AHL | CollegeHockeyPlayers

20Jan

Brett Lebda(21) Columbus Blue Jackets

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

30-year old Stanley Cup winning defenseman Brett Lebda(21) signed a one-year deal with Columbus Blue Jackets after starting the season with their AHL affiliate Springfield Falcons.

Without a contract for the 2011/2012 season, he agreed to a pto in November with Springfield in hopes of making back to the NHL.

He makes that happen with an injury to the big club and good play in the minors. In 26 games he got a goal and had 9 assists, while playing at an even plus/minus. No doubt, he’s also helped the younger guys in the system, bringing 8 years of pro experience to the locker room.

As a defenseman who’s played in 367 NHL games and played for 5 years for Detroit Red Wings, he was the natural choice to fill-in.

Rumor has it the Blue Jackets had something to do with him getting signed to his tryout agreement with the Falcons.

He was undrafted and played his first season the year of the NHL lockout, signed by Detroit and playing with their minor league affiliate Grand Rapid Griffins.

19Jan

Trevor Smith(23) Tampa Bay Lightning

Posted in AHL, ECHL, NHL | Leave a comment

5th year undrafted winger Trevor Smith(23) has played in 7 NHL games (all with New York Islanders) but that was back in the 2008/2009 season.

He’s bounced around the AHL with a couple of teams since then but signed a one-year, two-way contract in the offseason to join Tampa Bay Lightning‘s prospect system.

As the team’s assistant captain, he’s having himself a heck of a first half of the season with their affiliate, Norfolk Admirals. In 39 games, he leads the team in points posting 16 goals and 28 assists and is an outstanding +17 plus/minus.

This play has earned him his 1st recall in three seasons and some more ice time in an NHL game, where he hopes to add to his one goal and no assists scoring.

18Jan

Brett Carson(7) Calgary Flames

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

After 5 seasons in the Carolina Hurricanes‘ system, the team he was originally drafted by in the 4th round of 2004 (#109 overall), defenseman Brett Carson(7) was plucked from the waiver wire late last season by Calgary Flames.

They saw a big NHL future for the 6’4″ 220 lbs. blue liner.

He had been having some injury problems with his back that required surgery in the offseason. Still hindered, he has only skated in two games with the Flames this season and has been down to their AHL affiliate Abbotsford Heat on conditioning stints twice already for a total of 11 games.

He was recently recalled and hopes to start contributing with the team soon. So far in 80 NHL games, he has 2 goals and 10 assists but no points yet with his new team.

18Jan

Brad Mills(17) New Jersey Devils

Posted in AHL, ECHL, NHL | Leave a comment

5th year undrafted center Brad Mills(17) has only played in New Jersey Devils‘ system and appeared in games from the ECHL to the NHL.

He started the season on the opening night roster for New Jersey and spent 21 games with the team registering only an assist.

By late November, he was reassigned back to Albany. He had over 200 AHL games played through the 2011 season.

In 18 games, he got only a couple of goals and 5 assists never seeming to find his groove like he had for the last couple of years with Albany and Lowell Devils.

As the injuries pile up with the Devils, he gets called up to play in his 22 NHL game, a win. He skated 16 shifts for 11:07 of ice time. Unfortunately though, he went a -1.

17Jan

Tomas Kundratek(34) Washington Capitals

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Originally a New York Rangers‘ 3rd round pick in 2008 (#90 overall), 2nd year defenseman Tomas Kundratek(34) was traded to Washington Capitals in the 2nd year of his 3-year two-way entry level deal. Word has it he asked for out of town.

Whatever he did it worked, because he was recently recalled to play in his first NHL games and so far he’s appeared in three, all wins for the team. He’s averaged roughly 10 hours of ice time per game. The Caps are fairly stocked on defense but as guy’s continue to get healthy, he’s making the most of his chance to play.

In 21 games with Hershey Bears, he has 6 an AHL career high 6 goals and a pair of assists.

16Jan

Pierre-Cedric Labrie(20) Tampa Bay Lightning

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

5th year undrafted forward Pierre-Cedric Labrie(20) has been finding his scoring touch in the 2nd season of a standard player contract he signed in December 2010 with Norfolk Admirals.

He was initially signed to a pto to start the year with the team.

In 29 AHL games this season he is on pace for career scoring highs with 6 goals and 13 assists and a +17 plus/minus.

Through 2010/2011 he put up 7 goals and 19 assists in 64 games with an impressive +14 mark.

He’s impressed the brass with Tampa Bay Lightning enough that they signed him to a two-year, two-way NHL contract last month and he was recalled in earlier this month for his first action in the show.

So far, he has only played limited minutes in 3 games (all losses) averaging less than 5 minutes a game but already has a first big league fight on his stat sheet.

An argument could be made that December is his best month, as it’s the month he celebrates his birthday and when signed his last two major contracts.

15Jan

Brandon Manning(28) Adirondack Phantoms

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

No doubt about it Philadelphia Flyers need defenseman and this one could be a hidden gem for them.

Undrafted rookie d-man Brandon Manning(28) scored his first ever professional hockey goal last Friday night in Adirondack Phantoms‘ home win vs. Hamilton Bulldogs at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Still one of the best arenas to see a hockey game in.

He started the season on injured reserved and has since played 11 AHL games adding an assist and going a -4 plus/minus.

Won’t be a surprise if the Flyers give him a look this year.

12Jan

Lance Bouma(10) Calgary Flames

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Calgary Flames‘ 3rd round pick in the 2008 draft (#78 overall) center Lance Bouma(10) earned his first call-up from the AHL‘s Abbotsford Heat. He played 16 NHL games last season and notched one assist.

In his first game up he scored his first NHL goal, the first of the game vs. Minnesota Wild in the team’s 3-1 win.

He’s in the second year of his entry level contract so it’s easy to bring him back up and down.

In 31 AHL games this season he has 3 goals and 3 assists but is kind of a miserable -9 plus/minus.

11Jan

Tim Spencer(33) Springfield Falcons

Posted in AHL, ECHL | Leave a comment

5th year, undrafted forward Tim Spencer(33) started the 2011/2012 season in the ECHL with Chicago Express and Trenton Titans but it didn’t take long for him to earn a call-up to the AHL with Springfield Falcons.

Originally signing a pto with the team in November, he was recently upped to a standard player contract after just 12 games and three fights where he just pummeled his opponent.

He’s oversized at 6’6″ 230 lbs. and has no problem stepping in to protect his teammates or give a beat down on a deserving member of the other team.

10Jan

Mike Duco(14) Vancouver Canucks

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

One of the last cuts from Vancouver Canucks to be reassigned to their new AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves, wing Michael Duco(14) was making the decision tough for them with his smart preseason play.

He was recalled for the first time this season to play against the only other team he’s played an NHL game with, Florida Panthers. He played 12 games with them over the last two seasons registering no points.

Originally signed to a multi- year entry level contract as an undrafted, free agent out of juniors, he played almost 200 games with Rochester Americans in his first three seasons.

Right before getting called-up he posted his 1st pro career hat-trick with the Wolves.

1/15: After 3 games and his first NHL point (an assist) he is reassigned by Vancouver back to the AHL.