Esmark 16U forward Ulianov signs NAHL Tender

The Esmark Stars AAA Hockey Club of the T1ER North American Prospects Hockey League have announced that Esmark Stars 16U AAA Hockey forward Vitaliy Ulianov has signed a North American Hockey League (NAHL) tender agreement with the Johnstown Tomahawks.

The 17-year-old forward from Yavoriv, Ukraine, has recorded ten points (2 goals and 4 assists), in 12 T1ER North American Prospects Hockey League games

Overall the 5'11" / 175 lbs. forward has tallied 95 points (50 goals, 45 assists), including seven power play and one shorthanded goal, in 107 games played for Esmark's U16 AAA Midget Minor squad.

The 2023-24 season is Ulianov’s third season overall with the Esmark Stars program.

During the 2022-23 season, Ulianov tallied 58 points (29 goals, 29 assists), including four power-play goals and six shorthanded goals, in 55 games played for the 15U Stars squad, helping lead Esmark to the U15 AAA Midget Minor T1ER Dixon Cup Championship.

During the 2021-22 season, Ulianov tallied 75 points (45 goals, 30 assists), including eight power-play and one short-handed goals, in 56 games played for the 14U Bantam Major Esmark squad.

"Vitaliy is an extremely gifted forward who mixes a combination of Eastern European skill with the North American style,” said Esmark 16U head coach Yuri Krivokhija. "Similar to McClaine, Vitaliy's continued development will provide Johnstown with a high-ended talented forward with the promise of being a solid offensive threat.”

Ulianov becomes the second member of the 2023-24 Esmark Stars U16 Midget Minor team and the sixth overall 2023-2024 Esmark Stars player to sign a tender with a Junior A club for the upcoming season.

Ulianov joins 16U teammate Emmet McClaine in signing a tender with the Tomahawks and joins U18 Esmark Stars Alex Thomas (Colorado Grit), Max Rutkowski (Oklahoma Warriors), Timur Naletov (Danbury Hat Tricks) and Mykyta Yalovyi (Lone Star Brahmas), who had all previously signed tender agreements with the NAHL teams.

Johnstown, who is in the NAHL's nine-team East Division along with the Danbury Hat Tricks (CT), Maine Nordiques, Maryland Black Bears, New Hampshire Mountain Kings, New Jersey Titans, Northeast (MA) Generals, Philadelphia (PA) Rebels and Rochester (NY) Jr Americans, play in the Johnstown War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, PA, and are led by Head Coach Michael Letizia.

 

Click here to see a list of T1ER tenders for the 2023-24 season

 

A tender is a contract, of sorts, a player signs announcing his intentions to play for that particular NAHL team and that NAHL team only. Once a player signs a tender with an NAHL team, his playing rights belong to that team within the NAHL and he may not be recruited by any other NAHL team. Each team is granted ten (10) tenders, which include two (2) tenders exclusively used on players from the T1ER - plus or minus any trades - which became active on November 1st. Tendered players are not eligible for the 2024 NAHL Draft.