Third year, undrafted right wing Christiaan Minella(14) signed a pto with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and appeared in his first 8 AHL games after spending all of his first three seasons in the ECHL.
Most of his time was with affiliate Wheeling Nailers, where he has scored 17 goals and 22 assists in 114 regular and postseason games. He did, however, start his career with hometown team Cincinnati Cyclones and appeared in 41 games (10 goals, 8 assists) before getting traded.
Almost ironically he wasn’t exactly doing especially well connecting for points in the 2012/2013 campaign before his recall, but at 6’2″ 220 lbs. he’s got big power forward size and quite possibly they saw something that would translate into higher league play.
He’s so far only appeared in three Calder Cup Playoff contests but got his first AHL goal, the game-winner to start the Eastern Conference Finals.
This could be the type of confidence builder he needs to run up his scoring totals.
At the end of this run, he’ll once again become an unrestricted free agent, but if he can continue marking up the score sheet may not have to look too far for a new contract.
