Troy Lajeunesse and Kyle Osterberg to depart from Fife and sign for Belfast Giants, sources say.
Troy Lajeunesse has been mentioned lots this offseason; firstly rumoured to sign for Sheffield Steelers then rumoured to return to Fife Flyers after unsuccessful talks with Steelers (However, talks supposedly never happened according to David Simms [the announcer and media manager for the Sheffield Steelers]). Kyle Osterberg has been rumoured to be departing the Fife Flyers and signing for Belfast Giants since 18th April 2024.
Last season leading point scorers for the Fife Flyers were Troy Lajeunesse and Kyle Osterberg; both who arrived in Kirkcaldy from high end leagues. Osterberg joined the Flyers after a short but sweet season with Eisbären Regensburg in DEL2 where he played 23 games putting up 18 points; averaging 0.78 points per game. Lajeunesse signed from the USport league and East Coast Hockey League where he played a total of 24 games between the two putting up 36 points total; averaging 1.5 points per game.
Lajeunesse hit the road running in the 23/24 season, averaging 1.2 points per game in the first 10 games of the season, putting up points in 9/10 games. Lajeunesse was quick to become a fan favourite in the Auld Barn as for a long time; maybe since Carlo FInucci’s departure the fans had seen such an offensive skilled player. The Flyers fans will remember one goal the most and that would be the one timer with 2 seconds left on the clock in regulation to tie the game 3-3 against the Coventry Blaze. Sean Giles won the puck in the defensive saucer passing it up to Collin Shirley who was breaking down the wing who hit a hard pass the puck to the right side of the ice pad to Troy Lajeunesse who one timed it home (Flyers would go onto win that game 4-3 in overtime).
Kyle Osterberg was no different as he put up 5 points in his first game for the Fife Flyers on October 1st 2023 and 4 of them were assists, cementing himself as the team's playmaker which he was along with Lucas Chiodo (who has re-signed for the Fife Flyers). Osterberg would play 57 games across all EIHL competitions putting up 61 points meaning he averaged 1.07 points per game the 4th highest point per game average (1st: 2009/10 2.28 PPG, 2nd: 2019/20 1.81 PPG, 3rd: 2017/18 1.10 PPG and 2023/24 1.07 PPG). Sadly during the 23/24 season Osterberg (along with the Nottingham Panthers and various other players) he lost his friend Adam Johnson (AJ47 💛) which was tough for him to go through as he had played with Johnson on various occasion and they were quite close to each other. In honour of Johnson; Osterberg decided to change his warm up jersey number and name to 47 Johnson which was one of the most heart warming things we could see in our sport. Not long after teams returned to the ice Osterberg scored a goal and pointed to the sky above saying this goal was for you Johnson, this celebration was more than just celebrating a goal but this had emotions behind it; all that night was about AJ47. Osterberg had a great season being in the top 10 for points overall.
If both these players depart to sign for the Belfast Giants; the Fife Flyers will have a large void to fill for the 24/25 season as their top two forwards will no longer be there. We strongly believe if rumours are true Coolen will be able to replace them as he is a brilliant recruiter as we have seen. Belfast Giants is a well suited team for Lajeunesse and Osterberg as their skill levels fit right into their top six forwards as they aim to chase another grand slam after failing to defend it last season.
This offseason is proving to be full of major signings and departures and it can only get better as we progress through it.
Wrote by Calan Yule
Proofread by Will Harris
Edited by Calan Yule & Will Harris
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