Category: AHL

18Aug

Tyler Plante(35) Florida Panthers / Rochester Americans

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2005 Florida Panthers 2nd round draft pick (#32 overall) Tyler Plante(35) will mind the net once again in 2011/2011 for the only organization he’s played with during his 4 pro seasons as he re-signed for a one-year, two-way deal. The only difference will be the NHL team’s AHL affiliation has switched to San Antonio Rampage, so he’ll be in Texas instead of Rochester.

For a goaltender that was so highly touted and selected, it’s a bit of a wonder why he’s yet to play an NHL game.

9/14-12: Receives an invite to attend St. John’s IceCaps‘ training camp when it opens, putting their total capable number of net minders for the upcoming season at three. The 25-year old played mostly overseas in 2011/2012.

 

 

18Aug

Matt Dalton(30) Vityaz Chekhov / Providence Bruins

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With nowhere to go in the Bruins‘ system, undrafted, 3rd year pro, goaltender Matt Dalton(30) packs his bags and heads to Russia joining Vityaz Chekhov of the KHL for 2011/2012.

The Bruins decided to not give him a qualifying offer. He’s been mostly uneven in between the pipes for the last couple of seasons with the P-Bruins so that wasn’t surprising.

Providence should make a big Calder Cup playoff bid this year (they’ve missed it two straight seasons) with Anton Khudobin getting signed.

13Aug

Garrett Klotz(12) Adirondack Phantoms

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garrett-klotz

Big, tough guy (6’5″ 235lb) Garrett Klotz(12) recently re-signed an AHL contract with Adirondack Phantoms after being dismissed to the Central Hockey League Bloomington Prairie Thunder last season.

Something must’ve registered in his head in a good way though, because for the first time in three pro seasons he found a bit of a goal scoring touch and ended up with 24 points (9 goals, 15 assists) in 49 games.

He’s never had much more than 5 points in any year.

We’ll see if he continues to contribute points along with the penalty minutes he racks up each season.

13Aug

David LeNeveu(31) Oklahoma City Barons / Springfield Falcons

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Hard to believe that goaltender David LeNeveu(31) will be entering his 9th pro season after being drafted in 2002 by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2nd round (#46 overall).

For 2011/2012, he has signed an AHL contract to join Oklahoma City Barons, where he’ll compete for the top spot in net.

The head scratcher is that he’s only ever had one really decent year in between the pipes since his college hockey days, when he was impressive enough to leave school early and turn pro. Maybe in hindsight that wasn’t such a good decision.

 

13Aug

Andre Benoit(61) Spartak Moscow / Binghamton Senators

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Binghamton Senators‘ Andre Benoit(61) is one of the best defensive agitators I saw play in the AHL postseason and helped his team to the ultimate prize, the Calder Cup, while having clearly his best season of offensive numbers.

He even played in his first NHL games in his 6 year pro career last season;  8 with Ottawa. He registered 1 point, an assist.

He’s traveling overseas again next season joining Spartak Moscow of the KHL. He spent ’07/’08 in Finland and ’08/’09 in Sweden and the last two seasons in the AHL with Hamilton (2005-2007, 2009-2010) and Binghamton.

The knock on him must be that he’s two small to be a top six guy. I’ll miss seeing him in the AHL Eastern Conference but think he’ll be back to North America quite possilby on a one-way NHL deal.

12Aug

Anton Khudobin(30) Providence Bruins

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anton-khudobin31

Boston Bruins organization did the right thing signing 25-year old Russian-born goaltender Anton Khudobin(30) for the next two seasons.

Picked up in a trade with Minnesota late last year, he almost gave Providence a chance at qualifying for the AHL Calder Cup playoffs going 9-4 down the stretch.

In the 6 games he started in net with the Wild, he’s posted a record of 4-1 and continues to show much promise for a future in the NHL.

11Aug

Cedrick Desjardins(30) Colorado Avalanche / Norfolk Admirals

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Cedrick Desjardins(30) was left out of Tampa Bay‘s plans for the future after one year with the organization.

He had a great season with Norfolk Admirals in the AHL and won both his starts with the Lightning.

Colorado signed him for 2011/2012 and he’ll challenge for the starting job or could give Lake Erie a nice boost in net.

He won the ECHL Kelly Cup with Cincinnati Cyclones in 2008.

 

11Aug

Nathan Lawson(52)

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nathan-lawson2

Last season undrafted goaltender Nathan Lawson(52) appeared in his first NHL games (he played 10 with the Islanders, posting a 1-4 record) but was left without a contract at the end of the year.

He signed a one-year, two-way deal with Montreal Canadiens for 2011/2012, where he will probably be assigned to their AHL affiliate Hamilton Bulldogs and split time with former Colorado 2008 draft pick (2nd round #61 overall) prospect Peter Delmas. He was never signed by the Avalanche.

Lawson could see some more net time in the NHL due to injuries in Montreal‘s crease but it’s kind of doubtful.