Brandt and Perlini return as Devils sign three newcomers

Forward Brett PerliniJames Assinder

Brett Perlini has twice won gold with Team GB

Cardiff Devils have added five further players to their roster for the 2025-26 Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) season.

Brett Perlini and Riley Brandt have re-signed for the Welsh club, while forwards Connor Caponi and Cedric Lacroix along with netminder Christian Stoever have all signed on for the upcoming campaign.

Great Britain forward Perlini returns following a stellar 2024-25 season in which he netted a hat-trick in the Devils' Continental Cup final win.

Canadian forward Brandt originally joined Devils midway through the 2021-22 season.

Former USA Under-19 player Caponi had five seasons at the University of Denver, winning the NCAA national championship with them in 2022 and 2024.

Canadian forward Lacroix joins from Italian club HC Pusteral.

Stoever played four seasons at Bowling Green State University and earlier this year took up an amateur try-out contract with the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Head coach Paul Thompson joined the club's ownership to announce the new recruits at the Devils' annual summer meeting in Calgary, Canada.

Connor Caponi, Christian Stoever and Cedric Lacroix

Connor Caponi, netminder Christian Stoever and Cedric Lacroix

It brings the Devils playing squad so far for the forthcoming campaign up to 19, with six newcomers joining 13 players returning from last season's Continental Cup winning line-up.

Defencemen Josh Batch and Jarrod Gourley along with forward Tyler Busch have left the Welsh club.

The 2025-26 season will start in September, though Cardiff begin their pre-season campaign against French side Gap Raptors on 16 August.

They will begin their competitive campaign with games in the Challenge Cup, travelling to Nottingham Panthers on Saturday, 13 September before hosting Sheffield Steelers the following day.

The full schedule for the 2025-26 EIHL season will be published on Friday, 11 July.

How many players are there on an EIHL roster?

The overall number of players a team can use in one season is 25 players - excluding injured reserve replacements and 'two-way players'.

Clubs can register as many 'two-way players' as they wish but they must be homegrown, under the age of 25 and contracted primarily to an EIH (English Ice Hockey) or SIH (Scottish Ice Hockey) based team competing in a league lower than the EIHL.

A gameday roster can have a maximum of 20 players - 18 skaters and 2 goalies - with no more than 15 non-homegrown players.

All teams must have at least one British goaltender registered to their overall roster.

Cardiff Devils roster for 2025-26

New signings

  • Brandon Estes (USA, Defenceman)

  • Brodie Kay (Great Britain, Defenceman)

  • Tyson Helgesen (Canada, Defenceman)

  • Connor Caponi (USA, Forward)

  • Cedric Lacroix (Canada, Forward)

  • Christian Stoever (USA, Netminder)

Returning

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