Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 4th round pick in the 2010 draft (#110 overall) German-born right wing Tom Kuhnhackl(14) signs on for another season after his 3-year entry deal was up.
He experienced his most productive scoring marks in 2014/2015 playing for affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins reaching 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points with a +10 rating in 72 AHL games.
The 6’2″ 196 lbs. forward would add another pair of assists in 8 Calder Cup Playoff games.
He took an interesting route to pro hockey in North America.
Following two seasons for hometown team EV Landshut of DEL2 as a 16 and 17-year old scoring 23 goals and 19 assists, he would go on to play a pair of seasons in the OHL after being a first round selection of Windsor Spitfires.
He would leave to ink his first contract after putting up a point-per-game production in juniors.
His rookie campaign 2012/2013 didn’t last long as he separated a shoulder that required season ending surgery.
It seemed like it took him a bit to get restarted in his second year.
After spending the first half of 2013/2014 with the Baby Pens (8-2-10) he found himself on a short string headed back and forth to Wheeling Nailers.
He proved his game was easily above the lower league’s level connecting for 7 goals and 7 assists with a +10 plus/minus in 16 ECHL games and then uncorked another 6 tallies in 10 Kelly Cup postseason match-ups.
2015/2016 will be the his 6th year and the 23-year old power forward will likely see increased point production as he fires the puck on the net with good frequency and plays a crash and bang style that should get him continued results.