San Jose Sharks‘ undrafted free agent signing, defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk(50) scores a first NHL game in his rookie season with affiliate San Jose Barracuda.
Both clubs are deep in a playoff hunt.
He skated 14 shifts for 8:34 total ice.
In 29 AHL games he has a goal and 6 assists.
The 6′ 185 lbs. blue liner spent 4 years at Arizona State University Sun Devils with the last two as team captain, and scored a college career best 26 assists and 37 points as a senior before COVID shut down any playoff hopes.
He was the first player from the college ever to be signed to a big league contract as an unrestricted free agent and at 23-years old seems to be at the right place at the right time.
Forward Brendan Clark(24) committed to Brown University after a strong second showing at Delbarton School that saw him achieve 4 goals and 18 assists in 27 games.
He seemed to sputter a bit in the follow-up campaigns but upon signing to play junior hockey in the NAHL for Johnstown Tomahawks, his scoring touch has exploded.
The 6’1″ 185 lbs. pivot has scored 14 goals and 32 assists in 43 games with a +18 rating.
It will be very interesting to see how the 19-year old Morris Plains, NJ native will perform in playoff hockey but we suspect he’ll adapt to ECAC Division play pretty quickly.
Rookie right wing Steenn Pasichnuk(80) probably just needed to hear San Jose Barracuda intended on playing hockey this season to make the decision to join the team after four years at Arizona State University Sun Devils.
He is a big 6’4″ 190 lbs. forward but never really lit it up on the scoresheet with his best season as a junior amassing all of 8 points (2-6).
It’s not always been like that.
Through three campaigns of AJHL play with Bonnyville Pontiacs, the year in which he committed was looking to be a huge leap for him scoring 19 goals and dishing out 30 assists as 2nd year captain.
He’s actually shown lots of ability to score through U15 and U18 play.
Reassigned for his debut to Allen Americans of the ECHL, maybe to just get him some games immediately, he was unable to connect before being recalled a second month into a delayed AHL start and what do you know, he connects for his first pro goal in his third game, then adds a 2nd a night later.
We think that if the 24-year old can get himself situated, he’ll be an asset up front for any team but will always need to work for it.
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.
