Washington Capitals‘ 5th year left wing Nathan Walker(79) maybe surprised himself a little bit making the big club’s opening night roster.
He was a healthy scratch for the 2017/2018 opener but after the win was informed he would get his opportunity to suit up for his debut the next night.
When he stepped on the ice for a first shift, the significance of his skate touching the surface was louder in no other place than the country he called home before coming to North America, Australia.
He became the first person from there to play an NHL and to put an exclamation mark on it, popped in a goal to gain some extra notice.
The 23-year old is in the first year of his new 2-year deal and definitely could find himself spending some more time with affiliate Hershey Bears, where he’s played over 200 AHL games (34-45-79 with a +30 rating) but this unlikely story already has a happy ending.
Nathan Walker(12) Hershey Bears
After attending training camp on an invite from parent club Washington Capitals, where he impressed, Hershey Bears‘ undrafted rookie left wing Nathan Walker(12) becomes the first Australian player to skate in an AHL game
It’s well documented that this is a guy that wants to debut for his country in the NHL.
At 5’11” 185 lbs. he’s not exactly the biggest power forward out there, but knows how to get into those open spaces for scoring chances and plays a hustle style.
In 35 games he’s potted 5 goals and 6 assists with a -1 rating and almost 2 shots on net per contest.
He’s most definitely had an interesting path to take him to Chocolatetown, first appearing in 4.5 years of junior level hockey in of all places the Czech Republic.
He also played two years of pro Czech Extraliga (another first) before joining USHL junior hockey Youngstown Phantoms for the last third of the regular season.
He was pretty much a point-per-game guy as you’d expect.
The only 20-year old forward also had a couple of super-young visits in the Australian pro AIHL.
By all means, the player originally born in the United Kingdom just might achieve his goal.