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.
Buffalo Sabres‘ 3rd year left wing William Carrier(48) made his NHL debut after a hot start with minor league affiliate Rochester Americans.
He skated a conservative 11 shifts for 6:26 minutes of total ice time with no points but left the contest with a +1 rating in a 2-1 team victory.
The fairly big 6’2″ 212 lbs. forward already has 3 goals and 1 assist in 7 AHL games, which puts him on pace to eclipse career high marks set last season in his sophomore season (13-17-30 in 56 games with a +14).
Originally a St. Louis Blues‘ 2nd round pick in the 2013 draft (#57 overall), he was consistently a point per game performer in his final three years of QMJHL with Cape Breton Screaming Eagles before finishing up with Drummondville Voltigeurs.
In the final year of his entry level contract, the still super-young 21-year old has been well-groomed to make the move up with available space on the parent club’s roster.
Manitoba Moose 2nd year defenseman Peter Stoykewych(42) scored his first AHL goal in 62 games.
The 6’3″ 200 lbs. blue liner is off to a good start in his sophomore campaign with 2 points in 9 contests and a +4 rating.
Originally an Atlanta Thrashers‘ 7th round pick in the 2010 draft (#199 overall) he was pushed in the direction of signing minor league contracts to develop instead of inking with parent club Winnipeg Jets.
Never exactly a big point getter in four years at Colorado College or one year in the USHL with Des Moines Buccaneers, he definitely shows moments where he could have a bit of a scoring breakout but is considered more of a tough to play against, stay-at-home d-man.
It will be interesting to see if he gets picked up with a bit of a surge on the stat sheet and effective zone play as he does possess some good size.
Tampa Bay Lightning 3rd round pick in the 2014 draft (#79 overall) rookie center Brayden Point(21) was on the opening night roster to start his first season.
In 10 NHL games he has 4 assists with no goals and a 0 rating with 22 shots on net and is trusted for his play in all kinds of on ice situations.
The former Moose Jaw Warriors‘ forward always put up big stats in the WHL and was almost a two-point per game player for his final year as team captain.
The small-ish 5’10” 166 lbs. player has also won his fair share of gold, silver and bronze hardware as a junior hockey skater.
He was a late cut before being sent back to play his fourth year of juniors before signing but did play 9 AHL games with affiliate Syracuse Crunch in 2014/2015 at the end of his third season in home territory Alberta, then two more in the playoffs getting two goals and two assists.
The 20-year old is signed to a three year entry level deal and is already showing signs of an early payoff.
Edmonton Oilers‘ defenseman Matt Benning(83) was on the opening night roster to start his rookie campaign but didn’t appear in a game before being reassigned to start his pro career with affiliate Bakersfield Condors.
In two AHL contests he would get a goal and an assist with a +2 rating and big 8 shots on net.
It took little time for the parent club to recall him, as just two weeks later he would make his NHL debut skating 20 shifts for just under 14 minutes of ice time and of course, 2 shots on net.
Throughout his earlier years, the former Boston Bruins‘ 6th round pick in the 2012 draft (#175 overall) always been a decent set-up d-man and no better than in his sophomore run at Northeastern University, when he had 24 assists in 36 games.
Last year he won the 2016 NCAA (Hockey East) Championship for his school team for the first time in one hundred (28) years.
The 6′ 202 lbs. blue liner also had a pair of earlier titles in 2011 AJHL Championship with Spruce Grove Saints, then two years later, he won the 2013 USHL Clark Cup as part of Dubuque Fighting Saints.
Left unsigned by his draft club, he went back into the pool as an unrestricted free agent and right before training camp agreed to a two-year entry deal with the hometown team.
The 22-year old comes from hockey pedigree and probably has a lot of years in rinks ahead of him.
