AHL | CollegeHockeyPlayers

29Jul

Tom McCollum(30) Grand Rapids Griffins

Posted in AHL, ECHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Detroit Red Wings‘ 1st round pick in the 2008 draft (#30 overall) goaltender Tom McCollum(30) signs a one-year AHL deal to continue with Grand Rapids Griffins, the team he won the Calder Cup Championship with last season.

Heading into his 5th season, after much bandying about, he was ultimately given a qualified offer as a restricted free agent by the parent club for the upcoming campaign, but is staying put in the minors hoping to regain the form he had in junior hockey with Guelph Storm to become such a high selection.

He showed promise last season posting his first winning record at 18-11 in 31 starts on what obviously was a great team but the suits had to be looking at his overall performance to want to keep him around for another shot.

The big 6’3″ 219 lbs. net minder has appeared in 113 regular season games with the Griffins, 42 with ECHL affiliate Toledo Walleye but only one disastrous NHL contest, despite being recalled on a half a dozen or more occasions to serve as back-up.

At this point the still very young 23-year old goalie may need to catch the attention of another club to grab another big league contract.

Even though he had a winning record and better numbers than any of his previous years pro, he’s fallen low on the Red Wings‘ depth chart and will need to prove himself big.

28Jul

Gary Steffes(25) Bakersfield Condors

Posted in AHL, ECHL | Leave a comment

4th year undrafted center Gary Steffes(25) has played under contract with Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League for all three years of his pro career.

He’s skated in 169 games scoring 61 goals and 68 assists but ran up an abysmal -26 plus/minus.

The 6’1″ 185 lbs. forward was called up by Lake Erie Monsters, where he appeared in 16 AHL games pocketing his first higher league tally and added 2 assists.

He also appeared in training camp with Oklahoma City Barons but was released before the start of the regular season.

For 2013/2014 he has signed a one-year deal to suit up for Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL.

The 26-year old is likely a shoe-in for another recalled especially if he can put up numbers in the higher double A league.

26Jul

Garet Hunt (24)

Posted in AHL, ECHL | Leave a comment

Undrafted left wing Garet Hunt(24) re-signs for his 6th pro season with Stockton Thunder, the only pro team he’s ever been under contract with.

He has skated in 314 ECHL regular season games and was named their 2012/2013 captain, going all the way to the Kelly Cup Finals.

The 25-year old has skated in 10 AHL games, 1 during his rookie campaign with Springfield Falcons and in his third year he actually was on the opening night roster with Worcester Sharks.

That stint lasted 9 games and he got his first point in the league, an assist.

He also totaled 35 penalty minutes, a leader distinction he held in the ECHL last season with a mark of 235.

The almost irony of that number is he’s used to put up closer to or over 250 pims in a season and has over 1200 career.

The small but sturdy, scrappy style 5’8″ 190 lbs. forward pays the price out there and also shows the ability at least on this level to help out on the score sheet as well.

He has 37 goals and a handy 65 assists with only a -6 rating, which is low for a guy that spends as much time in the box as he does.

24Jul

Marek Viedensky(25) San Jose Sharks

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

San Jose Sharks‘ 7th round pick in the 2009 draft (#189 overall), 3rd year Slovakian-born center Marek Viedensky(25) signs his qualifying offer to stick with the team’s prospect system for another season, despite going through some rough stretches of injury and healthy scratches in last year’s overpopulated AHL talent pool.

Even reassignment to ECHL affiliate San Francisco Bulls on a couple of occasions, where he was a point per game player (8 goals, 12 assists), and only appearing in a quarter of the games he did in his rookie campaign, the 6’3″ 195 lbs. emerging power forward was still able to put up 4 goals and a pair of assists in 14 contests while maintaining a +4 rating.

Those totals were not far off what he achieved in his first season.

He will soon turn 23-years old prior to the start of 2013/2014 and should be able to have a breakout campaign with Worcester Sharks, like he did in his final run in juniors with Saskatoon Blades.

He struck for 36 goals and 52 assists in 63 games in 2010/2011, which was also the start of his 3-year entry level deal.

When given the green light and 100% on his game he really seems to be an emerging prospect who could become an NHL regular in years to come.

21Jul

Brendan Mikkelson (26)

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

8th year defenseman Brendan Mikkelson(26) signs with his 4th NHL team for the 2013/2014 season, inking a one-year two-way deal with Pittsburgh Penguins that will likely see him added as a veteran presence with their minor league affiliate Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins to help with the squad of younger players in the system.

He’s skated in 131 NHL games scoring just 1 goal and 9 assists.

In 196 AHL games with 5 different teams those numbers tick upwards slightly to 18 goals and 48 assists but the large 6’3″ 210 lbs. d-man has never been noted for his offense production.

Almost ironically though he did strike for 4 goals and 3 assists in 17 contests for Västerås in Allsvenskan, the 2nd tier Swedish league during the lockout last season.

The blue liner only just turned 26-years old.

He was a part of the Syracuse Crunch team that went to the 2013 Calder Cup Finals but still seems to have untapped potential that no club has been able to locate.

Originally an Anaheim Ducks‘ 2nd round pick in the 2005 draft (#31 overall), if it doesn’t work out he would likely have a good ride playing the remainder of his pro career overseas.

20Jul

Nick Crawford(20) Buffalo Sabres

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Buffalo Sabres‘ 6th round pick in the 2008 draft (#164 overall), restricted free agent defenseman Nick Crawford(20) re-signs to rejoin the team’s prospect system for a fourth season.

He has yet to earn an NHL call-up but has skated in 199 games for AHL affiliates Rochester Americans and Portland Pirates scoring 18 goals and 54 assists.

The 6’1″ 192 lbs. blue liner has shown the ability to be a play maker throughout his playing career, especially in his last two seasons of OHL junior hockey with Saginaw Spirit and Barrie Colts and his first year as a pro.

The 23-year old is fairly steady on ice but will need to step up those appearances on the score sheet to continue to find his spot on the minor league roster and keep the eyes of the suits on his game.

18Jul

Nik Pokulok(7) Fort Wayne Komets

Posted in AHL, ECHL | Leave a comment

Big big big 6’5″ 225 lbs. rookie defenseman Nik Pokulok(7) signs a one year deal with Fort Wayne Komets.

He started his pro career at the end of 2012/2013 skating 6 regular season and 23 ECHL Kelly Cup Playoff games with Stockton Thunder when he completed four years of college hockey at Clarkson University.

After scoring no points in his first short run of games he notched a pair of goals and an assist in the postseason.

Not exactly the style player to tear up the score sheet, the 23-year old is considered a solid stay at home d-man with shutdown capabilities.

He will probably have a great first campaign in the Midwest and with steady play on the blue line could very well see a couple game call-up to the AHL.

17Jul

Will O’Neill(23) St. John’s IceCaps

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

2nd year defenseman Will O’Neill(23) signed a 1-year entry level deal for 2012/2013 with Winnipeg Jets after completing his college playing career at University Of Maine, where he was team captain and had a knack for feeding scoring chances.

He was originally an Atlanta Thrashers‘ 7th round pick back in 2006 (#210 overall) before he started a couple of seasons in the USHL, American junior hockey with Omaha Lancers.

The 6’1″ 205 lbs. blue liner played 59 games with AHL affiliate St. John’s IceCaps last season, scoring 3 goals and 18 assists. He had also joined them on an ato to finish out 2011/2012 and notched his first professional hockey tally.

Heading into the new year, the 25-year was set to become an unrestricted free agent.

The IceCaps took care of that inking him to a one-year contract to stay with the team. He could also score himself an invite to the parent club’s training camp.

16Jul

Riley Boychuk(45) New Jersey Devils

Posted in AHL, ECHL, NHL | Leave a comment

New Jersey Devils shed more salary cap to pick up 3rd year larger than life left wing prospect Riley Boychuk(45) from Buffalo Sabres, the team that drafted him in the 7th round of 2010 (#208 overall).

He is in the last season of a three-year entry level deal that has seen him play mostly AA pro hockey, last year in the Central Hockey League reassigned to Fort Worth Brahmas and in his rookie campaign he played 20 games with Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL.

The 6’5″ 205 lbs. player put up career high goals, assists and points (8-9-17) in his sophomore year.

He’s anticipated to join Albany Devils for 2013/2014. He was recently invited to the parent club’s development camp and will definitely be joining them again in September.

The 23-year old played 26 AHL games in his first season with Rochester Americans and had a pair of helpers but is still looking for his AAA tally.

No doubt, this is a big frame forward that needs to be stepping it up.

15Jul

Shawn Boutin(26) Stockton Thunder

Posted in AHL, ECHL | Leave a comment

Undrafted, 3rd year defenseman Shawn Boutin(26) re-signs on for another season with Western Conference Champions, Stockton Thunder.

In 69 ECHL games last year he had 13 assists but no goals. He took care of that in the Kelly Cup Playoffs though by registering a pair of markers (keep that puck) and 6 assists in 23 postseason contests.

The 5’11” 195 lbs. blue liner started his pro career with Arizona Sundogs in Central Hockey League, skated 54 games in his rookie campaign and had 2 goals and 4 assists.

He played 5 seasons in juniors with Val d’Or Foreurs and was fairly steady in his point production in the mid-teens but seems to rack up too many on ice minus numbers that has followed him.

The 23-year old also does show an uptick in his playoff hockey, so if he can even out his plus/minus, he’ll be one good, well-rounded d-man. We wouldn’t be surprised if he scored an AHL training camp invite or call-up.