Monsters sign Brett Gallant, Adam Helewka, Cole Clayton to AHL deals

Jun 16, 2021

The Cleveland Monsters, top affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets, announced Wednesday that the club signed forwards Brett Gallant and Adam Helewka, along with rookie defenseman Cole Clayton, to one-year AHL contracts for the 2021-22 season. In 17 appearances for the Monsters last season, Gallant posted 2-0-2 with 41 penalty minutes and a -1 rating while Helewka supplied 3-9-12 with four penalty minutes and a -12 rating in 25 appearances for Cleveland. In 23 appearances for the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers last season, Clayton logged 9-21-30 with 22 penalty minutes and a +4 rating.

 

A 6’0”, 192 lb. left-shooting native of Summerside, PE, Gallant posted 17 penalty minutes in four NHL appearances for the New York Islanders during the 2013-14 season and logged 16-14-30 with 1,393 penalty minutes and a -50 rating in 410 career AHL apperances for the Syracuse Crunch, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and Cleveland spanning parts of 12 seasons from 2009-21. In parts of two ECHL seasons, Gallant posted 2-3-5 with 317 penalty minutes and a -5 rating in 63 appearances for the Elmira Jackals and Reading Royals from 2009-11. Prior to his professional career, Gallant notched 8-4-12 with 439 penalty minutes and a -10 rating in 131 appearances for the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs spanning parts of three seasons from 2005-08.

 

A 6’2”, 205 lb. left-shooting native of Burnaby, BC, Helewka, 25, was originally selected by the San Jose Sharks in the fourth round (106th overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. In 214 career AHL appearances for the San Jose Barracuda, Tucson Roadrunners, Milwaukee Admirals, and the Monsters spanning parts of five seasons from 2015-19 and 2020-21, Helewka notched 47-83-130 with 83 penalty minutes and a -21 rating and appeared in two games for the ECHL’s Allen Americans during the 2016-17 campaign.

 

Helewka’s European professional experience includes stints with the KHL’s Barys Nur-Sultan (8 GP, 1-2-3, 2 PIM, +1) and the SHL’s Linköping HC (38 GP, 6-10-16, 16 PIM) during the 2019-20 season and a 25-game stretch with Slovakia’s HKM Zvolen (3-6-9, 10 PIM, -10) last year. Prior to his professional career, Helewka supplied 119-119-238 with 160 penalty minutes and a +56 rating in 244 WHL appearances for the Spokane Chiefs and the Red Deer Rebels spanning parts of four seasons from 2012-16.

 

A 6’2”, 209 lb. right-shooting native of Strathmore, AB, Clayton, 21, contributed 17-71-88 with 129 penalty minutes and a +27 rating in 214 appearances for Medicine Hat spanning parts of five seasons from 2015-16 and 2017-21.

 

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