The Texas Stars have signed forwards Nick Baptiste, Cole Schneider, Nick Moutrey, Derek Barach, Nikita Scherbak and Josh Melnick to American Hockey League contracts for the 2020-21 season.
Baptiste skated in 35 AHL games between the Toronto Marlies and the Belleville Senators last season, totaling four goals and seven assists for 11 points.
In 265 games over five AHL seasons with Rochester, Milwaukee, Toronto and Belleville, Baptiste has recorded 63 goals and 64 assists for 127 points. He was a third-round pick by Buffalo in the 2013 NHL Draft, and has seven goals and three assists in 47 career NHL games with the Sabres.
Schneider is coming off a 2019-20 season in which he tallied 18 goals and 28 assists for 46 points in 54 games with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, good for second on the team in scoring.
Schneider has skated in 543 AHL games with Binghamton, Rochester, Hartford and Milwaukee, recording 168 goals and 243 assists for 411 points. He was an AHL All-Star in 2017.
Schneider has also appeared in six career NHL contests with Buffalo, notching one assist.
Moutrey tallied five goals and six assists for 11 points in 52 games with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs last season.
In 253 career AHL games with Lake Erie/Cleveland, Belleville and Rockford, Moutrey has notched 25 goals and 30 assists for 55 points. He was a member of the Monsters’ Calder Cup championship team as a rookie in 2015-16.
Moutrey was a fourth-round pick by Columbus in the 2013 NHL Draft.
Barach appeared in 47 games as a rookie with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters last season and registered seven goals and six assists for 13 points.
He made his pro debut with Cleveland following his senior season at Mercyhurst College in 2018-19 and posted seven goals and four assists in 11 regular-season games, as well as one goal in eight Calder Cup Playoff games.
Scherbak returns to North America after spending the 2019-20 season in the KHL with Omsk and Chelyabinsk. He has compiled 32 goals and 74 assists for 106 points in 168 career AHL games with St. John’s, Laval and Ontario.
A first-round pick by Montreal in the 2014 NHL Draft, Scherbak has six goals and two assists in 37 career NHL contests with the Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings.
Melnick spent his rookie season with Texas in 2019-20, recording five goals and 11 assists for 16 points in 55 games.
He also logged three assists in 11 games with the Stars in 2018-19 after completing his collegiate career at Miami University.