6th year right wing Brandon Kozun(51) shows no adjustment lag in his first season away from home skating with his new team Jokerit in a new country, Russia.
He’s off to a speedy start with 8 goals and 12 assists in 18 KHL games, good enough for third in league scoring.
The power mini-forward signed a one-year deal after splitting time in 2014/2015 with Toronto Maple Leafs and their affiliate Toronto Marlies.
He was able to connect for his first NHL goal and one more plus 2 assists in 20 games.
He even started on the opening night roster and finished the regular season with the parent club before deciding to take his game elsewhere as he approached his third restricted free agency.
Originally in Los Angeles Kings‘ prospect system for his first 3 campaigns before getting traded in the middle of his fourth year, he was never recalled despite consistently putting up big numbers.
Still just 25-years old, he may just find his way back to North American pro hockey under a one-way contract if he continues to excel and wants to return.
Boston Bruins‘ undrafted rookie forward Frank Vatrano(49) is maybe the most ragtag long shot story to possibly make the NHL out there at the moment.
In his first two AHL games starting his pro career with minor league affiliate Providence Bruins he already has 5 goals with a +4 rating and shows zero signs of letting up. Four of those tallies came in a single game.
He was a strong spark plug in both the parent club’s training camps leading into the 2015/2016 season.
Listed at 5’10” 215 lbs. he isn’t the biggest skater out there but plays a big game all the way.
He took a completely unlikely route to get to where he is.
Starting as a teenager skating for Boston Jr. Bruins, he actually came back after his bid at Boston College went south and played another season before finally getting to UMass-Amherst.
He potted 18 goals and 10 assists in 36 games.
2014/2015 would be his only campaign of college hockey.
He also spent two years in between 4 EJHL seasons with the US National Development Team in the USHL scoring 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points in 59 games.
Already 21-years old he probably figured it was time to get the pro career started and in stepped his hometown (from East Longmeadow, MA) Black & Gold.
With the big club going south pretty quickly out of the gate, he may be worth a quick look in the show.
Montreal Canadiens‘ undrafted 3rd year goaltender Mike Condon(39) was stellar in his first NHL start only letting up one short-handed goal on 21 shots for a 3-1 team win.
He finished the game with a .952 SV% and of course 1.00 GAA.
The 6’2″ 195 lbs. net minder has definitely worked his way up to earn his time in the big league.
After 4 seasons playing goal for Princeton University he signed an ato fresh out of college with Ontario Reign but was loaned up to Houston Aeros after four games of impressive play posting a 1.48 GAA and .943 SV%.
He was quickly signed to a two-year entry level deal and started his rookie season with affiliate Wheeling Nailers. where he played 39 ECHL games posting a 23-12 record with more amazing numbers in between the pipes (2.18 GAA, .931 SV%).
He also took them through two rounds of the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
In his the sophomore year of his contract, he was officially brought up to be the starting goalie for farm team Hamilton Bulldogs.
He guarded the cage for 48 AHL games with a 23-19-6 record on a non-playoff squad.
Even before the 2014/2015 regular season was over he was offer a 2-year contract extension to stay in the system.
Heading into the 2015 training camp, he was ready to make a big impression and did scoring the back-up job for the parent club as the 2015/2016 season started.
10th year veteran center Rob Schremp(10) signs a 2015/2016 contract to play with his fifth team in five years in five different countries.
To his credit, in his travels he play in one league twice.
Currently inked for the new season with Portland Pirates after a successful training camp tryout, he returns to North American hockey for the first time since 2011/2012.
The former Edmonton Oilers‘ 1st round pick in the 2004 draft (#25 overall) had just finish a second full season in the NHL mostly with New York Islanders before being claimed from the waiver wire late season by Atlanta Thrashers.
The 5’11” 205 lbs. forward actually had decent numbers in the show with 20 goals and 34 assists for 54 points in 114 games but never quite caught on before he decided to go elsewhere.
His first stop was the SHL for a year skating for MODO.
Next he decided to try his stick in the KHL agreeing to terms with Dinamo Riga but he failed to catch on.
Mid-season he left to finish out his second year overseas in Erste Bank Eishockey Liga with EC Salzburg.
He had big success.
Continuing to move around he next landed in the Swiss NLA with EV Zug.
He had really good season scoring 9 goals and 27 assists with a +4 rating in 42 games, which was identical to what he just did in EBEL.
But once again he refused to sit still agreeing next to return to Sweden with Skelleftea AIK for 2014/2015.
The now 29-year old, who will turn 30 mid-season, starts strong in his first AHL season since 2008/2009 with a goal and an assist in his opening game.
There’s no reason to believe he once again won’t be a top 10 scorer in the league.
Arizona Coyotes‘ 6th year Swedish-born defenseman prospect Klas Dahlbeck(34) starts the new season with the big club after being traded late last year from Chicago Blackhawks.
The former 3rd round pick in the 2011 draft (#79 overall) played his first three seasons in North America with affiliate Rockford IceHogs having his best season 2013/2014, where he skated a career high 75 AHL games and had all bests scoring 10 goals, 25 assists for 35 points with a +21 rating and a not so terrible 175 shots on net.
He plays in his first 4 big league games with the Blackhawks and got his first NHL goal before being dealt.
After the transaction he joined the Coyotes immediately playing another 19 games with three assists to add to his totals before being reassigned to Portland Pirates to help them with their playoff push.
The fairly big 6’3″ 207 lbs. blue liner played the final three games of the regular season registering an assist and then helped the team push their first round playoff series to a deciding fifth game with the eventual Calder Cup winner Manchester Monarchs.
Returning with a new one-year deal, the restricted free agent made sure he staked his claim to a full-time spot in the show as the 24-year old is ready to fill a bigger role.
Chicago Blackhawks‘ 2nd year, Finnish-born defenseman Ville Pokka(29) has yet to play his first NHL game but coming off a strong training camp he was on the opening night roster as the 2015/2016 season started.
The 5’11” 200 lbs. blue liner played his entire rookie season with affiliate Rockford IceHogs scoring a career high 8 goals and 22 assists for 30 points in 68 AHL games. He added 3 more helpers in 8 playoff contests.
Another outstanding stat on his score sheet was unloading a healthy 125 shots on net from the point.
Originally a New York Islanders‘ 2nd round pick in the 2012 draft (#34 overall), he was dealt in the Nick Leddy trade before the start of his first North American campaign.
The 21-year old had already skated in three Liiga seasons for Karpat and was the league’s plus/minus leader (+32) at the end of 2013/2014.
He’s definitely already proven his abilities in the minors and ready to show what he can achieve in the show. He’ll very likely be given that opportunity soon.
9th year, former San Jose Sharks‘ 1st round pick in the 2005 draft (#8 overall) signed a pto by Toronto Maple Leafs to attend their training camp in hopes of finding a spot with the team for the 2015/2016 season.
He’s a 3-time 20-goal scorer (all with the Sharks) and even struck for 31 in his sophomore campaign 2008/2009.
The 6′ 205 lbs. split last season with Calgary Flames (12 games, no points) and their affiliate Adirondack Flames (19 games, 3 goals, 7 assists) but found himself on the sidelines as a healthy scratch on far too many occasions.
He bounced around a bit in the three previous years skating two for Minnesota Wild and one with Winnipeg Jets performing decently but failed to live up to what he achieved earlier in his career.
The 28-year old was cut a couple of weeks before the start of the new season and is headed overseas signing a one-year deal to join HC Davos of Switzerland’s NLA.
12th year Swedish-born net minder Jonas Gustavsson(89) signed a training camp try-out agreement with Boston Bruins in hopes to secure a job for the 2015/2016 season.
He spent the last three campaigns with Detroit Red Wings but playing time was getting scarce for the back-up goalie as younger prospects started to come up and the unrestricted free agency was left to search for new employment.
The fairly large 6’3″ 212 lbs. back stop spent his first 5 years working his way up the ladder in his home country, first appearing in games for AIK Division 1 team.
He moved up to skate a pair of seasons with the team in tier two Allsvenskan before two runs for Farjestad BK, where he won the 2009 SHL Championship and owned the best save % and GAA honors along with being named the top player in the league.
Coming over to the NHL on a 1-year deal with Toronto Maple Leafs, he suffered a few medical setbacks due to a heart condition and missed some time but persevered and stayed with them for 3 seasons before being traded to Winnipeg Jets.
He was never signed though and the free agent went on to strike up a deal with Detroit from 2012/2015.
The almost 31-year old has worked hard throughout his career and it’s paid off for him to snag another contract as the Bruins ink him on a one-way to be their new back up goaltender.
Zdeno Chara(33) will be starting his 19th season of professional hockey and tenth as captain of Boston Bruins in 2015/2016.
His team is a little thin with new blood on the blue line so the 38-year old, who will turn 39 before the end of the season, has to be ready to log lots of minutes.
He got in a little extra workout after practice at a recent training camp session.
Push ups on ice were punishment for missing the net on a slap shot drill.
Heading into his 21st season, the mini might that is David Ling(71) has a back-up supply of Energizer batteries in his body as he’s returning to Nottingham Panthers for 2015/2016.
He was last with them a few years ago and put up a league leading and career high 95 points in the EIHL.
It was the second time he earned 60 assists in a campaign (last time was 2004/2005 with St. John’s Maple Leafs) and his 35 goals set a new best mark.
Unsure what made him decide to return to North American hockey least season under contract with the lowly Brampton Beast.
He had a decent 9 goals and 32 assists in 46 ECHL games but was a woeful -33. Despite that figure he still grab a recall for three more AHL games with Oklahoma City Barons, where he got an assist.
Set to turn 41-years old by mid-season, he would love to win another Championship with the team like they did in 2013 and pick up more player and forward of the year accolades.
