Opening night is almost three months away but the Railers have already signed and sealed 14 players whom they hope will help deliver them to their first playoff berth since 2018.
The latest group of four includes one very familiar face, two skaters who made appearances here last season and one newcomer. Matt DeMelis is the old friend. MacAuley Carson played half of the year and Dalton Duhart was in town for the Railers’ closing surge.
Matthew Hobbs is the new arrival.
The overall list of signed players includes DeMelis, Carson, Duhart and Hobbs as well as Riley Piercey, Riley Ginnell, Adam Samuelsson, Vinny Corcoran, Lincoln Hatten, Michael Suda, Declan McDonnell, Connor Federkow, Gabe Blanchard, and Anthony Repaci.
Worcester has yet to sign a goaltender, or at least announce one. The Railers expect to get help from St. Louis at that position.
Wednesday morning, in a move that might have an effect on Worcester’s roster for 2026-27, the Railers’ AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, announced they have signed defenseman Ryan Wheeler, the effectively ill-tempered captain of the Adirondack Thunder.
That puts Wheeler in the Blues organization. At the very least he won’t be playing for the other team and could wind up here. Wheeler played all 72 games for Adirondack last season while under contract to AHL Utica.
The signing of DeMelis, in particular, is another step in creating a Railers roster with a core of players who have been together for more than a little while. It will be his third year here. This will be Repaci’s sixth season, the fourth for Piercey, the third for both Hatten and Ginnell.
The have played a combined 711 games in a Worcester uniform.
Durability is also a common trait. Both Repaci and DeMelis played in all 72 games last year. Hatten skated in 68, Piercey in 65. Samuelsson was acquired after the season started and played in each of the Railers’ last 62 games.
DeMelis has made an impact during his two years in town. He has established two franchise records. DeMelis is the team ironman with a 113-game streak heading into October. He also owns the record for the most consecutive games without being penalized at 63.
DeMelis has been called for just four minor penalties in 132 career games.
The latest group of signees has also been among the Railers’ most effective skaters in overtime, an area that has been a strength for Worcester in recent seasons. The team has 19 OT goals in the last two years, 10 of them by these four players.
Last year, DeMelis set career highs in goals, assists and points with a final line of 19-23-42, barely missing the 20 goal milestone. His 68 all-time points are 11th in team history. He played five seasons at Northeastern before joining the Railers for 2024-25 and was on three Beanpot winners.
This will be Carson’s second pro season. He was acquired in a trade with Jacksonville in November, a deal that has turned out favorably for the Railers. They acquired him on November 24th, 2025. He missed much of December due to injury. When he returned to action Carson became one of the team’s most effective forwards.
He was the Booster Club’s 7th Player Award winner for the season and its Player of the Month for March. One reason for that was his Gordie Howe Hat Trick at Trois-Rivieres on March 7. Carson had a goal, assist and fighting major in a 6-4 defeat. He was plus-9 in 36 games, tied with Cam McDonald for second best on the Railers.
Anthony Callin was plus-11.
Duhart was a late-season addition. The Railers got him via a three-way trade with the Indy Fuel on March 18 and he skated in four games before the season ended. Worcester won all of them by combined scores of 17-5. Duhart was 1-1-2 and plus-2 in those games.
He was compensation for the early-season deal that sent Shrewsbury’s T.J. Walsh to Indy.
Hobbs, 27, has played in 229 games over five seasons as a professional, all but two of them in the Southern Professional Hockey League. The last four have been with the Evansville Thunderbolts where he has compiled 502 PIM during the regular season.
Beyond that, Hobbs has served as the Bolts’ captain for the last two years. Evansville won the league playoff championship both times. Last year he was 1-8-9 in 12 post-season games.
As they continue assemble a roster for next season the Railers are hoping it will have some post-season numbers on it as well.
Bill Ballou can be reached at vetgoalie@aol.com
