The Ice Pirates have plundered another locked-out NHL forward.
Toronto Maple Leafs winger Clarke MacArthur has signed to Eispiraten Crimmitschau of Germany’s second-tier hockey league (ESBG) in the wake of the departure of Wayne Simmonds (Philadelphia Flyers) and Chris Stewart (St. Louis Blues) earlier this week.
MacArthur, a 27-year-old native of Lloydminster, Alta., is coming off back-to-back 20-goal seasons for the Leafs.
Simmonds and Stewart left the Eispiraten (Ice Pirates) as their 30-day contracts came to an end. The friends both signed to the Czech Elite League’s Liberec.
MacArthur is the third locked-out Maple Leaf to find work overseas, but the first to join a league outside of the KHL.
Magnitogorsk native Nikolai Kulemin is flourishing alongside Evgeni Malkin for his hometown club, and Mikhail Grabovski is playing with Pavel Datsyuk’s CSKA Moscow.