AHL | CollegeHockeyPlayers

24Dec

Phil DeSimone(34) Albany Devils

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2nd year center Phil DeSimone(34) got a nice Christmas present from Albany Devils in the form of an AHL recall from Trenton Titans, where he’d been reassigned after only potting a single goal in 6 games.

Upon landing in the ECHL for the first time in his thus far short pro career he exploded for 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in 3 games earning his way back to the higher league.

The 5’11” 193 lbs. forward definitely has something to prove as he was signed to a contract with Albany after scoring an invite to the New Jersey Devils‘ prospect camp and impressing the brass enough to request he stick in the prospect system.

He played his rookie season with Hamilton Bulldogs getting 14 goals and 19 assists in the full 76 regular season schedule but was a jaw-dropping -30 plus/minus on a team that had the lowest amount of goals scored in the league.

23Dec

Chris Conner(14) Portland Pirates

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Diminutive, undrafted 7th year right wing Chris Conner(14) has played NHL games with three different teams through the first six seasons of his pro career. The 5’7″ 180 lbs. forward has skated in 147 games with Dallas Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings‘ last season amassing a total of 17 goals and 26 assists.

He has also appeared in 297 AHL games scoring 88 goals and 147 assists in regular season action.

For the 2012/2013 season, the free agent signed a one-year, two-way deal with Phoenix Coyotes and has been reassigned to their affiliate Portland Pirates. Through 23 games with the team, he’s definitely been a leader on and off the ice, is on pace to put up career highs in all categories and has helped the club into solo possession of 1st place in the Atlantic Division through the Christmas break.

With the NHL lockout in effect, the 29-year old could have found himself a bit of a home for at least another campaign and should get continued big league looks from the parent club once they start playing hockey again.

22Dec

Denny Urban(37) Worcester Sharks

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Reading Royals‘ 2nd year, undrafted defenseman Denny Urban(37) received his first career AHL call-up to join an injury depleted Worcester Sharks‘ blue line that’s stepping in, stepping up and getting it done.

In his first game, he skated in pretty much all situations in a divisional matchup that featured 134 combined penalty minutes and 9 goals.

He notched his first league point, a helper and was part of the play that resulted in the game-winning tally, while skating a +1 plus/minus.

The somewhat small-ish looking 5’10” 177 lbs. blue liner competed with a lot of speed and kept it simple in his debut, but also looks to have a smart sense of positioning and definitely will be able to chip in on the scoresheet.

In 27 games in 2012/2013 with ECHL‘s Reading he already has 12 goals and 12 assists, which puts him on par for a career high in goals scored and he could even post bests in assists and points as well. He’s third overall in team scoring and second in the league amongst d-men.

The 24-year old may be on his way to moving up the pro hockey ladder.

21Dec

Hampus Lindholm(4) Norfolk Admirals

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Anaheim Ducks‘ 1st round pick in the 2012 draft (#6 overall) Swedish defenseman Hampus Lindholm(4) goes from playing under 18 leagues and tournaments in his home country to signing a three-year entry level deal that potentially causes him to make an appearance in the NHL, if it wasn’t for the nasty little word that keeps anything from happening: lockout.

With that going on he starts the rookie season of his North American pro career reassigned to AHL affiliate Norfolk Admirals.

In 19 games he’s posted his first professional hockey goal and added 4 assists with a +2 plus/minus on a team that lets up more goals than it gets.

At 6’3″ 195 lbs. he’s pegged to be the type of all around defenseman every team wants in their lineup.

He’s currently the youngest player in the league but left his team temporarily to compete in the 2012 World Junior Championships, which Sweden won last year.

20Dec

Ryan Lasch(11) Fort Wayne Komets

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3rd year, undrafted right wing Ryan Lasch(11) started his pro career with a couple of seasons overseas, first in Sweden and then in Finland with Pelicans of SM-liiga, where he led the league in scoring with 24 goals and 38 assists in 59 games.

The California-born skater comes back to the North American hockey for 2012/2013, signing a deal two-year, two-way deal with Anaheim Ducks, which gives him some stability coming back to these shores.

No chance at him competing for a spot on the NHL roster right now, so he was reassigned to start the year with their new AHL affiliate Norfolk Admirals.

In 11 contests the 5’9″ 170 lbs. forward (who looks a bit bigger on ice than those measurements) scored his first goal and added 3 assists.

Apparently the brass was expecting more or just wanted to try some different looks with a team was slow to start in the first third of the season, so they reassigned him to the ECHL Fort Wayne Komets.

The 25-year wasted zero time proving that his play is above this league. In 10 games, he exploded for 5 goals (including a hat trick) and 9 assists with a +4 plus/minus.

No surprise he was picked as the ECHL Player Of The Week for 12/10-12/16. If he continues on this tear, look for him to get recalled sooner than later but he’ll still need to put up points consistently to stay.

19Dec

Ben Blood (44)

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Ottawa Senators‘ 4th round pick in the 2007 draft (#120 overall), rookie defenseman Ben Blood(44) has been making the one hour drive between affiliates Binghamton Senators and Elmira Jackals more times than he even thought possible in the first two months of the season, and more trips are likely on the horizon for his first year pro.

Since the start of the 2012/2013 season he has been reassigned and recalled 8 times playing 17 games in the ECHL and 4 in the AHL scoring no points yet in either league.

He also skated 4 games with the Baby Sens last season when his college career wrapped up.

His intimidating 6’3″ 232 lbs. presence and ability to make the opponents’ players suffer in the attacking zone, combined with good on ice accountability makes him a worthy asset for either squad.

The 23-year old signed a 2-year entry level deal that keeps him in the prospect pipeline through next season.

If he can add some offensive upside as he did in his college career, he’ll be one big, well-rounded skater for either Sens‘ team.

18Dec

Ondrej Palat(12) Syracuse Crunch

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Tampa Bay Lightning have certainly found a diamond in the rough with deep pick, 7th round in the 2011 draft (#208 overall), Czech left wing Ondrej Palat(12).

He was with Norfolk Admirals in his rookie campaign for their storied ride to the AHL Calder Cup Championship and scored 4 goals and 5 assists in 18 games.

He finished the regular season with 9 strikes and 21 helpers in 61 contests while going a +6 plus/minus.

Through the first couple few months of his sophomore season, the 6′ 180 lbs. forward is taking it up a notch on the score sheet as he’s on pace to post career highs for assists, points and plus/minus and may even break his goal scoring mark as well.

In 26 games with new Lightning minor league affiliate Syracuse Crunch, he’s potted only 3 goals (but that could change in a hurry with some explosive output streaks) and his 17 assists look to crush his mark set last season by a wide margin.

He’s also an outstandingly accountable +17 on the ice.

The 21-year old has always put up big numbers first playing in his homeland and then in two years of Canadian juniors before turning pro.

He’s signed through 2014 on a three-year entry level deal but that could get extended in the offseason to make sure he stays on pace to move up in the ranks with Tampa Bay.

17Dec

Ryan Schnell(38) St. John’s IceCaps

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Undrafted, 4th year left wing Ryan Schnell(38) is one of those players that has seemingly still yet to realize most of the potential he could bring to the table.

He spent his first three seasons in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins‘ system, playing the majority of his games in the ECHL with affiliate Wheeling Nailers. Through 114 contests he’s only managed a meager 5 goals and 10 assists.

On the other hand, the 6’3″ 225 lbs. forward has amassed over 400 penalty minutes, which gives more of an indication what style of a game he plays.

Going into the 2012/2013 the unrestricted free agent, the 23-year old signed a deal pretty quickly to change up his scenery, inking a one-year, two-way AHL deal with St. John’s IceCaps.

He was reassigned after the opening month on the sidelines to Colorado Eagles. Although he may be first in pims for the lower league, he’s on for career points, already scoring a career high 4 goals and 7 points through only 12 games, and he’s a +5 plus/minus.

With the right coaching to help direct his abilities, we see a burgeoning power forward in the making. He was recently recalled to the IceCaps and in a pair of games has zero points and one fighting major to his credit. Old habits are slow to fade.

16Dec

Matt Konan(6) Adirondack Phantoms

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Undrafted, rookie defenseman Matt Konan(6) looks to have all the attributes of a player that will one day make it full-time onto an NHL roster. Philadelphia Flyers think so too, as they signed the big-boy (6’4″ 190 lbs.), able puck-moving blue liner to a three-year entry level contract through the 2014/2015 season.

The 21-year old started with their farm team, Adirondack Phantoms but was left off the roster as he was rehabbing a sports hernia that occurred over the summer.

He was sent down to “get his feet wet” and score some ice time in the ECHL with Trenton Titans and appeared in 5 games with the team notching his first pro point: an assist.

Called up as the AHL team kept losing d-men to injuries and illness, he stepped right in and was a difference maker.

After being featured in five games in the upper league, contributing a pair of assists, the first year player shows no signs of giving up his spot.

15Dec

Mike Brennan(27) Worcester Sharks

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5th year, undrafted defenseman Mike Brennan(27) signed his first ECHL contract with last year’s Kelly Cup Champs Florida Everblades to start 2012/2013.

He’s a career AHL player having appeared in 288 regular season games with a few different teams but did sign a 2-year entry level deal with Chicago Blackhawks.

After 9 contests with the ‘Blades and some rough stuff, which the 6′ 205 lbs. d-man has never shied away from, he was signed to a pto with Worcester Sharks to fill in for an injury depleted blue line. He played his college hockey at BC, so in a sense it was a homecoming.

The 26-year old has definitely not ever been looked to for his goal scoring ability and has mostly been seriously on the minus side on ice.

But in 6 games with a grisly Worcester team, he already has three assists, is skating at a +2 plus/minus and fitting in nicely with the team chemistry, meaning his already dropped the mitts at least once.

He may have just found himself a home for pro hockey in a league he’s more familiar with in this NHL lockout season.