Florida Panthers‘ 1st round, just signed goaltender Spencer Knight(30) got the nod in between the pipes for his first NHL start vs. a slumping Columbus Blue Jackets‘ squad.
Well, he shut the door on a 5-1 win making 33 saves in 60:00 minutes of playing time, leaving with a 1.00 GAA and massive .973 SV%.
He was also given the game’s first star honors.
Nice start, literally.
Manitoba Moose left wing Jeff Malott(39) is lighting up the AHL as a rookie with 11 goals and 4 assists in 22 games with a +6 rating.
The former four year Cornell University Big Red captain is completely outpacing what he was able to produce at college, which was exactly 6 goals in each of his seasons.
At 6’4″ 205 lbs. he’s a very large on-ice presence committed to school just before producing his best offensive output with Brooks Bandits of the AJHL.
In his 2nd frame of junior hockey the Burlington, ON native scored 25 goals and 35 assists for 60 points in just 46 games.
Matt Hellickson(55) finishes up as assistant captain in his COVID stunned senior year at Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the New Jersey Devils‘ 7th round pick in the 2017 draft (#214 overall) signs an AHL contract for the remainder of 2021 with affiliate Binghamton Devils to get started.
The 6′ 183 lbs. defenseman recently played his first game, a 6-3 win, where he didn’t come away with a point but left the highest scoring contest a +2 skater.
He committed to the college of his choice in last year at high school, then joining the USNTDP program for 2 sessions before signing with Sioux City Musketeers, where his assist totals exploded for a 2nd time.
The 23-year old awaits an NHL contract but we got to think he’s fully on the radar to get one fairly soon.
After a breakout fourth year at Lake Superior State University, Latvian-born goaltender Mareks Mitens(1) signs an ato with Binghamton Devils as his team finishes up, getting bounced in the opening round by the eventual champs.
The 6’1″ 195 lbs. net minder ran up a 14-6-3 record last season with a 1.96 GAA and .930 SV%.
He had a similar, even better run in his only season of junior hockey in America with Aston Rebels, where he posted a 1.63 GAA and .925 SV% and was voted NAHL MVP.
The 23-year old got his first AHL start and came out it on the winning end of a 6-3 game.
No doubt he probably wants to shut that done more but we’re saying he’s making room for a little time to adjust.
RPI Finnish-born junior forward Ottoville Leppanen(11) heads back home 0n a late loan to tier 3 league Suomi-sarja‘s S-Kiekko and has put up some stellar numbers banging home 7 goals and 5 assists in just 6 games, then moved onto the playoffs and produced similarly.
It’s thought that the 5’10” 175 lbs. pivot will return to school when there’s a full 2021/2022 schedule and better in-school academics to be had.
He played all of his youth and junior hockey back home with Blues, doing quite well to earn an invite from his current college.
The 22-year old will definitely be a player to continue to watch as is very possible he starting popping points with even more frequency.
Philadelphia Flyers sign undrafted center Jackson Cates(20) to a two-year entry level contract leaving a year at University Of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs on the table.
The 6′ 190 lbs. forward had his highest point totals as a junior, scoring all new highs 11 goals, 16 assists for 27 points with a +8 rating.
He was part of the 2nd straight NCAA Division 1 Championship as a rookie in 2018/2019.
That came off an outstanding 2nd frame with Waterloo Blackhawks, where he struck for 33 goals and 30 assists and was named USHL Forward Of The Year.
The Minnesota native will start immediately but we’ll see if he reports to affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms to play games or is brought up as a taxi squad member for the big club.
Thomas Jarman(5) was all set to have a great 2nd campaign with Maryland Black Bears, committed to a great school, Boston University for 2021 one month in, then went on Christmas break and found out his new college club was wooing him to start his schooling early to play for the team.
He skated 14 NAHL games this season pocketing a nifty 3 goals and 3 assists with 2 game-winning attempts before needing to split.
The fairly large 6’3″ 201 lbs. defenseman ended up playing 16 NCAA Division 1 hockey games for the Terriers with two assists and a +1 rating to his record.
We bet he can’t wait to start his 2nd season, which should be way more normal than the 2021 campaign was, especially with all the “postponed” games.
New York Rangers‘ 3rd round pick in the 2019 draft (#63 overall), defenseman Zac Jones(6) signs his 3-year entry level contract after his college team UMass Minutemen for the past two years wins the NCAA Division 1 Frozen Finals in spectacular fashion.
The 5’10” 185 lbs. blue liner has put up some decent numbers since he was at school, leaving behind 61 games played, scoring 12 goals and 35 assists with a super good +29 rating.
He was selected by the Blueshirts after a breakout season for Tri-City Storm, where he picked up 7 goals and 45 assists in 52 USHL games with a mammoth +38.
The still young 21-year old should be heading straight to the big club to play games and the Virginia-born (?) player has a super future ahead of him.
Former four year University Of Connecticut Huskies‘ defenseman Wyatt Newpower(40) signed a one-year deal with Cleveland Monsters soon after it was apparent the 2019/2020 season was grinding to a halt on a senior run that saw tie his two-time 3 goal mark and gain a new best 19 assists and 22 points with an outstanding +23 rating.
The pretty big 6’3″ 194 lbs. blue liner committed to college straight from high school.
In 10 AHL games he has his first pro goal and 4 assists with a +5 rating.
It’s definitely quite possible he gets scouted for a contact with the parent club, Columbus Blue Jackets.
Danbury Hat Tricks‘ 3rd, almost 4th year junior, left wing Levi Stauber(5) commits to Michigan Tech for 2021/2022 as he finishes up a decent season with the team scoring 5 goals and a best 8 assists.
The 5’11” 175 lbs. forward took an interesting path in his last few sessions, first joining Austin Bruins, which lasted almost a season with a loan to the USHL for a few games for Dubuque Fighting Saints, a team he was in training camp with, before he headed up north to the BCHL for his next endeavor.
For 2020/2021, he thought to play for closer to home Minnesota Wilderness but that didn’t quite work out as it was maybe planned, as he was traded to where he is currently.
He committed to college early after captaining his high school club in a 2nd straight great session but has definitely taken an interesting, longish tour to college.
We did a Twitter interview with Levi:
CHP: You were drafted after a solid 2nd year as assistant captain at your high school, Duluth Marshall School, then joined Austin Bruins before heading up to play in the BCHL. What caused that route to happen?
Levi: I signed with Austin after my hs season then played a season year there. My second year I had the opportunity to go play in west Kelowna in the BC and I didn’t want to pass that opportunity up. Had a great start to the season there then I got mono and when I came back I struggled for a while.
The summer after my second junior season I was able to sign with the MN Wilderness back in the NAHL. It was a great opportunity for me. I got to play junior hockey and live at home as well. At the end of January I got traded to Danbury. It’s been good so far.
CHP: You do look comfortable with this Hat Tricks’ team. Why did you decide to do a third year of juniors?
Levi: Yes I think I’m fitting in pretty well with the team. Playing a 3rd year of juniors because I want to take advantage of playing as many games as possible before going to college.
MTU had a solid lineup and playing an extra year of juniors will hopefully help me be able to crack the lineup as a freshman.
CHP: You were called up to Dubuque for a few games during your rookie year of juniors. How did that happen?
Levi: Yes I got called up to Dubuque for a few games my rookie year. I started my rookie year in Dubuque then got sent to Austin and they called me up for a few games right before Christmas my rookie year
