AHL | CollegeHockeyPlayers

03Jul

Chris Breen(8) Providence Bruins

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Undrafted 6th year defenseman Chris Breen(8) re-signed to stay on for another stint on a two-way contract with Boston Bruins.

The mammoth 6’7″ 224 lbs. blue liner played the entire season, 52 AHL games with affiliate Providence Bruins getting a career high 8 assists with a pair of goals and a best +8 rating.

With the parent club being thin on manpower in their own zone, he is being looked to contribute as a depth player and will almost certainly see his first NHL action since 2013/2014 as a Calgary Flames‘ prospect.

He started that season on the opening night roster and appeared in 2 games before being reassigned to farm team Abbotsford Heat but would rejoin them on three other occasions and get his first points in the league, a pair of assists before being returned for a Calder Cup Playoff run.

In four postseason contests he notched two helpers.

Heading into his first unrestricted free agency status, he was targeted and signed immediately by Boston and although he stayed in the minors his ability to be a shutdown presence obviously didn’t go unnoticed.

03Jul

Reid McNeill (3)

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Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 6th round pick in the 2010 draft (#170 overall) defenseman Reid McNeill(3) plays an almost unassumingly solid stay-at-home style.

He’s in the final season of his three-year entry level deal, signed after skating a few campaigns of junior hockey in the OHL.

The towering 6’4″ 215 lbs. d-man has never put up much on the score sheet but is showing an increasing upward tick to his penalty minutes and fighting majors.

He was credited with throwing down the gloves 11 times in 55 AHL games last season.

All that time in the box has yet to sour his accountability on the ice either, as he’s currently holding a +12 rating.

The young 22-year old is definitely being looked as an up-and-comer working his way up from his rookie season start in the ECHL with Wheeling Nailers.

Now that he’s become a fixture on the blue line for minor league affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins it still may take a bit more seasoning until he finds a spot on the parent club’s roster.

Original story: 10/24-14

Following a career season with high marks of 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points, the big stay-at-home d-man re-signs for two more years to stay in the prospect system.

His shutdown style game could score the recently turned 23-year old a first NHL recall on a parent club that may be looking for some help in their own zone.

03Jul

Chris Breen (8)

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Undrafted 6th year defenseman Chris Breen(8) re-signed to stay on for another stint on a two-way contract with Boston Bruins.

The mammoth 6’7″ 224 lbs. blue liner played the entire season, 52 AHL games with affiliate Providence Bruins getting a career high 8 assists with a pair of goals and a best +8 rating.

With the parent club being thin on manpower in their own zone, he is being looked to contribute as a depth player and will almost certainly see his first NHL action since 2013/2014 as a Calgary Flames‘ prospect.

He started that season on the opening night roster and appeared in 2 games before being reassigned to farm team Abbotsford Heat but would rejoin them on three other occasions and get his first points in the league, a pair of assists before being returned for a Calder Cup Playoff run.

In four postseason contests he notched two helpers.

Heading into his first unrestricted free agency status, he was targeted and signed immediately by Boston and although he stayed in the minors his ability to be a shutdown presence obviously didn’t go unnoticed.

02Jul

Jeremy Smith(30) Providence Bruins

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Boston Bruins‘ 6th year goalie Jeremy Smith(30) is definitely a good guy to be counted on in net as their affiliate Providence Bruins readies for a playoff run.

The one-time Nashville Predators‘ 2nd round pick in the 2007 draft (#54 overall) played through 4 seasons in their prospect system mostly winning games for the farm team Milwaukee Admirals.

In his rookie season he was further reassigned playing the whole season minus one game in ECHL with Cincinnati Cyclones He won the 2010 Kelly Cup Championship and was named c0-MVP.

He was also a member of the 2006/2007 Plymouth Whalers‘ team that won the OHL Championship.

The not exactly huge 6′ 178 lbs. net minder is having a career year. In 39 AHL games he posted a 22-11-5 record with a 2.05 GAA and .933 SV%. and three shutouts putting him at 5th on the league’s top goaltender list.

Signed only to a one-year deal, if the 26-year old pushes his team deep into the Calder Cup playoffs, it would be almost a no-brainer to re-sign him for at least another.

And who knows, maybe one of these call-ups will actually turn into his first NHL appearance.

Original story: 4/17-15

In 3 postseason contests he went 1-2 with a once again stellar 1.96 GAA and .931 SV%, which was good enough to get Providence Bruins to a deciding game 5 before bowing out in the first round.

Boston Bruins made sure he wasn’t going anywhere after his deal expired re-upping quickly in free agency with the net minder for a second year on another two-way deal.

He could easily find himself with the back-up job for the big club in the forthcoming season, as for the at least the time being there is a spot wide open and up for grabs.

He has easily earned the opportunity.

02Jul

Evan Trupp(13) Chicago Wolves

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Undrafted 5th year center Evan Trupp(13) followed up one career year in 2013/2014 with Alaska Aces of the ECHL with another in 2014/2015 skating for Worcester Sharks of the AHL.

He won the 2014 Kelly Cup Championship in the first year, when he scored 17 goals and 33 assists for 50 points with a +16 rating and then added another 6 goals and 8 assists with a +7 rating in 21 postseason games.

His efforts gained him a contract in the higher league and the generously 5’10” listed 175 lbs. power mini forward got right to work.

In 72 games he would net 16 goals and 24 assists for 40 points with a +6 rating and uploaded 172 shots on net.

This was not his first encounter with the league. He was loaned in 2014 to Abbotsford Heat on a pair of occasions, ended up playing 17 games and scoring his first goal and 6 assists.

Through 4 years of college hockey with University Of North Dakota he showed a steady increase finding the back of the net and in his senior year had 17 goals and 24 assists in 44 games en route to his school’s 2nd straight NCAA/WCHA Championship.

For 2015/2016, the 27-year old signed a deal to skate for Chicago Wolves and will likely also find himself in St. Louis Blues‘ training camp to start but more importantly should find new heights in his game.

30Jun

Tom Kuhnhackl (14)

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Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 4th round pick in the 2010 draft (#110 overall) German-born right wing Tom Kuhnhackl(14) signs on for another season after his 3-year entry deal was up.

He experienced his most productive scoring marks in 2014/2015 playing for affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins reaching 12 goals and 18 assists for 30 points with a +10 rating in 72 AHL games.

The 6’2″ 196 lbs. forward would add another pair of assists in 8 Calder Cup Playoff games.

He took an interesting route to pro hockey in North America.

Following two seasons for hometown team EV Landshut of DEL2 as a 16 and 17-year old scoring 23 goals and 19 assists, he would go on to play a pair of seasons in the OHL after being a first round selection of Windsor Spitfires.

He would leave to ink his first contract after putting up a point-per-game production in juniors.

His rookie campaign 2012/2013 didn’t last long as he separated a shoulder that required season ending surgery.

It seemed like it took him a bit to get restarted in his second year.

After spending the first half of 2013/2014 with the Baby Pens (8-2-10) he found himself on a short string headed back and forth to Wheeling Nailers.

He proved his game was easily above the lower league’s level connecting for 7 goals and 7 assists with a +10 plus/minus in 16 ECHL games and then uncorked another 6 tallies in 10 Kelly Cup postseason match-ups.

2015/2016 will be the his 6th year and the 23-year old power forward will likely see increased point production as he fires the puck on the net with good frequency and plays a crash and bang style that should get him continued results.

29Jun

Melker Karlsson(68) San Jose Sharks

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San Jose Sharks‘ undrafted, Swedish-born rookie center Melker Karlsson(68) signed a one-year entry level deal after playing in 4 seasons of SHL pro hockey in his homeland.

He was obviously on their radar after winning two straight league championships with Skelleftea AIK and was runner-up the previous pair of years.

The 6’1″ 181 lbs. forward is a complete spark plug style player with really quick hands and smart hockey sense.

He was reassigned to affiliate Worcester Sharks to start his first year on this side of the river and has scored 5 goals and 5 assists in 20 AHL games, while totaling a gatling gun 49 shots on net.

His tenacious play with the farm team has got the brass above wondering if he can replicate what he’s down overseas and in the minors in the show.

In his first NHL game his stat sheet was littered with goodness, skating a total of 18 shifts for 11:53 ice time, won 67% of the face offs, 1 shot on net, 1 takeaway, 1 giveaway, 1 break up, 2 hits and his first point, an assist and a +2 rating in a 5-2 win.

If injury keeps some of the regulars on reserves, the 24-year old could easily find a permanent roster spot in California and may even play himself into a full-time role regardless.

Original story: 12/9-14

After his debut performance he went pointless for the next pair of appearances but rebounded with his first multi-point effort (2 assists), followed it up with another helper and potted his first NHL goal in his 6th game giving him 1 tally and 4 assists for a hot start.

He easily never looked in the rear view mirror finishing the regular season potting 13 goals and 11 assists for 24 points with a -3 rating in 53 games.

San Jose sees the quickly emerging talent of the soon-to-be 25-year old and doesn’t want to take any chances with restricted free agency approaching.

They wasted little time signing him to a 2-year one-way extension.

He will be an impressive talent in the top league for a long time to come.

28Jun

Joacim Eriksson(30) Dinamo Riga

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Heading into his 7th pro season, former Vancouver Canucks‘ Swedish-born goaltender prospect Joakim Eriksson(30) has decided to not stick around for restricted free agency to start signing a year contract with Dinamo Riga of the KHL for 2015/2016.

Originally a Philadelphia Flyers‘ 7th round pick in the 2008 draft (#196 overall), he agreed to a two-year entry level deal with Vancouver in 2013 after 4 seasons of playing mostly in the SHL for Skelleftea posting extraordinarily good numbers and winning the 2013 Championship with a 1.06 GAA and .956 SV%.

In two campaigns on reassignment with affiliate Utica Comets he amassed a crazy 93 games between the pipes with 46-34 record and a 2.57 GAA and .909 SV%.

The 6’2″ 196 lbs. net minder also had 5 shutouts, all in his North American rookie season, and appeared in two Calder Cup Playoff games in relief that ended in the Final round.

The 25-year old very likely saw the logjam that is the parent club’s situation in net moving forward and has decided to move on instead of staying in the minors.

28Jun

Jeremy Langlois(20) Bridgeport Sound Tigers

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Undrafted rookie right wing Jeremy Langlois(20) signed a one-year two-way minor league contract with Springfield Falcons and started the season with the team, but had been mostly skating on reassignment with affiliate Evansville IceMen, where he put up some big numbers.

In 49 ECHL games he retains the team’s leading scorer stats with 16 goals and 36 assists, while taking a second most shots on net at 174 before a recent trade relocated him to Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

He’s obviously enjoying his time with his new squad. In 7 AHL games he’s struck for a pair of goals and assists, whereas in 5 contests on recall with his previous club he was unable to find the score sheet skating mostly fourth line minutes.

The 6′ 173 lbs. forward put together some good numbers in 4 years at Quinnipiac University and went to the NCAA Finals losing to the geographically nearby, eventual winners Yale.

As an 18-year old he won a Championship, leading scorer title and was named league MVP with New Jersey Hitmen of the EJHL before heading off to college.

Now 23, he was invited to attend Columbus Blue Jackets‘ training camps to begin his first pro season and from his continued solid play he looks like a shoe-in to score another tryout, quite possibly with the parent club where he’ll finish out the year, New York Islanders.

Original story: 3/30-14

After 7 games with Bridgeport (2-2-4) he was reassigned to affiliate Stockton Thunder.

He finished out the regular season scoring 8 points in 7 ECHL games to solidify his spot on the league’s all rookie team, but really took it to the next level in the 3 Kelly Cup Playoff games the team played. He would get an astounding 4 goals and 5 assists with a +4 rating.

His effective play in the upper system caught the attention of rival Worcester Sharks, who inked him to a standard player contract for 2014/2015.

He set career highs in his first full AHL season skating 42 regular season games with 16 goals (tied for 2nd on the team) and 10 assists.

If hadn’t broken his foot, he would have done even better but missed the second half of the season not returning until the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Impressed with what they saw and the effectiveness of his play, San Jose Sharks stepped in offering the 25-year old a 1-year entry level contract for 2015/2016.

He may start with new affiliate San Jose Barracuda but if he comes out of the gate quickly could see his first NHL action.

28Jun

Riley Wetmore(19) Dundee Stars

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Undrafted 2nd year center Riley Wetmore(19) signs another one-year minor league contract with AHL Northeast Division rivals, Springfield Falcons.

He spent most of his rookie season under a similar deal with Bridgeport Sound Tigers, skating in 38 games posting 3 goals and 8 assists.

The first year player was also reassigned on a couple of occasions to continue work on his pro game with affiliate Stockton Thunder. He notched a pair of tallies and 3 helpers in 15 ECHL contests and added another goal and assist in 9 postseason games.

Maybe not exactly huge numbers in the lower league but there’s a bit of a tenacious attacker style of game the 6′ 195 lbs. forward brings to his game that may start equaling more chances.

He comes from a great college hockey pedigree in the making, playing all four seasons at University Of Lowell and being named team captain in his junior year.

The 25-year old is off to a nice start for his sophomore campaign. He notched a pair of goals including the game-tying goal late in his AHL preseason debut, a 4-3 OT loss.

If he stays hot to start 2014/2015, he could easily run up 10-10-20 numbers.

Original story: 10/4-14

He only managed to appear in one game with Springfield (no points) before being reassigned to affiliate Kalamazoo Wings.

He scored a pair of goals and 7 assists in 23 ECHL games before it was decided to shift him to Elmira Jackals where he finished scoring 4 goals and 12 assists with a -12 rating.

His second season would end with 6 goals, 19 assists in 59 games.

Potentially not wanting to accept the demotion to double A hockey, the soon-to-be 26-year old will head overseas to put the skates on for Dundee Stars of the EIHL.

It seems almost certain that he’ll regain that scoring touch he had in college and continue to move up the European ladder.