Prior to Wednesday night's game against Birmingham, Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations Jeff Bes announced a trio of transactions, led by the signing of defensemen Dmitri Yushkevich and Beren Simard to standard contracts.
Yushkevich previously played for the Thunderbolts in the 2023-24 season after a brief two game stint in the ECHL with Wichita, scoring 4 goals and 15 points while registering a +6 rating in 51 regular season games, before playing a significant role in Evansville's playoff upset of the Birmingham Bulls, scoring two goals and adding two assists in the five playoff games against Birmingham and Peoria. Yushkevich, who was born in Toronto, Ontario but holds both Canadian and Russian citizenship, played with Molot Perm of the VHL in Russia in 2024-25, recording 4 assists in 28 games. Overall, Yushkevich has played in 233 games in the VHL, Russia's second-highest ranked professional league, scoring 10 goals and 41 points since 2017-18, while also skating in 4 KHL games in 2017-18 with Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk.
Simard, a native of Montreal, Quebec, turns professional with the Thunderbolts after two seasons of junior hockey in the MJAHL with West Kent, Campbellton, and Yarmouth from 2023-2025, scoring 8 goals and 48 points in 98 regular season games. Simard also played just over one full season in the QMJHL with Charlottetown and Drummondville between 2021-2023, skating in 44 games and tallying 1 assist.
In additional transaction news, defenseman John Woernle has been placed on 14-Day injured reserve.