8th year right wing Gilbert Brule(7) was invited to Phoenix Coyotes‘ training camp after spending the 2011/2012 season and 12 playoff games with the team.
He was originally claimed off waivers from Edmonton Oilers.
He finished 31 games with 5 goals, 9 assists and a +7 rating, adding another 3 points in the postseason.
A veteran of 296 NHL contests, he’s only put 43 pucks in the net with 52 helpers and a troubling -38 plus/minus.
To be fair, most of those negative numbers were on a pair of squads well below a .500 winning percentage.
Originally a Columbus Blue Jackets‘ 1st round pick in the 2005 draft (#6 overall), he spent a couple of years in their prospect system but was traded to hometown team Edmonton, where in the 2009/2010 season he put up a career high 17 goals, 20 assists and 37 points.
His performance uptick earned him a first one-way, 2-year contract but after a season of sub-par point totals, he was once again headed for reassignment.
He tried to pick up his game overseas in Switzerland but that experiment went south in about a month. .
The 5’11” 186 lbs. forward was released by the Coyotes before the start of 2013/2014, but instead of moving on too far he decided to sign a pto with minor league affiliate Portland Pirates and has been a steady veteran presence putting up 6 goals and a pair of assists in 8 AHL games.
At just 26-years old, he still super-young but might be running out of time to prove his capabilities that were on fire in three years and a big Memorial Cup Championship win with Vancouver Giants.