St. Louis forward Maddox signs NAHL tender
April 6, 2016
The St Louis Jr. Blues, proud members of the NA3HL, are pleased to announce that forward Sam Maddox has signed an North American Hockey League tender with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. Fairbanks competes in the NAHL’s Midwest Division.
Maddox, 18, a 5’11”, 170lb forward has played the last three seasons for the Jr. Blues after playing youth hockey for the Affton Americans, serving as club captain this year.
This season has seen the Sappington, Missouri, native emerge as a top-line talent, scoring at more than a point-per-game clip (19G, 31A, 50P in 46 games) as he led the Jr. Blues to the Midwest Division title and a berth in the Silver Cup Playoffs.
Maddox also played in the 2016 NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament for the NA3HL 18U Selects Red team. In three games, Maddox had two points.
St. Louis head coach Chris Flaugher commented on the move… “We are very excited for Sam and his tender agreement with Fairbanks. Sam joined our club three years ago as a sophomore in high school. To be able to see him grow and develop as a player during his time here and earn an opportunity to play for such a historic NAHL program in Fairbanks is incredible. Fairbanks is getting a dedicated player that works very hard and all around great person,” stated Flaugher.
Maddox is the second St. Louis player to sign an NAHL tender this year, joining defenseman Joe Nolan (Springfield Jr. Blues). In addition, three other Jr. Blues players received mid-season call-ups to NAHL clubs, and a fourth served as an emergency goaltender. Maddox also becomes the 14th NAHL tender from an NA3HL club this season.
A tender is a contract, of sorts, a player signs announcing his intentions to play for that particular NAHL team and that NAHL team only. Once a player signs a tender with an NAHL team, his playing rights belong to that team within the NAHL and he may not be recruited by any other NAHL team. Each team is granted ten (10) tenders, which include one tender exclusively used on players from the NA3HL - plus or minus any trades - which became active on Nov. 1. Tendered players are not eligible for the NAHL draft, which will be held on June 7, 2016.
