Category: AHL

21Jun

Carl Klingberg(48) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod

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Carl-Klingberg3

Recalled to skate a few games near the conclusion of the 2013/2014 season, he finally netted his first NHL goal before being returned to farm club St. John’s IceCaps for their incredible Calder Cup Playoff run that took the team all the way to the Finals.

He would sign a one-year extension to stay on but still played almost exclusively with their minor league affiliate until he was once again summoned for another pair of games.

As it turned out, his short stint with the big club may have been merely a showcase for a trade.

He was sent to New York Rangers‘ prospect system on the day before the deadline and finished out 2014/2015 with Hartford Wolf Pack, where he would finish the season with a career high 24 assists, 180 shots on goal and 45 penalty minutes.

He also recorded a best 4 postseason tallies in 13 games.

The 24-year was once again entering a restricted free agency but has decided it’s time to take his game elsewhere and signed a two-year deal with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL through 2016/2017.

21Jun

Sebastian Wannstrom(38) Rogle BK

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Sebastian-Wannstrom

St. Louis Blues‘ 2nd round pick in the 2010 draft (#44 overall) Swedish-born center Sebastian Wannstrom(38) decided to leave North American hockey and head home signing a two-year deal with Rogle BK of the SHL.

Despite having put up career high assists (9) and points (12) in 36 AHL games with affiliate Chicago Wolves, he’s only really ever put up big numbers in his final year of SuperElit with Brynas J20 team.

Otherwise, he’s been a healthy scratch and even through 115 games in his home country’s top league he only has 8 goals and 9 assists in that span.

His overall numbers in the minors (89 games with 9 goals and 16 assists) are fairly short of amazing.

At 6’2″ 205 lbs. he’s big enough to be a power forward but the 24-year old with already 7 years of pro hockey to his credit is going to have to put himself straight into the mix to get results.

20Jun

John Persson (23)

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John-Persson2

19-year old Swedish-born left wing John Persson(23) signed an ato with Bridgeport Sound Tigers to join them for the remainder of the 2011/2012 season.

The 6’2″ 222 lbs. forward was a New York Islanders‘ 5th round pick in the 2011 draft (#125 overall).

He plays with size out there and in his 2nd game he picked up his first professional goal in the team’s 3-2 shootout loss over the weekend.

The Islanders might be taking a long look at him in next year’s training camp before deciding whether to have him join their ranks or send him back to his junior team for one more season. Our prediction is that won’t be an easy decision to make.

Original story: 3/24-12

He finished his short initial stint with Bridgeport with 4 goals and 4 assists in 12 AHL games.

Signed to a three-year entry level deal he had his best showing as a rookie for the farm team scoring 17 goals and 12 assists in 65 contests.

It was good enough to earn him a 10 game look with the Islanders at the end of 2013/2014.

He scored his first NHL goal.

He struggled slightly in the final year of his contract with only 11 tallies and 10 helpers but wasn’t entirely helped playing on a team that was on mostly on the losing side of the scorecard.

The 23-year old is set to become a restricted free agent but has decided it’s time to head back to Sweden inking for 2-years with Farjestad of the SHL.

He’s a fairly large skater with good hands and muscle and should excel in his home country.

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19Jun

Alexandre Picard(45) HC Fribourg-Gotteron

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9th year defenseman Alexandre Picard(45) signed a one-year two-way deal with Pittsburgh Penguins shortly after free agency started in the offseason.

With 243 NHL games to his credit (19 goals, 46 assists), he is looks to be mostly considered a 6th or 7th defenseman.

He’s off to a good start this season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. In 12 games, he has 1 goal and 4 assists but it’s the +9 that’s getting most of the attention.

Into his second recall, he’s already a +5 with the Pens in 7 games with no points.

Original story: 12/1-11

After skating 17 games with Pittsburgh recording 4 assists with a +4 rating and playing 12 Calder Cup Playoff games getting 6 assists, he decided that he would try his game overseas joining HC Lev Praha of the KHL but suffered a shoulder injury and was later released.

After only appearing in 11 games in the 2012/2013 season, he moved on signing a one-year deal with Graz 99ers of Erste Banke Liga.

The 6’3″ 215 lbs. d-man would once again go elsewhere and departed for DEL, where he inked to play with ERC Ingolstadt.

Now 29-years old he’s decided to head to yet another country agreeing to lace up the skates for HC Fribourg-Gotteron of NLA.

There’s no telling if he’ll finally settle but chances are probably not.

 

19Jun

Brandon Yip (18)

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Brandon-Yip

5th year right wing Brandon Yip(32) appeared in his first NHL game of the 2013/2014 with his new team, Phoenix Coyotes.

The unrestricted free agent signed a one-year, two-way deal after spending a season and a half with Nashville Predators.

He was originally a Colorado Avalanche 8th round pick in the 2004 draft (#239 overall) and inked a one-year entry level deal and extended for another two seasons.

After posting no points in 10 games he was dispatched to their minor league affiliate Lake Erie Monsters but never made it before getting claimed off waivers by the Predators.

The 6’1″ 198 lbs. forward was able to pick up his scoring pace but still fell short of the even modest numbers he notched in his first two campaigns.

The 28-year old has already been reassigned and recalled 6 times in the early going and skated in his first AHL games since 2009 with the parent club’s farm team Portland Pirates.

In 2 appearances he has a quick 2 assists to his credit.

Original story: 10/23-13

After a pair of games with Phoenix, he was reassigned back to the farm team and spent the entire season in the minors scoring 14 goals and 20 assists with a -22 rating.

Heading into 2014/2015 he was an invite to Anaheim Ducks‘ training camp but released and inked a contract with affiliate Norfolk Admirals, where he skated 31 games getting 3 goals, 9 assists and a -11 rating.

He was reassigned for the first time in his pro career down to Utah Grizzlies and stuck around for 7 ECHL games before seeking to be released from his contract.

Within a couple of days he signed with Adler Mannheim, finished out the regular season and skated the entire playoffs of 14 games recording 4 assists to help the team to a DEL Championship.

They liked what they saw, because the 30-year old will be back for more in 2015/2016, his 7th year pro.

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18Jun

Aaron Palushaj(28) Philadelphia Flyers

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Aaron-Palushaj

At least a few players in Montreal Canadiens‘ system are racking up those Air Canada frequent flyer miles, but probably none more than 3rd year right wing Aaron Palushaj(28).

Originally chosen in the 2nd round of the 2007 draft (#44 overall) by St. Louis Blues, he was traded late in his rookie season and has pretty much skated with Hamilton Bulldogs ever since, excluding a 3-game call up to the NHL last season, where he didn’t register a point but at least went a +1 plus/minus.

He’s a point-per-game producer in the AHL this season (13 goals and 18 assists in 31 games) with a +1.

His current recall makes it 5 so far in 2011/2012.

In 19 games he has one assist.

He’s bound to get his first NHL goal before the end of this season.

Original story: 2/19-12

For 2011/2012, he would end up splitting time equally with 38 games for the big club, where he did get his first goal and 35 games with the farm team producing another point-per-game effort.

The 5’11” 192 lbs. forward was given a one year extension but suffered a shoulder injury in the minors a couple of months into the season.

When he was set to return, he was set to be reassigned but claimed off waivers by Colorado Avalanche.

He skated in 25 games scoring a pair of goals and 7 assists, which wasn’t deemed good enough to get him a qualifying offer to stay.

For 2012/2013 he would sign for a year with Carolina Hurricanes but only played two games with them and was mostly once again a big point producer scoring a career tying 22 goals and high 36 assists, 58 points for affiliate Charlotte Checkers.

He would look overseas for his next deal signing with Medvescak Zagreb of the KHL but traded shortly into his term to Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg.

Now, the still only 25-years old, starting his 7th campaign decided to return to North American hockey accepting a two-way contract with Philadelphia Flyers that could see him playing a veteran role mostly with Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

16Jun

Bobby Raymond(9) Iserlohn Roosters

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After spending his 1st year of pro hockey playing in France, undrafted defenseman signed with the ECHL Florida Everblades in 2010/2011 to start his North American rookie campaign.

He skated in all 72 games with the ‘Blades and 4 postseason contests as well, scoring 9 goals and 26 assists, while going a big +26 plus/minus.

With his debut season completed, he received a bit of an unexpected call-up to join Binghamton Senators for the 2011 AHL Atlantic Division playoff series.

He played in 9 games through three more rounds leading up to the eventual Calder Cup win.

For the 2011/2012 season, he signed a one-year, two-way deal with the B-Sens and started the year by raising the championship banner to the rafters of Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

The 5’10” 185 lbs. d-man split time between the two leagues, appearing in 38 AHL games and was eventually reassigned for the remainder of the season in late February to help the Everblades get into playoff position.

Well, two full seasons playing hockey in the top developmental leagues for the NHL and the 27-year old has captured both championships as Florida Everblades won their first ECHL Kelly Cup in the team’s 14-year existence by knocking off Las Vegas Wranglers.

Original story: 5/24-12

For the 2012/2013 season he would return to Florida Everblades but spent a majority of his time on loan to Charlotte Checkers and eventually ink an spc to finish out the year with the team, where he achieved a career high 4 goals and 14 assists in 44 AHL games.

He would next decide to go play across the pond for Iserlohn Roosters and found the bigger sheets of ice worked well for his game as he scored 7 goals and 20 assists.

He would switched allegiances in the league in the following season, signing with Adler Mannheim and won the DEL Championship.

For 2015/2016, the now 29-year old will spend his third year in the league and returns to Iserlohn Roosters.

15Jun

Philipp Grubauer(31) Washington Capitals

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Philipp-Grubauer2

Washington Capitals‘ 4th round pick in the 2010 draft (#112 overall), German-born goaltender Philipp Grubauer(31) has been stonewalling the offense in the ECHL through his first year and a half in the league.

He was the starter for South Carolina Stingrays in his rookie campaign going 23-13-5 in 43 appearances with a 2.22 GAA and .918 SV%.

The 6′ 180 lbs. net minder took up in his sophomore season where he left off posting a 19-5-1 record in 26 games and a 2.30 GAA and .912 SV% for Reading Royals before being recalled to split duties for Hershey Bears.

He’s off to an impressive start with a 2-2 mark and another solid 2.05 GAA and .926 SV%.

The 21-year old signed a 3-year entry level deal that keeps him in the system through 2015 and if it wasn’t for the logjam in the AHL net last season, he may have scored some playing time.

He recently was also cleared to attend the ECHL All-Star Game, where he was chosen as a starter and got the nod to kick off the festivities between the pipes. For now he’s having fun but could figure into the Capitals‘ long term plans pretty easily.

Original story: 1/24-13

In the 2013/2014 season he would be one of the few players each year to play a game in all three tops leagues: NHL, AHL and ECHL.

It would also signify the last time the net minder would see double A hockey as he would play 17 games with the Caps in 2013/2014 posting a 6-5-5 record with a 2.38 GAA and .925 SV%.

Even though he saw only one game with the parent club in 2014/2015, due to a veteran goalie signed in the off-season taking on most of the back-up role.

He would however be called on to start a first round Stanley Cup Playoff game getting the win, two firsts for a German-born backstop.

The only 23-year old signs a 2-year one-way extension but still may spend some time with the farm club to continue to hone his skills.

Philipp Grubauer

 

14Jun

Michael Caruso (24)

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Michael-Caruso4

Michael Caruso(24) spent six seasons in Florida Panthers‘ prospect system after being chosen 4th round of the 2006 draft (#103 overall).

He was thought of as a player that could compete for a spot on the blue line in his development but spent the first four years skating for minor league affiliate Rochester Americans, then San Antonio Rampage before finally deemed to be ready and made his debut on the opening night roster to start the 2013 lockout shortened campaign.

The 6’2″ 195 lbs. defenseman quickly got his first taste of the NHL suspended when he broke his wrist early in his second appearance.

Upon coming off ir he was reassigned to the the AHL but the injury bug continued to follow him and despite signing a his third one-year deal in the offseason to continue with the organization, he was limited to 35 games with the farm club in 2013/2014.

Heading into unrestricted free agency the damage of being sidelined for extended periods hurt his chances for another opportunity and he was left unsigned.

He found his way into the training camp of Springfield Falcons but was released after only a week.

Unsure of where he was going next to play his 7th pro season, after the first month passed he decided to sign with Reading Royals, his first stint in the ECHL.

He would assume the role of assistant captain and reached the 20 point mark for the first time since his final pair of years in the OHL with Guelph Storm.

The soon-to-be 27-year old knew that hockey life may take him overseas if he wanted to play at a higher level and for 2015/2016 he’s signed on to join Dornbirner Bulldogs of Austria’s Este Bank Liga.