NHL | CollegeHockeyPlayers

Category: NHL

27Nov

Adam Burish(37) Worcester Sharks

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

San Jose Sharks‘ 9th year veteran center Adam Burish(37) has never been a prolific goal scorer through 378 NHL games he’s skated, 27 goals and 33 assists.

Returning healthy after suffering an injury that tossed all but 15 games to the sidelines last season, he’s off to a less than stellar start with only a goal, a pair of assists and a -6 rating in 20 contests.

His team is also suffering from sub par performances on more nights than not. As they say, there’s plenty of blame to go around.

Originally a Chicago Blackhawks‘ very deep 9th round pick in 2002 (#282 overall), the 6’1″ 191 lbs. forward has played most of his big league games with them, winning a Stanley Cup in 2010.

He does seem to gravitate towards winning as he was team captain for University Of Wisconsin when they won the 2006 NCAA Championship.

In between he had a two season stop posting career highs with Dallas Stars before signing a very decent 4-year agreement with the Sharks.

He’s in the third campaign of his one-way deal but not producing and with the team slumping he finds himself on the outs, reassigned to minor league affiliate Worcester Sharks.

It’s his first appearance in the AHL in 7 years.

In two games he has one assist.

The 31-year old could be a huge asset with the farm club or could easily find himself on the payoff end of a buyout after this season.

24Nov

Andrew Agozinno(32) Lake Erie Monsters

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Colorado Avalanche 3rd year undrafted left wing was signed to a 2-year entry level deal after being on the radar under contract with minor league affiliate Lake Erie Monsters for his rookie season.

Despite putting up stellar numbers in juniors, the small 5’9″ 187 lbs. forward went roughly undetected by clubs potentially because of his size but only they really know.

He continued his scoreboard success leading his AHL squad in points, assists and plus/minus in his first year.

He basically ran duplicate numbers in his sophomore run but was a fairly terrible -12 on a struggling team.

The 23-year old is in the final year of his big league contract and set to become a restricted free agent.

Well, once again he came out of the gate lighting the lamp in his third campaign with the farm club (3 goals, 5 assists in 14 games).

Good enough to earn him a recall for a game in the show.

He skated 14 shifts for 9:45 of total ice time and got his first NHL point with an assist on the first goal in the 4-3 shootout victory.

He also put up one shot and was a +1 rating.

Despite his good play and the team win he was sent back down as the injured healed well enough to play.

No doubt he’ll earn another shot.

See related: 1/25-13

23Nov

Kellan Lain(19) Oklahoma City Barons

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Undrafted Vancouver Canucks‘ exceedingly large 6’6″ 222 lbs. center Kellan Lain(19) found himself in an early season mostly minor league deal that ships him to Edmonton Oilers‘ prospect system for the final year of his two-year extension.

Initially signed to an entry level deal for just one season coming out of his third tour with Lake Superior State University, he started his pro career with 13 AHL games for then affiliate Chicago Wolves.

Although he was credited for no points he must have played with enough jam to keep the restricted free agent around for more than one more look.

In his official rookie season with Utica Comets he is credited for 7 tallies and 12 helpers in 63 games with a +4 rating on a mostly struggling first year squad.

He earned himself a pair of call ups after the new year and stuck around for 9 NHL game scoring his first big league goal and was a +1 plus/minus.

Heading into a contract year, he was maybe a bit slow out of the gate, getting reassigned to the farm club early in training camp and coming out of the gate slowly with only 1 assist in 10 games.

Maybe the new surroundings skating with Oklahoma City Barons will wake the sleeping giant.

22Nov

Bo Horvat(53) Vancouver Canucks

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Vancouver Canucks‘ 1st round pick in the 2013 draft (#9 overall) center Bo Horvat(53) started his rookie season with the on the opening night roster but was unable to crack the lineup, so less than a month into 2014/2015 he was sent down on a conditioning reassignment to minor league affiliate Utica Comets.

In 5 AHL games he was somewhat oddly unable to come up with a point but still showed enough that he should be up with the parent club.

The 6′ 216 lbs. former two-time 2012 and 2013 OHL Champion continued to work hard and finally found a spot on the team.

He was virtually a point-per-game player in three seasons with London Knights.

At only 19-years old and leaving a year early from junior hockey, he plays the game like a true power forward and in his 7th NHL game finally came up with his first pro goal in the team’s 4-3 loss.

He did appear in the full slate of preseason match ups and was credited with an unofficial tally.

Signed to a three-year entry level deal, he should be a contributor for a long-time in Western Canada.

20Nov

Scott Laughton(49) Philadelphia Flyers

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Philadelphia Flyers‘ 1st round pick in the 2010 draft (#20 overall) center Scott Laughton(49) has definitely been on a bit of a ride to rejoin the parent club on recall from affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms early in his rookie year.

He was initially summoned after the lockout thawed in 2013 from his third run in juniors but was returned to Oshawa Generals to continue tearing up the score sheet and work on his development.

He was unable to notch a point in 5 NHL games.

He went on to produce more than a point per game and then doubled those stats in 7 playoff contests.

The 6’1″ 177 lbs. forward returned to the pros after his team was knocked out of the postseason and skated 6 more games with farm team Adirondack Phantoms.

He would score his first goal and add two assists.

Continuing his crazy 2013 he was once again in Flyers‘ training camp, already under contract but with the option of being sent back due to his young age.

In a crazy turn of moves, he was set to be on the opening night roster but instead was loaned back to the OHL and he went on to put up career numbers as an assistant captain.

Having just turned 20-years old he was one of the final cuts to be reassigned to start his first official campaign and popped out the gate retaining his scoring touch.

In 13 AHL games he’s struck for 6 goals and 5 assists, good enough to earn that recall and make his sixth appearance in the show.

Used on sparingly, skating 12 shifts for 7:00 minutes of ice time in a 2-0 blanking.

With some additional time out there he should be able to contribute as he plays a speedy style with plenty enough tenacity and has a scoring touch that just needs to break though on the highest level of hockey.

19Nov

Josh Gratton(13) Manchester Monarchs

Posted in AHL, ECHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Undrafted 12th year left wing Josh Gratton(13) spent the last four seasons playing mostly in the KHL with Barys Astana and Vityaz Podolsk. He only skated in 11 games last season.

Seeing only limited action in his last two seasons was possibly the impetus for him to return to North American pro hockey to see if at 32-years old he could earn himself a contract.

Invited to Manchester Monarchs‘ training camp, he proved himself worthy and was given a pto to start the 2014/2015 season.

13 games into the season he has one assist, a +1 rating, 36 penalty minutes and quickly accrued 6 fighting majors.

The 6’2″ 215 lbs. tough guy has skated in 247 AHL games scoring a modest 35 goals and 39 assists with an eye-popping 936 pims and dropped the gloves 102 times.

He’s also appeared in 86 NHL games for Arizona Coyotes and two stints with Philadelphia Flyers.

He won a Calder Cup Championship with Philadelphia Phantoms in the lockout year 2004/2005.

It remains to be seen whether or not he’s given an spc for this season but regardless, he’s making his presence felt.

17Nov

Anton Forsberg(35) Springfield Falcons

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Columbus Blue Jackets‘ deep 7th round pick in the 2011 draft (#188 overall) Swedish-born goalie Anton Forsberg(35) realized his first pair of NHL starts as a rookie.

He’s thus far absolutely shutting the door on the offense in a pair of AHL starts with affiliate Springfield Falcons.

He won both appearances posting a 1.50 GAA and a .953 SV% along with a getting his first shutout.

It was much the same when he first appeared with the farm club at the tail end of last season and kept a secure 1.13 GAA and .957 SV% in 4 times between the pipes. He also played in 2 Calder Cup Playoff games, running some respectable numbers.

The fairly sizable 6’3″ 195 lbs. fared less well in his two appearances with the big club.

He was credited for only one of the losses but got shellacked on the stat sheet with a dismal 5.32 GAA and .841 SV%. He did earn a third star award in one of the games for at least keeping his team competitive in one of the defeats.

As a teenager he already experienced pro hockey in his home country playing last season in net with MODO of the SHL. He also backstopped 14 games for them in 2011/2012, while still participating in juniors and incidentally won a gold medal at the WJC.

For his first official year of pro hockey he kept the crease clear for Sodertalje of tier two Allsvenskan.

Although he may have come out of the gate in the show less than spectacularly, the still very young 21-year old is best suited playing a good 30+ game schedule in the minors and given plenty of room to develop as he’s signed for a 3-year entry level deal through 2016.

See related: 5/4-2014

15Nov

Chris Tierney(50) Worcester Sharks

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

San Jose Sharks‘ 2nd round pick in the 2012 draft (#55 overall) rookie center Chris Tierney(50) started his first campaign with the parent club appearing in 11 NHL games scoring a pair of assists with a -2 rating.

He was reassigned to affiliate Worcester Sharks to re-find that scoring touch that made him a point per game guy in his last two seasons of OHL with London Knights, where he also won two league championships in 2011, 2012 and was named team captain in his final term.

In his first 2 AHL games he already notched a first goal in the minors and has 4 assists to help the team come from behind twice to win.

The 6′ 190 lbs. forward is signed to a three-year entry level deal through 2017, so if he gets hot and there’s a roster spot for him, he may be making the trek between the two coasts on a number of occasions in the 2014/2015 calendar.

The only 20-year old is definitely making a huge difference where he is.

13Nov

Rob Zepp(72) Lehigh Valley Phantoms

Posted in AHL, ECHL, NHL | Leave a comment

14th year goaltender Rob Zepp(72) has taken quite the path to signing his first NHL deal over 10 years after he inked his last one with draft team Carolina Hurricanes.

He was selected, for a second time, in the 4th round of 2001 (#110 overall) after his initial pick in again the 4th round of 1999 by Atlanta Thrashers (#99 overall), but was never signed by the team before being returned to the draft pool.

The back stop played in the ‘Canes‘ system for four years mostly reassigned down to Florida Everblades of the ECHL with only 7 AHL games with the long gone Lowell Lock Monsters.

After a one-year extension, he decided he’d had enough of North American hockey and split for a pair of stints in Finland’s Liiga with SaiPa.

From there the 6’1″ 195 lbs. net minder moved to Germany’s elite league DEL coming to terms with Eisbaren Berlin Polar Bears and his game started to take off.

He stayed with the team for seven seasons, playing over 40 games each year, 50 in 2009/2010, 5 league Championships and was named European Best Goalie twice (2011, 2013).

With his stellar play he was definitely getting noticed back home but it was in the lockout shortened 2012/2013, when a pair of Philadelphia Flyers‘ players joined him for a brief spell that conversations about bringing him back really started to gain traction.

The 33-year old signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Flyers for 2014/2015 that had will likely have him play in his first regular season NHL game but most of his time should be spent in between the pipes for affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

In 8 games he’s already making an argument for recall going 5-2-1 with a 2.75 GAA and .910 SV%.

This follows an impressive training camp, where there were murmurs that he could easily steal the back-up job but for now he provides great insight as a mentor for their rookie in the minors and may even turn goaltending coach when he decided to hang up the skates.

12Nov

Mat Clark (2)

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Anaheim Ducks‘ 2nd round pick in the 2009 draft (#37 overall) tough guy defenseman Mat Clark(2) has skated in the prospect system for 5 seasons, originally signing a 3-year entry level deal and then given a pair of extensions.

The 6’3″ 225 lbs. blue liner played in two NHL games late in his sophomore campaign but has spent most of his time with now affiliate Norfolk Admirals and earlier Syracuse Crunch.

Shoulder surgery limited him to just 23 AHL games last season but the rugged d-man returned raring to go for 2014/2015.

Despite his in-your-face style game he hasn’t spent much time in the penalty box since his rookie year and rarely drops the gloves.

He was one of the final cuts to be reassigned from training camp and came out strong with the farm club getting two assists in his first 11 appearances, which matched last year’s limited time totals.

Through only two years of junior hockey in the OHL he definitely showed an ability to head man the puck and picked up 36 assists in his time with Brampton Battalion.

Recently recalled to the parent club, he skated 22 shifts playing a healthy 16:59 of total ice time, including 1:10 shorthanded minutes in the shootout loss.

Still only 24-years old, he’s filling in a spot due to injury but could find himself being groomed and ready for a full time spot, especially if he can continue to punish opponents.

See related: 4/4-12

« Older posts

Newer posts »