Florida Panthers‘ 3rd round pick in the 2014 draft (#65 overall), 3rd year Finnish-born right wing Juho Lammikko(91) scores a 1st NHL recall after a career season with affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds scoring a new best 8 goals and 20 assists for 28 points in 59 AHL games.
The 6’3″ 201 lbs. forward has already played two quick games, skating 14 & 18 shifts for over 9 minutes total ice time in each outing with one shot on net, one hit, some short-handed play time and a +1 rating in a pair of one goal losses.
He played most of his junior hockey in his homeland, even splitting 2013/2014 with Assat of Liiga before heading to the US, where he continued develop with a pair of successful seasons in the OHL for Kingston Frontenacs before turning pro.
The 22-year is an aggressive skater with quick hands, who is in the final year of his entry level deal but seems to be almost ready to turn a corner and be a full-time player in the highest league of hockey.
Undrafted 4th year net minder Matt Ginn(1) takes his game overseas to the EIHL joining Manchester Storm for 2018/2019 after three one-year deals with Providence Bruins that saw him play only a single AHL game as a rookie.
He’s played plenty of ECHL games for affiliate Atlanta Gladiators through his first two seasons but only showed up 6 times in 2017/2018.
With 7 starts (2-5) in his new hockey home, he already has a decent 2.98 GAA and .914 SV% on a team that’s struggling out of the gate.
It will be interesting to see if the 27-year old settles into hockey life in the United Kingdom or if he can put up some decent numbers move on to a higher league.
Undrafted 5th year center Jordan Sims(23) returns to Cincinnati Cyclones after spending 2017/2018 with Lyon, helping them win the 2018 Ligue Magnus Championship.
He was with them for 2016/2017 putting up decently impressive numbers scoring 15 goals and 29 assists for 44 points in 59 ECHL, which was very similar to his league high stats (17-29-46) he put up as a sophomore skater for Evansville IceMen.
Those stats helped him earn a first AHL loan to San Jose Barracuda, where he came away with an assist in 2 games.
The 5’11” 185 lbs. forward started his pro career under contract to Peoria Rivermen of the SPHL after four solid seasons at University Of Connecticut, but was loaned up to the higher league on a pair of occasions and then grabbed an extension to stay.
At 28-years old he may not gain another recall up but he’ll likely be looking to score and strategizing how to move into the next phase of his career.
3rd year defenseman Ed Wittchow(20) leaves for KooKoo of Liiga after doing the hard work to earn a Florida Panthers‘ one-year two-way entry level contract for his sophomore season after playing as a rookie under a minor league deal with affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds.
The big 6’4″ 225 lbs. blue liner played a career high 59 AHL games scoring a new best 5 goals and 10 assists for 15 points with a +3 on a non-playoff team.
He was also involved in 6 fighting majors.
Never the biggest scorer through 4 years at University Of Wisconsin, he left as their captain and helped them win consecutive 2013 NCAA/WCHA and 2014 NCAA/B1G Championships.
The soon-to-be 26-year old will definitely have to prove to his new Finnish hockey club he’s an asset to have in the lineup but our bets are on him doing just that.
Undrafted Danish-born 5th year center Mikkel Aagaard(48) makes a decision to head to University Of Guelph after splitting last season under contract to Springfield Thunderbirds and affiliate Manchester Monarchs.
He spent his rookie season in much the same fashion while signed to a deal with Stockton Heat but spent the majority of his playing time for Adirondack Thunder.
The 6′ 180 lbs. forward had his best scoring output in the lower league as a first year skater striking for 13 goals and 26 assists in 38 ECHL games.
He’s been less prolific in the AHL with 9 goals and 7 assists in 61 contests.
Starting his pro career with hometown team Frederikshavn IK of Denmark2, he would play 2 seasons there as a teenager before moving up to Frederikshavn White Hawks of Metal Ligaen prior to leaving for a pair of OHL campaigns.
The still young 22-year old is set to turn 23 later on this month but will still only be 26 by the time he finishes college.
13th year left wing Daniel Winnik(26) takes a fairly successful tryout for Boston Bruins over to Switzerland signing with Geneve-Servette of the NLA for 2018/2019, his first foray into pro hockey overseas.
He was coming off a Minnesota Wild one-year deal, where he dished a very decent 17 helpers with a +5 rating.
The fairly large looking 6’2″ 209 lbs. forward was originally an Arizona Coyotes‘ 9th round pick in the 2004 draft (#265 overall) but has managed an eye-popping 798 NHL games (82-169-251, a monster +52 rating and 11 game winning goals) with 8 different teams, not bad for such a deep selection.
He even played 5 ECHL games for the ill-fated Phoenix Roadrunners as a rookie but 6 quick assists got him recalled pretty quickly.
At 33-years old, the former University Of New Hampshire standout in his 2nd and 3rd years may decide to play a few more seasons away from home before deciding on a next direction.
Florida Panthers‘ 4th year defenseman Jacob MacDonald(23) pulled off what we figured he was capable of: making the opening night roster after an impressive training camp.
Just a few seasons ago he was playing out his rookie season with the ill-fated Elmira Jackals.
In his sophomore campaign the 6′ 208 lbs. blue liner was originally signed to Toledo Walleye for 30 ECHL games but was loaned up to Albany Devils and never returned.
In his NHL debut he scored the opening goal vs. cross-state rivals Tampa Bay Lightning, so the 25-year old may not be looking back.
17th year net minder Jason Bacashihua(35) takes a solid season in the Asian Hockey League to Polska Hokej Liga for his next adventure with Cracovia Krakow.
He played 25 games for Gangwon High 1 putting up a respectable 2.81 GAA and .913 SV%.
This came off a 2nd campaign with HC Banska Bystrica of Slovak Extraliga best 2.05 GAA and .929 SV% leading into a 2017 Championship and an even better 1.92 GAA and .935 SV% in the playoffs.
The 36-year old, who spent two years in American juniors NAHL before leaving for a single outstanding run in the OHL with Plymouth Whalers before turning pro and also played a single game for the legendary Johnstown Chiefs still seems to have a lot left in the tank without showing signs of retiring.
Undrafted 2nd year right wing Brendan Harms(38) gets rewarded on a solid rookie outing for Utah Grizzlies scoring 13 goals and 25 assists for 38 points with a one-year two way AHL deal with affiliate Colorado Eagles.
If he gets reassigned out of training camp, he’ll just return to Salt Lake City to play and likely infuse them with more offense.
The 6′ 183 lbs. was solid up front with four 20+ point seasons at Bemidji State University, which followed one year of more than point-per-game play for Fargo Force of the USHL.
There’s little doubt the 23-year old will be fighting for his chance to play at a higher level out of training camp.
