Duggan commits to eighth season with Cardiff Devils

BBCSat, June 6, 2026 at 8:03 AM UTC·2 min read

Forward Sam Duggan has re-signed for an eighth season with Cardiff Devils.

Since joining the club as a 20-year-old, Duggan has played over 460 games and lifted the play-off championship trophy three times.

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He has also featured in more than 40 games for Great Britain.

Duggan joins veteran defenceman and fellow GB international Mark Richardson in commiting for the 2026-27 season.

Richardson, 39, has spent 18 seasons at the Devils across three spells, having first joined in 2005-06.

He won three Challenge Cups, two league titles and four play-off titles and also led them to play-off success in 2022 and the IIHF Continental Cup in 2025.

Gleason Fournier and Evan Mosey have also agreed to stay with Devils, while fellow defenceman Nick Welsh joins from Manchester Storm.

Bayley Harewood has been given his first a full-time deal after playing the last five seasons on two-way contracts, mostly with Bristol Pitbulls.

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• Devils beat Steelers 5-2 to win Play-Offs Final

Many EIHL players sign single-season contracts - but the majority of Devils' play-off winning squad will be expected to return for the coming season starting in September.

However, after a partially successful first season as head coach, there will be great interest in the changes head coach Paul Thompson makes to his squad with the aim of winning a first regular season league title since 2018.

Cardiff Devils 2026-27 - confirmed so far

Gleason Fournier (Canada)

Ryan Barrow (Canada)

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How many players are there on an EIHL roster?

The overall number of players a team can use in one season is 25 - excluding injured reserve replacements and 'two-way players'.

Clubs can register as many 'two-way players' as they wish but they must be homegrown, under the age of 25 and contracted primarily to an EIH (English Ice Hockey) or SIH (Scottish Ice Hockey) based team competing in a league lower than the EIHL.

A gameday roster can have a maximum of 20 players - 18 skaters and 2 goalies - with no more than 15 non-homegrown players.

All teams must have at least one British goaltender registered to their overall roster.

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Cardiff Devils 2025-26 roster

Ben Bowns (Great Britain)

Christian Stoever (USA)

Tyson Helgesen (Canada)

Steven MacLean (Canada)

Mark Richardson (Great Britain)

Ben Davies (Great Britain)

Sam Duggan (Great Britain)

Brett Ferguson (Canada)

Bayley Harewood (Great Britain)

Kristoff Kontos (Canada)

Cedric Lacroix (Canada)

Josh MacDonald (Canada)

Kohen Olischefski (Canada)

Brett Perlini (Great Britain)