In Breton, Perfetto, Aces re-sign 2 forwards whose offense is trending up

The Alaska Aces have trended down of late — consecutive nonplayoff seasons and declining attendance have followed the third Kelly Cup in franchise history — and Tuesday they announced the signings of two returning forwards whose offensive production has trended up.

Returning to the ECHL hockey club are third-year left wing Justin Breton, the club's leading goal scorer last season, and second-year center Stephen Perfetto, its second-leading scorer as a rookie.

The return of Breton and Perfetto bring to 15 the numbers of players announced for the club's 14th season on the minor-league circuit, and 14 of them are returners. The breakdown among the 15: eight forwards, five defensemen, two goaltenders.

Alaska will continue to announce more signings, as it has done almost weekly since late June. It also expects to receive several players, including a goaltender, courtesy of its affiliations with the NHL's Vancouver Canucks and the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League.

The speedy Breton, 27, last season more than doubled his goal production from his rookie season with the Aces. He racked 23-18—41 totals in 66 games and earned his first AHL promotion, getting two games with the Manitoba Moose.

"It kind of clicked for him last season," said Aces coach Rob Murray. "Expectations are he's going to be even better this season."

Perfetto, 25, as a rookie last season was one of two Aces who played all 72 games. He earned 15-33—48 totals, and was particularly productive in the final 24 games of the season, going 6-16—22 in that span. That spike in production came after he was promoted to the first line when center Tim Coffman suffered a season-ending injury.

"He really showed us he can be a very good player at this level, and we leaned on him last year," Murray said.

Breton and Perfetto also give the Aces two experienced penalty-killing forwards who can use their speed to pressure opponents.

The Aces are aiming for a resurrection. They won three Kelly Cups in their first 11 ECHL seasons and only once failed to get past the first round of the playoffs. In seven of those 11 seasons, they advanced to the conference finals, which features the final four teams.

Alaska has failed to make the playoffs two straight seasons and last season suffered the first losing campaign (27-38-7) in its ECHL history. Average attendance at Sullivan Arena has fallen 17.1 percent in the last two seasons — the Aces last season averaged 3,829 fans per game. ECHL average attendance has dropped 6.8 percent in that same span.