Toronto Maple Leafs‘ 9th year veteran left wing Richard Clune(17) scored the winning goal for affiliate Toronto Marlies in their game 7 4-3 victory over Albany Devils to advance to the AHL Calder Cup Eastern Conference Finals.
Signed to a one-year two-way deal by the parent club after first inking a minor league deal and getting off to a hot start, he’s added another 19 NHL games, 4 assists, 1 fight and +1 rating to his resume.
The scrappy 5’10” 207 lbs. presence on the ice played two full seasons in the show after being picked up on waivers by Nashville Predators from his longtime 5-year hang with Los Angeles Kings.
He filled the role of the fourth line grinder and had a career high 16 fighting majors in 2013/2014, good enough for 2nd in the league.It also wasn’t like he didn’t affect the score sheet as he is credited for 7 goals and 9 assists in 105 games.
That was basically it though as at the start of his two-year extension was shuffled back to affiliate Milwaukee Admirals for all but one appearance and subsequently put on unconditional waivers headed into 2015/2016 to be bought out of the final year of his deal.
Originally a Dallas Stars‘ 3rd round pick in the 2005 draft (#77 overall) he only played one campaign in the system with Iowa Stars and even spent some rookie time with Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL.
He quickly earned his way up the hockey ladder by basically just being a pest to play against.
The 29-year old is an unrestricted free agent as soon as the dust clears on his bid for a Cup and it will be interesting who will act next.
He did post a career high 8 goals, 16 assists for 24 points in just 49 AHL games and is contributing in the postseason.
Wouldn’t be impossible to see him stay put.
Finishing up his 10th pro season having only been signed to minor league contracts, undrafted defenseman Jared Nightingale(18) filled in the role of captain in his second year with Toledo Walleye quite nicely.
That is, until he was loaned to Chicago Wolves for two weeks, returned and quickly recalled for a couple months before joining them for the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
It would be little surprise to see the 34-year old score an invite a farm team’s camp in the forthcoming year and earn a deal.
The 6’3″ 205 lbs. blue liner plays a consistently punishing style that shows little signs of slowing down.
Known to drop the mitts on many occasions, his fighting majors were only down slightly to 11 playing in the two leagues.
He also could own the record for most AHL clubs a single player has put on a uniform for at 10.
Heading into his 6th pro season, left wing Shane Harper(11) has battled his share of ups-and-downs but it seems to be scaling higher for the moment.
Signed for a second season by Florida Panthers, he won’t have to wait and wonder until the beginning of free agency to know about a contract for 2016/2017.
The 5’11” 193 lbs. forward posted a career best 25 assists in 59 AHL games with affiliate Portland Pirates.
This mark followed his 2014/2015 as a 2nd year member of Chicago Wolves, where he posted 32 goals, good enough for 5th best in the league.
And although he struggled some early to connect with the score sheet, it was on the first minor league contract when he seemed to push it to the next level.
He was prolific in his final two years with Everett Silvertips of the WHL as a point-per-game performer.
The 27-year old Californian-native may see his first NHL time in the upcoming campaign.
As his 11th pro season approaches, Finnish-born center Joonas Kemppainen(41) will take his game to the KHL in 2016/2017 joining Sibir Novosibirsk.
The fairly large 6’2″ 223 lbs. forward signed a one-year two-way deal as a free agent with Boston Bruins for his first North American campaign.
He played 44 NHL games scoring 2 goals and 3 assists in a mostly checking line role before he was reassigned to Providence Bruins for the last month of 2015/2016.
His one goal and 4 assists in 11 AHL games was a little underwhelming and he was not inserted into the lineup for any contests in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
It’s possible the team got word he would be splitting town as soon as his year was officially up.
He already had a lot of experience playing pro hockey in his home country skating 2 years for Assat (his junior club parent team), HPK, and then 5 seasons signed to Karpat, where he won a pair of back-to-back 2014 and 2015 Liiga Championships and had breakout scoring in his 2nd title run.
The 28-year old has never been the most prolific scorer but with his big frame and solid skating could post new career highs in the upcoming season.
Florida Panthers‘ 1st round pick in the 2015 draft (#11 overall) big right wing Lawson Crouse(17) turned pro after his third year of with Kingston Frontenacs.
Reassigned to affiliate Portland Pirates, he appeared in 2 AHL games scoring no points but was left off the playoff roster as the team had lots of returning players from the parent club that got ousted from the postseason in the first round.
The 6’4″ 215 lbs. power forward averaged more than a point-per-game in his 3rd and final run in the OHL and also won a gold medal with Team Canada in the 2015 World Junior Championships, where he scored 6 goals in 5 games.
He was a late cut from Panthers‘ training camp heading into 2015/2016, skating three preseason contests before being reassigned back to his junior squad.
The soon-to-be 19-year old will definitely compete for a roster spot in the big league as a rookie, if he can prove to be a force in front of the net and use his large frame to help protect smaller players.
Vancouver Canucks‘ 4th round rookie defenseman Jordan Subban(7) had a solid season with affiliate Utica Comets.
The 5’9″ 178 lbs. skater led blue liners on the team in all scoring categories with 11 goals and 25 assists, 36 points in 67 AHL games.
This continued what the good puck-moving, feisty d-man did through four years in the OHL for Belleville Bulls, especially with helpers averaging over 30 per campaign in his last three years.
The 21-year old is signed to a three-year entry level deal through 2018 and should probably sooner than later realize his first NHL game.
Arizona Coyotes‘ 5th year left wing Jordan Martinook(48) must have enjoyed his first full NHL campaign after increasing his scoring output each season with affiliate Portland Pirates.
He played almost a full 82 game slate missing perfect attendance by only a single outing, connecting for a very decent 9 goals and 15 assists for 24 points.
The 23-year old will definitely be looking to add to those totals in the upcoming year with his two-year extension up at the end of next season.
Undrafted third year defenseman Jake Chelios(27) gets rewarded with a one-year two-way NHL deal for 2016/2017 by Carolina Hurricanes, the parent club of Charlotte Checkers, the team he was under contract with for his sophomore campaign, which featured many career bests.
The former Michigan State University and Chicago Steel of the USHL blue liner put up great numbers as a teenager in US juniors but only in his senior year did he get 19 assists in 36 games.
This past season he had 7 goals and 24 assists for 31 points in 73 AHL games.
As a rookie he actually did ok with a goal and 14 assists with Chicago Wolves, so it seems there are indicators his game is growing with experience.
The already 25-year old needs to have more accountability in his own zone.
He’s a -21 rating.
Bets are good this will all develop.
Adirondack Thunder took a 3-2 ECHL Eastern Conference Semifinals series lead with a 3-2 overtime win on a Gunnar Hughes(28) goal in game 5 at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
He gets mugged by Michael Kilpatrick(11) , Patch Alber(3), Ryan Lomberg(10) and eventually all teammates for his goal scoring heroics.
