NHL | CollegeHockeyPlayers

10Aug

Dustin Stevenson(9) WBS Penguins

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Undrafted 4th year giant-sized defenseman Dustin Stevenson(9) signs a 1-year deal to join Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 2013/2014.

After his 3-year entry level contract with Washington Capitals was up, he was not qualified for the upcoming season and became an unrestricted free agent.

The 6’5″ 220 lbs. d-man was always in the parent club’s training camp and released to AHL‘s Hershey Bears but never found a roster spot and reassigned double A affiliates.

He has skated in 200 ECHL contests (3 goals, 26 assists) in his first two years with South Carolina Stingrays and won a Kelly Cup Championship last season with Reading Royals.

His game has never been about scoring. He’s seen as more of a steady, shutdown blue liner that’s tough to play against.

The soon-to-be 24-year old did however connect for a goal and 8 assists in 22 playoff match-ups with a +17 rating. He also put up big points in 3 seasons of Saskatchewan junior hockey, so it’s possible those offensive abilities have been kick started and will blossom in his new environment.

09Aug

Brennan Evans(44) Grand Rapids Griffins

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11th year defenseman Brennan Evans(44) returns to 2013 Calder Cup Champions Grand Rapids Griffins for another season, signing a 1-year extension to stay with the team. They wasted no time to get him back into the fold.

He has played in a whopping 712 AHL games with 7 different clubs notching 14 goals, 93 assists and a highly accountable +23 rating often while under NHL contract but has never appeared in the big league.

The imposing 6’4″ 230 lbs. blue liner has yet to score over 20 points in a season but he’s been part of the triple digit penalty minutes club since his third year in the pros.

Almost ironically he put up better numbers in the postseason last year (2 goals, 6 assists in 24 contests) than he did in the entire 2012/2013.

At 31-years old, he will in all likelihood reach the elite group of skaters to play in 1000 AHL games but even if he comes up a bit short, he will always be able to look back on a great hockey career.

07Aug

Jason Gregoire(17) Södertälje

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3rd year unrestricted free agent left wing Jason Gregoire(17) signs a one-year deal to join second tier Swedish pro league team, Södertälje in Allsvenskan for the 2013/2014 season.

He was originally a New York Islanders‘ 3rd round draft pick in 2007 (#76 overall) but never signed and instead inked a two-year entry level contract with his hometown team, Winnipeg Jets. He was not given a qualifying offer to continue in the prospect system.

The 5’11” forward was virtually a point per game player in 3 years at University of North Dakota and won an NCAA Championship in ’09 and ’10. He was also selected twice to the All-Academic Team.

Upon turning pro he spent two seasons in the AHL with affiliate St. John’s IceCaps.

He skated in a career high 60 games, posting sophomore season marks slightly above what he had in his rookie campaign with 10 goals and 18 points, but his two-year totals at 16-16 in 104 may have been a bit underwhelming.

The still very young 24-year old will probably light the lamp big in Europe and progress to greater heights overseas and could return to North America in the future.

06Aug

Jacob Lagace (83)

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4th year unrestricted free agent left wing Jacob Lagace(83) signs on for the 2013/2014 season with Orlando Solar Bears.

He just wrapped up his 3-year entry level deal with Buffalo Sabres that saw him skate 120 AHL games (20-23-43) with Portland Pirates and Rochester Americans and 70 in the ECHL (16-26-42) with Greenville Road Warriors and Bakersfield Condors.

He was originally a 5th round pick in the 2008 draft (#134 overall).

The 5’11” 190 lbs. forward posted his best numbers in 2012/2013 with 16 goals and 20 assists last season with Bakersfield only reassignment but only had four AHL appearances.

He was a scoring machine in 3 junior hockey campaigns in the QMJHL with 90 markers and 114 helpers in 191 games.

The 23-year old should be able to surpass his high marks with a full season in the ECHL but he could also be on the short list for a recall.

04Aug

Brett Hextall(24) Phoenix Coyotes

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Phoenix Coyotes‘ 6th round pick in the 2008 draft (#159 overall), 3rd year right wing Brett Hextall(24) signed his qualifying offer to stay in the team’s prospect system for another season.

He was initially signed to a 2-year entry level deal after three seasons at the University Of North Dakota, where he won a championship in 2009.

The 5’10” 190 lbs. forward excelled in scoring in college hockey with 39 goals and 42 assists in 115 games but in 138 AHL contests with minor league affiliate Portland Pirates has just 16 tallies and 14 helpers.

His numbers were virtually identical in his first pair of pro seasons but he’ll likely have to take that up a notch to gain the notice of the parent club potentially score his first NHL call-up and stick around.

Although he does play a strong energy game and is good at getting in the face of opposing skaters, so could fill 4th line duties quite well if given the opportunity.

03Aug

Julien Cayer(12) Reading Royals

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2nd year center Julien Cayer(12) re-signs with Reading Royals for 2013/2014 after winning the Kelly Cup with the team in his rookie season.

In 49 ECHL games he had 3 goals and 6 assists with a +10 rating. He also skated in 6 playoff contests with one helper.

At 6’4″ 207 lbs. he’s definitely got a big frame, power forward size but is still waiting to really connect on the score sheet.

Through four years of college hockey at Clarkson University he posted 14 goals and 19 assists in 104 games, which seems a bit low for the big man.

He was originally a Detroit Red Wings‘ 5th round draft pick in 2008 (#151 overall) but never inked a deal, subsequently becoming a free agent.

No doubt more improvements to his scoring game will be expect in the upcoming campaign.

31Jul

Nikolai Prokhorkin(17) CSKA Moskva

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Los Angeles Kings‘ 4th round pick in the 2012 draft (#121 overall), Russian left wing Nikolai Prokhorkin(17) bounced around a lot and never really playing any amount of games last season (rookie?) but will pretty much stay put in the KHL to skate with CSKA Moskva for a fourth straight campaign.

He’s still only 19 years old and has skated in 35 games since 2010 – 2011 scoring 3 goals and 2 assists. He legitimately took that up to the next level with 3 goals and an assist in 9 playoff games.

The 6’2″ 183 lbs. forward also played in 8 AHL games with Manchester Monarchs at the start of 2012/2013 but only managed one assist.

It was said that he signed a three-year entry level deal but there’s no confirmation of that on the parent club’s Capgeek and ultimately was revealed he was actually still under contract in his home country.

There was also a thought that he would go play for Barrie Colts in the OHL but that idea was squashed as his abilities were already well above playing junior hockey level. He was originally a 1st round pick by London Knights but had his rights traded.

Regardless, they should continue to keep an eye on his while they still can.

30Jul

Joel Champagne(24) Braehead Clan

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In somewhat of an interesting pro hockey move, third year center Joel Champagne(24) signs to play with Braehead Clan of the EIHL for 2013/2014.

He won the Kelly Cup Championship last season with Reading Royals, playing pretty much all of the regular season and playoff games on reassignment from Hershey Bears. Technically he was signed to an AHL contract last season but never recalled. His ECHL numbers were decent: 18+31=49 points and then put up another 3 goals and 5 assists in 21 postseason match ups.

The 6’4″ 217 lbs. XL forward was originally a Toronto Maple Leafs‘ 5th round pick in the 2008 draft (#129 overall) but signed his first deal with Milwaukee Admirals. He had 6 goals and 6 assists in 55 games with a +4 rating. He also played a 6 games with their affiliate Cincinnati Cyclones and put up 5 goals and 3 assists.

It’s maybe just that the 23-year has yet to find his place to show his abilities but as a more than a point per game player in his final three years of juniors in the QMJHL, he’s definitely shown the ability to connect and should be able to light the lamp like crazy in the English pro league.

29Jul

Tom McCollum(30) Grand Rapids Griffins

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Detroit Red Wings‘ 1st round pick in the 2008 draft (#30 overall) goaltender Tom McCollum(30) signs a one-year AHL deal to continue with Grand Rapids Griffins, the team he won the Calder Cup Championship with last season.

Heading into his 5th season, after much bandying about, he was ultimately given a qualified offer as a restricted free agent by the parent club for the upcoming campaign, but is staying put in the minors hoping to regain the form he had in junior hockey with Guelph Storm to become such a high selection.

He showed promise last season posting his first winning record at 18-11 in 31 starts on what obviously was a great team but the suits had to be looking at his overall performance to want to keep him around for another shot.

The big 6’3″ 219 lbs. net minder has appeared in 113 regular season games with the Griffins, 42 with ECHL affiliate Toledo Walleye but only one disastrous NHL contest, despite being recalled on a half a dozen or more occasions to serve as back-up.

At this point the still very young 23-year old goalie may need to catch the attention of another club to grab another big league contract.

Even though he had a winning record and better numbers than any of his previous years pro, he’s fallen low on the Red Wings‘ depth chart and will need to prove himself big.

24Jul

Marek Viedensky(25) San Jose Sharks

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San Jose Sharks‘ 7th round pick in the 2009 draft (#189 overall), 3rd year Slovakian-born center Marek Viedensky(25) signs his qualifying offer to stick with the team’s prospect system for another season, despite going through some rough stretches of injury and healthy scratches in last year’s overpopulated AHL talent pool.

Even reassignment to ECHL affiliate San Francisco Bulls on a couple of occasions, where he was a point per game player (8 goals, 12 assists), and only appearing in a quarter of the games he did in his rookie campaign, the 6’3″ 195 lbs. emerging power forward was still able to put up 4 goals and a pair of assists in 14 contests while maintaining a +4 rating.

Those totals were not far off what he achieved in his first season.

He will soon turn 23-years old prior to the start of 2013/2014 and should be able to have a breakout campaign with Worcester Sharks, like he did in his final run in juniors with Saskatoon Blades.

He struck for 36 goals and 52 assists in 63 games in 2010/2011, which was also the start of his 3-year entry level deal.

When given the green light and 100% on his game he really seems to be an emerging prospect who could become an NHL regular in years to come.