Walleye officially sign former adversary Sol
Toledo keeps physical defenseman; Walleye also acquire forward Alex Kromm from Tulsa, trade defenseman Connor Schmidt to Kalamazoo.
By Mark Monroe / The Blade
Wed, 09 Oct 2019 21:44:06 GMT
The Toledo Walleye have officially signed former longtime rival Cody Sol to a contract for the upcoming season.
Sol, a physical 6-foot-6, 242-pound defenseman, played the past five seasons with the rival Fort Wayne Komets. Sol signed a player tryout agreement with the Walleye last week, and has been in the team's training camp since last Tuesday.
Sol appeared in Toledo's two preseason wins against Kalamazoo. He finished with no points, but had a plus-2 rating with five penalty minutes.
Walleye coach Dan Watson said Sol is a physical player that he believes the Toledo fan base will come to embrace.
“He has a presence on the ice physically with his size,” Watson said. “He brings more experience with him, and he has been good within the locker room around the players. All it's going to take … as soon as he gets into that mold and we win a few games and things are going well, the fans are going to embrace him.”
In 377 career ECHL games, Sol has 39 goals, 88 assists, 127 points, and 1,015 penalty minutes.
Sol, a native of Woodstock, Ont., said he felt like he fit in immediately when he played at the Huntington Center wearing a Walleye jersey for the first time on Saturday night. Sol had three shots in Toledo's 5-3 comeback win over Kalamazoo.
“It felt natural,” he said. “It was an exhibition game, but it was a sold-out crowd and it was loud. It was fun to play in front of that crowd. This time when I hit someone, they cheered for me instead of against me. So it was cool.
“It's such a great organization. I've been here for a week and everything is top class. It's been a good change for me. I'm excited to be here.”
Sol led the ECHL in penalty minutes with 259 in 2015-16. He led the league in plus-minus rating at plus-39 in 2016-17.
Sol, 28, had four goals, seven assists, and 91 penalty minutes in 41 games for Fort Wayne last season.
The Walleye had to submit their roster to the ECHL by 3 p.m. on Wednesday. The ECHL's active roster maximum is 21 players for the first 30 days of the regular season.
The Walleye also announced two trades on Wednesday. The team sent defenseman Connor Schmidt to Kalamazoo for future considerations. The Walleye also acquired forward Alex Kromm from the Tulsa Oilers for future considerations.
Schmidt skated in 27 games last year for the Walleye, finishing with two goals, two assists, and 37 penalty minutes.
Kromm, a 27-year-old native of Penticton, British Columbia, spent all of last season in Tulsa. He appeared in 62 games for the Oilers, scoring eight goals with 16 assists and 90 penalty minutes. Kromm has appeared in 130 career games in the ECHL since his debut with Wheeling in 2016-17.
Former Fort Wayne defenseman Cody Sol has been officially signed by the Toledo Walleye.
Toledo Walleye defenseman Cody Sol takes a shot during a preseason game against the Kalamazoo Wings at the Huntington Center.