ECHL | CollegeHockeyPlayers

02Jun

Garrett Mitchell (36) Hershey Bears

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Heading into his fifth season, Washington keeps the speedy, aggressive skating forward for another 2-years inking him to an extension through 2016/2017.

He’s been the club’s assistant captain for the last two seasons and although his numbers dipped to half of what he was able to score in his sophomore campaign, he’s always a pesky presence on the ice.

The 23-year old also suffered a season-ending shoulder injury that required surgery and put him on the sidelines for the second half of the final year of his entry level deal but was still offered another shot with an additional year.

He will likely get the opportunity to prove what he can do in the NHL sooner than later.

02Jun

Harrison Reed(19) Dresdner Eislowen

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6th year right wing Harrison Reed(19) has decided it’s time to go try his game overseas joining up with Eispiraten Crimmitschau of DEL2, the second tier pro hockey league in Germany.

He’s coming off a season of career highs with Stockton Thunder of the ECHL. In 46 games he put up 21 goals and 24 assists. It was his first time hitting the 20/20 club. He also added another 9 tallies and 11 helpers in 23 Kelly Cup Playoff games getting the team all the way to the finals before falling.

Originally a Carolina Hurricanes‘ 3rd round pick in the 2006 draft (#93 overall), he signed a 3-year entry level deal and joined their then affiliate Albany River Rats for 119 games before being involved in a trade that made him property of Colorado Avalanche for the last season of his contract.

He joined Lake Erie Monsters for 2010/2011 but was also reassigned for about half the time to Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League.

The 6’1″ 192 lbs. forward plays with bigger size than his measurements might indicate but was never really able to connect in the AHL, where in 208 games he has 11 goals and 16 assists but is a terrible -39 overall.

For his first season as an unrestricted free agent he signed a contract to play with Toledo Walleye but also received a pair of call-ups to Houston Aeros and the familiar Lake Erie team. He would also rejoin them again last season for 14 contests.

The 25-year should be able to continue his domination on the score sheet, which may bring him back to North America or help continue his rise in Europe.

Original story: 8/1-13

After a year in the 2nd tier German league potting an astounding 40 goals and 50 assists in 54 games and another 27 points in 17 playoff contests, he was awarded forward of the year title for his efforts.

He decided to make the jump up to DEL signing with Straubing Tigers and came back down to earth with 25 points in 50 games.

For 2015/2016 he circles back to DEL2 inking for a season with Dresdner Eislowen.

At 27-years old now he very well could explode on the score sheet once again and look to move on to a different country’s top league.

01Jun

Julien Brouilette(49) Karlskrona

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Washington Capitals‘ defenseman Julien Brouilette(29) waited six pro seasons before scoring his first NHL contract.

He was signed for the last couple years with AHL affiliate Hershey Bears and in camp with the parent club, so was definitely being watched.

The still small-ish 5’11” 196 lbs. blue liner is having a career year for goals, 9 in 37 games and is on his way to a new high for overall points.

On his first recall he notch his first point, an assist and left the game with a +2 rating. In his next appearance he would score his first goal, the game winner, and had another +2 in a second team win.

The 27-year old skated a single game with ECHL affiliate Reading Royals last season and this year is on a short list for recalls to the show.

He started his pro career in the double A league under contracts with Columbia Inferno, Charlotte Checkers twice and Greenville Road Warriors, but ended up skating double the amount of games in 2010/2011 with Lake Erie Monsters. This was just the start of his ascent.

Playing his junior hockey with he showed an early offensive upside posting over 40 assists in his final pair of campaigns.

This is a ton of hard work in progress, but from early games in the big league seems like a good player to have around.

Original story 3/2-14.

After playing under contract with Winnipeg Jets‘ last season, spending all but one appearance with the big club in the minors, heading into his 9th year he will test the waters overseas as he has signed on with Karlskrona of the SHL and should do well playing a more wide open system.

See related: 10/23-12

01Jun

Patrick McNeill(20) ERC Ingolstadt

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Columbus Blue Jackets‘ 7th year defenseman Patrick McNeill(8) must be liking the first change of scenery in his pro career.

He’s reached a new high in scoring with 11 goals with minor league affiliate Springfield Falcons and second most for points, currently at 36.

Originally a Washington Capitals‘ 4th round pick in the 2005 draft (#118 overall), he spent his first 6 seasons in the team’s prospect system skating for Hershey Bears.

The 6′ 198 lbs. blue liner initially showed strong offensive instincts in four campaigns of OHL juniors with Saginaw Spirit, leading all d-men scoring 77 points in 2005/2006.

He has yet to realize his first NHL contest but has appeared in a whopping 386 AHL games, registering 44 goals and 144 assists with a combined +36 rating and a back-to-back Calder Cup Championships in 2009 and 2010.

The 27-year old is signed to a 1-year, 2-way deal through the end of 2013/2014.

A contract extension may well depend upon how he and the team perform in the upcoming postseason but he’s certainly right on track.

Original story date 4/12-14.

Early in 2014 free agency, he was offered a one-year two-way deal to join Arizona Coyotes.

Suffering a shoulder injury during practice early in the season, his time was limited to just 23 games with affiliate Portland Pirates. He did fairly well scoring as he usually does with a goal and 11 assists.

The now 29-year old has decided to accept his next deal from overseas and will skate his 9th season for ERC Ingolstadt.

See related: 8/3-11, 6/19-12

31May

Dustin Gazley(10) Hershey Bears

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Heading into his 6th season, Hershey Bears‘ undrafted right wing Dustin Gazley(10) signs for a third season in Chocolatetown.

He played more AHL games last season (72) and had more goals (18), assists (20), points (38) shots on net (122) and penalty minutes (36) than he did in the previous two campaigns combined. He also owned a nice +11 rating.

To be fair, he was on loan to Binghamton Senators from Elmira Jackals, the team he was under contract with for the first two years of his pro career, in 2013/2014.

Before moving up, he scored 47 goals and 105 assists for 152 points in 136 ECHL games.

At only 5’8″ 161 lbs. there’s no doubt he’s always one of the smallest players on the ice but he skated with a lot of speed and finds the open spaces to be an effective scorer and should continue to take those career highs up another notch.

See related: 3/27-14

30May

Francis Lemieux(20) Frisk Asker

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After 6 years of trying but seeing diminishing totals in the AHL to scoring outstanding numbers in the ECHL, Francis Lemieux(20), last seen in North America playing for Connecticut Whale, will try his hand at German 2nd tier league DEL2, as he signed on to play with Heilbronner Falken.

He moved on after only one season to play in Austria for the next couple campaigns before joining Ajoie of the NLB but will move countries once again to skate for Frisk Asker in Norway in 2015/2016.

It will be his 11th pro year.

Original story date: 7/22-11

19May

Erik Burgdoerfer (32)

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Heading into his 6th season, undrafted defenseman Erik Burgdoerfer(32) re-signed for a second stint with Hershey Bears.

The 6’1″ 209 lbs. mostly stay-at-home, hard-hitting blue liner spent all but three early season games in the AHL skating 58 games, scoring a goal and 6 assists with a +8 rating and got another helper in 10 Calder Cup Playoff contests.

He started his pro career playing four years in the ECHL with Bakersfield Condors elevating his game with each campaign.

In 2013/2014 he scored a high 11 goals and 22 points and appeared in 16 Kelly Cup Playoff match-ups, adding another tally and 5 assists.

At 26-years old he played 4 seasons at RPI and could be a bit of a late bloomer but he’s easily always been a tough force to play against and will likely take his game to the next level as he plants his feet in Chocolatetown.

He was also a Washington Capitals‘ training camp invite and should easily get another look by the parent club.

It’s also worth noting he played under Bears‘ coach Troy Mann in his one season revitalizing the Condors.

16May

Wade MacLeod(19) Starbulls Rosenheim

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Heading into his 5th season, undrafted left wing Wade MacLeod(19) will try his game overseas signing a one-year deal with second tier German league DEL2 Starbulls Rosenheim.

In 2014/2015 as a member of Idaho Steelheads, he put up some fantastic numbers scoring 38 goals and 42 assists in a full schedule of 72 ECHL games with a +23 rating.

The 5’11” 185 lbs. forward started his pro career with Springfield Falcons after four solid years at Northeastern University and did decently enough in his rookie campaign to secure another season with the team.

He was slightly under-performing in his return and was reassigned on a few occasions to affiliate Evansville IceMen, where in 5 games he racked up 5 goals and an assist.

On February 13, the Coquitlam, BC native suffered a season-ending seizure after being hit from behind into the boards, but miraculously managed to return to his skates just over 6 months later and landed a contract with Toronto Marlies for 2013/2014.

He also played with their affiliate Orlando Solar Bears and regular and postseason.

The 28-year old will likely excel overseas on the bigger ice surface and probably climb to a higher level in Germany or move on.

See related: 7/28-12

13Apr

Ryan Martindale(8) Syracuse Crunch

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Florida Panthers‘ fourth year center Ryan Martindale(8) found himself shuffled for a second year in a row from one minor league club to another. What changed this year though was when he arrived at Syracuse Crunch on loan from Panthers‘ affiliate San Antonio Rampage he exploded into a goal scoring machine.

He had 8 goals and 5 assists in 45 AHL games to start but when he switched squads he got as many tallies and one better helper in only 17 contests, almost a third less games since heading to the Eastern Conference. His 16 goals and 27 points are new career highs.

Originally an Edmonton Oilers‘ 3rd round pick in the 2010 draft (#61 overall), he played 2.5 years in their system with Oklahoma City Barons but was unable to live up to what he’d accomplished in his final three years of juniors with Oshawa Generals of the OHL. where there was a 20+ goal season, a 30+ and 2 straight campaigns with 40+ assists and almost 50 in his final run.

The 6’3″ 208 lbs. forward plays with a lot of jam and fires the puck on the net at least a couple of times each game but stays out of the penalty box. He’s mostly been a minus player but surprise he’s currently a +5.

The 24-year old is set enter his second restricted free agency but is still under contract to Florida. It would be easy to think they may pay some renewed interest now that he’s come to life.

12Apr

John Ramage (49)

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Calgary Flames‘ 4th round pick in the 2010 draft (#103 overall) 2nd year defenseman John Ramage(49) was rewarded for his career year with affiliate Adirondack Flames, where he put up a career high 3 goals and 11 assists after only getting a single assist in 50 AHL games as a rookie.

The two-time former captain of University Of Wisconsin had his best college points mark as a senior, when the Badgers won the 2013 NCAA/WCHA Championship.

The 6′ 200 lbs. blue liner is definitely considered more of a stay at home style with good accountability.

In his NHL debut he skated 25 shifts for 18:10 total ice with a somewhat surprising 4 shots on net, 2 hits, 1 play breakup and went only a -1 in a 5-1 drubbing.

The 24-year old is set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season but will join the parents club practice squad for the playoffs and almost assuredly be qualified to stay.

His dad is Rob Ramage, who was the 1979 1st pick in the draft and played 18 years, 1044 games and won the 1989 Stanley Cup with Calgary, so this one has come full circle. Although he was selected by Colorado Rockies.