The Florida Panthers and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers made several AHL signings on Tuesday.
Those signings included Battalion star Liam Arnsby and two former North Bay Trappers goaltenders in Ken Appleby and Evan Cormier.
Arnsby, 20, was picked by Florida in the seventh round of the 2022 draft. The Ontario-born forward posted 110 points (36g, 74a) in 215 games over four seasons in the OHL for North Bay.
“Liam has been a foundational player to our program, and we’re thrilled to see him rewarded with a professional contract,” said Adam Dennis, the Battalion’s director of hockey operations.
“We have no doubt his leadership and grit will contribute well to his pro career. We wish him all the best in his next step. He’ll have a lot of longtime fans here in North Bay.”
North Bay native and former North Bay AAA Trapper goaltender Ken Appleby also signed with Charlotte.
Appleby, 29, is a veteran of nine pro seasons, spending time during the 2023-24 campaign at all three levels of the Islanders organization. Across his career, the netminder is 47-56-11 with a 2.83 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage in 119 AHL games for Albany, Binghamton, Manitoba and Bridgeport and 84-51-11 with a 2.56 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage in 153 ECHL games with Adirondack, Jacksonville, Florida and Worcester.
Appleby has also appeared in four NHL games in his career — three with New Jersey in 2017-18 and one with the Islanders in 2023-24.
He made news last year getting into his first NHL action with the New York Islanders in more than 2100 days when he came in relief of Ilya Sorokin in a 5-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild in mid-January.
Prior to turning pro Appleby was a standout in the OHL, registering a 55-18-9 record with a 2.25 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage over 92 games for Oshawa - helping guide the Generals to a Memorial Cup in 2015.
See related: After more than 2100 days, Appleby is back in the NHL
Appleby was a recent guest on a local hockey podcast called Goalie Resiliency. You can view that interview here.
Evan Cormier has trained with Appleby in the summer months in the Oshawa area.
The former North Bay Battalion prospect and Bowmanville, Ontario product was an NOJHL all-star goaltender for the North Bay Jr. Trappers in 2013-14 before that franchise moved to Mattawa in 2014.
The 26-year-old appeared in six games for Charlotte last season while spending the majority of the year in the ECHL with the Florida Everblades, where he went 10-7-3 with a 2.93 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage. A fourth-round pick by New Jersey in 2016, Cormier is 21-27-10 with a 3.18 goals-against average and an .894 save percentage in 59 AHL games for Binghamton, Manitoba and Charlotte and 41-43-15 with a 3.15 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage in 104 ECHL games for Adirondack, Newfoundland, Kalamazoo and Florida.
The 2013 Battalion fifth round pick was traded to the Saginaw Spirit in January of 2015 where he spent three seasons before turning pro.
