Maine Hockey Journal

Pirates sign two players; assign two players to Manchester

Portland Pirates regular season contest against the Rochester Americans at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine on 10/31/2015. (PHOTO: Michael McSweeney/Portland Pirates)

Portland Pirates regular season contest against the Rochester Americans at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine on 10/31/2015. (PHOTO: Michael McSweeney/Portland Pirates)

PORTLAND – The Portland Pirates made several roster moves on Thursday, releasing two players, signing a player to an AHL contract and signing a player with a familiar name.

The Pirates released forward Zac Larraza from his professional tryout, assigning him back to the Manchester Monarchs of the ECHL.

Larraza appeared in two games with the Pirates, recording an assist in his debut on Nov. 4 against the Utica Comets. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound native of Scottsdale, Arizona signed a free agent contract with the Monarchs and had played three games in the ECHL where he’s scored two goals and one assist for three points.

Larraza was a seventh-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft but went unsigned. He played four seasons at the University of Denver under former UMaine head coach Jim Montgomery.

The Pirates also assigned defenseman Yann Sauve to the Monarchs.

Sauve joined the Pirates on an AHL contract this summer and had appeared in three games for Portland, recording an assist.

The six-year pro played 25 games in the AHL last season with St. John’s, Providence and Springfield, scoring a goal and three assists for four points. The 6-foot-3, 209-pound Montreal native also spent time with the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL last season, scoring four points (2g, 2a) with a plus-1 rating.

The Pirates also signed forward Wayne Simpson to an AHL contract for the remainder of the season and signed forward Derek Army to a professional tryout contract.

Simpson, 25, began the season with the Pirates on a professional tryout during training camp. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound forward has played in all ten games for Portland this season and leads the team with eight assists.

Army spent the last three seasons with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL, scoring 35 goals, 46 assists in 86 games. Army has three goals, eight assists for 11 points with a plus-3 rating in 10 games with the Nailers to start the 2015-’16 season.

Army’s father, Tim, was a former head coach of the Pirates for three seasons. Army, who grew up in Scarborough, played for Scarborough High School during his freshman year before going to Moses Brown School and The Gunnery Prep School.

Army followed in his family’s footsteps attending Providence College, playing 149 games with the Friars, scoring 38 goals, 38 assists for 76 points.

“Strong player for his size, can skate well, competes hard and can score at the ECHL level,” said Pirates’ GM Eric Joyce. “He’ll add great competition to a strong group of guys for limited spots in the lineup, and hopefully help our team win.”

Army is expected to be available for the Pirates Friday when they wrap up a two-game set against the Hartford Wolf Pack at the Cross Insurance Arena.

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