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BY PLAYERS.
FOR PLAYERS.

The Players Group was built by players, for players. With firsthand experience navigating the path from youth hockey to the collegiate and professional levels, our team provides personalized guidance, trusted relationships, and unwavering support at every stage of an athlete’s journey. At TPG, we don’t just represent players—we invest in the people behind them.

Get in Touch

Ryan Swain

Joe gambardella

Trent Samuel Thomas

Ryan Swain brings a unique combination of junior hockey coaching, scouting, recruiting and player development experience to The Players Group. A former junior and NCAA Division III player, Ryan has served as a New Jersey Titans NAHL scout since 2023 and is entering his second season as Head Coach and first season as General Manager of the New Jersey Titans NA3HL team. His day-to-day involvement in junior hockey gives him firsthand insight into player evaluation, recruiting, roster construction and, most importantly, what players need to do to continue progressing to higher levels.

Ryan is also the founder of Swain’s Hockey Skills & Development, established in 2017, where he has built his career around the development and advancement of hockey players. Through Swain’s Hockey, Ryan has worked with players at virtually every level of the game, including more than 10 players who have reached the NHL and more than 25 NCAA Division I players, in addition to hundreds of youth, Tier I, junior and collegiate athletes. That experience allows him to evaluate players beyond where they are today and identify the areas of their game, training and overall development that can help them reach their next level.

With The Players Group, Ryan’s focus is on taking care of the player throughout the entire year. That means being a consistent resource for players and families, providing honest feedback, helping navigate opportunities and challenges, staying involved in their development, and using his network throughout youth, junior and college hockey to help find environments where each player can succeed. There is no one pathway or single definition of success — the goal is to help each player find the right place to play, develop and earn opportunities to reach the highest level their ability, work ethic and development can take them.

Joe Gambardella brings firsthand experience from every level of elite hockey to his role with The Players Group. His playing career included two seasons in the USHL followed by four years at UMass Lowell, where he developed into one of the top players in college hockey.

During his collegiate career, Joe was a Hobey Baker Award Top-10 finalist, Walter Brown Award winner, two-time Hockey East champion, two-time alternate captain, and earned Hockey East First-Team All-Star honors twice.

Joe went on to play professionally in both the NHL and AHL, earning recognition as an AHL All-Star while gaining firsthand knowledge of what it takes to navigate the transition from youth and junior hockey through college and into the professional ranks.

At The Players Group, Joe uses that experience to advise the next generation of players and their families. His focus goes beyond finding the next opportunity—he helps players understand development, make informed career decisions, navigate the recruiting process, and build a long-term path that puts them in the best position to succeed both on and off the ice.

Trent Samuels-Thomas brings a top-tier hockey background and years of player development experience to The Players Group. As a former player and a current coach and scout, Trent knows what it takes for players to move up the ranks. His everyday work in the hockey world gives firsthand knowledge into how players are developed, evaluated, and what’s needed to reach the next level

Trent grew up playing at the highest levels of junior hockey, spending time in both the USHL and the premier Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). During his major junior career, he played on the same team with future NHL stars like Ondrej Palat and Sean Couturier. He also skated alongside Joe Gambardella in the USHL, a managing partner at The Players Group, reuniting with him now as a fellow hockey advisor.

Today, Trent serves as the General Manager of the Midget Program for the Connecticut Chiefs. Running the program keeps him in the center of the hockey landscape, scouting talent and helping elite prospects advance.

Throughout his career, he has successfully guided a massive network of players into both NCAA Division I and Division III college programs. This background allows him to see past where a player is today and pinpoint exactly what they need to work on to succeed.

Trent’s core mission at The Players Group is to give families complete clarity. Because he operates on the ground floor of the youth and junior hockey worlds every single day, he sees exactly how the recruiting game shifts in real time. His goal is to make sure families fully understand the process, cut through the confusion, and build a clear path to help players move on to the next level.

Brett Johnson

Annika Zalewksi

Jason Ahearn

Brett Johnson is a former professional hockey forward who grew up in New Jersey, where he developed his game playing AAA hockey. He went on to compete at the NCAA Division III level at Lebanon Valley College, where he was a consistent offensive threat, amassing over 100 collegiate points and earning MAC Player of the Year honors in 2019. That same year, he was named a Top 10 finalist for the Sid Watson Award, given to the best player in Division III hockey.

In 2020, he signed with the Rapid City Rush of the ECHL and also spent time with the Huntsville Havoc and Fayetteville Marksmen of the SPHL. In 2021, he signed with the

Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL, though the season was cut short due to COVID-19.

Today, Brett brings the relationships and expertise built throughout his career to help players reach their potential. More importantly, he is committed to helping them develop their game both on and off the ice so they can excel in every part of their lives.

Annika is an entrepreneur, former professional hockey player, and wellness professional whose career has been shaped by leadership, discipline, and a passion for helping others perform at their best.

A graduate of Colgate University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Annika was a standout member of the Division I women’s hockey program, serving as team captain for three seasons and helping lead Colgate to the 2018 NCAA National Championship game. Her collegiate career earned her several honors, including Colgate University Female Athlete of the Year. She went on to play professionally after being selected 14th overall by the Buffalo Beauts and later participated in the PWHL Dream Gap Tour.

Following her playing career, Annika carried the principles she developed through elite athletics into entrepreneurship and wellness. She is the founder of Bright, a health and wellness brand built around the balance of strength, movement, nutrition, and overall well-being. Annika is also a Certified Nutrition Coach through the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

Across her work, Annika brings a thoughtful, people-first approach rooted in leadership, high standards, and genuine connection. Her diverse experience as an athlete, team captain, entrepreneur, and wellness professional gives her a unique perspective on building strong teams, creating meaningful experiences, and turning ambitious ideas into action.

Jason Ahearn played four years of NCAA Division I hockey, spending three seasons at Niagara University before finishing his collegiate career at UMass Lowell. A three-time Division I captain, Jason served as captain for two seasons at Niagara and during his season at UMass Lowell. He finished his NCAA career as a 100-point scorer and earned Atlantic Hockey All-Conference honors.

Prior to college, Jason played for the Johnstown Tomahawks in the NAHL, where he led the league in goals and was named NAHL Rookie of the Year and a First Team All-Star, while also earning East Division MVP and Forward of the Year honors. Following college, Jason continued his career professionally with the Indy Fuel in the Chicago Blackhawks organization.

His experience progressing from youth hockey through the NAHL, NCAA Division I hockey, and the professional level gives him firsthand knowledge of the development process and allows him to help young players navigate the same path.

Nick Swain

Nick brings a player-first perspective to The Players Group (TPG), built from a lifetime in the game and experience at multiple levels of competitive hockey.

Most recently, Nick played professionally in the Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL), where he was part of two championship-winning teams. Prior to his professional career, he competed at the NCAA Division III level and played Junior A hockey in Canada in the Canadian Junior Hockey League, as well as in the Eastern Hockey League (EHL) in the United States.

In addition to his playing career, Nick has extensive experience in skills training and player development. Having gone through the junior, college, and professional hockey process himself, he understands both the physical demands of reaching the next level and the decisions, challenges, and sacrifices players face along the way.

One of Nick’s greatest strengths throughout his career was his hockey IQ, vision, and mental approach to the game. He believes that a large part of success in hockey comes from the mental side of confidence, preparation, decision-making, resilience, accountability, and learning how to handle both success and adversity. That philosophy plays a major role in the way he advises and develops players.

For Nick, however, player development goes far beyond how far someone can advance in hockey. While the goal is to help every player maximize their ability and pursue the highest level possible, he believes it is equally important to develop the person behind the player. Hockey can teach discipline, leadership, accountability, communication, work ethic, and how to respond when things do not go your way, qualities that carry far beyond the rink.

His approach at TPG is centered around helping athletes become not only better hockey players, but better people. Whether a player reaches the professional level or eventually begins the next chapter of life after hockey, Nick wants them to leave the game prepared to succeed in whatever comes next.

At TPG, Nick’s goal is to use his playing experience, hockey knowledge, and understanding of the development process to help players make informed decisions, maximize their opportunities, develop on and off the ice, and ultimately become the best version of themselves both as athletes and as people.

BY PLAYERS. FOR PLAYERS.