WE HOPE YOU HAVE A MILLION SMILES AND YOUR TEAM WINS EVERY GAME!
Category: Featured
24Dec
Florida Panthers‘ 2nd round pick in the 2014 draft (#32 overall) 3rd year center Jayce Hawryluk(8) got off to a hot start in the current session scoring 7 goals and a team high 21 assists and 28 points with a +6 rating in 25 AHL games for affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds.
For his efforts he earned an early season recall.
The 5’11’ 196 lbs. forward has skated only limited minutes (over 10 once) but in his 5th appearance potted his first pair of NHL goals, while only on ice for 14 shifts and 7:46 minutes of ice time for a decisive 6-3 victory.
Not bad for a player that was reassigned further down for 6 ECHL games with Manchester Monarchs less than a year ago and looked to be sliding off the depth chart.
Wake up calls aren’t a bad thing sometimes, as he’s rebounded big as he was expected to do with his high selection and big numbers he posted in 4 years with Brandon Wheat Kings (3 years of point-per-game marks and an explosive 47 goals and 59 assists in his final campaign) and a 2016 WHL Championship, where he had a league league 23 assists in the playoffs.
He also won a gold medal in the. under-18 2014 Hlinka Memorial Tournament for Team Canada.
The 22-year old is seemingly playing his way to a nice contract extension as he’s set to become a restricted free agent at the end of this season.
23Dec
Philadelphia Flyers‘ 8th year center Phil Varone(44) takes a 2018 AHL MVP year scoring a career high 23 goals and 47 assists, a league 2nd, to a bit of an early recall from affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
He just so happens to be having yet another stellar campaign in the minors with 11 goals and 17 assists in 22 games, putting him on pace for a 4th 40+ assist season.
The small forward has also scored 10+ goals for 6 straight years but had been held to only an assist in mostly limited minutes while under contract with Ottawa Senators.
He just potted his first tally with his current club, so maybe things are starting to look up for him to connect with a bit more frequency.
Set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the current session, the 28-year old is on the final season of a 2-year deal, but odds seem like he gets re-upped for a couple more, as he was signed on opening day of free agency.
22Dec
Carolina Hurricanes‘ 2nd round pick in the 2016 draft (#43 overall) Finnish-born 2nd year left wing Janne Kuokkanen(59) was on the opening night roster as a rookie but reassigned after 4 NHL games with no points.
He would go on to score 11 goals and 29 assists with a +17 rating in 60 AHL games for affiliate Charlotte Checkers.
The 6’1″ 193 lbs. forward got off to a hot start with the farm club in his sophomore season, already grabbing a career tying 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points in 27 games to earn an early season recall.
Skating three games logging decent minutes, he still has yet to affect the scoresheet, and was once again sent to the minors.
He spent most of his younger career playing junior hockey for Karpat, was called up for a single Liiga appearance, where he notched two goals and also loaned down to Mestis to play one game for Hokki (1 goal, 1 assist).
Next he came over for a campaign with London Knights and would be a point-per-game player grabbing 26 goals and 36 assists in 60 OHL games.
The 20-year old is signed to a three-year entry level deal but because of his age was allowed to play his first season on a slide.
He’ll definitely need to start connecting but seems like he’s on the cusp of fulfilling his potential.
21Dec
Undrafted 9th year center Chris Francis(12) got off to an unusually slow start in the current calendar with Tulsa Oilers and has decided to leave for Saale Bulls Halle of DEL3 to hopefully put 2018/2019 into the right column.
A veteran of 411 ECHL games, he always been a prominent scorer reaching the 20-goal and assist mark on three occasions and twice topping 3o helpers in a season.
He also reached more than point-per-game status in his final pair of WHL campaigns for Portland Winterhawks.
The 5’9″ 189 lbs. forward played a short stint with Springfield Falcons as a rookie getting a goal and an assist in 4 AHL games but was reassigned down to play some time in the now defunct Central Hockey League for Fort Wayne Komets but eventually signed with hometown Las Vegas Wranglers, where he stuck from 2011-2014 before moving on.
He also spent a first season overseas in EBEL with Fehervar AV19 amassing 29 points in 50 games before returning.
The 29-year old will be 30 by the time the season is over and will likely have to make a decision on a next team address, if he decides to continue.
20Dec
Undrafted 3rd year right wing Trevor Mingoia(14) seems to be enjoying his first trip overseas with Vasteriks IK.
He already has 7 goals and 16 assists in 25 Allsvenksan games.
The 5’11” 190 lbs. forward signed with Milwaukee Admirals for 2017/2018 (2 goals, 3 assists), his first AHL contract and split time on reassignment to Norfolk Admirals, where he was basically a point-per-game player (10-4 in 16 ECHL games).
As a rookie under contract with Atlanta Gladiators, he quickly scored a career high 21 goals and 19 assists in 60 games after taking a bit of a roundabout route to turning pro spending three years at Providence College, where he helped them win the Cinderella story 2015 NCAA Championship.
Previous to that quest, he played one campaign for Tri-City Storm after a year at Union College.
Always a prolific scorer, he just pulled himself up the Swedish pro hockey ladder with a loan to Rogle BK of the SHL.
Our bet is he does well at the top level there.
19Dec
Buffalo Sabres‘ 3rd year defenseman Casey Nelson(8) signed a new 2-year one-way deal a month into the offseason after playing a career high 37 NHL games in 2017/2018 scoring 3 goals and 5 assists, while also skating 40 AHL games for affiliate Rochester Americans.
The pretty large, mostly stay-at-home, punishing style blue liner started the current season on the big league opening roster and has stuck through 22 appearances grabbing a goal and 4 assists with a +6 on an exceptionally good team but he’s also been on the sitting end of being a healthy scratch on occasion.
It very much seems like the 26-year old is on the cusp of becoming a top 6 d-man in the lineup.
18Dec
3rd year left wing Mario Lucia(62) heads off to GET-ligaen joining Stavanger Oilers for 2018/2019 after not being given a qualifying offer from New Jersey Devils, the team he was traded to late last season.
Originally a Minnesota Wild 2nd round pick in the 2011 NHL draft (#60 overall), he spent most of two campaigns with affiliate Iowa Wild, but in two years scored an identical 9 goals and 13 assists, including time spent with Binghamton Devils.
This was a bit of a downturn from the quick 4 points he grabbed in 9 AHL games upon signing an ato after four strong years at University Of Notre Dame, where he helped them win the 2013 NCAA/CCHA Championship as a rookie.
In the prior season in junior hockey for Penticton Vees he scored a league high 42 goals and 51 assist en route to the 2012 BCHL title.
The 24-year old is off to a great start Norway’s top league with 10 goal and 12 assists in 27 games.
We’re putting odds on him looking elsewhere for 2019/2020 in an effort to find even better hockey.
17Dec
Florida Panthers‘ 1st round pick in the 2016 draft (#29 overall) Finnish-born center Henrik Borgstrom(95) played his first 4 games in the big league fresh off two years at University Of Denver notching a first NHL goal in the 2017/2018 finale.
He was a scoring terror in college hockey, helping his team to a 2017 NCAA Championship as a first year player and also being named Rookie Of The Year, then continuing with lots more honors like Player and Forward Of The Year for his 23 goals and 29 assists, plus given the nod as a Hobey Baker Award finalist in his final run.
The 6’3″ 185 lbs. forward is off to a nice start for affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds as a rookie with 5 goals and 17 assists and a +4 rating to earn a first recall.
Wasting little time getting busy he skated 17 shifts for 12:18 ice time, went 67% on the face-off dot, had 1 shot, 1 hit, 1 breakups, 2 giveaways and 2 takeaways, left the 4-3 overtime win with a -1 rating.
It seems like they aren’t rushing to break in the 21-year old, whose is technically in the 2nd year of a three-year entry level deal.
16Dec
Undrafted Greenville Swamp Rabbits 4th year right wing Travis Howe(14) has almost literally pounded his way up the hockey ladder.
He started basically as low as you can be on the scale initially signing with Berlin River Drivers of the FHL after a pair of QMJHL games and a season in the NAHL with Corpus Christi IceRays before turning pro, but 4 fights in got him noticed by Mississippi RiverKings, who called him up.
After a few more battles in, he was brought in by Macon Mayhem to continue and quickly became a player fans wanted to see more of and would play out his rookie season.
He would finish with a career high 23 fighting majors to his early credit.
The very big 6’4″ 225 lbs. forward was still gaining notice at continued higher levels and Utah Grizzlies stepped in offering him a one-year deal.
He stayed with the team for a pair of campaigns running up time spent in the box totals of 234 and 195 with 22 and 17 battles, but also potted a career high 5 goals and 5 assists in 44 ECHL in his second year.
Signing for 2018/2019 in South Carolina, he already has 7 scraps in 20 games and earned a 1st loan to Tuscon Roadrunners.
In 1 AHL game, the 24-year old dropped the gloves once and took another penalty in a 5-0 win.
He may not last in this league but could also be looked to as protection, earning his way onto an NHL club’s direct affiliate.