Blue Ridge Signs High-Scoring Rookie Gerdas Paulauskas to PTO for '26-27 Season

by Brett Wiseman

WYTHEVILLE, VA-

The Blue Ridge Bobcats, proud members of the FPHL, are proud to announce the team has signed Forward Gerdas Paulauskas to a PTO contract for the 2026-2027 season.

Paulauskas, a 6'0", 170lb forward from Lisle, Illinois, has built a reputation throughout his amateur playing career as a highly productive and consistent offensive player.

Paulauskas spent four seasons in the USPHL's Premier Division, playing for the Chicago Cougars and Toledo Cherokee. Over 158 regular-season games, he recorded 86 goals and 104 assists for 190 points, averaging 1.2 points per game. Remarkably, he averaged at least a point per game in each of his four full seasons and was twice named a USPHL All-Star.

Paulauskas' breakout junior campaign came as an assistant captain with Toledo in the 2024-25 season. He racked up 51 points (23 goals, 28 assists) in 36 games, good for a career-best 1.42 points per game, and was selected to the USPHL Premier's Great Lakes All-Division Team.

Last season, Paulauskas moved on to Hope College, playing at the ACHA Division 1 level. He finished the season with 27 points (18 goals, 9 assists) in 33 games, including four game-winning goals. 

“Gerdas is a young player who wants to prove himself in professional hockey," said Head Coach and General Manager of Hockey Operations, Vojtech Zemlicka. "He has a proven track record of producing offensively at the junior level, and we’re hoping he can continue that with us." 

"What really stands out to us, though, is how complete his game is," Zemlicka added.  "He’s a smart, competitive forward who plays with grit, has a good feel for finding open ice, and can create momentum offensively. He’s the type of forward who can grow alongside our more experienced players while giving us another dangerous threat every time he’s on the ice. We’re thrilled to have him here and can’t wait to see what he can do in a Bobcats uniform.”

Season tickets are on sale now to see Paulauskas and the rest of the Bobcats when they hit the #HitachiEnergyArena ice in just 61 days at blueridgebobcats.com/26-27-season-tickets.