New York Islanders‘ 3rd round pick in the 2012 draft (#65 overall) 2nd year defenseman Adam Pelech(50) has been consistently putting in the hard work to get noticed since he arrived on the pro scene with affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
On the second worst team in the AHL last season he managed to record 11 assists and owned only a -3 rating, while landing at least one shot on net in each contest.
This season the unassumingly large 6’3″ 210 lbs. blue liner already has his first two goals and a pair of assists in 11 games with a team defense leading +9 plus/minus.
In his NHL debut he skated 17 shifts for 13:19 of ice time and left the 4-1 win with a +1, 1 shot, 2 hits, 1 breakup and :13 on the power play.
There’s no reason to believe he won’t be able to put up some offensive numbers, especially helpers like he did in four campaigns with Erie Otters of the OHL.
The recently just turned 21-year old was a healthy scratch for his second game but there’s very little doubt with the current news surrounding the Isles‘ defensive core he’ll work his way into the lineup and may even never look back.
St. Louis Blues kept center Jeremy Welsh(46) in the prospect system for the full run of his 1-year under contract but played a career high 75 AHL games scoring new bests, 20 goals, 21 assists, 41 points with 152 shots on net and a +8 rating.
Before heading into another unrestricted free agent status, he was re-upped for continued look.
A later cut from 2015 training camp, the still only 4th year player went back for a second stint with Chicago Wolves and got right to it.
In 11 games he already has 3 goals, 4 assists with a +3 and was recently recalled.
Playing his first NHL game in nearly a couple of years, he skated 15 shifts for 8:27 total ice time with 2 penalty minutes, 2 hits, 1 takeaway and :08 of power play time.
The 27-year was a healthy scratch for the team’s last outing but may find his way back into the lineup again before being reassigned.
Vancouver Canucks‘ wasted little time in the off-season re-upping for another year on a two-way contract with sizable 6’4″ 210 lbs. right wing Alexandre Grenier(28).
He had a 2nd good season with affiliate Utica Comets raising his totals slightly with a second consecutive campaign of 17 goals and new best 26 assists and 43 points with a +13 rating and monster 182 shots on net.
Going all the way to the Calder Cup Finals before bowing out, he added another 6 goals and 9 assists through 23 playoff contests with another solid +11 plus/minus.
He would impress with a strong training camp, getting reassigned just before the onset of the 2015/2016 season for his third run with the farm club and got it going quickly.
In 13 AHL games he’s already struck for a pair of tallies and 5 helpers.
It was enough to impress the parent club and he received his first NHL recall.
He had 15 shifts for 8:52 of ice time, 4 shots and 1 hit in a 4-1 loss.
Up for only a short cup of coffee this time, he was sent back down to continue working on his game. He should be able to make it happen.
Crazy to think 2015/2016 is Tampa Bay Lightning‘s 28-year old right wing Mike Blunden(46)‘s 10th pro season.
He’s played NHL games in every season, except one, 2008-2009.
That year he’d spend it in the minors with Chicago Blackhawks‘ affiliate Rockford IceHogs before being traded from draft team to Columbus Blue Jackets and was immediately sent to their farm club Syracuse Crunch with no recall.
The pretty sizable 6’4″ 217 lbs. forward worked his way into parent club’s lineup for 40 games in the next campaign and then two seasons later was on the roster 39 times skating for Montreal Canadiens in his first year under contract.
Signed as an unrestricted free agent by Tampa Bay Lightning in 2014/2015 and given an extension before his time was up for a second tour, he got into 2 big league games last season and only a month into the new session he’s already up for a visit.
He’s also back where he was 5 years prior with Syracuse Crunch, the Bolts‘ affiliate since 2012.
In a 1-0 loss to interstate rival Florida Panthers, he played 10 shifts for only 5:24 total ice but managed 1 shot, 4 hits and :04 of power play time.
It will definitely be interesting to see what he decides for his next career move.
Philadelphia Flyers‘ 4th round pick in the 2012 draft (#117 overall) 2nd year left wing Taylor Leier(58) realizes his first NHL recall and game.
He skated 12 shifts for 7:27 ice time with 1 shot, 1 break up and 1 take away, never looking out of place in a 3-2 win.
Although he wasn’t even a late training camp cut, he jumped out of the gate fast with farm team Lehigh Valley Phantoms. In 14 AHL games he has a 4 goals and 5 assists with a +1 rating.
In his rookie year, played entirely with the affiliate he had a fairly decent 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points in 73 games.
He isn’t the most sizable guy on the ice at 5’11” 177 lbs. but it must have been a hunch to recall him this early when injury struck the big club.
The only 21-year old former captain of Portland Winterhawks and 2013 WHL Champion will likely stick for a bit if the puck keeps bouncing in their favor and he may even pot his first big league basket.
He’s in the 2nd season of a three-year entry level deal.
Although he had a new contract extension in hand, 4th year defenseman Austin Madaisky(2) was definitely not happy about spending another season in the minor league system for Columbus Blue Jackets.
Released from his contract, he signs a one-year deal to join Straubing Tigers of DEL for a complete change of scenery.
Often injured he may have fallen off the depth chart, never getting a shot at the NHL, despite showing a tremendous offensive upside and accountability in his own zone.
He may have realized that opportunity last season, if he hadn’t been shut down for a lengthy spell with a broken leg.
At still only 23-years old it’s very possible he returns to these shores after maybe a year or two of dynamite play away from home.
Florida Panthers‘ 4th round pick in the 2009 draft (#107 overall), 5th year left wing Garrett Wilson(28) was a late cut from training camp, being reassigned to new affiliate Portland Pirates a day before the 2015/2016 season started.
In 7 AHL games he had 4 assists before getting recalled.
The 6’2″ 199 lbs. forward has already eclipse his previous NHL game marks of 3 (2014) and 2 (2014/2015) with 4 appearances early in the current campaign.
Skating an average of 14 shifts per contest for just under 12 minutes of ice time he had 4 shots and a whopping 13 hits in one win and three losses, once in a shootout.
He also had :05 of power play time and came away with a +1 rating.
His best offensive production came last season with San Antonio Rampage putting up 23 goals and 38 points with 200 shots on net.
These numbers were definitely hinted at in 3 years of junior hockey for Owen Sound Attack, as he was close to a point-per-game player and won the 2011 OHL Championship as team captain before turning pro.
In his first two seasons he started in the ECHL with Cincinnati Cyclones spending most of his rookie year with the team before splitting time in his sophomore season in the higher league.
The 24-year old has been re-signed to a pair of one year extension and is set to reach his final restricted free agent status at the end of 2015/2016.
From the looks of it, he will be retained to continue in the only system he’s known.
Joining his third team in less than 3 months time, New York Islanders‘ 5th year left wing Taylor Beck(56) received his first NHL recall and skated 13 shifts for 8:56 of ice time with no points, three hits and no minuses in a 2-1 loss.
He played the full 2014/2015 season with draft team Nashville Predators, appearing in 62 games with 8 goals and 8 assists.
As a restricted free agent coming out of his only complete time in the big league, he denied the qualifying offer to keep him around and filed for salary arbitration.
The 6’2″ 203 lbs. forward was answered by the only squad he knew as they traded his rights off to Toronto Maple Leafs.
He almost made it with them to start 2015/2016 but he was dangled just as the season was taking shape in a deal for prospects that the Islanders saw merit in.
Through four campaigns of juniors with Guelph Storm he put up huge stats striking for 110 goals and 157 assists in 246 OHL games.
The 24-year old started the year on reassignment with affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers and had already put up 3 goals and 4 assists in 10 AHL games with a +8 rating.
He twice led his old club Milwaukee Admirals in assists with a pair of 30+ seasons.
If the parent club continues to sputter, he may find a path in if he can summon up some points.
Heading into his third season having just signed a nice 2-year extension to stay in the system, Anaheim Ducks‘ left wing Max Friberg(43) has once again played his way to a second recall.
He got into a single game right after Christmas last season and although didn’t make a mark on the score sheet, he threw a couple hits on the ice.
A bit of a late training camp reassignment this season after a strong showing, he makes his way back to the NHL for an encore show early.
The small, fast forward skated an increased 16 shifts for 10:12 minutes and using one of his talents, :46 of short-handed penalty kill.
His two games thus far have both been winning efforts, which can’t hurt.
In his first pair of AHL seasons he put up an identical 40 points, although in far fewer games last campaign and even added a couple more assists to his scoring highs.
He may get dispatched back to new affiliate San Diego Gulls soon and the soon to be 23-year old certainly will need to work hard to find his niche’ but it definitely can be done.
Chicago Blackhawks‘ 1st round pick in the 2013 draft (#30 overall) 2nd year right wing Ryan Hartman(38) received his first recall of 2015/2016 after getting off to a good start with affiliate Rockford IceHogs.
In 8 AHL games he has 3 goals and 2 assists with a +2 rating and looks to eclipse the marks he set in his rookie campaign (13-24-37), if he stays in the minors long enough.
Through 3 NHL games he got his first big league assist skating roughly 14 shifts and over 9 minutes in a win and two losses, one in overtime.
He also appeared in 5 games with the parent club last season without registering a point.
The native of the unlikely hockey hotbed Hilton Head, South Carolina played 4 years with the US National Development Team before joining Plymouth Whalers of the OHL, where he was over a point-per-game performer 2012-2014.
The 5’11” 191 lbs. isn’t the biggest guy out there and has to utilize his speed and good stick-handling abilities to create room out there, but also plays with a good amount of spunk accumulating 120 penalty minutes and 6 fighting majors in 2014/2015.
At still only 21-years old he was a 2-time World Juniors gold medal winner, so knows what it takes to get the job done.
He just needs a more extended opportunity, but was recently returned to the farm team.
