Toronto Maple Leafs‘ rookie center Zach Hyman(11) plays a hard checking, offensive-minded style of game that’s giving the deep selection a longer, early look from the parent club.
He was originally a Florida Panthers‘ 5th round pick in the 2010 draft (#123 overall) but traded in the off season for an older prospect.
The speedy 6’1″ 205 lbs. forward put up exceptional numbers in junior A with Hamilton Red Wings, including 102 points in his final year before joining the ranks at University Of Michigan.
In his senior year, serving as assistant captain he popped for 22 goals and 32 assists in 37 games earning him a 2014/2015 Hobey Baker Finalist nod.
A late cut from training camp, he connected immediately with the scoring sheet on reassignment to affiliate Toronto Marlies.
In 54 AHL games in his first season he has a tidy 13 goals and 20 assists with a +28 rating and 121 shots on net.
The 23-year old’s hard play has earned him an NHL recall.
In his debut he skated a whopping 22 shifts for 15:58 of ice time with two shots, 1 hit and :32 of short-handed play.
He may be on a short leash between the big league and the farm club but before too long it’s almost an easy bet he’ll be permanently up in the show.
St. Louis Blues‘ 5th year center Pat Cannone(12) continues to elevate his play with age.
The 29-year old forward has been a story of chip-chip chip away at it and it will start to come loose.
After two seasons in Ottawa Senators‘ farm system playing for Binghamton Senators, his sophomore campaign didn’t go quite as well on the score sheet as his rookie year did, but he turned a -7 into a tied for 2nd +21 rating.
It wasn’t enough to keep him around for the final year of his contract as he was traded in the off season to St. Louis for future considerations (bag of rocks).
Impressive in his first run with affiliate Chicago Wolves scoring 16 goals and 18 assists and he had a team leading +24 plus/minus.
That was good enough for the parent club to sign him up to a one-year extension and he became an assist captain for the minor league club. He set new personal highs for assists (33 – 1st), points (47 – 2nd) and his +11 was also good enough for 2nd on the squad.
It was in the postseason that he really started setting his current pace though, as he notched 6 assists in 5 Calder Cup Playoffs games.
Given another 1-year contract, he was named captain for 2015/2016 and is on pace to record new best marks in all categories.
In 41 games he has 16 goals, 21 assists with a +14 and he also looks to be shooting the puck on net with way more frequency at 87.
He recently was named MVP for the Central Division in the 2016 AHL All-Star Game getting 3 goals and an assist with a +2 in the victory.
Although he has yet to earn an NHL recall and there are maybe younger prospects ahead of him, he has put in the effort to see what he can do up in the big league.
Philadelphia Flyers‘ 2nd round pick in the 2012 draft (#45 overall) gargantuan 6’6″ 232 lbs. goaltender Anthony Stolarz(41) is starting to grow into his game.
Taking a somewhat crazy but cool path through juniors first with Corpus Christi Ice Rays of the NAHL, followed by a year at University Of Nebraska-Omaha before settling in for a couple of seasons with London Knights, where he won the 2013 OHL Champinship and had a league best SV% at .926 in 2013/2014.
Reassigned to be the starting goalie with affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms, his workload looks to almost double from his rookie season, when he played in 31 AHL games.
He’s already tended the cage for 29 appearances in the current campaign giving his just over .500 team a chance to win every contest with a 15-10-3 record, 2.45 GAA and .915 SV%.
The just turned 22-year old has been recalled on numerous occasions without making his NHL debut but that moment can’t be too far off at this point.
Vancouver Canucks‘ 3rd year center Mike Zalewski(40) must have been a little nervous signing his most recent contract, the one-year minor league variety with his team of a couple seasons, Utica Comets.
Previous to this campaign though, the undrafted 6’2″ 205 forward was playing in the AHL on a two-year entry level deal with the ‘Nucks after only a pair of decent campaigns at Rensselaer Polytech Institute.
The first year of his deal was actually a couple of NHL games after leaving college that counted toward his term.
His official rookie year was 2014/2015. He skated 55 games scoring 3 goals and 9 assists with a -3 rating and then added another 23 contests heading all the way to the Calder Cup Finals and notched another tally and 2 helpers.
The still young 23-year old is off to a hot start this season, already matching his 9 assists mark and almost tripling his goal output with 8 in just 35 games.
It’s caught the attention of the parent club once again as they have inked him to a one-year two-way deal and immediately recalled him for a couple of appearances.
He played an average of 17 shifts for 12 minutes of ice time and got another assist, with two penalty minutes, 1 shot, 5 hits, 1 giveaway, was 50% in the face off circle and was reassigned back to the minor leagues with a +1 rating.
Florida Panthers‘ 6th year defenseman Dylan Olsen(4) was a former Chicago Blackhawks‘ 1st round pick in the 2009 draft (#28 overall).
The fairly sizable 6’2″ 223 lbs. blue liner played for three full seasons in their ‘Hawks‘ system before being a component part of a trade early in 2013/2014.
He played mostly with affiliate Rockford IceHogs, and even left college after competing in the World Juniors with Canada, then signing his three year entry level deal to join the team for the second half of 2011.
A late cut from the following training camp he was reassigned but recalled a couple of months befoe the conclusion of 2011/2012 and skated his first 28 NHL games and one in the playoffs recording only an assist with a -5 rating but also seemed to fall of the depth chart.
He was never one to put up a lot of points, being mostly a punishing stay at home d-man.
Upon being acquired by the Cats, he was sent to farm club San Antonio Rampage but summoned quickly, skating 44 games with his new squad scoring a career best 3 goals and 9 assists for 12 points.
He would be quickly extended for two more year on a one-way contract but did continue to spend some time on a short leash in the minors.
The 24-year old has split time evenly between the big league and AHL so far in 2015/2016 and will enjoy one more season as a restricted free agent at the end of the current campaign.
It would appear that he’s fitting in nicely where he’s at and will be full-time in the show soon.
New York Rangers‘ 1st round pick in the 2012 draft (#28 overall) defenseman Brady Skjei(6) received his first recall from minor league affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack just over a couple months into his rookie season.
The fairly large 6’3″ 207 lbs. blue liner decided to turn pro after three years at University Of Minnesota and previously two campaigns of juniors in the USHL with the US National Development Team Program.
He joined the farm team on an ato late last season and skated in all 15 Calder Cup Playoff games scoring his first AHL goal and adding 2 assists.
Upon being reassigned, he’s appeared in 28 contests, affecting the score sheet unlike he’s ever done with 2 goals and 11 assists.
In his 2 NHL games he skated an average of 22 shifts for roughly 15 minutes of ice time with 2 shots on net, 2 hits, 4 break ups, 1 giveaway, 3 takeaways, 2 penalty minutes and 4:21 in short-handed situations.
The team went 1-1 while he was up.
The 21-year old is signed to a three year entry level contract and could spend the remainder 2015/2016 in Connecticut to continue his progress but he’s definitely being given a good look to see how he reacts, when given the opportunity with the big club.
New York Islanders‘ 3rd round pick in the 2012 draft (#65 overall) 2nd year defenseman Adam Pelech(50) has been consistently putting in the hard work to get noticed since he arrived on the pro scene with affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
On the second worst team in the AHL last season he managed to record 11 assists and owned only a -3 rating, while landing at least one shot on net in each contest.
This season the unassumingly large 6’3″ 210 lbs. blue liner already has his first two goals and a pair of assists in 11 games with a team defense leading +9 plus/minus.
In his NHL debut he skated 17 shifts for 13:19 of ice time and left the 4-1 win with a +1, 1 shot, 2 hits, 1 breakup and :13 on the power play.
There’s no reason to believe he won’t be able to put up some offensive numbers, especially helpers like he did in four campaigns with Erie Otters of the OHL.
The recently just turned 21-year old was a healthy scratch for his second game but there’s very little doubt with the current news surrounding the Isles‘ defensive core he’ll work his way into the lineup and may even never look back.
Washington Capitals‘ 3rd round pick in the 2012 draft (#77 overall) center Chandler Stephenson(18) played his first NHL game in just his second pro season.
He skated 9 shifts for 8:43 total ice time and was a great 83% in the face off dot with one takeaway and one giveaway in an impressive 4-1 victory.
In four years of junior hockey with Regina Pats he posted 30 goals and 59 assists with a +27 rating in 69 WHL games in his final campaign.
On reassignment to farm club Hershey Bears for his rookie season he played a tenacious style but seemed to be getting situated with 7 goals and 7 assists in 54 AHL contests but really came to life in 10 Calder Cup Playoff games getting 1 goal and 4 assists with a +4 rating through two rounds before exiting.
Heading into his sophomore season he had a strong training camp and was one of the last cuts before 2015/2016 started.
The super-young 21-year old may not stay with the parent club unless they keep winning but he’s off on a good skate to begin his time in the big league.
Boston Bruins‘ 6th round pick in the 2009 draft (#176 overall) fourth year right wing Tyler Randell(64) scored his first NHL goal in his debut, a 6-2 win over Colorado Avalanche for the team’s first win of the 2015/2016 season. His tally turned out to be the game-winner.
He had a great training camp and was on the opening night roster, despite being a healthy scratch for three games to start.
Last season with affiliate Providence Bruins he posted career highs in virtually every category: 74 AHL games, 11 goals, 9 assists, 20 points, a +4 rating, 107 shots on net and 120 penalty minutes with 14 fights.
He even dropped the mitts in three preseason games with the big club, which may have helped solidify his spot.
The 6’1″ 198 lbs. tough skating forward had a bit of a roundabout path to get to where he is.
Signed to his three-year entry level deal at the conclusion of his fourth OHL season mostly with Kitchener Rangers he was returned for an overage fifth campaign after starting 2011/2012 in the minors.
He would start his official rookie year 2012/2013 on reassignment to South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL but was called up and sent back on a couple of occasions.
The 24-year played his first full year with the farm team in 2013/2014 but only skated 43 games and was a healthy scratch more often that he would have liked.
With lots of hard work and perseverance he’s put himself into a good position with the parent club and they are seeing the results.
Montreal Canadiens‘ undrafted 3rd year goaltender Mike Condon(39) was stellar in his first NHL start only letting up one short-handed goal on 21 shots for a 3-1 team win.
He finished the game with a .952 SV% and of course 1.00 GAA.
The 6’2″ 195 lbs. net minder has definitely worked his way up to earn his time in the big league.
After 4 seasons playing goal for Princeton University he signed an ato fresh out of college with Ontario Reign but was loaned up to Houston Aeros after four games of impressive play posting a 1.48 GAA and .943 SV%.
He was quickly signed to a two-year entry level deal and started his rookie season with affiliate Wheeling Nailers. where he played 39 ECHL games posting a 23-12 record with more amazing numbers in between the pipes (2.18 GAA, .931 SV%).
He also took them through two rounds of the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
In his the sophomore year of his contract, he was officially brought up to be the starting goalie for farm team Hamilton Bulldogs.
He guarded the cage for 48 AHL games with a 23-19-6 record on a non-playoff squad.
Even before the 2014/2015 regular season was over he was offer a 2-year contract extension to stay in the system.
Heading into the 2015 training camp, he was ready to make a big impression and did scoring the back-up job for the parent club as the 2015/2016 season started.
