North Bay’s Ken Appleby was left unemployed for a very short time as the former New Jersey Devils prospect signed a one-year deal with the Manitoba Moose, the club announced on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old was released by the Devils organization on June 26th.
See related: Appleby released by Devils
The North Bay native played his first three games with the Devils in early 2018 when the Devils were suffering from goaltending injuries to their tandem of Keith Kinkaid and Cory Schneider. While he did not get his first NHL win yet, he was solid, stopping 52 of 55 shots in 124 minutes of action.
“I would like to thank the New Jersey Devils for the past few years and giving me an opportunity coming out of juniors,” Appleby stated via Instagram Tuesday.
“With that being said, I am very excited for the next chapter of my career with the Manitoba Moose and looking forward to what the future holds.”
Appleby joined the Devils organization in October of 2015 when he signed a two-way entry-level deal with the Devils the season after he captured a Memorial Cup as a member of the Oshawa Generals.
The former Midget AAA Trappers goalie posted a 10-13-1 record with a 2.76 goals-against average and 0.901 save percentage in 26 games with the Binghamton Devils of the AHL last season.
In 66 career AHL games, Appleby features a 30-30-5 record with a 2.67 goals-against average, 0.902 save percentage and three shutouts.
The signing puts Appleby potentially in a good spot to get a shot back at the NHL next season.
The Moose are the farm team of the Winnipeg Jets organization. The Jets lost a pair of goaltenders this weekend; trading backup Steve Mason to Montreal and Michael Hutchinson was signed as a free agent by the Florida Panthers.
The Jets did sign Lawrence Brossoit who was with the Oilers as a potential backup in Winnipeg.
