The Charlotte Checkers, the Florida Panthers AHL affiliate, have handed out a pair of minor league contracts.

The newest addition to the Checkers roster is center Phillip Tresca, while the club has also re-signed winger Riley Hughes. 

Riley Hughes, the son of Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes, was originally a seventh-round pick of the New York Rangers in 2018. Hughes never played for the Rangers organization, spending four seasons in the NCAA, three of which were played with Northeastern University. 

Hughes has spent the past two seasons with the Panthers organization. In 2024-25, he split the season between the ECHL and AHL, but in 2025-26, he spent the entire campaign in the ECHL with the Savannah Ghost Pirates, scoring 15 goals and 33 points in 57 games. 

The 26-year-old Hughes is a 6-foot-1, right-handed winger who will be hoping to carve out a permanent role in the AHL this season, rather than the ECHL. 

Tresca is a 24-year-old right-handed center who recently completed four years at Harvard. Throughout his college career, Tresca notched 16 goals and 46 points in 111 games. 

Tresca will make his professional debut this season, although his career could likely start in the ECHL before the AHL. 

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