HEAD coach Aaron Nell says that leaving Carlo Finucci out of his Swindon Wildcats team for next season was far from a straightforward decision.

The 29-year-old import forward, who arrived at the Link Centre in October last year, won’t be returning as a Swindon player for the 2016-2017 English Premier League campaign after Cats chief Nell opted not to offer the Canadian a contract for next term.

Finucci, who also holds Italian nationality, was signed by former player-coach Stevie Lyle last October as a replacement for Miroslav Zalesak and is expected to be succeeded by another non-British signing in the Wildcats roster, with Jonas Hoog, Jan Kostal and Tomaz Malasinski already confirmed as import recruits for next season.

The former Las Vegas Wranglers’ player, who also played college ice hockey in the United States for the University of Alaska Fairbanks, contributed with 30 goals and 19 assists in 43 appearances for Swindon last term but has failed to make Nell’s future plans.

“I know what direction I want the side to go in next year and unfortunately, I didn’t feel that Carlo fitted in to that – unfortunately, for him, he was the odd man out,” said the Cats coach.

“As soon as he came in, he worked very hard and was a bit of a fan favourite.

“It was a very difficult decision to make but I want to make us more difficult to play against next season, and I’ve had to make a decision and stick by it.

“We’re going to replace Carlo. He hasn’t done anything wrong and we’re thankful for what he did for our hockey club last season.”

Finucci becomes the fourth confirmed departure from last season’s Wildcats squad, with Adam Harding and Matt Selby having signed for Elite League outfits Manchester Storm and Coventry Blaze whilst back-up netminder Jordan Hedley has rejoined Milton Keynes Lightning.

But Nell is satisfied with how his off-season team-building process is progressing thus far.

He added: “It’s not been easy because there aren’t too many players out there and a lot of teams are going for the same guys.

“But with the signings we’ve already made, I think that I’ve got the core of the team there.”