4th year left wing Lucas Lessio(14) was left unqualified by Montreal Canadiens heading into restricted free agency after being dealt a couple of months into 2015/2016 from draft team Arizona Coyotes.
The decently big power forward was given a training camp invite by Los Angeles Kings but released to affiliate Ontario Reign to continue.
A week later he was released from his pto.
Tough to say where things went south for the former high draft selection after a good rookie season with an AHL career high 29 goals and 25 assists for 54 points with Portland Pirates, then 26 NHL games and another good run in the minors.
Maybe it was his on ice accountability, which sits at a -11 in the big league and a very lousy -38 rating with three different farm clubs.
The former 2009 OHL Champion and 2011 Hlinka Memorial Tournament Gold Medal winner with Team Canada didn’t take long to pick up a new deal after a series of unsuccessful tryouts.
The 23-year old heads overseas on a one-year deal with Medvescak Zagreb of the KHL in hopes to turn the corner.
Heading into 4th pro season New York Islanders‘ goaltender Christopher Gibson(33) was one of the final training camp cuts sent to affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but the parent club is currently a little stacked in net, so makes sense to give the prospect as much playing time as possible.
He’s posted back-to-back winning AHL seasons with similarly good numbers.
In his four game stint up in the NHL last year he went 1-1-1 with a 3.40 GA and .882 SV%, which maybe isn’t amazing but the thinking is he can step it up.
He was between the pipes for the minor league home opener and got the victory 2-1, which should have been ruled a shutout, stopping 38 of 39 shots and was awarded the first star of the game.
It looks to be another successful campaign working on the farm for the 23-year old.
Signed recently as a restricted free agent for only another season, good play could definitely have another club circling his wagon to get him to tend their cage.
Sophomore skater Daniel Ciampini(26) was recently reassigned from 2016/2017 contract squad Ontario Reign to affiliate Manchester Monarchs just before the start of the new campaign.
The small-ish but sturdy player got right to work after no preseason match-ups scoring the first tally of the season for his new club and then added an assist in a 4-3 shootout loss.
He would post equal marks in the next contest (another loss) to continue his hot start of 4 points in only 2 ECHL games.
With this kind of point production, he will easily find himself on a short list for a recall and may not come back if he can start connecting in the AHL.
The soon-to-turn 26-year old could be just starting to ignite what he started in his college career.
7th year goaltender Kevin Poulin(90) makes one of the odder career decisions on record agreeing to guard the cage for Laval Predateurs of the LNAH for at least the moment.
After 5 years in New York Islanders‘ system playing NHL games in each of his seasons with the team.
The 6’2″ 206 lbs. net minder’s most outstanding effort had to be in the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs, when he appeared in 2 games to put out the fire posting a 1.15 GAA and .933 SV%.
The follow-up season he would play in a career high 28 big league games with a just ok 3.29 GAA and .891 SV%.
He would still merit 1-year extensions and he was able to score three from his draft team but as he was to be reassigned once again to affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers, where he was between the pipes for 150+ contests, and maybe as a bit of a good sign to restart his career Tampa Bay Lightning picked him up on waivers.
Big problem though, they were basically all set with goalies and come November, he was traded to Calgary Flames and spent the entire season in the minors with Stockton Heat.
His AHL numbers were fairly decent on a non-playoff squad but he was left unqualified for the first time heading into 2016/2017.
Maybe he’s decided on the short term to continue close to his Montreal birthplace before taking his next step.
It would be surprising to see him stick here for too long.
10/27: Poulin signs for the remainder of 2016/2017 with Barys Astana of the KHL.
Carolina Hurricanes picked up 3rd year left wing Connor Brickley(23) in a trade with draft team Florida Panthers right before the start of the 2016/2017 season.
The 6’1″ 195 lbs. forward played in a career high 23 games with the big club last year scoring his first NHL goal and added 4 assists.
A former 2nd round pick in the 2010 draft (#50 overall) he showed a scoring knack in one-year of high school hockey before leaving to join Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL and did it again before his selection but cooled off through four years at University of Vermont.
He was still highly touted as possessing offense abilities and almost by flipping a switch, he notched 22 goals and 25 assists as a rookie getting experience in the AHL with affiliate San Antonio Rampage.
His marks splitting minutes with the big club and new farm team Portland Pirates were still ok as he was able to produce points at a good rate (12-15-27 in 45 games).
The 24-year old is off to a nice start with his new team Charlotte Checkers with 2 assists in 2 contests and depending upon how fast the parent club is out of the gate, he could see some early playing time on recall.
Undrafted 4th year right wing Austin Block(19) was traded from Manchester Monarchs, where he signed for 2015/2016, to Orlando Solar Bears for future considerations a little after the half way point of the season.
The somewhat older 27-year old forward skated a career high 63 ECHL games scoring a moderate new best 5 goals and 14 assists.
A most telling stat though was turning a -20 rating with his former team to a +2 with his new one.
The not exactly huge 5’11” 185 lbs. player has seemingly struggled with on-ice accountability as a pro.
It wasn’t this way coming up through his two seasons of American junior hockey in the NAHL with Fairbanks Ice Dogs, where he was just under a point-per-game performer and a hefty +41 before heading off to four years at University Of New Hampshire.
In his senior year he was able to connect with 15 goals in 39 games before heading off to Europe for his rookie campaign.
He started in Finland’s Liiga with HIFK but after stumbling a bit was loaned down to HCK of 2nd tier league Mestis before leaving to finish out the calendar in Sweden’s Allsvenskan for Karlskrona HK.
For his sophomore season he went to Slovak Extraliga signing with HC Banska Bystricha but left after only 21 games scoring a nifty 9 goals and 6 assists before deciding to play pro in North America for a first time.
He finished 2014/2015 with Bakersfield Condors skating 14 games putting in a pair of goals and 6 assists but was a faulty -13.
There’s little doubt this is a player that can step it up quite a bit and be more accountable. This could be an important year.
5th year left wing Darian Dziurzynski(26) leaves North American pro hockey joining England’s Manchester Storm for 2016/2017, and he’s off to a hot start.
In 8 EIHL games he already has 5 goals and 6 assists.
The feisty forward (183 pims, 11 fights in 2013/2014) should be able to connect well on the score sheet and easily eclipse what he posted in his first full ECHL season, where he had 15 goals and 13 assists with three different teams.
The 15 tallies tied what he’d accomplished in the AHL in 2014/2015, the last year of his contract with Arizona Coyotes.
At 25-years old he could find easily find himself climbing the European hockey ladder, if he puts his mind to it.
5th year left wing Justin Florek(18) signs his first minor league deal agreeing to 2016/2017 with Milwaukee Admirals.
He’s already played 297 AHL games with initial team Providence Bruins until last season, when he signed with New York Islanders but spent the entire campaign with affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
The fairly large player has skated 4 games in the big league with draft team Boston Bruins scoring a goal and an assist with a +1 rating before being sent back returned to the farm squad.
It’s a bit surprising the big power forward hasn’t had another look even though he scored a career high 19 goals and 38 points in the year of his recall, then put up a best 24 assists and another 35 points in the next season.
The 26-year old unrestricted free agent may catch fire with his new team in a new conference and may even catch the attention of parent club Nashville Predators.
5th year left wing Justin Florek(18) signs his first minor league deal agreeing to 2016/2017 with Milwaukee Admirals.
He’s already played 297 AHL games with initial team Providence Bruins until last season, when he signed with New York Islanders but spent the entire campaign with affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
The fairly large player has skated 4 games in the big league with draft team Boston Bruins scoring a goal and an assist with a +1 rating before being sent back returned to the farm squad.
It’s a bit surprising the big power forward hasn’t had another look even though he scored a career high 19 goals and 38 points in the year of his recall, then put up a best 24 assists and another 35 points in the next season.
The 26-year old unrestricted free agent may catch fire with his new team in a new conference and may even catch the attention of parent club Nashville Predators.
7th year German-born goalie Niklas Treutle(1) had an unfortunate short stint with KooKoo of Finnish elite Liiga after not being qualified by Arizona Coyotes, who he spent last season with as a prospect on a one-year entry level deal.
Most of his time was spent with affiliate Springfield Falcons, where he put up a 12-19 mark with a pair of shutouts and a decent 3.05 GAA and .905 SV% IN 39 AHL games on a very under-performing squad.
His time up with the big club in two appearances didn’t go so well, which is easily why he wasn’t retained for a longer look.
The 6’2″ 190 lbs. net minder actually looked pretty dazzling at times in the minors.
He did come in with already 5 years pro experience playing in DEL with Hamburg Freezers, EHC Munchen and SC Riessersee.
The 25-year old returns home signing for 2016/2017 with Krefeld Pinguine.
