Tampa Bay Lightning 4th year left wing Yanni Gourde(65) put up crazy good numbers last season with affiliate Syracuse Crunch.
He had a career and team best 29 goals in a complete schedule of 76 AHL games with 28 assists for 57 points and unloaded 163 shots on net. He was also a +13 plus/minus.
Not exactly a late cut from training camp for his second year in the organization, he took his reassignment in stride already connecting for 5 tallies and 8 helpers in 24 contests.
The small pivots hard work got rewarded two months into the new campaign earning him a first recall to the parent club.
In his debut he notched his first NHL point, an assist.
Over two games he skated roughly 7 minutes each appearance with 2 hits, 2 penalty minutes, one break up and was a +1 rating.
Unfortunately he sustained an injury somewhere along the line and was recently sent back down to make room for healthy bodies.
The soon-to-be 25 year old may just be getting started in the highest level of hockey and should continue to show scoring strength.
Tampa Bay Lightning 4th year left wing Yanni Gourde(65) put up crazy good numbers last season with affiliate Syracuse Crunch.
He had a career and team best 29 goals in a complete schedule of 76 AHL games with 28 assists for 57 points and unloaded 163 shots on net. He was also a +13 plus/minus.
Not exactly a late cut from training camp for his second year in the organization, he took his reassignment in stride already connecting for 5 tallies and 8 helpers in 24 contests.
The small pivots hard work got rewarded two months into the new campaign earning him a first recall to the parent club.
In his debut he notched his first NHL point, an assist.
Over two games he skated roughly 7 minutes each appearance with 2 hits, 2 penalty minutes, one break up and was a +1 rating.
Unfortunately he sustained an injury somewhere along the line and was recently sent back down to make room for healthy bodies.
The soon-to-be 25 year old may just be getting started in the highest level of hockey and should continue to show scoring strength.
5th year right wing Mike Hoeffel(11) entered the 2015/2016 without a contract and signed a pto with Springfield Falcons, the team he was under contract with last season, a month and a half into the current campaign.
After four AHL games and no scoring he looked elsewhere to continue his pro career, agreeing to skate the remainder of the calendar with Stavanger Oilers of Norway’s GET-ligaen.
In 2014/2015, he played a best 62 contests scoring a new high 9 goals with 103 shots on net and was a +7 rating on a non-playoff squad.
The now 26-year old should be able to elevate his game overseas and may just find a new hockey home.
New York Rangers‘ 1st round pick in the 2010 draft (#10 overall), fourth year defenseman Dylan McIlrath(6) has been on a slow climb from minors to the parent club but finally cracked the lineup out of 2015 training camp.
The excessively large 6’5″ 220 lbs. blue liner put up identical numbers in each of his last two seasons with affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack (6 goals, 11 assists, 17 points, 165 penalty minutes and 13 fighting majors).
In 13 games with the big club he’s already dropped the gloves on a pair of occasions and added his first NHL goal and an assist to his punishing style of shutdown hockey.
Through four years of juniors with Moosejaw Warriors of the WHL he accumulated 551 minutes in the sin bin but was also able to help out decently on the score sheet with 16 goals and 58 assists to his credit.
As he’s able to get himself a roster spot more often, his confidence will continue to grow and the 24-year old will in all likelihood become a top four d-man.
Los Angeles Kings‘ 4th round pick in the 2011 draft (#110 overall) 2nd year left wing Michael Mersch(49) is getting his shot at the NHL after going on a scoring tear in his rookie year, tied for goals scored with minor league affiliate Manchester Monarchs at 22 during the regular season, then led the whole league getting 13 goals and 22 points all the way to the 2015 AHL Calder Cup Championship.
The fairly large 6’2″ 198 lbs. power forward style player was a very late cut from training camp but got right at it again with new farm team Ontario Reign, scoring 12 goals, 3 assists for 15 points.
He also has a mammoth 93 shots on goal in only 19 games this season. That follows similar stats during his first campaign. 223 was the final count of pucks fired at goaltenders, then another 66 in 18 playoff games.
This is a player that likes to go to the net.
In his first three big league appearances he’s skated an average of 16 shifts for almost 11 minutes of ice, including :30 on the penalty kill. He had three shots on the cage, an almost given 6 hits, 1 giveaway and unfortunately came away a -2 in the last game he skated. The team has run a 1-2 record.
No scoring yet but that should come if he’s given the chance now to make it happen.
A graduate from University Of Wisconsin, the 23-year old was unique among college players as he was given a three-year entry level deal that runs through 2016/2017, so there is time.
Ottawa Senators‘ 3rd year goaltender Andrew Hammond(30) was such an unlikely, integral part of their push into last season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs running an unprecedented 14-0-1 record to start his emergency recall.
He finished 2014/2015 recording a 20-1-2 mark with 3 shutouts and a 1.79 GAA and .941 SV%.
The hot start earned him the nickname “The Hamburglar” breaking goalie records as he continued to roll.
The incredible feat earned the undrafted net minder a three-year extension.
To start the first campaign of his new deal, he’s 2-0-2 with a decent 2.42 GAA and .930 SV% but suffered a groin injury and then a fluke head injury and has been sidelined twice already.
The 27-year has been reassigned to affiliate Binghamton Senators for conditioning and may stay there for an extended period until the parent club feels his game is back to where it needs to be.
He’s out to an 0-2 start and things may not be so easy for him as he’s tending the cage for the 2nd worst team in the AHL with only 6 wins in 23 games to their credit.
Springfield Falcons got in on the fun celebrating the upcoming release of Star Wars by donning jerseys decked out with images from the movie.
Our models are a pair of defenseman: Philip Samuelsson(5) & Corey Potter(6).
The force was with them. They got the 4-3 win over a not so hot Binghamton Senators.
New York Rangers‘ 12th year left wing Nick Tarnasky(74) is having a breakout scoring season in the minors with farm club Hartford Wolf Pack as a grisly veteran skater.
In 18 games the 31-year old already has 6 goals and 1 assist. His previous high in the league was 16 in 2012/2013 on reassignment from Buffalo Sabres to affiliate Rochester Americans.
This came after his only season away from North American hockey, when he signed with Vityaz Chekhov of the KHL.
Originally a Tampa Bay Lightning deep 9th round pick in the 2003 draft (#287 overall), he spent the first four seasons of his career with them and played exclusively in the show from 2006-2009.
The 6’2″ 230 lbs. forward has played 245 NHL games and 413 in the AHL and while he was known for dropping the gloves a career high 20 times with 150 penalty minutes in 2010/2011 with Springfield Falcons, he’s mostly retired from battles as he’s gotten older, although he does have a pair of scraps in the current campaign.
Signed by the Blueshirts to a two-year deal that expires at the end of this season, he may be invited to stick around as his presence on and off the ice is turning into an all around asset. He could even earn himself a bit on an unlikely recall.
7th year right wing Erik Condra(22) spent his first 6 seasons with Ottawa Senators.
The deep draft pick (7th round #211 overall) only had to spend a year and a half, including the 2011 Binghamton Senators’ AHL Calder Cup Championship in the prospect system.
By his third campaign, he was up in the NHL full-time and skated a best 76 games, reaching career high scoring with 17 assists and 25 points.
Although the somewhat small-ish (5’11” 183 lbs.) forward plays an agitating, hard-battling style he doesn’t take any unnecessary penalties averaging a mere 30 minutes in the sin bin per season and was a fully accountable +26 rating through 299 games.
The now 29-year old unrestricted free agent decided to search elsewhere to continue, signing a tidy 3-year deal with Tampa Bay Lightning through 2018.
Chicago Blackhawks‘ undrafted Swedish-born 7th year pro center Dennis Rasmussen(70) received his first call up by the parent club in his 2nd season in North American hockey.
In his debut, he scored his first NHL goal on his only shot on net.
The big 6’3″ 205 lbs. forward skated 15 shifts for 8:33 total ice time and left the 4-1 win with a +1, 2 hits and was 25% in the face off dot.
He’s been hot with farm team Rockford IceHogs early this campaign scoring 7 goals and 7 assists in 22 AHL games.
In his rookie season he struck for 13 goals and 14 assists in 73 contests with a +9 rating.
The 25-year old played 6 seasons in his home country, initially in second tier league Allsvenskan with hometown squad VIK Vasteras HK performing well as a teenager.
Then he moved up to the SHL with Vaxjo Lakers HC for three seasons and had his best showing before moving his game overseas getting 16 goals and 24 assists in 52 games.
What’s next for this already very well-traveled player definitely sits on his stick.
