Icemen bring back Chukarov

Action photo of Ivan Chukarov of the Jacksonville Icemen

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Icemen, ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Buffalo Sabres and the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans, announced that the team has agreed to terms with defenseman Ivan Chukarov for the 2024-25 season.

Chukarov returns for a second in Jacksonville after posting career highs in points (28), goals (5) and assists (23) last season, earning the Icemen Defenseman of the Year Award last season.

The 29-year-old has totaled 60 points (11g-49a) with 96 penalty minutes in 219 career ECHL games split between the Icemen, Adirondack Thunder and Worcester Railers from 2018-24. During the 2022-23 season, Chukarov made one appearance with the AHL’s Utica Comets.

Prior to his professional career, Chukarov played four collegiate seasons at the University of UMass-Amherst totaling 25 points (6g-19a) and winning a Hockey East Conference regular-season title in 2019. Chukarov also won a Robertson Cup championship with the North American Hockey Leagye’s Minnesota Wilderness in 2015, capping off a 44-point season. The Des Plaines, Illinois resident was selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the seventh-round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.