ESTERO, FL – The Florida Everblades have signed defenseman Riese Zmolek to a standard player contract for the 2026-27 season.
Zmolek, 29, re-joins Florida for his fourth season with the Everblades. Last season, the Rochester, Minnesota, native joined the team late in the regular season and played only nine games, getting three assists. In the playoffs, he added another four assists over 20 games to help the Everblades win the Kelly Cup
In three seasons with Florida, the left-shot defenseman has skated in 107 games, scoring four goals and notching 24 assists in that span. He won the Kelly Cup with the Blades in 2024 and 2026.
Zmolek began his professional career with two seasons with the Iowa Heartlanders, garnering five goals and 22 assists over 78 games, while serving as the team’s captain in his second season. The left-shot blueliner has also played 22 AHL games in his career, split between the Iowa Wild and Rochester Americans, getting one goal and three assists.
Prior to turning pro, Zmolek played four seasons of collegiate hockey at Minnesota State, being named the team’s captain for his senior year. He also wore a letter in his junior days with the USHL’s Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, where he spent two seasons. Zmolek won the Curt Hammer Award as the USHL’s Gentleman of the Year in 2017.
Zmolek’s father Doug played 467 NHL games with the San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Los Angeles Kings, and Chicago Blackhawks over a nine-year NHL career. Reise’s brother Will plays in the AHL with the Iowa Wild, while his other brother Bennett is captain at the University of North Dakota.
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