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29Sep

Jamie McBain(5) Los Angeles Kings

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6th year defenseman Jamie McBain(5) signed a one-year two-way contract with Los Angeles Kings after agreeing to a pto with affiliate Manchester Monarchs.

He played 6 AHL games with the farm club scoring a goal and adding three assists with a +3 rating before the parent club came calling to fill in some spots that needed coverage on their blue line.

Originally a Carolina Hurricanes‘ 2nd round pick in the 2006 draft (#36 overall), the 6’2″ 205 lbs. d-man spent the first four years of his career with the team but unfortunately as time passed started to show declining returns.

After the 2012 lockout it definitely appears that he’d lost some of his step.

He managed to pick it up slightly last season after a trade to Buffalo Sabres but not enough for them to revisit extending the unrestricted free agent.

A training camp invite of Arizona Coyotes, they only really had a peak before releasing him.

There was a bit of a murmur that he was set to leave for the KHL but shortly thereafter he signed his tryout deal.

Injuries and a misfortune, along with a sliver of salary cap room, had him at the right place at the right now. Maybe it was a bit of mastery forsight too.

The still young-ish 26-year old will either have to step up his offensive numbers (25-67-92 in 276 NHL games) or start using some of that size to shut down the attackers.

It’s a coin flip to see how this one materializes. It really could become a great fit though.

Original story: 11/14-14

He appeared in 26 games with LA Kings scoring 3 goals and 6 assists with a +4 rating, making him accountable enough to keep around.

They wasted no time as free agency started re-signing him to a one-year, tw0-way extension.

Starting the season with a new contract, the 27-year old should be able to connect on the score sheet more often and continue to elevate his game.

28Sep

Vladimir Nikiforov(9) Quad City Mallards

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It’s a bit of a thinker why 4th year pro Vladimir Nikiforov(9) decided to sign to play with Brooklyn Aviators of the 2nd year Federal Hockey League (FHL) for the 2011/2012 season.

In 10 games, he’s put up a mighty 9 goals and 11 assists; not bad for a pint-sized 5’8″ 170 lbs forward.

Last season he had a pretty ragtag year playing with three different ECHL teams but never able to getting into a scoring groove. In two previous seasons, he posted some impressive numbers with Utah Grizzlies.

He was recently recalled to help Central Hockey League‘s last place Bloomington Blaze and did just that. In his first game with the team, they won against the league’s best team, Allen Americans and he put up an assist.

It’s quite possible that he may have just found his new team for this season.

12/1: Nikiforov scores a natural hat-trick for the Blaze in the last place team’s beating of first place in the Central Hockey League, Evansville IceMen. In two games, he has 5 points. There was just no way he is going back to the single A level.

12/5: Nikiforov is named Central Hockey League’s Oakley Player of the Week with his 5 goals and 1 assist in his league debut.

Original story: 11/29-11

He would finish the season with Bloomington Blaze scoring 21 goals and 30 assists for 51 points in 51 games.

For 2012/2013 he moved on to join the Russian KHL development sort of league VHL signing with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl-2.

He played a full 45 game season along with 5 games in the postseason but only connected for 10 goals and 6 assists.

Maybe his experience overseas led him back or whatever but for 2013/2014 he decided to return to the former Central Hockey League to skate with Quad City Mallards.

He skated 63 games and managed to regain his scoring mojo setting a new assist mark at 31.

To follow up another good season in North America he decided it was once again time to split for a different shore and he inked a term in Germany’s DEL3 with Blue Devils Wieden but blew up the score sheet with 6 goals and 11 assists in 10 games and he sacked that deal and was off to Poland suiting up for Orlik Opole.

He lasted there 13 games, two months and left netting 8 goals and 7 helpers.

Next it was off to England’s EIHL to play out the season with Coventry Blaze and his 1 goal and 3 assists in 7 games was like the wind had been taken out of his sails from all the traveling.

Going into his 8th pro season, the soon-to-be 28-year old returns to Quad City Mallards but moves up a level of hockey to the ECHL, where he last played games in 2011.

Our money’s on him producing big.

27Sep

Trent Vogelhuber(38) Springfield Falcons

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Columbus Blue Jackets‘ 7th round pick in the 2007 draft (#211 overall), rookie right wing Trent Vogelhuber(38) has been mentioned as one of those later selection diamond in the rough, potential power forwards.

He was not signed to an NHL contract by the parent club (although he has a player page with a photo no less) but affiliate Springfield Falcons stepped in to offer him a one-year AHL deal. No doubt there was some kind of coordinated effort at work with the early free agency inking. He did appear in a couple of games with the team at the end of last season on an ato.

The 6’2″ 195 lbs. forward participated in exhibition play with the Falcons but with the lockout, their opening roster was deep and tough to crack. He was reassigned to ECHL Evansville IceMen, where in 34 games he posted 6 goals and 10 assists with a +3 rating on a team that has struggled mightily to win.

In his 4th game on recall, he put his first in the net to break the ice as he hopes to stay in the lineup as the push towards an imminent first playoff berth in 10 seasons awaits the Cinderella squad. The 24-year old will have to put all of himself into every shift to make it happen but no doubt it is possible for the first year pro.

He also has the distinction of being the first player to be selected by the Ohio team that was born and played his college hockey in the state.

Original story: 3/5-13

He would split time almost evenly between the AHL and ECHL in his first season, doing decently in both leagues.

For his sophomore campaign, he re-signed with the Falcons but was all too often a healthy scratch and skated only 30 games with a goal and 8 assists.

In his third year, he would achieve career high totals for games played (64), goals (8) and points (16). His 8 assists tied the mark from the previous season.

The 27-year has decided to stay in Columbus Blue Jackets‘ system for his 4th pro year.

He once again started in the parent’s club training camp but signed a one-year deal over the summer with new affiliate Lake Erie Monsters and will continue to develop his game.

We do expect the tenacious checking style skater to increase his scoring output.

26Sep

Adam Brace(28) Heilbronn Falken

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Florida Everblades‘ 2nd year, undrafted right wing Adam Brace(28) is definitely a situation of what’s missing or wrong with this picture?

He’s a solid point-per-game guy on the very good ECHL squad with 33 goals and 35 assists in 68 games with a +27 rating.

This is his second tour with the southern team. He joined them out of 3 years at Robert Morris University, where he basically detonated the score sheet.

In 5 games before the postseason he put up three assists but when the playoffs hit he exploded for a team best 6 goals and 9 assists as a kid fresh out of college signed to an ato.

The small-ish 5’10” 186 lbs. forward signed a one year minor league deal with Charlotte Checkers for his rookie campaign and played 10 AHL games registering 2 goals and 4 assists before being traded to San Antonio Rampage, who sent him straight to Cincinnati Cyclones.

Once again though, he was dished to Bridgeport Sound Tigers, where he played a couple of games scoring a goal and an assist before being sent to Stockton Thunder to finish out his first year.

So in his first year, he was signed, traded twice and skated for 5 teams in two leagues.

The now 26-year old has spent the entire 2014/2015 season in Florida with one team.

It’s a bit of a head scratcher as to why he hasn’t got a call up.

Original story: 4/5-15

For his sophomore campaign he would play a season high 71 ECHL games scoring 35 goals and 37 assists for 72 points with a crazy +28 rating.

Having pretty much accomplished everything he could ask for in the league, he decided to jump to Germany’s second tier DEL2 signing for a year with Heilbronn Falken.

The now 27-year jumped out of the gate quickly with his new team in a new land scoring 4 goals and 4 assists in just 6 games.

Not sure what the regulations are overseas but if he stays this hot, he would definitely be a candidate to move up a step in the country.

25Sep

Zack Torquato (15)

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4th year center Zack Torquato(15) re-signed for 2013/2014 with Wheeling Nailers for another chance to propel the ECHL club into the postseason after missing half of last season on the injured reserved list.

Originally a Detroit Red Wings‘ 6th round pick in the 2007 draft (#178 overall) he was never signed and became an unrestricted free agent but did play games in two seasons with minor league affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins.

He would later sign an AHL contract with Rockford IceHogs but spent most of his rookie season with their affiliate Toledo Walleye, where he put up some pretty good numbers scoring 11 goals and 33 assists in 54 games.

The 6′ 195 lbs. forward is no stranger to posting record marks, as he did with 62 assists in his over-age junior hockey season with Erie Otters.

He got off to a super-hot start with the Nailers posting 9 goals and 22 assists and a crazy 100 shots on net in 25 games and was loaned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins just before Christmas.

In 7 games already chipping away at the score sheet with a pair of goals and assists.

The 24-year old could net a contract in the higher league or if he’s sent back down, it’s not likely to be for a long time.

Original story: 1/5-14

He would stay up with the Penguins for another month skating 18 games with 2 goals, 5 assists and a +1 rating before being returned.

For 2013/2014 he finished up his 4th season in the ECHL setting new scoring highs (14-38-52) and putting in another point-per-game in 6 playoff match-ups.

Just prior to 2014/2015 starting he re-signed for another year with Wheeling Nailers.

Once again he netted a couple of recalls to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton but evened out a bit with only a goal and an assists in 12 games.

In the lower league though, he once again struck for career bests of 19 goals, 40 assists and 59 points, then equal his postseason totals from a year ago.

The 26-year old has decided to stay put for a 5th campaign with the Nailers.

If he strikes on the score sheet quickly he will probably find himself recalled but could possibly go to a different AHL team to try his luck.

20Sep

Raymond Sawada(27) Oji Eagles

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5th year right wing Raymond Sawada(27) signs an AHL contract to join St. John’s IceCaps for the 2012/2013. He was reassigned from Texas Stars to the team near the end of last year appearing in 17 regular season and 15 Calder Cup games.

Originally a 2nd round pick of Dallas Stars in the 2004 draft (#52 overall), he has skated in 11 NHL games over three seasons with one goal to his credit. He scored it on his birthday.

In the AHL, the power forward has played in 289 regular and postseason contests for 45 goals and 80 assists, which are somewhat surprisingly low scoring totals for the 6’2″ 205 lbs. high draft pick.

At 27-years old, he’s seemingly still waiting for his breakout campaign but has to be running low on time in North American pro hockey to prove his abilities.

Original story 8/10-12

He would tie his best offensive output in his first full season with St. John’s scoring a new high 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points but was a dismal -24 in 65 games.

Going into 2013/2014 he signed a deal at the start of the ECHL season with Colorado Eagles, his first venture playing in the lower league.

His numbers were that of a point-per-game player (7-8-15 in 18 contests with a +7 plus/minus) but he must have gotten a bit stir crazy as he up and left for SM-liiga of Finland, joining Tappara but his numbers were similar to what he’d put up in the AHL.

He left there for a year in the EIHL with Belfast Giants and fully exploded with 22 goals and 41 assists in 58 games and added another 2 tallies and 2 helpers in 4 postseason match-ups.

For his 8th pro season, the former Cornell University captain has made a somewhat surprising decision to play 2015/2016 in the Asia League with Oji Eagles, where he should once again dominate on the score sheet.

The 30-year was likely offered a lot of money he couldn’t turn down.

19Sep

Chris McKelvie(16) Albany Devils

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Albany Devils‘ assistant captain, undrafted 4th year left wing Chris McKelvie(16) looks very likely to set career highs in his second season under contract with the team.

In 31 AHL games he already has a new best 6 goals to go along with 6 helpers, which is only 4 off the mark and only two points away from tying the 14 he put up in 2012/2013.

This will be his first full season in the top development league after stint reassignments to Greenville Road Warriors in his rookie and sophomore campaigns and a pair of ECHL contests last year with Trenton Titans.

The 6’1″ 190 lbs. forward has also been invited to NHL training camps three of his four pro seasons. He was in two with New York Rangers before being sent back to Connecticut Whale and started his second run with Albany after an invite to join New Jersey Devils in their camp.

At 28-years old he may just starting to find his game late.

Original story: 1/3-14

He would go on to elevate his game across the board in 2013/2014, skating 57 AHL games scoring 9 goals, 12 assists and 21 points with a +6 rating, all as projected.

The final season of his 2-year contract extension wouldn’t be quite as good for the winger as he struggled to get only 3 tallies and 5 helpers in a similar amount of games as the previous campaign.

All-in-all it was still good enough to keep him around for another run as the 30-year old has signed for 2015/2016 to stay in the Albany system.

18Sep

Dany Heatley(51) Nurnberg Ice Tigers

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Anaheim Ducks‘ 14th year veteran left wing Dany Heatley(51) signed a one year deal over the summer after spending a three seasons with Minnesota Wild (two as assistant captain), 2 with San Jose Sharks, 4 with Ottawa Senators and his first three with 2000 draft team (1st round, #2 overall) Atlanta Thrashers.

He was hampered by an early groin injury at the beginning of the campaign and then had to fight to gain a roster spot on an already pretty deep team with many prospects in the wings.

When he did get in, reports have it that he looked out of step, unable to keep up and failed to connect with the score sheet in six contests.

Before Christmas for the first time ever he was put on waivers for reassignment to under performing minor league affiliate Norfolk Admirals.

The somewhat huge 6’3″ 219 lbs. forward looks a lot out of place skating in the AHL but basically seems to only have it in third gear most of the time.

He has an unimpressive 2 tallies and 5 helpers in 24 games.

Where the former two-time 50 goal scorer goes next is fully up in the air but retirement may not be out of the question for the 34-year old.

In a career 869 NHL games, he has scored an absolutely phenomenal 372 goals and 419 assists with a +38 rating and won an Olympic Gold Medal in 2010 with Team Canada, pretty great stats to hang up the skates with.

Original story: 2/24-15

Four days after this article was posted he would get traded from the Ducks‘ organization to Florida Panthers and be reassigned to their minor league affiliate San Antonio Rampage.

Even though he wasn’t going to be skating more NHL games with the big club, it was easily a much happier landing place as he was on a high scoring squad in playoff contention.

His play pointed towards better surroundings as he scored 6 goals and 7 assists in 18 contests but failed to connect in three postseason match-ups.

As his 15th season of pro hockey approaches he makes the commitment to join Nurnberg Ice Tigers as the new DEL calendar is just getting started.

He should be able to fully find his scoring touch on the bigger sheets of ice and may play out a few more years overseas before deciding to move onto the next chapter post-hockey life.

17Sep

John Albert (16)

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Only a couple of months into his sophomore campaign he was sidelined with an upper body injury that limited his 2012/2013 availability to just 24 games for the IceCaps.

In his 2nd minor league deal though, he earned enough respect from the parent club to sign him to a 1-year entry level deal as he was preparing for his third season.

He had a strong year too, scoring a career high 28 goals and 45 points, which was enough to give him a first recall to Winnipeg.

With his first shot on net he managed to pot his first and thus far only NHL goal.

He stuck around for just over two weeks skating 9 games averaging 7 shifts for a little over 6 minutes per game of ice time and was pretty effective in the face off dot.

After being sent back to the minors he continued his strong play and leadership, which carried into the Calder Cup Playoffs (1 goal, 6 assists and a +3 rating) through 21 games leading all the way to the Finals.

His play was good enough to score him an extension for 2014/2015, although he spent the entire time with the farm club posting a new best 26 assists.

The 26-year old was given a qualifying offer to retain his playing rights but ultimately has signed another AHL deal with new affiliate Manitoba Moose.

With more good play the 5th year player could easily have that new contract taken up a level and rejoin the big club but we’ll have to see what happens.

16Sep

Andrew Cherniwchan(39) Providence Bruins

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Undrafted 3rd year center/wing Andrew Cherniwchan(28) is putting up points in the ECHL with his team of every season he’s been a pro, South Carolina Stingrays.

He rejoined them this year after starting 2014/2015 on a pto first with Providence Bruins, although he appeared in no regular season games with the team.

Last year the sort of small-ish 5’11” 180 lbs. forward spent 30 games with the Baby B’s scoring 4 goals and 5 assists with a +3 rating and appeared in all 12 Calder Cup Playoff games adding another goal and 2 assists with a +5 plus/minus.

Unfortunately there was just no room for him on the team up front and he was released.

The next day Springfield Falcons jumped in a handed him another pto.

His stay lasted 12 AHL games scoring 2 goals and 1 assists in a mostly energy line type role. He was also a -4.

Returning to his home away from home in South Carolina, the former Northern Michigan University assistant captain from Alberta, Canada opened up the point production and currently sits at 2 tallies and 6 helpers in 9 games with a +1 rating.

If he stays where he is he’ll probably see new highs for point totals and could see and go deep in the postseason.

He probably won’t stay put is what we’re guessing.

Original story: 12/20-14

He stayed with the Stingrays for only another two games totaling 11 (4 goals, 7 assists with a +4 rating) before being called back up to Providence, where he played the remainder of the regular season schedule and 3 games in the playoffs.

For 2014/2015, he skated a new high 49 AHL games with career best marks of 9 goals, 10 assists for 19 points and a +6 plus/minus.

The 26-year old will start his 4th campaign signed to his first official contract with Providence Bruins for 2015/2016 and should continue to excel.

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