Worcester Railers HC Acquire Veteran Defenseman Nolan Valleau from Orlando in Exchange for Ross Olsson
WORCESTER, Mass. – The Worcester Railers Hockey Club (@RailersHC), proud ECHL (@ECHL) affiliate of the New York Islanders (@NYIslanders), and Railers HC General Manager and Head Coach David Cunniff officially announced today that the club has acquired veteran defenseman Nolan Valleau from the Orlando Solar Bears in exchange for forward Ross Olsson.
Valleau, 29, is currently in his seventh professional season and has split time this season with the Stockton Heat in the AHL and the Orlando Solar Bears in the ECHL tallying four points (1G, 3A) in 12 games with Orlando. The 6-foot 185lb defenseman has played in 231 AHL games accumulating 46 points (9G, 37A) from 2015-20 with the Rockford IceHogs, Chicago Wolves, Milwaukee Admirals, Utica Comets, Syracuse Crunch, and Stockton Heat. The left-handed shot has spent parts of four seasons in the ECHL from 2017-22 totaling 61 points (15G, 46A) all with the Orlando Solar Bears. During the 2017-18 season, the Novi, MI native was named an ECHL All-Star leading the Solar Bears defensive core in scoring with 34 points (8G, 26A) in 41 games.
Olsson, 27, played 41 games for the Railers this season totaling 28 points (19G, 9A) along with 100 penalty minutes. The Billerica, MA native played parts of three seasons in Worcester from 2018-22 accumulating 52 points (33G, 19A) and 236 penalty minutes in 99 career games.
“I want to start off by saying that we cannot begin to thank Ross for his contributions on and off the ice for us over the last few years,” said Railers General Manager and Head Coach David Cunniff. “We wish him nothing but success as he continues his professional hockey career with Orlando. With that being said, we are excited to add another veteran to our lineup in Nolan. We have a young defensive core with five rookies and as we make our playoff push we believe Nolan brings the right character, skills, and leadership to help lead the way on our blue line.”
The Railers take on the Adirondack Thunder Friday night at 7 p.m. from the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, NY. Listen to the game live on 98.9 Nash ICON and watch on at FloHockey.tv with Cam McGuire on the call beginning at 6:30 p.m.
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