Belfast Giants: Angeli, Gilbert and Soy sign for Elite League champions
- Published
David Gilbert impressed for Rouen last season and won the Ligue Manus most goals award
Tyler Soy has re-signed for Belfast Giants while Darik Angeli and David Gilbert are new arrivals for the Elite League champions.
American winger Angeli arrives in Belfast to make his teal debut fresh off an ECHL Kelly Cup victory with Florida Everblades,
David Gilbert is a Canadian forward who can play across the line and he joins after a high scoring season in France.
Soy returns following a 34-point debut season in 2021/22.
Angeli, 31, moved to Everglades for the tail end of last season in a trade deal, the result of a high scoring campaign with the Kansas City Mavericks which saw him tied fifth in the ECHL for total points and third overall for goals scored.
"I believe I'm a big, fast, skilled forward - I think I'm a good locker room guy and I can bring a lot of tools to the game to help us win this season," he said.
Darik Angeli lit the lamp 28 times in 2021/22 and added 37 assists for 65 total points in 56 games
"I was speaking to Adam (Keefe) for a while, and how he spoke about the Giants hit all the boxes - especially the fans, and the championship wins last year.
"I want to keep that winning tradition going and competing in the CHL (Champions Hockey League) influenced my decision too."
Gilbert's prolific finishing earned him the Ligue Manus most goals award last season and his CV boasts 54 AHL games and 199 ECHL games before his move to Europe.
He said: "Earlier in my career, I played centre a lot as I was responsible defensively and I was good on face off.
"Then, during my first year in Europe when I was playing in Bordeaux, the coach decided to put me on wing, and I saw my production offensively going up and I've played there ever since.
"My strengths lie in my offensive skills, my shot, finding gaps in front of the opponent's net, and ability to score goals.
"I had a pretty good season last year at Rouen in terms of performance, so I'm going into this season in Belfast with the same mindset and I can't wait to get started."