Boston Bruins‘ 9th year, Finnish-born center Erik Haula(56) signed a tw0-year $2.5M AAV contract near the beginning of unrestricted free agency after coming off an ok season for Nashville Predators.
Originally a Minnesota Wild 7th round draft pick in the 2009 draft (#182 overall), he spent the first four years of his pro career with the team after being a total offensive threat for three campaigns at University Of Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The 6″ 194 lbs. forward was next grabbed in Vegas Golden Knights‘ expansion draft and signed to a lucrative three-year deal, then had his most outstanding offensive numbers right away with 29 goals and 26 assists, but a bit of a terrible -16 rating in 76 NHL games.
The 30-year old is off to maybe a bit of a slow start in 2021/2022 with only a goal an 4 assists in 14 games, but always seems to have the ability to strike for multi-point outings at any given point.
New York Rangers‘ 3rd round pick in the 2015 draft (#184 overall), Slovakian-born goaltender Adam Huska(32) scored his NHL debut.
In his first game, he was absolutely shelled and completely abandoned by his defense.
The big 6’4″ 218 lbs. net minder deserves another chance almost immediately.
He did all of his youth hockey back home before coming over to join Green Bay Gamblers after a playing U18 in Slovakia2.
The Zvolen native got off to a slow start, but when he returned for a full run went 26-9-2 with a 1.82 GAA and .931 SV% for league bests and Goaltender Of The Year before committing to University Of Connecticut Huskies.
He stayed in school only three years before signing a two-year entry level deal, and is currently on a 1-year extension.
10th year defensemen Tommy Cross(4) gets signed to a 1-year 2-way NHL deal with St. Louis Blues sort of quickly into unrestricted free agency and reassigned a 2nd time to be captain of new affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds.
The 6’3″ 205 lbs. blue liner has 518 AHL games to his credit with a glorious +65 rating, 48 goals and 152 assists reaching the 200 point mark in the minors just recently.
He has only 3 games in the big league to his credit with draft club, Boston Bruins, grabbing an assist, so it’s definitely not impossible to see him score a recall.
The 32-year old, former 4-year Boston College senior captain from Simsbury, CT must just be pretty pleased his is still pulling down a major contract, despite his limited experience in the league.
8th year center T.J. Tynan(36) gets the call from new club Los Angeles Kings after igniting affiliate Ontario Reign scoring with 2 goals and 13 assists in 14 AHL games.
The 5’9″ 165 lbs. forward was voted the league’s Most Valuable Player in last season’s crazy run with 7 goals and point-per-game 27 assists and also helped Cleveland Monsters win the 2016 Championship.
At 29-years old, he has only skated 20 NHL games with one assist, but in the lower league has a total of 74 goals and 291 assists in 448 games with a +67 rating.
He was also basically a huge scoring standout through 4 years at Notre Dame University Fighting Irish and has to be at least a little happy how his career has evolved.
RPI Engineers‘ senior portal transfer from 3 years at Robert Morris University Colonials, where they waved bye bye to hockey last season, huge 6’6′ 249 lbs. French-born right wing Justin Addamo(22) plays a hard skating style for a big man and has 3 goals and 3 assists in 17 games.
He played all of his youth hockey in close to home Rouen and even had 5 games in France3 as a teenager, scoring 5 goals and 2 assists before coming over for a pair of successful runs with Lone Star Brahmas, scoring 12+ goals and 15+ assists and picking up an NAHL Robertson Cup in his first campaign.
It will be interesting to see if the 23-year old turns pro over here or returns home.
Cedar Rapids Roughriders‘ 2nd year junior Andy Moore(7) announces his commitment to Northeastern University Huskies for 2022/2023.
He was a 15th round USHL draft pick, invited to camp and obviously stuck for so far 3 goals and 5 assists in 16 games with a mammoth +11 rating.
The plays big 5’11” 192 lbs. forward had a monster year for tier 3 junior Boston Jr. Rangers, helping them win the 2021 EHL Championship and grabbing Rookie Of The Year honors in the process.
A Cumberland, ME native, he played his high school close to home and appeared in 4 USPHL games for Twin City Thunder with an assist, but somehow didn’t stick.
There’s little doubt the almost 20-year old will continue turning heads, when he arrives at Hockey East.
2nd year in Florida Panthers‘ system (6th overall), left wing Ryan Lomberg(94) gets a new contract extension for a couple more seasons after opening 2021/2022 with 2 goals and 3 assists in 14 NHL games with a +5 rating.
The scrappy 5’9″ 187 lbs. forward started his pro career on a minor league deal and even was sent to the ECHL for most of his rookie session to Adirondack Thunder, putting up close to point-per-game production, then helping the playoff push with more strikes.
He spent the entirety of his sophomore campaign up in the AHL, scoring 13 goals and 16 assists with a +15 in 68 games to gain final notice of the parent club, Calgary Flames, who signed him to a 2-year entry deal with a one year follow-up.
He received some big league time and had an assist, but couldn’t hang on with the parent club.
The 2-year University Of Maine Black Bears’ averaged close to 10 goals while he was there, but in an almost oddball move, left and returned to become captain of Youngstown Phantoms for another run through the USHL before turning pro.
While not exactly a fighter, he has gotten into some scraps with guys much bigger than him, which shows disregard but a level of balls for sure.
As an unrestricted free agent, he waited right up until the start of the new season before agreeing to terms, but almost oddly played entirely up in the show.
The 26-year old has to laugh a little at the ride he’s taken to make it stick.
Canisius College Golden Griffons‘ junior net minder John Hawthorne(29) isn’t finding a lot of room to take over, but is doing his best in time spent, earning a 1-0-1 record with a 2.90 GAA and .915 SV%.
The 6’2′ 190 lbs. net minder came over after two seasons at Northern Michigan University Wildcats, but didn’t get to tend much last season’s weirdo run.
He spent a couple of junior seasons with Alberni Valley Bulldogs of the BCHL before heading to school.
The 23-year old from Chemainus, BC may agree with Atlantic Hockey style better.
Boston University Terriers‘ 2022/2023 commit, goaltender Anton Castro(31) has definitely played for some tough luck teams in junior hockey and this his final year with Fargo Force will likely be an uphill struggle.
He has a 2-4-2 record in 8 USHL games.
It’s nothing like the two clubs that got him his college of choice, North Jersey Avalanche 16U AAA and Gentry Academy 15U AAA.
The 6’2″ 180 lbs. back stop will definitely shine once he drops into Hockey East play.
Undrafted 4th year 6’1″ 209 lbs. center tower Nic Pierog(61) decides to head for some new kind of hockey, signing with HKM Zvolen of Slovak Extraliga for 2021/2022.
The former two-time Clarkson University Golden Knights‘ captain always keeps it exciting on the ice and maybe what he had yet to develop scoring in college, he’s definitely a new kind of player as a pro.
Through 179 ECHL games, he’s popped in 78 goals and 56 assists.
He would end up signing an AHL deal with Springfield Thunderbirds after agreeing to head off, but aside from one appearance played 4 games for Worcester Railers (2 goals, 2 assists), but is now set to head to some tougher hockey in the top Slovakian league.
