Florida Panthers‘ 2nd year center Jared McCann(17) was picked up in a late season trade with Vancouver Canucks.
The former 1st round pick in the 2014 draft (#24 overall) played his full rookie season in the NHL scoring 9 goals and 9 assists through 69 games with a -6 rating before being dealt.
He started his sophomore campaign with the big club but was a little slow out of the gate pocketing only a goal and 2 assists through 17 games.
The tough, hard-skating 6’1″ 198 lbs. power forward was reassigned to affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds looking to ignite that scoring touch he had on full display in 3 years with St. Sault Marie Greyhounds of the OHL, where he notched a point-per-game.
In 5 AHL contests he has a goal and an assist but is involved in every aspect of the game when on the ice.
As an under 18 skater he won the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament gold with Team Canada.
Signed to a three year entry level deal he definitely has time to develop but looks like he’s on the cusp of being a full-time contributor at the highest level of hockey sooner than later.
Boston Bruins‘ sophomore left wing Anton Blidh(81) had a career year as a first year skater in North American style hockey.
He skated 65 AHL games scoring 10 goals and 4 assists for affiliate Providence Bruins, while always supplying energy when spotted on the ice.
A late reassignment to the minors out of training camp didn’t distract him as he starts hot scoring 5 goals and 4 assists looking like he’ll easily eclipse what he did as a rookie.
It’s earned him a first NHL recall and in his debut he skated 12 shifts for 10:12 total ice with 3 shots on net and a 0 rating in a 2-1 victory.
He definitely needs to mark up the score sheet to stay up as he’s just in the second season of his entry level deal that runs through 2017/2018, but it wouldn’t surprise anyone for him to pot some luck.
Tampa Bay Lightning 8th year (5 of those played in the Switzerland’s top league NLA, where he played also all of his junior hockey) Joel Vermin(92) spent 6 games with the parent club heading into his contract year notching his first NHL point, an assist.
He was signed to a one-year extension even before the conclusion of last calendar to continue the progress.
A late cut heading into 2016/2017 he got off to a hot start with affiliate Syracuse Crunch scoring 7 goals and 4 assists in 17 AHL games.
Just over a month in, he gets a recall and grabs another pair of assists in his new season debut.
It was an unfortunately one in the loss column for the team though but he did manage to leave the contest with a +2 rating.
There’s a strange rumor floating that he could be on the way back home, possibly if he’s sent back down to the minors but all that seems a bit doubtful and remains to be seen.
Carolina Hurricanes‘ 4th round pick in the 2014 draft (#94 overall) rookie defenseman Josh Wesley(40) is starting his career splitting time between affiliates Charlotte Checkers and Florida Everblades.
In only 2 AHL games he already has his first goal and a +2 rating.
He’s skated 8 ECHL games with a goal, 3 assists and a +3 in the lower league, so accountability doesn’t appear to be an issue.
The big 6’3″ 205 lbs. blue liner has never really been much a point-getter through 4 years of junior hockey in the OHL with Plymouth Whalers, Flint Firebirds and Niagara IceDogs but seems to be finding his footing on the score sheet at the pro level.
Signed to a three year entry level deal through 2019, he has time to develop but there’s no time like the present for this young 20-year old to make an impression.
He is the son of 20-year, veteran d-man Glen Wesley(2), who played a remarkable 1457 NHL games.
San Jose Sharks‘ 3rd year right wing Ryan Carpenter(40) received a one-year two-way extension heading into 2016/2017.
With a good training camp he earned a spot on the opening night roster but before being inserted into a game night lineup was reassigned to affiliate San Jose Barracuda, where he got right to work scoring a pair of goals and 5 assists in 12 AHL games with a +5 rating.
He was recalled a month later getting the nod to play.
In his third game up, he skated a new high 18 shifts for 11:38 total ice time and recorded his first NHL goal, an insurance marker in a 4-1 winning effort.
New Jersey Devils‘ 4th round pick in the 2013 draft (#100 overall) rookie left wing Miles Wood(44) started his first year on the opening night roster but after 2 games with limited impact was shipped to affiliate Albany Devils to gain some jets.
It worked because in 14 AHL games he pocketed 3 goals and 3 assists and looked like a player possessed to play at a higher level.
Recently recalled, he has his first NHL goal skating a new best 21 shifts for 14 minutes of total ice in what turned out to be a close game team loss.
He’s taken a fairly quick path to pro hockey playing only one year at Boston College before signing his three year entry level deal.
Previously he’d skated only high school hockey for three seasons putting up almost 2 points-per-game stats and a couple seasons at tier 3 junior hockey locally.
The 21-year old comes from hockey blood as his dad is Randy Wood, a veteran of 741 games in the big league.
This kid is hockey.
It’s been close to six years since long-standing goaltender Michael Leighton(32) recorded a win in net but he achieved that feat when he was recently pressed into a start for Carolina Hurricanes.
He returned to the team on a two-year one-way deal after spending a couple seasons in Chicago Blackhawks‘ system.
His last victory was on a one game recall December of 2010 for Philadelphia Flyers, a team he helped backstop the previous year into the Stanley Cup Playoffs after being picked up on waivers from the aforementioned Hurricanes.
They rode his coattails all the way to the Finals.
Once again, he’s one of the top goalies in the minors with AHL affiliate Charlotte Checkers already posting a 6-2-1 mark with a pair of shutouts and jaw-dropping 1.66 GAA and .937 SV%.
He is the energizer bunny and will turn 36-years old before the end of the current campaign and from the looks of it will continue to keep on ticking.
Philadelphia Flyers‘ 3rd year net minder Anthony Stolarz(41) finally received his first NHL start, a win, after being recalled and sent back what seemed like a weekly trip through 2015/2016 and less as a rookie without so much as a sniff.
After playing a career high 47 AHL games with affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms last season (21-18-7) he came out of the gate strong posting a 6-2 mark with a 2.39 GAA and .927 SV% and one shutout.
In his debut, the giant-sized goalie stopped 29 of 32 shots for a 3.00 GAA and .906 SV% for a 5-3 victory.
The 22-year old is in the final run of his entry level deal and set to become a restricted free agent at the conclusion of the current calendar.
It’s very likely they will extend him for at minimum another short look, but if he can play more games with the parent club could be looking at a longer term and possible one-way contract.
Vancouver Canucks‘ 4th round pick in the 2011 draft (#101 overall) big 6’4″ 205 lbs. sophomore center Joseph Labate(62) scores himself an early recall from affiliate Utica Comets, where he looks to be setting up a breakout campaign already scoring 2 goals and 4 assists in 12 AHL games.
He had a very decent 10 goals and 10 assists in 66 contests as a rookie but was also a healthy scratch on occasion.
In his first three NHL games, he’s been put to limited use skating roughly 5 minutes of total ice each appearance, but is a +1 rating and has a fight to his credit, as the team posted a 2-1 record.
He dropped the gloves 9 times as a rookie and once with the parent club in preseason, so easily doesn’t shy away from battles.
The extra large-sized forward had a formidable run through four years at University Of Wisconsin averaging 20 points a season and won the NCAA/WCHA Championship as a second year player.
At still only 23-years old, he is set to become a restricted free agent at the end of 2016/2017 but looks to be setting himself up for at least a one year extension.
Congratulations to Pittsburgh Penguins‘ forward Phil Kessel(81) on reaching the 600 point milestone in 771 NHL games.
The 29-year old has 279 goals and 321 assists but a bit of an abysmal -69 rating.
The former Boston Bruins 1st round pick in the 2006 draft (#5 overall) has played 11 seasons at the highest level of hockey and only ever played 2 games in the minors.
