7th year right wing Christian Thomas(19) took an unsuccessful swing through the SHL grabbing only one assist for Rogle BK in 11 games to a new deal with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL and has come back to life on the scoresheet.
His 9 goals and 10 assists in 35 games has earned him a two-year extension to stay on through 2020/2021.
The former high draft pick is still a ways off from his best season 2016/2017 with Hershey Bears, when he pocketed a career high 24 goals and 25 assists for 49 points.
This is the first campaign abroad for the 26-year old but he may have found an early home to play his pro hockey.
Christian Thomas (20)
Christian Thomas(20) would post all AHL career highs of games played (73), goals (19), assists (16) and points (35) in his first year that still have yet to be matched or surpassed.
On the second day of free agency though, he was dealt to Montreal Canadiens in a mostly minor exchange.
He would start his first season 2013/2014 with his new team on the injured reserve but was ultimately reassigned to Hamilton Bulldogs.
He spent most of his sophomore season with the farm club, matching his 16 assist mark from the previous year, while doubling his time in the show by a game but was still minus a point.
Going into his contract season he would be a late cut from training camp and stay in the minors until the new year but once up he stuck for 6 weeks with only a short trip back down near the beginning.
It also was time to finally strike the back of the net with a puck but that would also be his only point in 18 NHL games.
Montreal wasted zero time in making sure the recently turned 23-year old was going to stick in the system signing him to a one-year two-way extension.
He may start his fourth campaign with new affiliate St. John’s IceCaps but he’ll also very likely see increased playing time up with the big club.
It’s pretty important for him to show he can contribute on the score sheet the way he did in juniors.
Christian Thomas (20)
New York Rangers‘ 2nd round pick in the 2010 draft (#40 overall), rookie right wing Christian Thomas(92) made his NHL debut over the weekend.
He skated 17 shifts for 12:46 total ice time, took a pair of shots on net and dished out three hits in the team’s painful 4-0 blanking.
At only 5’9″ 170 lbs. he’s a considerably smaller-sized forward but plays a bigger skater style than his measurements might suggest.
The son of former hockey great, Steve Thomas, is signed to a three-year entry level deal through 2015.
He played 11 regular and postseason games with minor league affiliate Connecticut Whale after his junior career concluded and put up his first pair of points, a goal and an assist.
In 52 AHL games, he has 13 goals and 11 assists with a +3 rating.
A hard working player, he should be able to make it to the show on a full-time basis, much like his dad. Whether he’ll be able to eclipse the hockey legacy left by his father obviously remains to be seen.