New York Rangers‘ 13th year Swiss-born defenseman Raphael Diaz(26) is experiencing his 2nd round with the team in a short time frame.
He was initially a late season pickup for a draft pick but was not retained and subsequently signed for 2014/2015 with Calgary Flames after a successful training camp tryout.
And now he’s back on a one-year one-way deal. Even though he was a late cut to be reassigned to affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack he may have a tough row to hoe to get back to the NHL but it could definitely happen.
He was originally a Montreal Canadiens‘ free agent signing at 25-years old after playing in his country’s top league NLA with Zug for 7 years in addition to his junior hockey time he spent there.
When he was sent down it was initially thought he would just split back home but he ended up staying and is actually a really nice fit in a starting to surge minor league squad.
In 14 AHL games he has 1 goal and 4 assists with a -1 and pair of shots on net per appearance.
Throughout his entire career he has never suited up for a farm club playing exclusively up in the big league for the last four.
It’s heavily thought that next year the 30-year old will head back to Switzerland as he’s signed a five-year deal to return to his roots.