Florida Panthers‘ 2nd round pick in the 2014 draft (#32 overall) 3rd year center Jayce Hawryluk(8) got off to a hot start in the current session scoring 7 goals and a team high 21 assists and 28 points with a +6 rating in 25 AHL games for affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds.
For his efforts he earned an early season recall.
The 5’11’ 196 lbs. forward has skated only limited minutes (over 10 once) but in his 5th appearance potted his first pair of NHL goals, while only on ice for 14 shifts and 7:46 minutes of ice time for a decisive 6-3 victory.
Not bad for a player that was reassigned further down for 6 ECHL games with Manchester Monarchs less than a year ago and looked to be sliding off the depth chart.
Wake up calls aren’t a bad thing sometimes, as he’s rebounded big as he was expected to do with his high selection and big numbers he posted in 4 years with Brandon Wheat Kings (3 years of point-per-game marks and an explosive 47 goals and 59 assists in his final campaign) and a 2016 WHL Championship, where he had a league league 23 assists in the playoffs.
He also won a gold medal in the. under-18 2014 Hlinka Memorial Tournament for Team Canada.
The 22-year old is seemingly playing his way to a nice contract extension as he’s set to become a restricted free agent at the end of this season.