Blades Acquire Nolan Kneen From Allen Americans

ESTERO, Fla. - Florida Everblades General Manager Craig Brush, along with Director of Hockey Operations and Head Coach Brad Ralph, announced today the Everblades have acquired defenseman Nolan Kneen from the Allen Americans in exchange for forward Alex Aleardi.Kneen, 23, joins the Blades after playing 56 games with the Americans across two seasons and 18 games on loan to the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL). Kneen tallied eight goals and 12 assists in the 56 games with Allen. He registered one goal and five assists with Charlotte.Before turning professional, the Kelowna, British Columbia native played seven seasons in the Western Hockey League from 2014 to 2020, where he appeared with the Kamloops Blazers and the Saskatoon Blades. Kneen tallied 14 goals and 60 assists in 216 games with Kamloops, while registering 14 goals and 51 assists in 94 games with Saskatoon. Collectively, Kneen finished with six assists in 23 WHL postseason games. In addition, he served as an alternate captain with Kamloops for the 2018-19 season, as well as with Saskatoon for the 2019-20 season.Aleardi, 30, served as a crucial factor in the Everblades 2021-22 Kelly Cup season, tallying 31 goals and 28 assists in 61 regular-season games. He scored goals in four straight games from March 5-18, the longest consecutive game goal-scoring streak by a Blade last season. Aleardi also registered eight goals and four assists in the postseason, playing in all 20 games.The Fort Wayne, Indiana product joins the Americans after tallying 48 goals and 48 assists in 105 games as an Everblade. Previously, Aleardi donned an Everblades sweater in 2014-15, collecting nine goals and 16 assists in 24 games. Before his return to Southwest Florida last season, Aleardi played professionally in Sweden, Austria and France for six seasons from 2015-21, scoring 123 goals and notching 148 assists in 238 contests. 

Highlighted by the raising of the 2022 Kelly Cup Championship banner, the Everblades 25th Anniversary home opener is Saturday, October 29 at 7:00pm against the Jacksonville Icemen at Hertz Arena.

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