East Coast Wizards‘ forward Cole Scott(7) gets fully airborne during tense play during the mid-afternoon match-up vs. Walpole Express that the visiting team took 4-1.
This is the 18-year old’s first season in the EHL stepping it up from playing in the lower EHLP last season for close to home Philadelphia Revolution.
He has 2 goals in 6 games.
Philadelphia Flyers‘ 4th round pick in the 2016 draft (#109 overall) center Connor Bunnaman(82) has a strong training camp to earn an NHL roster spot on the opening night of 2019/2020.
In his debut he skated 17 shifts for 11:06 ice time with 2 shots, 1 hit and 2 giveaways but had a +1 rating in a 4-3 win.
The 6’1″ 207 lbs. forward was a decent enough scorer through 4 years with Kitchener Rangers of the OHL and left as team captain.
He was reassigned to affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms for his entire rookie season but posted a nifty 19 goals and 13 assists in 62 AHL games.
At just 21-years old in the 2nd year of his entry level deal, he could stick but might be sent down to continue the seasoning.
Carolina Hurricanes‘ 1st round pick in the 2017 draft (#12) overall 4th year Czech Republic-born center Martin Necas(88) is in first season of his three year entry level deal after successfully playing through a few entry level slides, which saw him skate two seasons in Tipsport Czech Extraliga for HC Kometa Brno winning a pair of back-to-back titles and even included a first NHL game (no points) at the end of 2017/2018.
Still not fully playing under contract, he started the next campaign in the big league with 7 games scoring a goal and an assist before being reassigned to affiliate Charlotte Checkers.
Playing out the remainder of the season in the AHL, he appeared in 64 games scoring 16 goals and 36 assists for a team third 52 points with a +20 rating before adding another 13 points in 18 contests, en route to the 2019 Calder Cup Championship.
At just 21-years old, he’s made the opening night roster for a 2nd straight year and even potted a 2nd ever tally in that game.
He is officially off and running and even has an Hlinka Gold Medal as captain in the 2016 junior tournament.
Philadelphia Flyers‘ 4th round pick in the 2016 draft (#82 overall) 2nd year left wing Carsen Twarynski(81) makes the opening night roster with a strong showing in training camp.
The 6’2″ 198 lbs. forward scored had a decent showing as a rookie with 10 goals and 14 assists in 69 AHL games for affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms last season.
In his debut he skated 17 shifts for 11:57 total ice time with 1 shot and 2 hits for a 4-3 win.
Always a decent scorer through 4 years of WHL, he really popped in his fourth campaign for Kelowna Rockets striking for 45 goals and 27 assists.
The 21-year old will have to work hard to stick but could be reassigned and continue to tear it up in the minors but still has another year on his entry level deal before he becomes a restricted free agent.
9th year center Peter Holland(22) leaves North American pro hockey for a first time signing with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg and is off to a blazing start scoring 4 goals and 5 assists in 12 KHL games.
He scored a career high 27 goals and 38 assists for 65 points last season splitting time between Hartford Wolf Pack and Rockford IceHogs after a traded sent him to Chicago Blackhawks.
The 28-year old may find new life in Russia’s top league and could ride out his career here.
Carolina Hurricanes‘ 1st round pick in the 2016 draft (#13 overall), 2nd year defenseman Jake Bean(2) still has another year before he reaches a first restricted free agent status.
He appeared in a pair of NHL games just after the first month of his rookie season.
The 6’1″ 186 lbs. blue liner skated 13 shifts for just over 8 minutes of ice time with 1 shot and 2 penalty minutes.
Mostly on reassignment to affiliate Charlotte Checkers, he had a solid showing in his first campaign with 13 goals, 31 assists and a +17 rating, then added another 5 points in 15 playoff games en route to winning the 2019 Calder Cup Championship.
The Calgary native, who got to play most of his junior hockey for his hometown Calgary Hitmen, while putting up 30+ assists on three occasions and ascended to the 40 mark once, can put up points.
He’s twice won junior hockey gold medals and although the still only 21-year old looks to start his 2nd season in the AHL, he will likely be on a very short list for a recall.
Tampa Bay Lightning 5th year center Carter Verhaeghe(23) finds himself on the opening night roster after scoring a career high 34 goals and 48 assists for an AHL best 82 points last season for affiliate Syracuse Crunch.
He was given a one-year, two-way extension a few days into restricted free agency.
The 24-year old will need to work hard but could stick at the highest level of hockey.
Ottawa Senators‘ 7th year right wing Scott Sabourin(49) agreed to a training camp invite after spending last season under contract with Stockton Heat, where he was crowned Unsung Hero of the team at the end of the campaign.
The fairly large forward put in the hard work to earn himself a 1-year two-way deal and finds himself on the opening night roster for a first ever game in the big league.
In his debut he had 3 shots on net with his 1st NHL goal, 4 hits and left the 5-3 loss with a +1 rating playing a conservative 8:27 total ice time.
The 27-year old will need to continue to show he belongs or could find himself reassigned to affiliate Belleville Senators but chances are he has finally arrived.
New York Islanders‘ 10th year right wing Tom Kuhnhackl(14) scores another year after getting 4 goals and 5 assists in only 36 NHL games last season with a +1 rating, then added another 3 assists in 8 playoff contests.
He signs his fourth one-way contract at a cap friendly deal of $850,000 AAV.
He’s basically been with the big club since 2015/2016 but was reassigned for one AHL game with affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers but he happened to score 2 goals and get an assist with a +3 rating to put an end to that.
The 27-year old former two-time 2016 & 2017 Stanley Cup Champion as a Pittsburgh Penguin will likely be playing for one-year deals unless he can someone catch fire as a role player on the scoresheet.
11th year defenseman Drew Schiestel(44) helped lead Cardiff Devils to the 2019 EIHL Championship and takes that distinction to a new deal to captain rival Coventry Blaze.
Signed to draft club Buffalo Sabres through his first four years, he wasn’t given a qualifying offer to continue and next agreed on an AHL contract with close to home Hamilton Bulldogs for 2014/2015 before deciding to head overseas.
He initially skated for Dusseldorfer EG of DEL and had a decent outing for a mostly stay at home d-man but moved on to Metal Ligaen with Rungsted Seier Capital for the follow-up campaign.
Returning home to start 2016/2017, he hit the ice with Indy Fuel to start the season, but after 14 ECHL games turned his attention towards EBEL and Fehervar AV19.
He turned an nicely successful run of 4 goals and 14 assists in 32 games to joining GET-ligaen‘s for most of the next session with Lorenskog, where he achieved a best overseas 16 assists and 19 points before heading back to Austria for a playoff run for Medevescak Zagreb.
The 30-year old may have found a nice home to play out the remainder of his career in the United Kingdom.
