Stars 18U defenseman Appelhans signs NAHL Tender

The NAPHL’s T1ER League is happy to announce the tender agreement between the Rochester Jr. Americans of the NAHL and Jace Appelhans of the Lincoln Stars 18U. This agreement will carry through the end of the 2026-27 season. 

The 6’2 defenseman was reliable on the back end for the Lincoln Stars over the past two seasons. Appelhans spent both seasons on the 18U team and showed significant improvement on the score sheet between the two seasons.

During his last season with the Stars, the 2007 birth year scored six goals in 20 games, three of which were on the power play. Appelhans also added three assists to bring his point total up to nine on the season, which secured his spot in the top 10 in points for defensemen.

A standout performance by the Soldotna, Alaska native came on Jan. 31 against the South Hills Panthers. Appelhans scored one of his three power play goals of the season and added on an assist. The Stars came out of the game victorious by a score of 5-2.

Appelhans is one of two players from the Lincoln Stars 18U team who have signed a tender agreement this season with a NAHL team. 

Click here to see a list of T1ER tenders for the 2025-26 season

A tender is a contract, of sorts, a player signs announcing his intentions to play for that particular NAHL team and that NAHL team only. Once a player signs a tender with an NAHL team, his playing rights belong to that team within the NAHL and he may not be recruited by any other NAHL team. Each team is granted ten (10) tenders, which include two (2) tenders exclusively used on players from the T1ER - plus or minus any trades - which became active on November 1st. Tendered players are not eligible for the 2026 NAHL Draft.