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.
Buffalo Sabres‘ 4th round pick in the 2016 draft (#99 overall), 3rd year left wing Brett Murray(57) played his first season under the guide of the parent club on an AHL contract with affiliate Rochester Americans.
The kinda giant 6’5″ 228 lbs., former year and a half Penn State University Nittany Lions‘ forward posted 9 goals in each of his first two seasons and 10+ assists before dropping a goal and 7 assists in 6 games in the current frame to earn a 2nd recall.
In his first re-appearance, he failed to connect in a win, but had an assist the next night and topped it with a two point, first NHL goal and an assist performance in a loss that should have earned him a third star award.
The Bolton, ON native took an interesting path from a first year at juniors, directingly into a first year at college hockey, but only stayed one run before returning to Youngstown Phantoms to absolutely detonate the stat sheet with a league best 41 goals and 35 assists with a +13 rating.
That was basically all the now 23 year old needed to turn pro and now he’s looking at some extended time up.
Arizona Coyotes‘ 6th year right wing Hudson Fasching(24) took a strong start with affiliate Tucson Roadrunners, scoring 4 goals and 6 assists in 10 AHL games to a first recall and NHL appearance.
The 6’3″ 204 lbs. forward skated a very conservative 12 shifts for 5:44 ice time with 2 hits thrown.
He played his first big league games with Buffalo Sabres, right after completing a third season at University Of Minnesota Golden Gophers, scoring highs of 20 goals and 18 assists in 37 games to an entry level deal and his first 7 games, getting a goal and an assist.
The 26-year old has been with his current club for the past four years and seems relatively content.
12th year left wing Jerry D’Amigo(9) played his hockey closer to home during the pandemic 2020/2021, signing with Orlando Solar Bears, doing ok scoring 10 goals and 16 assists in 52 ECHL games with a 3 AHL game loan to Colorado Eagles.
The 5’11” 201 lbs. forward leaves once again, rejoining DEL, but switch allegiances, agreeing to terms with Dusseldorfer EG for 2021/2022.
In 10 games, he has 3 goals and 1 assist with a +1 rating, so the 30-year old is still off and running.
The Binghamton, NY native had an interesting run through juniors and college hockey before turning pro.
He started with 2 years in the USDP program before agreeing to college at RPI Engineers, where he put up point-per-game numbers before signing his 3-year entry level deal.
A Toronto Maple Leafs‘ 6th round pick in the 2009 draft (#158 overall), he was reassigned as a rookie to affiliate Toronto Marlies.
He would pot a decent 5 goals and 10 assists in 43 AHL games, but was sent to Kitchener Rangers to play out the remainder of the season in the OHL and blew up the stat sheet.
The 30-year old has only skated 31 NHL games with a goal and 2 assists to his credit, but has to be just still enjoying his time on ice and what he’s still able to accomplish.
Colorado College Tigers‘ sophomore goaltender Dominic Basse(22) has really only seen limited success since youth hockey with Selects Academy 18U AAA, but scored a huge confidence win over #10 ranked Boston College Eagles in Chestnut Hill Friday night.
This was also a 1st NCAA Division 1 hockey win for new Coach Kris Mayotte.
The monster 6’6″ 187 lbs. net minder is the team’s only NHL draft pick, going in the 6th round of 2019 (#167 overall) to Chicago Blackhawks.
He played one season for Youngstown Phantoms with a 14-12-3 record before arriving at college.
There’s little doubt the 20-year old, Alexandria, VA native will have to continue to step up his game to earn an entry level contract.
12th year right wing Corey Tropp(12) is off to a good start in his 2nd season overseas, this year with Vienna Capitals of IceHL after a good, short stint with Straubing Tigers (8-11-19 in 27 DEL games with a +6 rating).
He could easily see career high totals in this Austria-based league.
The super-solid 6′ 192 lbs. power forward twice hit the 20 goal mark and 2 times had 30+ assists in the AHL.
Originally a Buffalo Sabres’ 3rd round pick in the 2007 (#89 overall), he’s skated 149 NHL games,
He was a full-time fixture in the league for a pair of seasons, first with draft club, then a fairly successful run with Columbus Blue Jackets for most of two sessions.
The 3-year Michigan State University Spartans‘ senior assistant captain, 32-year old is likely just enjoying his hockey at this point.
3rd year defenseman Jake Massie(34) signs a 1-year AHL deal with Hershey Bears for 2021/2022 after spending all of last season with Greenville Swamp Rabbits, scoring 3 goals and 8 assists with a +3 rating in 51 ECHL games, while under the 2nd year of his entry level deal with Florida Panthers.
The 6’1″ 179 lbs. blue liner was originally drafted by Carolina Hurricanes in the 6th round of 2015 (#156 overall), but went unsigned after a trade sent his rights to Chicago Blackhawks.
This all basically happened before he was to start his first year of juniors with Omaha Lancers, which is also when he committed to University Of Vermont Catamounts, where he spent the following three years.
The 24-year old will likely do better in his 2nd run of the farm league for the majors.
Springfield, MA native 2nd year defenseman Jake Ryczek(2) has definitely had an interesting little run prior to turning pro in 2019/2020 with Indy Fuel, but was traded recently a little closer to home to Adirondack Thunder for 2021/2022.
He was going to return to Indiana for 2020/2021 after a pretty successful rookie run, but the team ultimately shuttered, so he decided to not try to pursue a contract elsewhere.
The 5’11” 185 lbs. blue liner played 3 campaigns of junior hockey, ultimately landing with Waterloo Blackhawks, where he scored a best 8 goals and 21 assists with a +29 rating before heading to Providence College Friars.
That last all of 5 Hockey East games before he decided to split for Halifax Mooseheads, where he kind of produced some pretty big points for a couple of QMJHL sessions.
The 23-year old did well as a rookie with 4 goals, 17 assists and a +6 rating in 46 ECHL games, and we kind of expect him to take those numbers up and maybe even earn a loan up.
