Ottawa Senators‘ 1st round pick in the 2015 draft (#27 overall) center Colin White(82) signed an ato with affiliate Binghamton Senators, played 3 AHL games scoring a goal and 2 assists, then officially signed his 3-year entry level deal before joining the parent club for a pair of contests.
The 6′ 183 lbs. forward foregoes in last couple years at Boston College after putting up slightly more than a point-per-game in his first two campaigns.
This offensive outburst followed two seasons in the USHL with the USNTDP, where he was able to connect with nice frequency and two years of high school hockey that saw him plug in 76 points in 51 appearances.
The 20-year old is thought to be a strong skater with good on ice accountability and even won a USA gold medal at the 2017 World Juniors.
He’s signed through 2019 but could see some more time in the minors to start his rookie year.
Boston Bruins‘ 5th year defenseman Tommy Cross(56) got what must have been a bit of a surprise playoff recall from affiliate Providence Bruins as the team was preparing for Eastern Conference First Round playoff game 3.
The farm club captain for the past pair of seasons last played an NHL game at the beginning of 2015/2016.
Even though the decently sized blue liner seemed to do fairly well on his only recall with one assist and a -1 rating he was passed over in favor of giving other prospects an opportunity.
He had a career year in the minors through 2016/2017 recording all new bests with 74 AHL games, 12 goals, 23 assists, 35 points, 138 shots on net and a +18 rating.
In his big league postseason debut he skated 19 shifts for 13:08 of total ice with 2 break-ups, 1 giveaway and left the 4-3 overtime loss with a +1.
It will be interesting to see he played well enough to stay or will be reassigned to help the P-Bruins with their Calder Cup quest.
Regardless, the 27-year old is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the current calendar and could grab some attention from other squads, if not re-up nicely for another year in the only organization he’s skated for.
Undrafted 4th year center Matt Bailey(27) started 2015/2016 under a minor league contract with Stockton Heat but only appeared in a career low 17 AHL games.
He was also reassigned lower to affiliate Adirondack Thunder for 6 ECHL games and detonated the score sheet for his brief spell in the lower league with 3 goals, 6 assists and a +6 rating.
This type of offensive explosion was more like what he was able to accomplish in his fourth and last year at University Of Alaska-Fairbanks, when he was a point per game player with 20 goals and 18 assists.
The 6’1″ 189 lbs. forward originally signed a two-year entry level deal with Anaheim Ducks but was mostly reassigned to affiliates, where he was a healthy scratch probably more times than he wanted.
With more limited playing time he decided that he’d had enough and split for Sweden’s tier 2 Allsvenskan signing with Mora IK.
In his 7 contests before playoffs rolled around he had 3 goals and 3 assists, then added another 7 goals and 2 assists in 9 postseason match-ups.
This output was good enough for him to secure a new agreement for 2017/2018 as the team ascends to the higher level, SHL.
The 26-year old may have found his spot.
Manchester Monarchs‘ 11th year right wing Ashton Rome(88) nets the game-winning goal and celebrates with what’s definitely a little sigh of relief for the veteran, hard-working forward.
It’s his first of the postseason and helps the team take a 2-0 Kelly Cup playoff series lead.
He returned to North American pro hockey once again after starting 2016/2017 with Iserlohn Roosters but only lasted 9 DEL games.
In 36 ECHL contests he would grab 12 goals and 6 assists, while providing veteran leadership to a mostly young squad.
The 31-year old could easily continue if he wants and could be back closer to home to start setting up a next move to coaching.
5th year right wing Ben Hanowski(28) likely picked up a nice deal for 2017/2018 with Kolner Haie of DEL after a two season of 20+ goals with Augsburger Panther.
Originally a Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 3rd round pick in the 2009 draft (#63 overall), he was traded before ever lacing them up to Calgary Flames as he was finishing up his four years at St. Cloud State University.
He spent his junior and senior campaigns as team captain and earlier in his hockey ascension became Minnesota High Schools all-time leading scorer at Little Falls.
The 6’2″ 210 lbs. power forward played his first five games after finishing up college in the big league and even potted a first NHL goal in his debut.
In the following year he played a career high 11 games in the last month of the calendar recording 2 assists but seemed to drop from the depth chart despite receiving a contract extension heading into 2014/2015.
Through 56 AHL games with affiliate Adirondack Flames he picked up a new minor league best 16 goals with a +3 rating but it wasn’t enough to keep him around making him an unrestricted free agent.
He agreed to his first deal overseas as 2015/2016 was set to begin.
The 26-year old may have found a great home in the top German league and it would be little surprise to see him continue playing here for a long while.
Ottawa Senators‘ 2nd round pick in the 2014 draft (#40 overall) 4th year Swedish-born defenseman Andreas Englund(6) played most of his first season in North America with affiliate Binghamton Senators.
Through 66 AHL games he scored 3 goals and 7 assists with a -13 rating on a team that mostly struggle for wins.
The very decently-sized 6’3″ 189 lbs. blue liner also skated 5 NHL games and was one of the last cuts at training camp to be reassigned to the farm club.
He did all of his junior hockey time in his home country starting his pro career as a 17-year old with Djurgardens IF of tier two Allsvenskan before being moved up to their SHL squad for 2014/2016.
Not exactly known as a d-man that will help put up points, he’s considered mostly for his stay-at-home style and punishing offenders.
The 21-year old will likely compete for a full-time roster spot in 2017/2018 but is on a three-year entry level deal so more time in the minors might help continue to elevate his game.
Boston Bruins‘ 1st round pick in the 2016 draft (#40 overall) defenseman Charlie McAvoy(73) signs a three-year entry level deal after his second campaign at Boston University.
He originally inked an ato with affiliate Providence Bruins and played his first 4 games in the AHL recording a pair of assists.
Decimated by a pair of key injuries to the back line heading into their first playoffs in a few seasons, the 19-year old foregoes his final two years of college to turn pro.
He twice eclipsed the 20 assist mark in two runs with the Terriers and also had 33 helpers in his 2nd season for the USNTDP of the USHL.
In a pair of practices with the big club, he was seen listening to lots of advice from coaches and players, was on the blue line with the first power play unit and even managed a few smiles.
It’s going to be a situation of thrown into the fire for his NHL debut and we’re expecting the results to be decent with a lot of quick learning.
3rd year Swiss-born center Flavio Cola(91) has taken quite an interesting route in his pro career.
It started when he was maybe as young as 17 in 2013 coming out of juniors, skating 24 games with EHC Arosa of Division 1.
He would get 2 goals and 3 assists as a teenager.
The 5’10” 165 lbs. forward would stay on for another season but his totals crumbled to just a goal and an assist in 20 games, which points to some kind of unclaimed injury.
Almost oddly for his 3rd campaign overall he decided to come to America and play for tier 3 junior hockey club, East Coast Wizards.
It may have been oddly helpful though as he was able to ignite some scoring.
He got 9 goals and 15 assists in 37 EHL contests and by 2015/2016 he was right back home signing with EHC Basel.
In just 27 games he grabbed 6 goals and 11 assists.
It looks as though the team has played itself up a level to NLB (SRL) for 2017/2018 and the 22-year old will be back.
This is one of the most unlikely, cool hockey climbs.
Philiadelphia Flyers‘ 2nd round pick in the 2013 draft (#41 overall) 5th year, Swedish-born defenseman Robert Hagg(4) received an NHL recall and played his first game on the last day of regular season.
The highly touted prospect skated 27 shifts for 21:19 of total ice with 5 shots on net, 4 hits and 3 break-ups in a 4-3 shootout loss.
At 6’2″ 204 lbs. started his pro career with two campaigns in his home country’s top league SHL for MODO before the 19-year old came across the pond.
His first full season with minor league affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms was in 2014/2015 on an entry level slide.
He’s already amassed 200 AHL games scoring 16 goals and 34 assists, which isn’t much but he’s considered mostly a big, hard-hitting blue liner, strong in his own zone but his 17 helpers in his rookie year point towards someone that has the ability to head man the puck effectively.
The 22-year old should compete for a big league roster spot and get a more extended look coming out of 2017/2018 training camp.
He’ll be in the third year of his entry level deal.
