In the final season of his three-year entry level deal, Andrey Pedan(37) was traded in a prospects’ transaction to Vancouver Canucks.
He was reassigned to their affiliate Utica Comets, where he finished out his sophomore campaign with a career high 48 AHL games, 14 assists and 17 points.
The giant-sized blue liner was somewhat under-utilized in New York Islanders‘ system, even sent double down to the ECHL Stockton Thunder on a couple of occasions during his pair of years.
The now 22-year old wasn’t necessarily a late cut from his first Canucks‘ training camp but played pretty great out of the gate with the farm club scoring a goal and 6 assists in 15 games with a +3 rating and received his first recall.
In his NHL debut, he was inserted as a seventh d-man playing a sparing 6 shifts for 3:54 of ice time with 2 hits, 1 breakup in a 2-1 overtime loss.
He stayed with the parent team for a week before being sent back but if he can keep up the pace in the minors and stay healthy should get another crack at the show.
Andrey Pedan(3) Bridgeport Sound Tigers
New York Islanders‘ 3rd round pick in the 2011 draft (#63 overall), extra large 6’4″ 215 lbs. Russian-born defenseman Andrey Pedan(3) missed a good portion of his rookie season with minor league affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers due to an upper body injury that put him on the sidelines for almost three months.
Appearing in only 25 AHL games, he still was able to connect for 5 goals and 5 assists while playing a punishing shutdown style in his own zone.
His -1 rating is also nicely accountable on a team with a league second worst goal differential.
He’s been in the parent club’s training camps ever since he was selected but returned to junior hockey as a teenager, where he skated a few seasons with Guelph Storm before signing his three-year entry level deal.
No doubt this is a player that has been widely scouted, as he was a first round grab in both the 2010 KHL and OHL drafts.
He obviously decided to try his skates on North American ice for a shot at the NHL.
The 20-year old may return to the farm club for a full year of development in 2014/2015, but could very well be on the short list for a recall, especially if he continues to display more of his offense-minded upside.