Two years ago, Tyler Higgins brought some size and grit to the Bomber blueline. Now he’ll be tasked with doing the same in the land of mountains, cheese and cuckoo clocks.
Higgins has signed for the upcoming season with SC Langenthal, a team in the Swiss league system. While he grew up in Canada and has never played for a non-Canadian team, Higgins has Swiss citizenship through his family and will not be affected by limits on how many imported players Swiss teams can sign.
Joining the Bombers in 2018-19, Higgins played 24 games in maroon and white, then added nine more games in the playoffs. After aging out of junior hockey, Higgins headed to York Univ. where he played a season of USports hockey before going pro.
Higgins’ contract runs until 2022, allowing him to play with the club for two seasons.
Only a handful of former Bombers are contracted to play pro hockey this season. Jesse Mychan has signed a deal to play with the AHL’s Iowa Wild, the top minor league affiliate of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, while Josh Manson, who played a pair of games in maroon and white as a U18 affiliated player, will take his spot with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. Former Bomber Michael Knaub will be a part of the Heilbronner Falken of the German second division league, while ex-Bomber star forward Andrew Johnston will play for Bordeaux in the French league. Joel Kocur has signed his first professional contract out of college with the ECHL’s Worcester Railers. Tanner Eberle, another former affiliated player, will join the U.K.-based EIHL’s Sheffield Steelers.
Another former affiliated player, goalie Connor Ingram, will compete for a roster spot with the NHL’s Nashville Predators when the new NHL season begins. Ingram played twice with the Bombers in 2013-14 before going the major junior route, being drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning and joining the pros.
