Pittsburgh Penguins‘ undrafted rookie center Adam Payerl(28) had himself a pretty successful first year with AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins playing mostly a fourth line role of limited minutes, designed to consistently infuse energy into a game when it’s your call to hit the ice.
The 6’3″ 219 lbs. big frame forward successfully achieved that each and every time he jumped over those boards and managed to get even better with his first taste of postseason hockey as a pro.
In 44 games he scored 3 goals and 7 assists, then in 15 Calder Cup Playoff contests got another tally and a pair of helpers but mostly seemed to be that guy to turn the momentum of a game when it was necessary.
He was never a real prolific on the score sheet through 5 years of juniors, but in his last season with Belleville Bulls he did put up some decent numbers with career highs for goals, points and penalty minutes.
The 22-year old is signed through 2014/2015 on a three-year entry level deal that could heed a call-up to the show if they are in need of a big body to help create space for the parent club (and it’s looking like they could use that sort of player).
Original story: 6/8-13
In his sophomore season he once again found himself in and out of the farm club’s lineup playing 43 AHL contests but managed to score a career high 5 goals and 11 points with 5 fighting majors.
His hard-nosed play was enough to earn him a first NHL recall and in 2 games with the parent club he managed to skate an average of 14 shifts for 9 or so minutes of ice and had 4 shots on net, six hits, 2 penalty minutes and a -1 rating in two team wins.
That would be his only appearance in the show and he was an early training camp cut sending him back down to the minors for his contract year.
In 2014/2015 he doubled his fisticuffs total to 10 but played in less games and was absent from the roster in the playoffs for the first time.
He actually didn’t do half bad in the postseason with 3 goals, 2 assists in 28 games and an even plus/minus.
With no takers heading into his fourth season, the big 24-year old signed a one-year deal with Cincinnati Cyclones to continue his game in the ECHL, where he played only four games for Wheeling Nailers (1 goal, 1 fight) as a first year player.
If he can play with a take-no-prisoners type attitude, he easily could find his way back up the ladder with a recall.
