New York Islanders‘ 5th year right wing Joe Whitney(9) just keeps putting together minor league seasons that do better then better.
In his first year with a new team after four seasons with New Jersey and Albany Devils he’s skating with affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers and is basically a point per game guy with 14 goals and 19 assists in 36 AHL games.
He’s on pace to exceed his career best goals in 2012/2013 of 26 and could surpass the 37 assists and 60 points he set last year.
His only 5 games in the big league are a pair of recalls over two seasons but he did get his first NHL goal on a New Year’s Eve tilt 2014.
It’s maybe a little doubtful the 5’6″ 171 lbs. mini forward will score a summons this season but the soon-to-be 28-year old could find himself in a bit of a comfortable spot and get the call again if he all parties decided he should stay in the system.
Vancouver Canucks‘ 3rd year center Mike Zalewski(40) must have been a little nervous signing his most recent contract, the one-year minor league variety with his team of a couple seasons, Utica Comets.
Previous to this campaign though, the undrafted 6’2″ 205 forward was playing in the AHL on a two-year entry level deal with the ‘Nucks after only a pair of decent campaigns at Rensselaer Polytech Institute.
The first year of his deal was actually a couple of NHL games after leaving college that counted toward his term.
His official rookie year was 2014/2015. He skated 55 games scoring 3 goals and 9 assists with a -3 rating and then added another 23 contests heading all the way to the Calder Cup Finals and notched another tally and 2 helpers.
The still young 23-year old is off to a hot start this season, already matching his 9 assists mark and almost tripling his goal output with 8 in just 35 games.
It’s caught the attention of the parent club once again as they have inked him to a one-year two-way deal and immediately recalled him for a couple of appearances.
He played an average of 17 shifts for 12 minutes of ice time and got another assist, with two penalty minutes, 1 shot, 5 hits, 1 giveaway, was 50% in the face off circle and was reassigned back to the minor leagues with a +1 rating.
New York Rangers‘ 3rd year Danish-born right wing Nicklas Jensen(13) was recently picked up in a trade involving two former 1st round draft picks.
After spending his first pair of seasons in Vancouver Canucks‘ prospect system, skating mostly with affiliate Utica Comets, the change of scenery appears to be doing him justice.
He did play in 17 NHL games as a rookie (3 goals, 3 assists) but only appeared in 5 throughout 2014/2015 with no points. It was possible there was little room to experiment with a lineup that teeter on a playoff berth.
Upon reassignment to farm team Hartford Wolf Pack he’s starting to produce right away scoring 3 goals and 1 assist with a +5 rating as the team starts to surge.
7th year center Mathieu Tousignant(7) has been known for being mostly a mucker in his pro career amassing over 100 penalty minutes in three of his pro seasons and dropped the mitts 10+ times in four campaigns.
The 5’11” 185 lbs. pugilist enjoyed his best scoring run as a sophomore skater, when he struck for a career high 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points with Texas Stars.
It was also his first year of a three-year entry level deal he signed with Dallas Stars.
He recorded his best assist mark last season while under contract with Adirondack Flames at 14.
Having spent the majority of his playing time in the AHL (327 games) he decided to try his hand elsewhere for 2015/2016.
Signing a one-year term with Ravensburg Towerstars of DEL2, he has exploded on the score sheet popping in 18 goals and 22 assists in 32 games, while continuing his agitating presence on the ice with 81 pims.
These totals mirror what he had been able to achieve on a couple of ECHL reassignments to Idaho Steelheads and what he did in his final three years of juniors in the QMJHL with Baie-Comeau Drakkar, Prince Edward Island Rocket and Chicoutimi Sagueneens.
The 26-year old is obviously fairly comfortable as he inked an extension to stick around for another year.
Buffalo Sabres‘ 10th year center Cal O’Reilly(19) signed a two-year one-way deal to join his younger brother’s team after two seasons with Utica Comets, under contract with parent club Vancouver Canucks in 2014/2015.
He eclipsed the 50 assist mark for the third time in the AHL last year.
The 6′ 191 lbs. forward left North America for a pair of campaigns in the KHL with Metallurg Magnitogorsk but was released after not producing early in his second run.
That was after he skated for no less than 5 squads in 2011/2012, initially with draft team Nashville Predators, then Phoenix Coyotes and farm team Portland Pirates before finally going to Pittsburgh Penguins and their minor league affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The 29-year old is enjoying his second NHL recall of 2015/2016 from Rochester Americans (4-19-23 in 35 contests), where he was named team captain, and has an assist in three games playing at the highest level of hockey in three seasons.
Anaheim Ducks‘ newly signed to a multi-million dollar 3-year deal through 2018, 8th year right wing Patrick Maroon(19) isn’t exactly have the best year on the score sheet with only one goal and 5 assists in 40 games he’s way off the marks of 25 assists last season and 11 goals the year before that.
Isn’t helping that the top scorers on the team aren’t scoring either.
It’s bound to start clicking but at this point that it’s not is a problem.
Seems a little odd that this is only the still huge 6’3″ 230 lbs. power forward’s third full year in the NHL.
Previously he had a combined 15 games through his first two years in the Ducks‘ system.
At 28-years old it’s definitely time for him to start coming out of the shadows on the score sheet.
Philadelphia Flyers‘ 8th year defenseman Davis Drewiske(5) was signed mostly as a depth player and will in all likelihood spend most of the season with affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
In fact, he’s already played 39 AHL games earning a goal and 4 assists with an impressive +3 rating on a team that’s even in goal differential and currently just outside of the playoff picture.
The undrafted 6’2″ 225 lbs. blue liner played the last couple of years in the minors with Hamilton Bulldogs, while under contract to Montreal Canadiens. and actually had his best point productive last year with 4 goals, 18 assists and a +15 plus/minus in a career high 62 games.
Previous to that he spent 5 seasons with Los Angeles Kings, the team that first signed him after four years at University Of Wisconsin, where he was team captain as a senior and won the 2006 NCAA Championship as a sophomore.
He was even part of the 2012 Stanley Cup Championship team even though he did not play in the playoffs and only appeared in 9 games throughout the regular season. He still managed to have his name included to be engraved on the coveted trophy.
At 31-years old it’s tough to say how much longer a decent contract will be attainable and he may seek to play his hockey overseas to keep going.
Winnipeg Jets‘ 3rd year right wing J.C. Lipon(46) receives his 1st recall in the final year of his entry level deal, but he deserves it as he’s hitting the back of the net with more frequency for AHL affiliate Manitoba Moose (8-9-17 in 30), while continuing to play that agitating style of pest hockey he’s known for. He has already has three fighting majors, 15 last year and 14 his rookie campaign.
In his NHL debut he skated only 8 shifts for 7:11 total ice time with one hit and one takeaway in a 2-1 loss.
The 22-year old is set to become a restricted free agent after the current season but it’s a likely bet both sides will work out a deal for him to stick around another year.
7th year left wing Yannick Riendeau(13) seemed to have a tough decision where to play his pro hockey for 2015/2016.
He started by signing a contract towards the beginning of the season with Brampton Beast and appeared in their first pair of ECHL games recording an assist before deciding to return to Jonquiere Marquis of LNAH, where he played 2014/2015 scoring more than a point per game through the regular calendar then again in the playoffs.
It’s a bit of a wonder why he didn’t stick (other than money stakes) in the ECHL as he had great scoring success in the four years he spent there.
The undrafted 5’10” 186 lbs. forward was originally signed by Boston Bruins to a three-year entry level deal as an unrestricted free agent coming off an explosive run with Drummondville Voltigeurs, managing to lead the league in goals, assists and points through the regular season and playoffs to the 2009 QMJHL Championship.
Upon being reassigned, he failed to stick in the AHL with Providence Bruins despite showing some improvement in his third campaign but was mostly dispatched to the lower league.
His rights would be traded late in the season to New York Islanders but he stayed put where he was playing under signing his first minor league deal for 2011/2012 with Stockton Thunder.
It was after this season that he decided to journey and found himself playing in France’s Lique Magnus for Dragons De Rouen. Once again he lit the lamp big at this level.
The 27-year old’s story has come back to France after his pair of earlier stops and he signed a contract to join Les Ducs d’Anger.
He seems to be adjusting just fine with 6 goals, 15 assists in only 12 games.
Next stop?
Buffalo Sabres‘ 5th year center Philip Varone(84) has connected for at least a goal in each of his three years of recalls up to the NHL, but on his most recent visit the 5’10” 190 lbs. mini power forward scored on his first and only shot on net to get the ball rolling in a 4-1 victory.
That would put his shooting % at 100. He skated 13 shifts for 8:01 of ice time with 2 penalty minutes and one hit in his first appearance of the 2015/2016 season.
He played 28 games with the parent club in 2014/2015 scoring 3 goals and 2 assists, while also playing in 55 AHL games putting up a leading 44 points with affiliate Rochester Americans.
His 10 goals are tops on the Amerks this season He’s been the team’s top of scorer for the past two.
The 25-year old will become a restricted free agent at the end of the current campaign and should be a shoe-in to keep in the system.
