On July 9, 2014, the Winnipeg Jets traded his NHL rights to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft,[9] and three days later, on July 12, 2014, the Buffalo Sabres signed him to a one-year, entry-level contract.[10] The Sabres chose not to retain his rights after that season.[11]
On September 24, 2015, Samuels-Thomas was signed by the Ontario Reign.[12] He was briefly assigned to the Manchester Monarchs of the ECHL at the beginning of the season, but then was recalled back to the Reign.[13]
On December 30, 2017, while in the midst of his second season with the Gulls, Samuels-Thomas was released from his AHL contract after appearing in 18 games for two points.[14] On January 3, 2018, he signed his first contract abroad with Mladá Boleslav of the Czech Extraliga (ELH) until the end of the 2017–18 season.[15] After just four games with them Samuels-Thomas switched teams again and signed with Augsburger Panther of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga on January 25, 2018.[16]
As a free agent from the Panthers in the off-season, Samuels-Thomas moved to the neighboring Austrian Hockey League, agreeing to a one-year deal with Croatian-based KHL Medveščak Zagreb on August 1, 2018.[17] In the 2018–19 season, Samuels-Thomas contributed with 11 points through 17 games before opting to leave the club mid-season. On January 18, 2019, having returned to North America, he signed an AHL contract with the Hershey Bears for the remainder of the season and was immediately assigned to ECHL affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays.[18]
On September 29, 2019, approaching the 2019–20 season, Samuels-Thomas agreed to continue his career in the ECHL, signing with the Worcester Railers.[19] He registered 11 goals and 29 points in 33 games with the Railers, before leaving the club to return to Europe for the remainder of the season, agreeing to a contract with German DEL2 club, Heilbronner Falken on February 3, 2020.
Officiating career
On January 29, 2021, Samuels-Thomas ended his playing career after six professional seasons and began a career as an official.[20][21] He was hired on a minor-league contract by the NHL for the 2021–22 season, working a few preseason games with veteran officials.[22] His first game in the NHL was on April 14, 2022, between the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks.[2] Upon officiating the game, Samuels-Thomas became the third known Black official to work in the NHL after linesmen Jay Sharrers and Shandor Alphonso, and the first to be initially hired as a referee.[a] He also became the first African-American official, as Sharrers and Alphonso are Canadian.[22][21] The game’s other officials were referee Eric Furlatt, and linesmen Alphonso and Ryan Galloway.[23]
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