International Notes: Keeper, Bergman, Asselin

After spending last season on a two-way deal with the Canadiens, defenseman Brady Keeper is headed to Slovakia on a one-year deal with HK Poprad, the team announced.

Keeper, 28, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Panthers out of Maine in 2019 and stayed mostly in the minors, only suiting up for the big club twice before his entry-level contract expired in 2021. Injuries have limited him to 57 combined regular-season AHL games over the past three years, during which he’s spent time in the Canadiens and Canucks organizations.

He had a goal and three assists with 53 PIMs and a +1 rating in 22 games for Montreal’s affiliate in Laval last season. Poprad, which had the best regular-season record in the Slovak Extraliga last season, will be his first overseas stop.

Some other notable international signings to come across the wire today:

• Former Sharks prospect Julius Bergman is continuing his tour of his native Sweden, now landing with Nybro Vikings IF on a three-year contract. The 28-year-old Stockholm native had his rights dealt to the Senators and Rangers before opting to return home in 2019 after a four-year professional career spent entirely in the AHL. He’s played mostly for Swedish clubs but finished last season in Slovakia with HC Slovan Bratislava, where he had three points in 10 games. He’ll suit up for Nybro now, which plays in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan. The 2014 second-round pick of San Jose previously had 19 points in 75 Allsvenskan games for Karlskrona HK and Sodertalje SK.
• Center Samuel Asselin, once an undrafted free agent signing by the Bruins, is heading over to Switzerland’s HC Sierre on a two-year deal. Asselin, 26, spent last season on an AHL contract with the Islanders’ affiliate in Bridgeport after being non-tendered by Boston in 2023. He wasn’t much of a factor, contributing six goals and 16 points in 52 games on one of the AHL’s worst teams. The 5’11”, 183-lb forward will look to play a pivotal role for Sierre, which suits up in the second-tier Sky Swiss League.