"We are excited to have both Yannick and Jonathan signed for the season," said River Rats Head Coach and General Manager Jeff Daniels. "Both players have AHL experience and we are excited to see them at training camp. This is a great opportunity for both players to come to Albany and perform at the AHL level."

Tifu made his AHL debut with the River Rats on December 19, 2007 and was leading the ECHL in scoring at the time of his call up to Albany; he would go on to score five points (2 goals, 3 assists) in nine games for the River Rats. Later in the year the Brossard, Quebec native was called up to the AHL for the second time in his career, this time by the Rochester Americans; Tifu played in 15 games for the Amerks and scored three points (1 goal, 2 assists). The 23-year-old was an ECHL All-Star last season for the Dayton Bombers after posting an impressive 1.46 points per game average by scoring 57 points (15 goals, 42 assists) in 39 games. Tifu finished fourth in the voting for the ECHL's Most Valuable Player during 2006-07, after completing the season with the third most points in the league, 88 points (28 goals, 60 assists) in 78 games played.

Paiement played in a trio of cities in the 2007-08 season, splitting time between the AHL and the ECHL. The 23-year-old spent the majority of the year in the AHL with the Hershey Bears, scoring 13 points (2 goals, 11 assists) in 37 games, while also making his Calder Cup debut with Hershey, playing in all five games and scoring one goal in their East Division Semifinal series against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Paiement played in 22 games last year with the Texas Wildcatters of the ECHL where he scored 17 points and had a brief three-game stint with the AHL's Rockford IceHogs. An eighth round draft pick (247th overall) by the New York Rangers in 2004, Paiement began his professional career in 2006-07 with Texas and scored 43 points (6 goals, 37 assists) in 72 games with the Wildcatters during his rookie season.