Orzeck, Broetzman and Campoli re-up on ECHL deals

Coralville, Iowa – Defenseman Nolan Orzeck and forwards Alec Broetzman and Nick Campoli have agreed to 2023-24 ECHL contracts with the Iowa Heartlanders, Head Coach and General Manager Derek Damon announced Thursday.All three skaters were on Iowa’s roster last season. Orzeck topped the Landers with 28 assists and led team defensemen with 34 points. Broetzman skated in 39 games and tallied 19 points (8g) with Iowa. Campoli skated in the Heartlanders’ first 12 games last season and contributed one goal and three points.The additions give Iowa 11 players signed to ECHL deals this season (7 forwards, 3 defensemen, 1 goaltender). Of those 11 players, nine have at least a season of professional experience. Eight of the 11 skated for Iowa last season.Iowa opens the 2023-24 season vs. the Rapid City Rush on Fri., Oct. 20 at 7:05 p.m. Season ticket memberships, mini-plans, partial plans and group tickets are available for the 2023-24 season by visiting iowaheartlanders.com/tickets and by calling 319-569-4625.2023-24 RosterForwards (7): Yuki Miura, Tanner MacMaster, Jesse Jacques, Mike Knaub, Davis Koch, Nick Campoli, Alec BroetzmanDefensemen (3): Kevin McKernan, Chris Lipe, Nolan OrzeckGoaltenders (1): Peyton JonesHead Coach and General Manager Derek Damon:“Bringing back Nolan, Alec and Nick is great for the outlook of our team. Nolan was one of our best development stories last season and really started to understand how to thrive in the pro game as the year unfolded. He’s one of the best skating defensemen in our league and with a strong summer will continue to add tools that’ll flash in his second year. Alec also demonstrated the hard-nosed, relentless kind of player he can be and was rewarded for it by playing in a number of situations for us. Nick had a good start to his career last year and has spent the last few months making sure he’s in great shape and healthy so he can thrive in October. I think what stands out about our roster right now is that we’ve been able to grow from where we were over the last few off seasons. Players know this is a great city and arena to play in and we’ve seen that with the number of returners and also experienced new faces we’ve added.” 

Need to know Orzeck enters his second full season after being one of the best point-producing young blue liners in the league; he finished third among rookie defensemen in points (34) last season and 20th overall the ECHL. He has the most points by a Heartlanders defenseman ever and led Iowa with 16 power-play assists last season. The right-handed shot played in the WHL from 2018-22 with Kootenay (2018-19) and Winnipeg (2019-22). In 2021-22, Orzeck registered 43 points (6g) and a plus-62 rating, the highest of any player at the major junior level and the best in the WHL since 2018-19.Broetzman was a two-time captain at Michigan Tech prior to signing with Iowa. The Hudson, WI native stands 6-foot and weighs 201 pounds. He led the Huskies in goals as a sophomore and junior and generated 43 goals over a four-season NCAA career. Prior to the NCAA, Broetzman spent three years with the USHL’s Madison Capitols.Campoli is a former NHL draft pick by Vegas (2017, 6th round, 158th overall). He joined Iowa last summer after completing his NCAA tenure at Clarkson (2018-22). Campoli scored his first professional goal in Iowa’s first win of the 2022-23 season vs. Fort Wayne on Nov. 6. At Clarkson, Campoli racked up 29 career points (14g). He skated in all but eight games over his four seasons at Clarkson.