Worcester Railers Announce Trade, Two Defensive Signings
ECHL Worcester Railers HC

Worcester Railers Announce Trade, Two Defensive Signings

Published on December 29, 2025 under ECHL (ECHL)
Worcester Railers HC News Release


WORCESTER, Mass. - The Worcester Railers Hockey Club (@RailersHC), proud ECHL (@ECHL) affiliate of the New York Islanders (@NYIslanders), and Head Coach & General Manager Nick Tuzzolino, announced today that goaltender Luke Pavicich has been acquired from the Kalamazoo Wings in exchange for future considerations, while defensemen Lazarus Kaebel & Connor Federkow have each been signed from the Birmingham Bulls and Evansville Thunderbolts respectively of the Southern Professional Hockey League.

Pavicich, 23, returns to Worcester after having attended the team's 2025 training camp to begin the 2025-26 season. While with Kalamazoo, the Clarence Center, NY native played in seven games and amassed a 3.34 goals against average to go with a .902 save percentage and a 2-4-1 record. Pavicich played four seasons of NCAA Division I hockey between the UMass Minutemen, UMass-Lowell Riverhawks, and Arizona State University Sun Devils. In 67 career collegiate games, Pavicich recorded a 2.89 goals against average to go with a .908 save percentage and a 25-31-4 record. He was part of the 2021-22 UMass Minutemen team that won their second consecutive Hockey East Tournament Championship.

Pavicich played two seasons of junior hockey prior to college. With the Kenai River Brown Bears of the North American Hockey League, he recorded a 2.86 GAA, .919 SV%, and 19-14-1 record. In the Ontario Junior Hockey League, he had a 3.42 GAA along with a .888 SV% and a 20-16-0 record. Pavicich played in three games with the Orlando Solar Bears following his collegiate career where he recorded a 3.48 GAA, .866 SV%, and a 1-1-0 record.

Kaebel, 24, comes to Worcester amidst his rookie season in the SPHL. The Prior Lake, MN native has played 12 games this year between the Peoria Rivermen and the Birmingham Bulls, where he's recorded five assists and 26 penalty minutes to go with a +1 rating.

Prior to playing professional hockey, the 6'3", 220 lb defenseman played three seasons of collegiate hockey in the American Collegiate Hockey Association for Liberty University. In three seasons with Liberty, Kaebel had 51 points (17G, 34A) in 72 games played.

Federkow, 22, arrives in Worcester for his second stint in the ECHL. The St. Catherines, ON native played in 20 games for the Iowa Heartlanders during the 2024-25 season where he totaled one goal to go with 24 penalty minutes. Federkow has six points (4G, 2A) in 21 games played for the Thunderbolts this season.

Prior to playing professional hockey, the 5'10", 187 lb defenseman Spent three seasons in the Ontario Hockey league between the London Knights and the Niagara IceDogs. In 153 OHL games, Federkow had 18 points (4G, 14A) to go with 225 penalty minutes. During the 2022-23 season with the Knights, Federkow played in 18 playoff games during London's run to the OHL finals where they lost to the Peterborough Petes in six games.

Worcester Regional Airport is the official airport of the Worcester Railers HC and presenting partner of all Railers transactions.

508 Club Memberships are now on sale for the 2025-26 season! Get access to games this season, exclusive events and additional benefits by calling the Railers front office at 508-365-1750 or by visiting RailersHC.com.

Check out the Worcester Railers HC Statistics

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