The Guelph Storm have announced that goaltender Nico Daws and forward Pavel Gogolev have signed professional contracts with teams in Europe for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.
Daws is joining ERC Ingolstadt in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga, while Gogolev is heading to Sweden to play with Väsby IK HK in the second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan.
Both players were considered long shots to return to the Storm and news of their move to Europe means they have already played their last games in Guelph.
It also means the Storm have lost two of their best.
Gogolev led the team in scoring last year with 45 goals and 51 assists, while Daws won the OHL’s goaltender of the year.
Daws also played for Team Canada and won gold at the World Junior Hockey Championship. He was then drafted into the NHL by the New Jersey Devils.
With Gogolev and Daws out of the picture, that leaves Eric Uba and Keegan Stevenson as possible overage players next season.
OHL training camps are scheduled to commence on Jan. 23 ahead of a 40-game season running from Feb. 4 to May 8.
Due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions, teams will likely play against opponents in their region, but more details are expected when the league releases its schedule.
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