Springfield Thunderbirds sign forward TJ Tynan Signed a one-year contract with the American Hockey League through the 2026-27 season.
Tynan, one of the most decorated AHL players of the past decade, returned to Springfield in 2014 to begin his career. He has since tallied 113 goals and 579 assists for 692 points in 760 AHL games with the Springfield Falcons, Lake Erie/Cleveland Monsters, Chicago Wolves, Colorado Eagles and Ontario Reign.
Tynan ranks seventh in league history in assists, trailing only Willie Marshall (852), Fred Glover (814), Mike Nikoluk (686), Tim Tookey (621), Keith O’Coyne (613) and Cal O’Reilly (606). He is also one of only two players in his career (Art Stratton) to lead the league in assists four times in a single season.
The Orland Park, Ill., native won the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s Most Valuable Player in 2020-21 and 2021-22, becoming only the fifth player to win the honor in consecutive seasons. He was a postseason AHL All-Star in 2020-21 (Pacific Division), 2021-22 (first team) and 2022-23 (second team) and participated in the AHL All-Star Classic four times.
Tynan has nine goals and 42 assists for 51 points in 85 career playoff games in the AHL, winning the Calder Cup with Lake Erie in 2016 and reaching the Finals in 2019 with Chicago.
In the 2025-26 season, Tynan helped Colorado advance to the Western Conference Finals, scoring 14 points (2 goals, 12 assists) in 17 playoff games, while contributing 3 goals and 47 assists for 50 points in 67 regular season games.
Originally a third-round pick out of Columbus in the 2011 NHL Draft, Tynan played 31 games in the NHL with the Blue Jackets, Avalanche and Kings, recording two assists.
