Stingrays Acquire Beaudry In Trade With Wichita

The South Carolina Stingrays, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Washington Capitals and AHL’s Hershey Bears announced multiple transactions Friday afternoon ahead of three home games this weekend. The Rays completed a trade to acquire defenseman Jeremy Beaudry from the Wichita Thunder in exchange for forward Sam Fioretti and have also signed goaltender Jeff Jakaitis to an ECHL contract.

Beaudry, 25, is in his second professional season and has suited up for 48 games with the Thunder during 2018-19, posting 23 points on five goals and 18 assists. A year ago as a rookie, Beaudry had a standout campaign in which he totaled 37 points on 13 goals and 24 assists in 69 games. The native of Montmagny, Que. finished the 2017-18 season tied for sixth in the ECHL among defensemen with six power play goals and also contributed in the postseason with four points (1g, 3a) in six appearances.

Measuring 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds, Beaudry first joined Wichita at the end of the 2016-17 campaign after completing his third season at the University of Quebéc-Trois-Rivières. Before attending school, Beaudry had a short 4-game stint with the Brampton Beast during the 2014-15 season and played 152 games over three seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) with the Victoriaville Tigres, Sherbrooke Phoenix, Quebec Remparts and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles where he scored 95 total points on 42 goals and 53 assists. At the end of his rookie season in Wichita, Beaudry was the recipient of the 2017-18 ECHL Community Service Award.

Jakaitis returns to the club in a short-term role as South Carolina is without goaltender Adam Morrison who is on injured reserve as well as netminder Angus Redmond who was recalled to San Diego on Feb. 9. The former ECHL CCM Most Valuable Player MVP from the 2014-15 season previously played for South Carolina during four seasons from 2012-15 and 2017-18, helping lead the Stingrays to a Kelly Cup Finals appearance in 2015.

A native of Rochester, Minn., Jakaitis has appeared in 231 ECHL contests with four different teams during his pro career. His MVP campaign consisted of a record of 26-8-1-1, a goals against average of 1.96 and a save percentage at 0.924 as well as seven shutouts. Before turning pro, Jakaitis, 34, played collegiately at Lake Superior State from 2003-07 as well as with the United States Hockey League’s (USHL) Waterloo Black Hawks.

Fioretti is in his rookie professional season, signing with the Stingrays during the offseason after a 4-year career at Acadia University. The forward played in 41 games with South Carolina this year and accounted for 19 points on five goals and 14 assists.

The Stingrays are in action on Friday night for their first-ever matchup with the Newfoundland Growlers at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are on sale now!

To bring your group to the game, call the Stingrays Front Office at 843-744-2248! For single game tickets, visit ticketmaster.com.