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.
Florida Panthers‘ 10th year Czech Republic-born defenseman Jakub Kindl(4) is in the final year of a four-year extension he signed in 2013/2014 with draft team Detroit Red Wings (1st round 2005, #19 overall).
He was traded late last season after 8.5 seasons in Michigan.
The fairly large 6’3″ 198 lbs. blue liner has never been the biggest point producer, playing a bit more of a stay-at-home style.
He was mostly on a slingshot recalled and reassigned between minor league affiliate Grand Rapid Griffins and the parent club for most of his time in the Wings‘ system but did skate exclusively in the NHL from 2011-2014.
After being dealt, he appeared in only big league games and one playoff match-up but was sent to farm club Springfield Thunderbirds to start 2016/2017.
The 29-year old is a veteran of 292 games in the show with a nice +25 rating and 256 AHL games with a not so nice -59.
It’s a bit doubtful he’ll score a new contract for next season unless he shows some remarkable uptick in his play and could easily head back to the Czech Extraliga, where he was part of 27 games with HC Pardubice for the lockout of 2012/2013 and also played some of his junior hockey.
New York Rangers‘ 4th round pick in the 2011 draft (#106 overall) right wing Michael St. Croix(18) reverses direction after his three-year entry level deal was up.
The former Edmonton Oil Kings‘ 2012 WHL Champion played mostly on double reassignment for affiliate Greenville Swamp Rabbits with a 13 AHL game visit to Hartford Wolf Pack as a rookie.
He’s played 178 ECHL games scoring over 40 points a season but reached his highest totals (17-31-48) as a first year skater, while also adding another 4 goals and 11 assists in 18 playoff contests.
The 5’11” 181 lbs. has decided to head back to school at University Of Manitoba and joins the hockey team for 2016/2017.
Listed as a senior, the 23-year may only be eligible to play one season at school.
The big question is will he return to pro status post-college?
7th year center Peter LeBlanc(32) returns to North America after a pair of seemingly less than eventful seasons overseas.
He first signed and skated for Rogle BK of Sweden’s tier 2 Allsvenskan scoring 6 goals and 12 assists with a +6 rating, then added another 5 points in the playoffs.
The small-ish but wide forward parlayed his decent showing to a higher league, next joining HPK of Finland’s Liiga but came away with diminished results.
He left after his only NHL appearance with contract team Washington Capitals, where he skated the last game of the campaign playing 11 shifts for 9:26 of total ice.
A veteran of 261 AHL games he joined the league after 4 years at University Of New Hampshire, where he was pretty outstanding in his final two seasons.
The 28-year old signed with Cincinnati Cyclones for 2016/2017 just before training camp and has 5 assists in 6 ECHL games to start.
12 year right wing Steve Bernier(37) was in New York Islanders‘ training camp on a pto looking to earn a contract with the team he’d spent 2015/2016 with.
He received his one-year two-way deal a little more than a week into the new season and was reassigned to affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers, his first time in the minors in a couple of years.
His last demotion came at the start of 2014/2015, maybe a bit as a wake up call while he was on a new 1-year extension, his fourth in New Jersey Devils‘ system.
It worked as a month later he was recalled, then ended up tying his most points in a year at 32 and came away with a new career high 16 goals.
The big forward played only 24 NHL games last season scoring a goal and 5 assists with a nifty +3 rating in limited use but then went on to appear in 6 playoff games as a veteran presence.
It’s tough to say if the 31-year old will get another look up in the show to add to his 633 total games played but regardless he’s still had a pretty nice run.
Florida Panthers‘ left wing Shane Harper(38) was probably feeling pretty good about approaching the new season as he had a contract in hand and it was evidenced by making the parent club’s opening night roster despite never having played in a big league game.
The small-ish, agressive, hard-skating forward filled the gap left on the club’s fourth line and even pocketed a pair of first NHL goals in a single contest, a 5-2 win, then added an assist in his next appearance, while skating for just over 10 minutes per game.
In 7 games, that gives him 2 goals and an assists with a +1 rating.
It’s looking like he’s playing himself into a position to stay put and possibly become one of the best success stories of the 2016/2017 season.
