ECHL | CollegeHockeyPlayers

29Jul

Tom McCollum(30) Grand Rapids Griffins

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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

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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.

27Jul

Matt Reber(10) Fife Flyers

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Undrafted 3rd year center Matt Reber(10) has decided it’s time to take his game overseas after making it to the 2013 Kelly Cup Finals with Stockton Thunder.

The 6’2″ 185 lbs. forward spent a year and a half with the team after being traded half way through the 2011/2012 season by Utah Grizzlies, where he signed after completing four years of college hockey at Dartmouth. He connected big out of the gate in his first pro postseason visit with 3 goals and 7 assists in 8 games.

He settled down some in his pair of minor league seasons, scoring 20 goals and 52 assists in 122 ECHL games.

The 26-year old signed a one year deal to join Fife Flyers of the EIHL for 2013/2014.

It’s seems likely that he detonates the score sheet in the English hockey league.

26Jul

Garet Hunt (24)

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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.

25Jul

Mathieu Brodeur(6)

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Phoenix Coyotes‘ 4th year, undrafted defenseman Mathieu Brodeur(6) signs his qualifying offer to stay with the team for another season after putting up decent numbers with their minor league affiliate Portland Pirates in 2012/2013.

He skated in 65 AHL games scoring 3 goals and 16 assists with 47 penalty minutes, all career highs.

At 6’6″ 215 lbs. he’s one very big blue liner that still needs to steady his game and up the aggressiveness factor before he can become a true shutdown pillar in the defensive zone.

The sharp increase in helpers he put together in his final year of juniors with Cape Breton Screaming Eagles is definitely a plus factor if he can keep it going for the upcoming campaign.

He’s still only 23-years old and one has to think his game still has another level to climb.

19Jul

Bryant Molle(3) Reading Royals

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Undrafted, 3rd year defenseman and consecutive, two-time minor league champ, Bryant Molle(3) re-signs for another year with Reading Royals, the team he won the Kelly Cup with last season.

He played 54 regular season ECHL games and added another 22 playoff games in 2012/2013.

The sizable 6’3″ 215 lbs. blue liner started his first full pro season in the Central Hockey League with Fort Wayne Komets and won the team’s last Ray Miron Presidents’ Cup before switching leagues.

He also appeared in a couple of games with his hometown Alaska Aces upon completing four years of college hockey at University Of Alaska-Fairbanks.

Although never the biggest point getter (2 goals and 19 assists overall), he maintains an outstanding, combined +48 rating over a pair of seasons.

At 26-years old, he’s probably just starting to hit his stride and build a mountain of confidence that may earn him a look from the higher league in the upcoming 2013/2014 campaign.

18Jul

Nik Pokulok(7) Fort Wayne Komets

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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.

16Jul

Riley Boychuk(45) New Jersey Devils

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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

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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.

09Jul

Ian Slater(12) Orlando Solar Bears

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Undrafted 2nd year center/right wing Ian Slater(12) was signed to a contract with Adirondack Phantoms for his rookie season.

He started his pro career in the ECHL with affiliate Trenton Titans, where in 31 games he scored 7 goals and 3 assists with a +9 rating.

The 6′ 198 lbs. forward was recalled to the AHL right after the beginning of the year and would play out the regular season schedule with the team. He notched an assist and was a -9 in mostly limited fourth line use.

The 25-year old was never exactly a point scoring machine in college play at Western Michigan University but was team captain for his last couple of years and won a championship. He also provide lots of energy on the ice whenever he’s out there.

For his sophomore campaign he has decided to ink a deal with Orlando Solar Bears, the team just an hour up the road from his hometown.

He will likely be kept an eye on for a call-up and maybe even attend an AHL training camp to start.