New York Rangers‘ 2nd round pick in the 2012 draft (#59 overall) rookie center Cristoval Nieves(67) got right to work when he signed an ato with affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack at the end of his college career at University Of Michigan.
He was a very decent scorer through his four years, always reaching around 30 points in just over 3o games in three of his campaigns.
The fairly sizable 6’3″ 219 lbs. forward struck for 2 goals and 3 assists in his first 8 AHL games.
Reassigned to the farm squad to start he seemed to pick up where he left off, getting a goal and 5 assists in 13 games before scoring a quick NHL recall.
In his debut he skated 17 shifts for 11:44 of total ice time with a -1 rating in a 7-2 team blowout victory.
The 22-year old seems to be just getting started and from early looks in the minors could easily become a force in the big league.
Montreal Canadiens‘ 8th year left wing Chris Terry(15) signed a one-year two-way contract as an unrestricted free agent with his first new team since being drafted by Carolina Hurricanes.
The quick moving forward spent the entire 2015/2016 up with the big club but mostly split time or was reassigned to minor league affiliates Charlotte Checkers and as a rookie back in 2009/2010 with Albany River Rats.
He has been a 5 time 30+ assists performer with the farm club and 3 times scored 60 points or better.
With new squad St. John’s IceCaps he’s already a point per game player with 5 goals and 10 assists in 14 AHL games, although he was just recently recalled and if he can connect may stay up for an extended time.
He had similar scoring results through four years in the OHL with Plymouth Whalers, serving as team captain in his last two.
The 27-year old is definitely on the cusp between the two top leagues but inserted into the potent Habs‘ lineup could see a surge.
Florida Panthers‘ 10th year Swiss-born goaltender Reto Berra(20) is off to a fantastic start with new affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds.
In 7 games he has a 5-2 record with a glowing 1.72 GAA and .934 SV%, including his first three shutouts in the league ever.
The big 6’4″ 200 lbs. net minder was also just named Player Of The Week for his offense stunning .50 GAA and .981 SV% in two team wins.
Originally a St. Louis Blues‘ 4th round pick in the 2006 draft (#106 overall), he spent the first 6 years of his pro career in his home country’s NLA with stints for HC Davos, EV Zug and EHC Biel-Bienne.
He played all his junior hockey in Switzerland, while also appearing in 32 games throughout that time in the top league and NLB from 2003-2007.
In his second season, he won the 2008 Championship.
He wouldn’t actually arrive to North American hockey until 2013/2014 on a 1-year entry level deal from Calgary Flames but didn’t even last a full campaign despite 29 NHL appearances before being traded at the deadline to Colorado Avalanche.
Almost strategically he signed a three-year extension just after the transaction and would play most of the calendar in the top league during the first year of his new contract but split time almost equally with farm club San Antonio Rampage for his follow-up.
The 29-year old was traded in the off-season, joining his third team but will have to continue to play amazingly well to find time in the show with a cluttered lineup of able bodies guarding the cage.
He’s also only one of only 11 goalies to ever score in the AHL.
Undrafted 5th year net minder Michael Houser(1) signed a contract at the beginning of 2016/2017 with defending Calder Cup Champions Cleveland Monsters but was only with the them for a few days before being reassigned to start the season with Cincinnati Cyclones.
He was actually in Columbus Blue Jackets‘ training camp on a pto before the late transaction occurred.
In 4 ECHL games the 6’2″ 194 lbs. goalie has a 2-2 record with one shutout and a 2.41 GAA and .924 SV%.
He actually returns to the Ohio team, where he spent his entire rookie campaign and played parts of his sophomore year.
The former Florida Panthers‘ prospect arguably had no better stint than in 2014/2015, the final year of his entry level deal with AHL affiliate San Antonio Rampage, as he helped backstop the team into the playoffs posting a 19-9-4 record with 4 shutouts.
In his final year before turning pro, he basically won all the accolades of playing junior hockey with London Knights winning the 2012 OHL Championship and picked up leauge top honors in his position, CHL Goaltender Of The Year and OHL Most Outstanding Player (Red Tilson Trophy).
At 24-years old he still seems to have a lot of time left to prove his game but there’s no time like the present for him to start making more good impressions.
New Jersey Devils‘ 2nd year undrafted goaltender Ken Appleby(31) is off to a hot start on double reassignment down to affiliate Adirondack Thunder, where he spent the majority of his rookie season.
In 4 ECHL games he has a 3-0-0-1 record with a fantastic 1.71 GAA and .919 SV% and 1 shutout.
The extra large 6’4″ 205 lbs. net minder appeared in 29 contests through his first year posting a 17-9-1-1 mark, then carried his team through 12 Kelly Cup playoff games bowing out in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
He’s had one AHL start in 2016/2017 with Albany Devils, a winning effort in overtime with a stellar 1.85 GAA and .929 SV%.
In his previous campaign, he played 8 games in the higher league and did pretty well, but there’s a big of a log jam in the prospect system, so to give him more playing time was sent back down.
The 21-year old old 2015 Memorial Cup and OHL Champion with Oshawa Generals is still carving out his spot but signed to a three year entry deal through 2017/2018 there’s time for the parent club to take notice.
It’s possible he could be one of those rare players to play minutes in three different leagues in one season.
Ottawa Sentors‘ 3rd round pick in the 2012 draft (#76 overall) goalie Chris Driedger(32) has appeared at least one NHL game in all three years of his career.
He posted a pair of goose eggs in both his relief efforts but was less lucky in a first official start just recently this season.
It’s been a much different story for the big 6’4″ 205 lbs. net minder with affiliate Binghamton Senators early in 2016/2017.
He has a 2-0-1 shootout loss record in 3 AHL games with a .097 GAA and a .959 SV% including one shutout.
His numbers since turning pro are looking better than he was able to hit through four campaigns in the WHL, first with Tri-City Americans then Calgary Hitmen for three seasons.
The 22-year old will have to continue to step it up but in the final year of his entry level deal could next be back up net minder for the parent club in the big league.
Boston Bruins‘ 6th round pick in the 2010 draft (#165 overall) goaltender Zane McIntyre(31) has received a pair of surprise NHL starts to boost his sophomore season.
He may have lost both contests and not posted the best GAA at 4.03 and .859 SV% but in his second game played well enough to win, losing only just outside of the last minute.
The 6’2″ 206 lbs. net minder is off to a hot start in his second year with affiliate Providence Bruins posting a 1-0 record with a stingy .044 GAA and brick wall .977 SV% in the AHL.
He was credited with 2015 NCAA top goalie honors and a voted a finalist for the Hobey Baker in his third and final season at University of North Dakota and earned a similar award in 2012 as a 2nd year backstop in the USHL for Fargo Force.
The 24-year could find himself up with the big club for an extended time as the usual back-up goalie may be sidelined for awhile.
Nashville Predators‘ 7th year defenseman Matt Irwin(52) is getting an opportunity to put his skills on display, possibly on a full-time basis, for the first time since 2014/2015, when he was on a 2-year extension with initial contract team San Jose Sharks and played in 115 NHL games.
He scored a career high 8 goals that season and had a best 17 assists the previous campaign with a combined +8 rating but left the team he’d started with for 5 seasons to join Boston Bruins in 2015/2016.
Looking to continue his big league play, the 6’1″ 209 lbs. blue liner was only in the lineup for a pair of appearances to start the season but after a shoddy start spent the rest of the time on reassignment to affiliate Providence Bruins.
He would have a strong showing in the minors scoring 5 goals and 25 assists in 64 AHL games.
Easily not enough for a player that knows he can contribute in the show, he signed a one-year two-way deal with the Preds on the opening day of unrestricted free agent and it looks like the decision is going to pay off nicely.
Ottawa Senators‘ 3rd year right wing Curtis Lazar(27) was sent to the minors for the first time in his pro career, in which he’s already played 143 NHL games through two seasons scoring 6 goals twice and a new high 14 assists and 20 points as a sophomore skater.
He’s still eligible to be reassigned without clearing waivers until he appears in 10 more big league contests, so after a bout of mono that kept him out of training camp a decision was made to ship him off to the farm to get him ready with lots of ice time and many different game situations.
In 9 AHL games with Binghamton Senators he has 2 goals and is a 0 rating, which doesn’t seem like a lot but more than affecting the score sheet, he’s out there 5-on-5, on power plays and killing penalties.
The former 1st round pick in the 2013 draft (#17 overall) had a very storied 3-year run in junior hockey with Edmonton Oil Kings, where he won the 2012 and 2014 WHL Championships, the 2013 CHL Memorial Cup and a pair of gold medals in 2013 and 2015.
His best season in juniors was his final year potting 41 goals and 35 assists.
The 6’209 lbs. forward will turn just 22-years old mid-season and is definitely being given ample room to grow his game, which should blossom in the current campaign or after his given an extension as he approaches restricted free agency.
