Montreal Candiens‘ 2nd year undrafted defenseman Joel Hanley(71) was signed to a one-year two-way deal on the opening day of free agency.
As a rookie he played under an AHL contract with Portland Pirates, the team he skated 15 games with on an ato after four years at UMass-Amherst.
The versatile 6′ 193 lbs. blue liner had 5 assists in his pro debut.
To start 2014/2015 he was dispatched further down the ladder to Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL to start his first campaign.
After 3 games in less than a month he was up for good.
Through 63 games he had a pair of goals and 15 assists with a +7 rating and added another assist in 5 Calder Cup Playoff match-ups with a +1.
So not really outstanding numbers but they saw something they liked and felt like they could develop and seemingly out of nowhere the 24-year old gets his first big league deal after only one season of mucking it.
He’s appeared in 61 games with affiliate St. John’s IceCaps and has a new career high 5 goals.
With the injury bug biting the parent club hard, his steadiness (and “experience” on a very young defensive squad) has given him a chance with his first NHL recall.
After going scoreless in his debut, he has posted consecutive multi-point games with a pair of 2 assists performances.
Given his play it may be tough to send him back down for the remainder of the schedule but regardless, it looks like he’s starting to solidify his spot in the show and will earn a contract extension to stay put.
7th year veteran left wing Luca Caputi(17) retires after two seasons overseas playing in Sweden’s tier 2 league Allsvenskan first with VIK Vasteras HK then IK Oskarshamn.
After wrapping up the 2014/2015 campaign, the 6’2″ 210 lbs. power forward decided to retire.
3 months later the 27-year old joined Guelph Storm of the OHL, where he played his junior hockey for Mississauga/Niagara IceDogs.
Toronto Maple Leafs‘ 3rd round pick in the 2014 draft (#68 overall) Romanian-born rookie defenseman Rinat Valiev(29) has been fitting into the lineup nicely on a team that’s trying out a lot of its youth movement now that they are mathematically eliminated from the playoff picture.
Regardless, it’s giving a lot of young guys some valuable playing experience and sometimes it just works out.
Having played two seasons in the Kootenay Ice he always put up lots of assists on the score sheet with a crazy 46 in 52 WHL games last season.
Previous to junior hockey in Canada, he played a year in the USHL with Indiana Ice after coming up with Ak Bars Kazan as a youth.
Even in his rookie season in the minors the large 6’2″ 214 lbs. is good with passing the puck up the ice for scoring chances as has 18 helpers through 54 AHL games with a +32 rating.
The 20-year old is signed through 2017/2018, so has plenty of time to develop.
Columbus Blue Jackets‘ 3rd round pick in the 2012 draft (#62 overall) Finnish-born rookie goaltender Joonas Korpisalo(70) has been pressed into action with the big club on many occasions through numerous recalls from affiliate Lake Erie Monsters.
He actually owns the team’s only winning record at a 14-9-4 mark with a 2.61 GAA and .918 SV% through 1564:42 minutes played.
The fairly large 6’3″ 182 lbs. net minder has also appeared in his fair share of minor league games, guarding the cage for 15 AHL contests with a 6-7-2 record, 2.36 GAA and .917 SV%.
He actually started his North American pro hockey career with three games for then farm club Springfield Falcons in 2014/2015 after 38 match-ups with Ilves of Liiga in Finland.
The 21-year old has another season left on his 3-year entry level deal and as a prospect should continue to compete for NHL playing time, or will get dealt as they do have some depth at the position.
New Jersey Devils‘ 4th year goalie Scott Wedgewood(31) has been mostly playing second string to a veteran net minder the team has ridden with great success this season, but the 16 AHL games with affiliate Albany Devils he’s been in net for he’s posted a 9-2-3 record with a 1.69 GAA and .928 SV%, which would lead the league if he’d played enough games.
Still, it was good enough for the parent club to have a look for his debut start in the big league.
Stopping 27 out of 28 shots for his first NHL win, a 3-1 score, he has a 1.00 GAA and .964 SV% as a virgin in the highest level of the game.
At 23-years old with a year still left on his extension there’s no doubt he’s going to get a continued look and the former 3rd round selection might be a nice pick up.
Winnipeg Jets‘ 3rd round pick in the 2012 draft (#70 overall) 2nd year right wing Scott Kosmachuk(72) is getting the shot to prove his game at the highest level of hockey and he’s pretty much answering the bell.
In 7 games he has three assists with fairly limited ice time in the 12/13 minute range per night, but an interesting side note is the amount of shifts he skates, which is in the 19 or 20 range at times.
He also has a +1 rating.
His first NHL recall makes sense for the slumping parent club as he’s posting similar numbers as he did in his rookie campaign in less games with AHL affiliate Manitoba Moose and looks to have taken his game to the next level.
At 5’11” 185 lbs. he isn’t exactly the biggest power forward out there but he plays a bang ’em, shoot on the net style, which is obviously leading to scoring opportunities.
He was able to score big through 4 years of juniors with Guelph Storm and even won the 2014 OHL Championship before he left to turn pro.
The 24 year old still has one more season left to his 3-year entry level contract, so there’s no time like the present to step up your game.
Wheeling Nailers‘ 2nd year center Derek Army(39) isn’t spending a lot of time in the ECHL this season, having only skated 29 games.
He’s been AHL recalled on multiple occasions: first for four games with Portland Pirates, then a month later suiting up for 12 contests with Ontario Reign getting his first goal in the league and a nifty 4 assists.
Only one week later, he once again found himself traveling to another probably completely strange minor league city and was in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins-land for a bit over a month and notched goals two and three with another 2 helpers in 13 games.
And the call-ups are coming more quickly as it took only four days before Texas Stars was in need and gave him a ring.
The 5’11” 185 lbs. forward that plays with enough gusto out already has another three games under his belt and who knows how long this will last for the former 2o-point per season Providence Friars‘ scorer.
The soon-to-be 25-year old had a team high 29 goals in his rookie campaign to go along with 33 assists for 66 points and a +9 rating.
He’d definitely be welcome back if Wheeling can position themselves for a Kelly Cup Playoff spot.
The starters for Hartford Wolf Pack on a recent Friday night: Daniel Paille(20), Nicklas Jensen(13), Marek Hrivik(15), Mat Bodie(22) and Brady Skjei(6).
This would be a formidable lineup even in the higher league.
The Pack would win 4-3 in overtime on Jensen‘s third goal of the evening.
New Jersey Devils‘ 5th year right wing Mike Sislo(46) has been recalled twice in the current season and not only did he get an assist in his first game back up, but notched his first NHL goal in his 4th game on the most recent visit to the big league and then he got a second one in a decisive 7-4 win.
He had previously only recorded one assist in 10 contests while up in 2014/2015 and no points in his 14 appearances a year earlier but has been an effective energy line player.
In the AHL this season with affiliate Albany Devils he’s blowing the roof off his previous scoring totals.
His 27 goals leads the league with 25 assists and 52 points shattering what he was able to put up through his first four campaigns in the prospect system.
The 28-year old is set to become an unrestricted free agent and will likely be looking for his first one-way contract and can maybe expect that from the only team he’s ever suited up for.
