6th year right wing Jordan Szwarz(37) was left unqualified by contract team for his first 5 years, Arizona Coyotes heading into the 2016/2017 season.
He was in training camp and officially signed a pto to join Providence Bruins on opening day but was slow to start with only a pair of goals through October.
The small-ish, energetic forward picked up the pace big as the team started to gain its footing and currently has a career high 18 goals and 31 assists for 49 points (both team leading) in 58 AHL contests with a +19 rating.
He was rewarded a month into the year with an spc to stay.
He’s on pace to play a new best games in a single season and also post more shots on net than he has in a past campaign.
The soon-to-be 26-year old, former Saginaw Spirit and Portland Pirates‘ captain with 35 NHL games experience is a good leader for the young minor league squad and could be playing himself into another big league deal for 2017/2018.
He’s easily worth a look.
Dusseldorfer EG 5th year German-born goaltender Mathias Niederberger(35) signs on for a third season with hometown team.
He was initially loaned from fellow DEL squad Eisbaren Berlin for the 2015/2016 campaign and earned goalie of the year award in 42 games with a 2.27 GAA and .930 SV%.
The 5’11” 170 lbs. only played 11 games for his former team and was even allowed to play 5 games for Dredsner Eislowen of DEL2.
After playing the start of his junior hockey in his country, he moved on for a pair of years in the OHL with Barrie Colts looking to break into the NHL.
In 2013/2014 he signed a deal with Los Angeles Kings‘ affiliate Manchester Monarchs but was mostly sidelined by injury able to appear in only 6 AHL and 9 ECHL games on reassignment with Ontario Reign.
Despite the physical setback, he actually did ok but decided to head back to Germany to continue his career.
At only 24-years old he still has plenty of time in the cage ahead of him and the only question that really remains to be answered is will he stay or head out to pursue higher league adventures as he gets older and quite possibly even better.
Bridgeport Sound Tigers‘ undrafted 2nd year right wing Tanner Fritz(11) is having a career season.
In 62 AHL games he has a team 2nd 19 goals and 41 points.
His efforts and unending energy on ice has earned him an NHL two-year 2-way entry level deal from parent club New York Islanders that starts 2017/2018.
As a rookie he signed a minor league contract with Missouri Mavericks after 4 solid years at Ohio State University.
He was an assistant captain as a junior and captain as a senior.
The 5’11” 185 lbs. forward had 10 goals and 23 assists in 33 ECHL games with +13 before being loaned up to the Connecticut-based squad.
He finished his first campaign with the team on a standard player contract signed in April and extended through the current calendar with 2 goals and 10 assists signifying he was ready to make the full-time jump up to the higher league.
The 25-year did it again in 2016/2017, had a strong showing on a tryout at the parent clubs training camp and may just get a bit of an extended look at the the forthcoming camp.
This is a hard skater that deserves a shot.
9th year right wing Ryan Duncan(16) has played 7 of his pro seasons with EC Red Bull Salzburg of the EBEL and will return for an 8th campaign in 2017/2018.
The very small 5’5″ 165 lbs. forward is a 4 time Austrian league Champ, has recorded 30+ assists (41 in 2015/2016) on 5 occasions and had 3 years of 50+ points.
He’s only spent one season in the U.S. under contract with Portland Pirates and his only other time in another country was 2013/2014 when he laced up the skates for EHC Munchen of DEL.
The now 31-year old will turn 32 before the start of the new schedule and seems content to continue on this well-traveled path.
11th year veteran right wing Tim Wallace(47) played the last three seasons overseas before returning on his first ECHL deal with Alaska Aces.
Through 63 games he’s one of their leading scorers with 18 goals and 29 assists for 47 points with a +2 rating.
These are his best scoring totals since his final season in Pittsburgh Penguins‘ organization with affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, when he had 37 points in the higher league.
His most successful run away from North America was his first with Orebro HC in 2013/2014.
He had 15 goals and 17 assists in 55 SHL games.
The 32-year was recently recalled by old team Bridgeport Sound Tigers to help them as they push for a playoff spot.
In 2 games he has first AHL goal since 2012/2013 with Charlotte Checkers.
Boston Bruins‘ 3rd round pick in the 2015 draft (#75 overall), Czech Republic-born rookie goaltender Daniel Vlader(30) earned his first AHL shutout and has a stellar 4-0-2 record through 7 games with affiliate Providence Bruins.
He also has a pretty decent 2.39 GAA and .928 SV%.
The big 6’5″ 185 lbs. net minder is signed to a three-year entry level deal through 2019 and could be pushing himself up the rankings for an appearance with the parent club sooner than later depending how the playoff picture unfolds.
It’s been less successful on reassignment to Atlanta Gladiators, where he’s been less successful with a struggling squad in 16 ECHL games.
His 5-8-1-1 record with a 4.09 GAA and .882 SV% points more towards the team at a -42 GF/GA than it does the goalie.
He played most of junior hockey in his home country and only spent one season in the USHL with Chicago Steel before agreeing to his big league contract and turning pro but the only 19-year old has to be looked at as the possible future guarding the cage for the black & gold.
New York Rangers‘ 7th round pick in the 2016 draft (#201 overall) right wing Ty Ronning(14) signed an ato to join affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack for the rest of the regular season, one with no playoff hopes to hang onto.
After completing his fourth year with Vancouver Giants, a team that struggled to string wins together, he still remains unsigned but the parent club thought it would be good to have a look at his progress in the pro ranks.
The small 5’9″ 165 lbs. forward lead his WHL team in goals and points (25-53) this past campaign and was the scoring leader with 31 tallies in 2015/2016.
In his 2nd game with the farm club he would get his first AHL goal (he had an assist in his debut), skates hard out there, gets himself into the mix and is on the ice for lots of different game situations.
The son of former 17-year NHL veteran center Cliff Ronning (1,137 games, 306-563-869), the 19-year old may be returned to juniors for an overage season before grabbing an entry level deal but the early signs look good.
Heading into his 10th pro season right wing Francis Pare(91) signs with Avtomobilist Yekaturenburg for 2017/2018 to return to the KHL for a 5th season.
After winning the 2013 Calder Cup Championship with his original contract team Detroit Red Wings‘ affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins the unrestricted free agent decided to move on with no NHL games played, agreeing to a 2-year deal with TPS of Liiga.
He would only stay with the team for half a season before getting his first deal in Russia’s top league with Metallurg Magnitorgosk, where he won a second straight title, the 2014 Gagarin Cup.
The forward stayed for another campaign but was traded after a slow start to Traktor Chelyabinsk through the beginning of 2015/2016 before moving once again to HC Slovan Bratislava.
He only stayed there for 16 games before heading back to Finland.
After another brief visit there (18 contests and 8 in the playoffs) and a return to the type of scoring which made him sought after, he signed his next contract with Medvescak Zagreb and was able to achieve scoring totals closer to what he achieved in the AHL (10-26-36) before once again moving on a month before the season concluded to Geneve-Servette HC of the NLA.
He’ll turn 30-years old before the start 2017/2018.
It’s unlikely this will be this next stop will be a last one for the journeyman skater.
Undrafted 2nd year right wing Alexandre Ranger(11) may be finally finding a bit of a stride.
In his first three games since returning from the higher league to his fourth team of 2016/2017, Tulsa Oilers he has 2 goals and 2 assists.
He also skated 15 AHL games on loan to San Antonio Rampage and his 2nd stint in 2 years with St. John’s IceCaps, where he had a goal and an assist in 8 appearances and 2 goals and 1 assists in 17 contests last season.
The 5’11” 180 lbs. forward has signed two minor league contracts with Norfolk Admirals to start each campaign and with the team in 53 ECHL games has 12 goals and 12 assists with a -9 before being traded to Oklahoma.
He was a point-per-game guy in his final year of QMJHL with Chicoutimi Sagueneens, so definitely has the offense skills.
It would be little surprise to see him make the jump up on a full-time basis in 2017/2018 with the new Laval Rocket, if he’s given a training camp opp.
New Jersey Devils‘ 1st round pick in the 2014 draft (#30 overall) rookie center John Quenneville(42) scored a 1st NHL goal in his 6th game with the big club.
He arrived on a second recall leading affiliate Albany Devils in points (41), assists by a wide margin (29) and adds 12 goals on top of all that in 53 AHL games.
One downside is a depressing -17 rating.
The former 2016 WHL Champion in his fourth and final year for Brandon Wheat Kings was more than a point per game scorer during the regular season and in the playoffs, not to mention a combined +45.
His 16 goals was a most in the junior league for the postseason.
The 6’1″ 195 lbs. forward is signed through 2018/2019 on a three-year entry level deal.
At only 20-years old, he also has two assists to his point tally.
He’s ready for the show.
