Philadelphia Flyers forward Tom Sestito announced over Twitter on Monday afternoon that he will be joining the Sheffield Steelers of the Elite Ice Hockey League based out of the United Kingdom.
Sestito will join Drew Miller of the Detroit Red Wings (who will be playing for the Braehead Clan) and Anthony Stewart of the Carolina Hurricanes (signed to play for the Nottingham Panthers), as the only current NHL players signed to play in the EIHL. The players are playing overseas due to the lockout that was enacted by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Sept. 15 after the league and its Players Association failed to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement.
Sestito signed a one-year contract extension with Philadelphia this past offseason that was going to pay him $605,000 for 2012-13. Here is what SB Nation's Flyers blog, Broad Street Hockey had to say about his decision to play in the EIHL:
Sestito should be a solid player in the EIHL. The level of play has been compared to that of the ECHL in the United States in the past, and that's proven in the experience of the team's current roster. The Steelers roster has 938 games of AHL experience and just 76 games of NHL experience, not counting Sestito.
Sheffiled is currently in first place with a 5-3-0-1 overall record.
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