Nick Seitz’s ill-fated Sheffield Steelers career is over — and the American now finally has the chance to build on his blistering rookie year.
Seitz scored 59 points (30 goals, 29 assists) in 54 regular-season appearances for the Coventry Blaze last season, parlaying his offensive output into a one-year deal with perennial title contenders Sheffield.
But his northward move never looked like working out.
Seitz quickly found himself as the Steelers’ odd-man-out, falling into a bottom-six role before becoming a healthy scratch.
The 25-year-old provided just one assist in seven games for Aaron Fox’s side, which paved the way for the mutual termination of his contract on Friday [30 October].
From Yorkshire, his next stop is Surrey.
The Guildford Flames wasted no time in plucking Seitz from free agency, with head coach Paul Dixon relieved to sign the New York native amid his team’s injury struggles.
“We obviously have had a brutal injury run lately, so this is an important addition in terms of numbers,” he explained, “but Nick had an unbelievable season last year in our league and he will be a massive boost to our forward group.”
Who is Guildford Flames forward Nick Seitz?
Seitz is a product of the NCAA, in which he played four seasons for Princeton University.
While the left-shot forward’s first collegiate season only yielded two assists in 25 regular-season games, he subsequently recorded 9-, 15-, and 23-point campaigns to record 49 points (17 goals, 312 assists) in 114 games.
Seitz joined the Coventry Blaze for the 2024-25 season, finishing the campaign ranked third in goals (30), third in points (59), and 20th in assists (29) league-wide.
Nick Seitz, Guildford Flames (Image: Scott Wiggins)
He signed a one-year deal with Sheffield on 15 July, providing one assist in seven games before cutting ties with the Steelers.
Why didn’t Nick Seitz succeed with the Sheffield Steelers?
For Seitz and the Steelers, it got late very, very early.
After failing to secure a top-six role during the team’s pre-season training camp, the former Princeton Tiger dropped to the bottom of the line-up and never looked like scoring.
Unlike Sheffield’s Evan Jasper-led third-line, which has scored in bucketloads to start the year, combinations featuring Seitz were often hemmed in the defensive zone.
And with the Steelers signing Seitz for his scoring touch, his low output made an early exit an inevitability.
Fox is at least partly to blame for that failure.
He signed one of the hottest goal-scoring commodities in the Elite League and quickly healthy scratched him into oblivion.
If Seitz hits the mark in Guildford, questions should be asked of Fox’s asset management.
Will Nick Seitz rebound with the Guildford Flames?
Yes.
Seitz performed poorly during his time in Sheffield — but his skill didn’t evaporate over the offseason.
Nick Seitz, Guildford Flames (Image: Scott Wiggins)
With the Flames whacked by the injury bug in the early weeks of the campaign, Seitz will see top-six and first unit powerplay deployment.
Dixon’s quality behind the bench is another underrated factor.
The Flames rarely waste the talent at their disposal — and Seitz is certainly a talent.
“He skates very well, is strong and works hard and can clearly score,” said Dixon.
“Things didn’t work out in Sheffield as happens on occasion when teams make adjustments and try to fit everyone into their group, but we are very pleased to have been in a position to bring Nick to us and we believe he will have a big impact on our club.”
“Nick is obviously already in the UK so the move itself is pretty straightforward, but all the paperwork has to be re-done to finalise his new working arrangements. Hopefully he will be able to get into games starting next week.”
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