Royals agree to terms with rookie defenseman Liberati

Reading, Pa. – The Reading Royals, ECHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, announced that the team has agreed to terms with defenseman Miles Liberati.

Liberati, who hails from Cheswick, Pa., will be entering his first season of pro hockey. Last year, he split the season between the North Bay Battalion and Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League, where he registered a total of 46 points (15g-31a)) and 38 penalty minutes in 66 games. Despite playing only 42 games with Kitchener after being traded from North Bay in late November, Liberati still led the Rangers’ defensemen with 30 points (7g-23a). In nine post-season games with Kitchener, Liberati added four points (1g-3a) and six penalty minutes.

A seventh-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Liberati began his major junior career in 2012-13 with the London Knights, who won the OHL championship and advanced to the Memorial Cup Tournament that season. The next year, Liberati was traded mid-season by the Knights to North Bay, where he promptly scored eight goals (which led all defensemen on the team) in 43 games. He also played in the 22 postseason games that it took for the Battalion to claim the OHL Eastern Conference title before getting knocked off in the league finals. The next year, 2014-15, Liberati was second amongst defensemen on North Bay with 38 points (11g-27a) in 67 regular-season games. In 240 career regular season games in major junior, Liberati racked up 106 points (38g-68a) and 141 penalty minutes.