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Tagged: NHL draft pick

27Jun

Carl Hagelin (62)

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Swedish-born New York Rangers‘ 6th round pick in the 2007 draft (#168 overall), rookie wing Carl Hagelin(26) received his first call-up from their AHL affiliate Connecticut Whale and in his debut recorded his first NHL point, an assist on the game-winning goal.

He’s tied for the team lead in goals with the Whale. He has 7 and 6 assists in 17 games.

On the Rangers he wears the number 62, reversing the digits on his sweater with the Whale.

11/26: In his second NHL game, Hagelin pots his first goal.

12/1: In 4 games, he has 1 goal and three assists.

Original story: 11/26-11

After being called up to the Rangers in his rookie season he would never return to the minors.

He skated 64 NHL games in 2011/2012 scoring 14 goals and 24 assists while boasting a +21 rating and would add another three assists in 17 Stanley Cup Playoff contests.

In his next three seasons he was unable to replicate his initial point total of 38 but would get close and score a career high 17 goals in each of his last two campaigns.

He also skated a full 82-game schedule in last year and in all the team’s postseason appearances going to the 2014 Finals and 2015 Eastern Conference Finals.

Set to become a restricted free agent and looking for a good, long-term deal he was moved to Anaheim Ducks on the second day of the 2015 draft.

25Jun

Teigan Zahn(18) Colorado Eagles

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Double NHL draft pick defenseman Teigan Zahn(33) was first a Chicago Blackhawks‘ 2008 5th round selection (#132 overall) but went unsigned and back into the pool and later chosen by Tampa Bay Lightning in the 7th round of 2010 (#186 overall) but not tendered an offer. He attended training camps with both teams.

After his overage season serving as captain of WHL Saskatoon Blades in which he posted career bests in games played, assists, points and +39 plus/minus, he decided to go the college route and enrolled at University Of Calgary.

The 6’2″ 221 lbs. blue liner with good size and grit to his game signed a one-year AHL contract with Oklahoma City Barons to start his pro career but was dispatched to affiliate Stockton Thunder, where he stayed for most of his first campaign. He was recalled for a month and appeared in 5 games registering his first point, an assist.

To start his sophomore season he scored a training camp tryout with Anaheim Ducks before he was reassigned to farm club, Norfolk Admirals‘ camp and continued to get passed along landing with Utah Grizzlies.

The 24-year old was again summoned up and got into three more games in the higher league notching yet another assist but was returned a couple of weeks later.

In 42 ECHL games, he has 3 goals and 9 assists putting him on pace for career highs in all categories.

He will need to keep connecting and finding his game or he may be looking overseas for his next hockey home.

Original story: 2/20-14

After posting career highs for goals, assists and points (7-11-18) in 2013/2014, he signed his next contract with Colorado Eagles.

He continued to increase his totals achieving new marks for games played (70), assists (17), points (20), plus/minus (12), shots on goal (107) and more than doubled his penalty minutes to a whopping 298, good enough for 2nd in the ECHL.

Another stat that made a huge jump for the increasingly agitated skater was fighting majors, which made a big step up to 20, almost doubling what he had in two previous seasons.

The still just 25-years old agreed to return for another season in Loveland, CO and will likely continue to see his overall game step up.

21Jun

Carl Klingberg(48) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod

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Recalled to skate a few games near the conclusion of the 2013/2014 season, he finally netted his first NHL goal before being returned to farm club St. John’s IceCaps for their incredible Calder Cup Playoff run that took the team all the way to the Finals.

He would sign a one-year extension to stay on but still played almost exclusively with their minor league affiliate until he was once again summoned for another pair of games.

As it turned out, his short stint with the big club may have been merely a showcase for a trade.

He was sent to New York Rangers‘ prospect system on the day before the deadline and finished out 2014/2015 with Hartford Wolf Pack, where he would finish the season with a career high 24 assists, 180 shots on goal and 45 penalty minutes.

He also recorded a best 4 postseason tallies in 13 games.

The 24-year was once again entering a restricted free agency but has decided it’s time to take his game elsewhere and signed a two-year deal with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL through 2016/2017.

20Jun

John Persson (23)

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19-year old Swedish-born left wing John Persson(23) signed an ato with Bridgeport Sound Tigers to join them for the remainder of the 2011/2012 season.

The 6’2″ 222 lbs. forward was a New York Islanders‘ 5th round pick in the 2011 draft (#125 overall).

He plays with size out there and in his 2nd game he picked up his first professional goal in the team’s 3-2 shootout loss over the weekend.

The Islanders might be taking a long look at him in next year’s training camp before deciding whether to have him join their ranks or send him back to his junior team for one more season. Our prediction is that won’t be an easy decision to make.

Original story: 3/24-12

He finished his short initial stint with Bridgeport with 4 goals and 4 assists in 12 AHL games.

Signed to a three-year entry level deal he had his best showing as a rookie for the farm team scoring 17 goals and 12 assists in 65 contests.

It was good enough to earn him a 10 game look with the Islanders at the end of 2013/2014.

He scored his first NHL goal.

He struggled slightly in the final year of his contract with only 11 tallies and 10 helpers but wasn’t entirely helped playing on a team that was on mostly on the losing side of the scorecard.

The 23-year old is set to become a restricted free agent but has decided it’s time to head back to Sweden inking for 2-years with Farjestad of the SHL.

He’s a fairly large skater with good hands and muscle and should excel in his home country.

19Jun

Alexandre Picard(45) HC Fribourg-Gotteron

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9th year defenseman Alexandre Picard(45) signed a one-year two-way deal with Pittsburgh Penguins shortly after free agency started in the offseason.

With 243 NHL games to his credit (19 goals, 46 assists), he is looks to be mostly considered a 6th or 7th defenseman.

He’s off to a good start this season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. In 12 games, he has 1 goal and 4 assists but it’s the +9 that’s getting most of the attention.

Into his second recall, he’s already a +5 with the Pens in 7 games with no points.

Original story: 12/1-11

After skating 17 games with Pittsburgh recording 4 assists with a +4 rating and playing 12 Calder Cup Playoff games getting 6 assists, he decided that he would try his game overseas joining HC Lev Praha of the KHL but suffered a shoulder injury and was later released.

After only appearing in 11 games in the 2012/2013 season, he moved on signing a one-year deal with Graz 99ers of Erste Banke Liga.

The 6’3″ 215 lbs. d-man would once again go elsewhere and departed for DEL, where he inked to play with ERC Ingolstadt.

Now 29-years old he’s decided to head to yet another country agreeing to lace up the skates for HC Fribourg-Gotteron of NLA.

There’s no telling if he’ll finally settle but chances are probably not.

19Jun

Brandon Yip (18)

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5th year right wing Brandon Yip(32) appeared in his first NHL game of the 2013/2014 with his new team, Phoenix Coyotes.

The unrestricted free agent signed a one-year, two-way deal after spending a season and a half with Nashville Predators.

He was originally a Colorado Avalanche 8th round pick in the 2004 draft (#239 overall) and inked a one-year entry level deal and extended for another two seasons.

After posting no points in 10 games he was dispatched to their minor league affiliate Lake Erie Monsters but never made it before getting claimed off waivers by the Predators.

The 6’1″ 198 lbs. forward was able to pick up his scoring pace but still fell short of the even modest numbers he notched in his first two campaigns.

The 28-year old has already been reassigned and recalled 6 times in the early going and skated in his first AHL games since 2009 with the parent club’s farm team Portland Pirates.

In 2 appearances he has a quick 2 assists to his credit.

Original story: 10/23-13

After a pair of games with Phoenix, he was reassigned back to the farm team and spent the entire season in the minors scoring 14 goals and 20 assists with a -22 rating.

Heading into 2014/2015 he was an invite to Anaheim Ducks‘ training camp but released and inked a contract with affiliate Norfolk Admirals, where he skated 31 games getting 3 goals, 9 assists and a -11 rating.

He was reassigned for the first time in his pro career down to Utah Grizzlies and stuck around for 7 ECHL games before seeking to be released from his contract.

Within a couple of days he signed with Adler Mannheim, finished out the regular season and skated the entire playoffs of 14 games recording 4 assists to help the team to a DEL Championship.

They liked what they saw, because the 30-year old will be back for more in 2015/2016, his 7th year pro.

18Jun

Aaron Palushaj(28) Philadelphia Flyers

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At least a few players in Montreal Canadiens‘ system are racking up those Air Canada frequent flyer miles, but probably none more than 3rd year right wing Aaron Palushaj(28).

Originally chosen in the 2nd round of the 2007 draft (#44 overall) by St. Louis Blues, he was traded late in his rookie season and has pretty much skated with Hamilton Bulldogs ever since, excluding a 3-game call up to the NHL last season, where he didn’t register a point but at least went a +1 plus/minus.

He’s a point-per-game producer in the AHL this season (13 goals and 18 assists in 31 games) with a +1.

His current recall makes it 5 so far in 2011/2012.

In 19 games he has one assist.

He’s bound to get his first NHL goal before the end of this season.

Original story: 2/19-12

For 2011/2012, he would end up splitting time equally with 38 games for the big club, where he did get his first goal and 35 games with the farm team producing another point-per-game effort.

The 5’11” 192 lbs. forward was given a one year extension but suffered a shoulder injury in the minors a couple of months into the season.

When he was set to return, he was set to be reassigned but claimed off waivers by Colorado Avalanche.

He skated in 25 games scoring a pair of goals and 7 assists, which wasn’t deemed good enough to get him a qualifying offer to stay.

For 2012/2013 he would sign for a year with Carolina Hurricanes but only played two games with them and was mostly once again a big point producer scoring a career tying 22 goals and high 36 assists, 58 points for affiliate Charlotte Checkers.

He would look overseas for his next deal signing with Medvescak Zagreb of the KHL but traded shortly into his term to Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg.

Now, the still only 25-years old, starting his 7th campaign decided to return to North American hockey accepting a two-way contract with Philadelphia Flyers that could see him playing a veteran role mostly with Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

15Jun

Philipp Grubauer(31) Washington Capitals

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Washington Capitals‘ 4th round pick in the 2010 draft (#112 overall), German-born goaltender Philipp Grubauer(31) has been stonewalling the offense in the ECHL through his first year and a half in the league.

He was the starter for South Carolina Stingrays in his rookie campaign going 23-13-5 in 43 appearances with a 2.22 GAA and .918 SV%.

The 6′ 180 lbs. net minder took up in his sophomore season where he left off posting a 19-5-1 record in 26 games and a 2.30 GAA and .912 SV% for Reading Royals before being recalled to split duties for Hershey Bears.

He’s off to an impressive start with a 2-2 mark and another solid 2.05 GAA and .926 SV%.

The 21-year old signed a 3-year entry level deal that keeps him in the system through 2015 and if it wasn’t for the logjam in the AHL net last season, he may have scored some playing time.

He recently was also cleared to attend the ECHL All-Star Game, where he was chosen as a starter and got the nod to kick off the festivities between the pipes. For now he’s having fun but could figure into the Capitals‘ long term plans pretty easily.

Original story: 1/24-13

In the 2013/2014 season he would be one of the few players each year to play a game in all three tops leagues: NHL, AHL and ECHL.

It would also signify the last time the net minder would see double A hockey as he would play 17 games with the Caps in 2013/2014 posting a 6-5-5 record with a 2.38 GAA and .925 SV%.

Even though he saw only one game with the parent club in 2014/2015, due to a veteran goalie signed in the off-season taking on most of the back-up role.

He would however be called on to start a first round Stanley Cup Playoff game getting the win, two firsts for a German-born backstop.

The only 23-year old signs a 2-year one-way extension but still may spend some time with the farm club to continue to hone his skills.

13Jun

Fredrik Claesson(3) Binghamton Senators

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Ottawa Senators‘ 5th round pick in the 2011 draft (#126 overall) Swedish-born defenseman Frederik Claesson(3) already had two seasons of professional play in the SHL with Djurgarden under his belt before committing to North American minor league hockey with affiliate Binghamton Senators.

The slightly bigger looking than 6′ 205 lbs. blue liner was never really a point producer throughout short playing career but since coming over this way to skate has seen his numbers on the uptick.

In his rookie campaign he put up a modest 3 goals and 8 assists with a +4 rating in 70 AHL games but this season is blowing the lid of those marks.

Through 48 contests, he may have put up less goals with 2, but has new career highs in assists (20), points (22) and holds onto a massive +28 plus/minus, currently good for third overall.

The only 21-year old is signed to a three-year entry level deal that runs through 2014/2015 and look for him to get his shot at cracking the NHL lineup or possibly get moved as the club has good depth at defense.

Original story 2/11-14

As his initial contract is set to run its course, Ottawa Senators re-up for another year with the blue liner that played in a career high 76 AHL games for affiliate Binghamton Senators and scored a new best 4 goals but managed only 15 assists (down 11 from last season).

Although he has yet to realize his first NHL call-up and maybe struggled a bit in his third campaign, the still young 22-year old should still compete for a roster spot out of training camp with the big club.

12Jun

Johan Sundstrom(28) Frolunda

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After three seasons of mostly playing in the minors and restricted free agent status approaching Johan Sundstrom(28) has decided to return home to the team he started with Frolunda of the SHL, accepting a two-year deal.

His numbers in the AHL were diminishing after a fairly strong rookie season and may have already been in discussions of where his future with the team was going.

He did get his opportunity to play 11 games in the show late during 2013/2014 but only recorded one assist and although he was a late cut from his last training camp, he failed to impress enough on a deep pool of youngsters to earn another recall.

With his fairly large power forward sized build, the 22-year old seemed to want to play more of a scorers game than mixing it up in corners or front of the net and that probably troubled the higher ups.

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