Florida Everblades Announce Trade Deadline Moves

ESTERO, Fla. – Florida Everblades General Manager and Head Coach Brad Ralph announced that the club made two trades before the 2024 ECHL Trade Deadline alongside adding forward Craig Needham on an amateur tryout.

First, Florida acquired the reassignment rights for defenseman Zach Berzolla and forward Zach Andrusiak from the Cincinnati Cyclones in exchange for forwards Kieran Craig, Luke Santerno, and Jimmy Soper. 

Berzolla, 25, played 15 games for the Florida Everblades in the 2021 season after finishing his NCAA career at Colorado College. The right-shot blueliner had a goal and two assists in his tenure in southwest Florida, along with a helper in four playoff games. This season, the Howell, New Jersey, local has one goal in 14 games with the American Hockey League’s Hartford Wolf Pack, with an additional goal and two assists for the Cyclones in seven games. The 6’ 2” 196-pound defender has 11 goals and 40 assists in 129 ECHL games.

In the second trade, the Everblades flipped Andrusiak along with defenseman Stanislav Demin to the Fort Wayne Komets in exchange for the ECHL rights to forward Matthew Wedman.

Wedman, 24, is currently on loan to the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers, his third AHL stint this season. With Fort Wayne, the former Florida Panthers draft pick scored 14 goals and 21 assists over 39 games. The Edmonton, Alberta native also has two goals and an assist in 18 AHL games between the Cleveland Monsters, Henderson Silver Knights, and the Wranglers. In his junior days, the left-shot forward won the WHL Championship in 2017 with the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Needham, 25, joins the Everblades on an amateur tryout deal after completing his season at Providence College. The Medford, Massachusetts-born center finished the campaign with four goals and seven assists over 34 games in his fifth collegiate season. The 5’ 10” 181 pound forward served as an assistant captain this past season.

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