NHL draft pick | CollegeHockeyPlayers

01Jan

Shaone Morrisonn(26) Rochester Americans

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10th year veteran defenseman Shaone Morrisonn(26) was waived at the beginning of the 2011/2012 by Buffalo Sabres to get the team under the salary cap and reassigned to their AHL affiliate Rochester Americans. Accepting the designation he has appeared in 27 games. More importantly he is helping the team stay very much in the thick of the playoff race and has even put up a couple of goals and 7 assists.

He was signed to a 2-year contract by the Sabres last season, appearing in 62 games tallying only a single goal and four assists.

Originally a Boston Bruins 1st round pick in the 2001 draft (#19 overall), he spent a year and a half with them before getting traded to Washington Capitals, where he played for 6 seasons.

To his credit he has 480 NHL games played and only just turned 29 years old.

31Dec

Nikita Filatov(24) CSKA Moscow

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Instead of accepting his reassignment back to the AHL to play with Binghamton Senators (15 games, 7 goals, 5 assists), Ottawa Senators‘ recent acquisition, 1st round pick in 2008 by Columbus (#6 overall) winger Nikita Filatov(24) has once again asked to be returned to his Russian team CSKA Moscow to play instead of going to the lower league in North America.

He was granted his request and in 2 games he’s scored 0 points, has 2 penalty minutes and is a -3 plus/minus.

We think the move is foolish for 21-year old and he just needs to put on more muscle to help him with all that skill he has and staying close to the big club would have done him much better. But we’ll see…

31Dec

Patrice Cormier (28)

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Center Patrice Cormier(28) was originally a New Jersey Devils‘ 2nd round pick in the 2008 draft (#54 overall) but before he could play a game with them he was involved in the blockbuster trade that would send Ilya Kovalchuk out of Atlanta for the first time in his pro career.

He’s most infamously known for putting a vicious elbow check to an opposing player while playing in his last season of juniors.

The hit got him suspended for the remainder of the season.

As a rookie, he played 21 games for Atlanta Thrashers registering one goal and one assist.

He also skated in 11 games with their AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves picking up 2 goals and 3 assists.

After 28 games with St. John’s IceCaps (9 goals, 4 assists), he received his first recall by Winnipeg Jets.

His gritty play could find him a home with the team for the remainder of the season.

30Dec

JT Wyman(15) Tampa Bay Lightning

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Give that man the puck (or two).

Signed by Tampa Bay Lightning on the first day of free agency to a one-year two-way deal, right wing JT Wyman(15) not only scored his first NHL goal but also got a helper in the same game against the team that drafted him.

Originally a Montreal Canadiens‘ 4th round pick in the 2004 draft (#100 overall), he played 3 years in their system, mostly with Hamilton Bulldogs but skated in 3 NHL games with them, registering 0 points.

In 29 AHL games with Norfolk Admirals this season he has 6 goals and 6 assists in 29 games and on a good team is a +10 plus/minus.

30Dec

Tim Conboy(38) Binghamton Senators

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It took 139 games for Binghamton Senators‘ defenseman Tim Conboy(38) to put the puck in the net but he finally got the monkey off his back the night after Christmas with one, his first since 2009 when he was playing with Albany River Rats.

He was in Carolina Hurricanes‘ prospect system for four seasons and played 59 NHL games with them (0 goals, 6 assists).

From there he signed to one-year, two-way deals, last season with Buffalo Sabres and this year with Ottawa Senators, which has him assigned to their AHL affiliate.

Originally a San Jose Sharks‘ 7th round pick in the 2002 draft (#217 overall), he’s a fairly big guy at 6’2″ 210 lbs. but more importantly he’s the type of player that gets under other guy’s skin and causes penalties to happen. He also spends a good amount of time in the box.

Last season in 70 games he had 233 pims.

27Dec

Cody Bass(26) Springfield Falcons

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Tough break for Columbus Blue Jackets‘ offseason signing, forward Cody Bass(26), who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury that will require surgery in practice with the team’s AHL affiliate Springfield Falcons.

He was signed to a one-year, two-way deal and skated in 14 NHL games this season before being reassigned. In 10 games with the Falcons, he had a pair of goals and 4 assists.

In 2010/2011 he won the Calder Cup with Binghamton Senators and was always a feisty team leader. It’s the 2nd time an injury has caused him to opt out of a season.

He was originally an Ottawa Senators‘ 4th round pick in the 2005 draft (#95 overall).

26Dec

Tom Sestito(21) Philadelphia Flyers

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Left wing Tom Sestito(21) was originally chosen by Columbus Blue Jackets in the 3rd round of the 2006 draft (#85 overall) and played in their system for almost 4 seasons. Appearing in 13 NHL games he put up 2 goals and 2 assists before getting traded to Philadelphia Flyers and was assigned to their AHL affiliate Adirondack Phantoms where he finished off the year.

In the offseason he signed a one-year, two-way deal. He received his first call-up to the Flyers and skated in three games with no points but 15 penalty minutes.

He’s not exactly known for his scoring touch but at 6’5″ 228 lbs. it would be nice to utilize him as a power forward in front of the net to go along with his fighting skills. In 24 AHL games he has 8 goals and 6 assists.

26Dec

Riley Nash(20) Charlotte Checkers

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It looked like second year Carolina Hurricanes‘ center Riley Nash(20) had his first NHL goal in the first shift of his second game ever but later it was deemed he never touched the puck on it’s way into the net, so he settled for a first point in the big league instead, an assist.

Originally a 1st round pick by Edmonton Oilers in the 2007 draft (#21 overall), he was traded to the Hurricanes before ever playing in a game for them.

He lasted a couple of games in his debut recall and put up a point while averaging 10 minutes of ice time before being reassigned to AHL affiliate Charlotte Checkers.

In 31 games he has 2 goals and 7 assists but is a dreadful -8 plus/minus.

He wears the same #20 in both leagues.

23Dec

Antero Niittymaki(1) Worcester Sharks

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San Jose Sharks sent 10-year veteran goaltender, Antero Niittymaki(1) down to their AHL affiliate in Worcester for a conditioning stint after starting the season with the team on injury reserve.

He last saw action in the league in 2005 as the Calder Cup winning goalie for Philadelphia Phantoms, where he won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP.

He played 161 games over 5 years for the Flyers, the team that originally picked him in the 6th round of the 1998 draft (#168 overall) before getting signing with Tampa Bay Lightning for a season. In 2010 he inked a two-year deal with San Jose, but has been hindered by the injury bug.

At 31-years old, it’s very doubtful they will re-sign him for a third year and he will probably end up playing in his home country of Finland to round out his pro career.

19Dec

Aaron Voros(34) Connecticut Whale

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8th year wing Aaron Voros(34) signed a pto with Connecticut Whale in mid-November. In 10 games he’s posted 2 goals and 2 assists. He’s played 261 AHL games with 6 different teams.

Originally drafted in the 8th round of 2001 (#229 overall) by New Jersey Devils, he played for three years in their system without ever receiving a call-up. He was traded to Minnesota Wild in the last year of his entry level contract and played his first game with the team in the next season.

Over the next 4 seasons he would appear in 162 NHL games with Minnesota, mostly notably New York Rangers and Anaheim Ducks putting up 18 goals, 19 assists and 395 penalty minutes.

He’s a big presence on the ice at 6’4″ and 215 lbs.