NHL draft pick | CollegeHockeyPlayers

01Jun

Nathan Oystrick(20) HC Lev Praha

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7th year unrestricted defenseman Nathan Oystrick(20) is heading to the KHL to skate for HC Lev Praha as he reported on his twitter @Oystie74.

The former Atlanta Thrashers‘ 7th round pick in the 2002 draft (#198 overall) has played 65 NHL games with three different teams but skated all of 2011/2012 with Portland Pirates after signing a one-year, two-way deal with Phoenix Coyotes.

He’s played in 383 AHL regular and postseason contests putting up some respectable stats (69 goals, 162 assists) and won the Calder Cup Trophy with Chicago Wolves in 2008.

At 6′ 210 lbs. he always plays an imposing game and should fit in well with the style of Russian hockey.

31May

Dany Sabourin(35) Hershey Bears

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Heading into his 13th season, Hershey Bears‘ goaltender Dany Sabourin(35) signs a one-year, two-way extension with Washington Capitals‘ organization for a third straight season.

Originally a Calgary Flames‘ 4th round pick in the 1998 draft (#108 overall), he has almost always consistently put together a winning season for whatever club he’s been with.

The 31-year old has played in 59 NHL games mostly with Pittsburgh Penguins over a few seasons and appeared in net with Vancouver Canucks and the Flames as well.

In the AHL he has 278 regular and postseason contests to his credit.

Whomever the Bears end up with to split time with him in the upcoming season, he is more than capable of shouldering the starting job or splitting the 76-game schedule with another netminder as he did in 2011/2012.

He has been recalled by the Caps but yet to tend for them in a game. Maybe that will change in 2012/2013.

28May

Jared Knight(87) Boston Bruins

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Boston Bruins‘ 2nd round pick in the 2010 draft (#32 overall) right wing Jared Knight(87) finished up his junior career with a trip to the Mastercard Memorial Cup Finals with his team, OHL’s London Knights. He had a few chances to put the game into either the lead or win column but was unable to put it by a red-hot goalie.

He was signed to a 3-year entry level deal before the 2011/2012 season but was sent back to juniors for his fourth season out of training camp.

The 5’11” 195 lbs. forward will be in Bruins’ Prospect and full training camps again before in all likelihood starting his pro slate with Providence. He appeared in the three games with them at the end of 2011 and picked up a pair of assists.

While not exactly the biggest guy out there, the 20-year old plays with a ton of spirit and determination that he’s bound to fight for a spot on the big club before too long.

27May

Chris Bourque(17) Boston Bruins

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The name Bourque will once again appear in Black & Gold.

Boston Bruins traded former 1st round pick, center Zach Hamill to Washington Capitals for left wing and son of Ray, Chris Bourque(17).

He has played 411 games through 6 seasons with Hershey Bears in the AHL throughout his 7-year pro career scoring 131 goals and an eye-popping 264 assists.

The 5’8″ 181 lbs. forward won three Calder Cups with the Bears, was playoff MVP in 2010 and lead the league in scoring this season with 93 points in 73 games.

He was a 2nd round pick in the 2004 draft (#33 overall) but has only skated in 33 NHL games scoring one goal with three helpers and most of those games ironically were played with Pittsburgh Penguins.

The 26-year old could definitely find a spot with the big club is he works for it but honestly the first time he steps onto either the Garden or even Dunkin’ Donuts Center ice in those colors, it’s going to be one strange but glorious sight.

Related posts: 12/1/11 and 10/9/11.

26May

Kevin Quick(4) Florida Everblades

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4th year defenseman Kevin Quick(4) signed an AHL 2-way contract with Norfolk Admirals in the offseason after spending most of the first 3 seasons of his career with the team signed to an entry level deal with Tampa Bay Lightning.

He appeared in 6 NHL games in his rookie year registering an assist. The blue liner also skated 18 ECHL games in that season.

In 2011/2012, the 24-year old spent most of his time with Florida Everblades and eventually won the Kelly Cup with the team.

He did skate 14 games with the Admirals and now that the lower league has reached its’ conclusion, he will likely rejoin them for the Calder Cup Finals, where he can be used pretty effectively in case one of the players goes down with injury.

26May

Adam Henrique(17) New Jersey Devils

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New Jersey Devils‘ center Adam Henrique(17) is a front-runner for the rookie of the year Calder Trophy but seeing as how it’s only based on regular season performance he still has some healthy competition for that nod.

In the postseason, he has now scored two absolutely phenomenally huge OT goals to advance his team into further rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

His most recent sending New York Rangers out onto the golf course for the summer and lifting the unlikely Devils into the Finals for the first time in 9 years, when they last won it in 2003. Last season they failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

Going into the final season of his entry level deal, his play in 2011/2012 screams multi-year extension and it’s highly doubtful he’ll be seeing an AHL arena again (like he did for a 3 game spell last October when he got off to a slow start) unless it’s on a short reconditioning stint or at the end of the 22-year old stud’s career.

Related posts: 10/24/11 and 8/27/11.

25May

Derek Meech(7) St. John’s IceCaps

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post #1000

If 8th year veteran defenseman Derek Meech(7) had any luck this season, it most definitely would have been bad.

What was finally reported as a knee problem that sidelined him in late October after only a couple of games with Winnipeg Jets. He finally returned to finish up the season for 6 games with their AHL affiliate St. John’s IceCaps.

He signed a one-year two-way deal with Winnipeg after 7 seasons with Detroit Red Wings and Grand Rapid Griffins. The 5’11” 196 lbs. blue liner was originally picked in the 7th round of the 2002 draft (#229 overall).

The 28-year old has played 126 NHL and 427 AHL regular and postseason games.

In 15 Calder Cup Playoff games, ending a pretty enchanted first season for the IceCaps, he had 4 goals and 5 assists to help them all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals before bowing out to the number team in the regular season, Norfolk Admirals.

We lay bets the Jets will re-sign the Winnipeg native soon for another season.

24May

Mike Murphy(31) Spartak Moscow

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23-year old goaltender Mike Murphy(31) leaves restricted free agency on the table with Carolina Hurricanes for what would have been his fourth year in the system and looks to Russia to play with Spartak Moscow in the KHL.

The news was initially heard via his @MichaelMurphy31 twitter.

He played 96 regular season games with their AHL affiliates Charlotte Checkers and Albany River Rats and put up respectable numbers but it was his work in the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs getting them into the Eastern Conference Finals that cemented his status as a true prospect.

He got his first NHL nod in net this season and despite not letting in a goal in a pair of appearances was saddled with the loss in one of the games because he was the goalie of record after the Hurricanes pulled him for the extra skater and let up an empty-netter but then surged back late with two goals of their own, still losing the game by one. Tough break there.

The 5’11” 165 lbs. netminder will likely do well over there but we may not have seen the last of him in North American hockey.

22May

Matt Lashoff(21) Toronto Marlies

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Former Boston Bruins‘ 1st round pick in the 2005 draft (#22 overall) defenseman Matt Lashoff(21) missed all but 9 regular season games in October with his team of the past two years, Toronto Marlies.

He scored a goal and added 4 assists in that short time frame before suffering an acl injury that required surgery and what looked like the remainder of 2011/2012 on the sidelines.

The 6th year blue liner thought differently and put a stake in the ice to make it back for the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Goal achieved.

The 6’2″ 205 lbs. d-man played his first game in 191 days in the Western Conference Semi-Finals but then sat out for the opening couple of contests of the Western Conference Finals before he got back into action for game 3.

In it he notched a pair of assists helping the Marlies claim a 2-1 series lead.

With play like that, he’s going to be tough to sit.

He has 74 NHL games experience (1 goals, 15 assists) with three different teams.

He’s only signed through this season, so it will be interesting to see if Toronto Maple Leafs can work out an offer to keep him around.

The 25-year old is also a fairly competent musician. You can listen to clips from some of his tunes on his reverbnation site. He’s also a fun guy to follow on Twitter @MattLashoff

20May

Richard Panik(14) Norfolk Admirals

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Tampa Bay Lightning 2nd round pick in the 2009 draft (#52 overall), Slovakian-born right wing Richard Panik(14) wasn’t exactly a shoe-in for a roster spot on their AHL affiliate Norfolk Admirals at the beginning of his rookie season but has managed to find his niche when called upon.

In 64 games he produced a very reasonable 19 goals and 22 assists.

In the Calder Cup Playoffs though, the 21-year old has been all about being in the middle of the action and it’s paying off with key goals. He has 3 in 12 postseason contests including the overtime game-winner of the Semi-Finals that got the Norfolk into the Conference Finals.

The 6’2″ 215 lbs. forward still has 2 years left on his 3-year entry level deal and chances are he’ll keep improving his game and quite possibly find his path to the net with increasing frequency.