Heartlanders bring back Walsh, add McDermott

Coralville, Iowa – The Iowa Heartlanders, ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild and American Hockey League's Iowa Wild, have signed forward T.J. Walsh and defenseman Elliott McDermott to contracts for the 2025-26 season.

Walsh led the Heartlanders with 43 points (18g-25a) in 66 games as a rookie with Iowa last season. The Shrewsbury, Massachusetts native spent five years skating in the NCAA, splitting time between Northeastern University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and Sacred Heart University. Across the three schools, Walsh put up 70 points in 142 games, earning him a two-game stint with the Orlando Solar Bears to conclude the 2023-24 campaign.

McDermott played college hockey with Colgate University, the University of Massachusetts, and RPI. He joins Iowa as a rookie, completing his final collegiate season at RPI with 18 points (3g-15a) in 35 games. He concluded the 2024-25 season with the Adirondack Thunder, where he put up one assist in five games.