.
All 25 teams in the league must submit their season-ending rosters by Thursday, July 8th. Unlike the protected list, clubs can only have 20 players on their season-ending rosters. Players on season-ending rosters need to have played on a standard player contract during the 2020-21 season.
Two players, Terry Broadhurst and Patrick McGrath, qualify as veterans for the upcoming season. Only five players that Indy protected didn’t appear in any games with the team in 2020-21.
The Fuel protected 21 forwards, which includes:
Alex Rauter
Terry Broadhurst
Diego Cuglietta
Cedric Lacroix
Derek Barach
Tommy Apap
Jared Thomas
Spencer Watson
Nic Pierog
Matt Marcinew
Brent Gates
Peter Krieger
Seamus Malone
Joe Sullivan
Antoine Waked
Dylan Malmquist
Bobby MacIntyre
Michael Doherty
Ryan Van Stralen
Derian Plouffe
Patrick McGrath
The Fuel also protected 10 defensemen, which includes:
Willie Raskob
Tim Shoup
Jordan Schneider
Keoni Texeira
Cliff Watson
Ryan Zuhlsdorf
Mike Lee
Craig Wyszomirski
Kayle Doetzel
Alec McCrea
Additionally, the Fuel opted to protect a single goaltender:
Dan Bakala