Solar Bears add Carroll, Henault

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Solar Bears, ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning, have announced the signings of defensemen Ben Carroll and Louka Henault to contracts for the 2023-24 season. 

Carroll enters his fifth professional season and fourth in the ECHL. The 28-year-old appeared in 134 regular-season games and 12 playoff games for the Allen Americans from 2019-22, scoring 39 points (5g-34a). Last season, the Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada native played in 44 games for the Aalborg Pirates (Denmark) scoring 16 points (4g-12a). 

Carroll’s major junior hockey playing career for the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League spanned 180 regular-season games and 25 playoff games over four seasons from 2012-16 and included a WHL championship and Memorial Cup championship during the 2013-14 season. 

Carroll moved on to college hockey in 2016, committing to University of Alberta. The Golden Bears program won the USports University Cup Championship during the 2017-18 season. In 107 games at University of Alberta, Carroll tallied 42 points (6g-36a).

Henault, 22, will embark on his second professional season after spending the 2022-23 season with the Jacksonville Icemen. In 41 games, the Montreal, Quebec native scored 13 points (3g-10a) and accumulated 24 penalty minutes. 

Henault signed a one-year deal with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League in the summer of 2022 and attended New York Rangers development camp last July, before he was assigned to Jacksonville for the duration of the 2022-23 season. 

Prior to his professional career, Henault was a top scoring defenseman for the Windsor Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey League. During the 2021-22 season, he led the OHL in assists by defensemen with 57. He was voted the “Best Offensive Defenseman” in the OHL Coaches Poll that same season.  In 233 games over four seasons with the Spitfires, Henault racked up 128 points (11g-117a). He also appeared in 32 playoff games with the Spitfires, scoring 18 points (5g-13a).