It looked like San Jose Sharks‘ 6th round pick in the 2009 draft (#177 overall), center Tommy Wingels(17) was going to be playing full-time in the NHL from his strong training camp and preseason play, but three games into the season with only 1 assist to his credit he was reassigned to their AHL affiliate Worcester Sharks to continue working on his game.
In 5 contests with Worcester he has a couple of assists but is playing some pretty good overall hockey.
For the first time since the 2000/2001 season, 14-year veteran Chris Clark(17) finds himself playing in the AHL with Providence Bruins on a pto.
He was an NHL training camp tryout invite from Boston Bruins but was ultimately cut just before the start of the season.
Originally selected by Calgary Flames in the 3rd round of the 2007 draft (#77 overall), he’s played 6o7 career NHL games scoring 103 goals and 111 assists.
At 35 years old, it’s doubtful that he’ll find his way back to the show but he could become the new Mike Keane of the AHL, which isn’t such a terrible thing.
11/21: Clark is released from his pto.
Had to think it wasn’t going to be long before hard-nosed wing Corey Tropp(14) would get an invite to play with Buffalo Sabres, the team that drafted him in the 3rd round of 2007 (#89 overall).
On November 8, he also put in his first NHL goal in just his third game up.
He did have an excellent rookie season with the Sabres then AHL affiliate Portland Pirates (10 goals, 30 assists in 76 games) and early in 2011/2012, he already is showing improvement on those numbers. In just 10 games with Rochester Americans he has 4 goals and 3 assists.
Another asset to his playing, he never turns down a dancing partner when it comes to fisticuffs.
By the numbers, 6th year pro goaltender Danny Taylor(1) is making an argument for Springfield Falcons to sign him to an American Hockey League standard player contract.
He is currently signed to a pto.
His 2.31 GAA puts him at #17 on the AHL goalie leaders and his .931 SV% ranks 6th.
As of October 7 he signed a contract with Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL but did not appear in a regular season game.
We’ve seen it: this former Los Angeles Kings‘ 7th round pick in the 2004 draft (#221 overall) may have found his zone.
He has one game of NHL experience.
Washington Capitals‘ 2009 3rd round draft pick (#85 overall) rookie center Cody Eakin(14) has lit the AHL up with 3 goals and 5 assists in 10 games played for Hershey Bears.
The impressive start has earned him an early call up to the NHL and he skated in his first game with the Caps on the first of the month. He produced no points but had 3 shots on net in over 13 minutes of ice time. Probably won’t be long until he pops in a goal.
11/4: He puts in his first NHL goal and assist and has followed it up with his 2nd and added 2 more assists to his totals in 11 games played.
2nd year defenseman Ryan McDonagh(17) is stepping it up big time with the only NHL team he has ever played for, New York Rangers.
He was originally picked by Montreal Canadiens in the 1st round of the 2007 draft (#12 overall).
Last season in 40 games with the Rangers he put up 1 goal and 8 assists but most impressively was a +16 for the team. In the first 11 games of the 2011/2012 season he already has 3 goals to go along with a pair of assists.
Very doubtful that he’ll be back in Connecticut anytime soon, unless he gets injured and it’s on a conditioning stint.
Tampa Bay Lightning think a lot of rookie wing Carter Ashton(18).
He was chosen #29 overall in the 1st round of the 2009 draft.
He’s off to a quick start with their AHL affiliate Norfolk Admirals putting up 13 points (9 goals, 4 assists) in 10 games.
For the first month of the season he was named Reebok/AHL Rookie of the Month.
Last Friday night in Providence he didn’t fare so well in the fisticuffs with Bruins‘ Zach McKelvie.
Oddly enough though he did get the Admirals‘ first goal and was picked as the game’s #1 star.
San Jose Sharks 3rd round pick in the 2007 draft (#91 overall) goaltender Tyson Sexsmith(31) is in his 3rd year pro and third with Worcester Sharks, but is still considered a rookie in the AHL, because he hasn’t appeared in enough games to qualify him for a complete season.
He’s currently the #2 leading goalie in the league after 4 games played with 2 wins, 0 losses and 2 overtime losses and a 1.69 GAA and .930 SV%.
In 19 ECHL games over two seasons with Stockton Thunder and Kalamazoo Wings he posted a 12-3-3 record.
San Jose has a ton of good goalies in their system. His nickname is Sexy. It’s written on his mask.
Ottawa Senators‘ 1st round pick in the 2009 draft (#9 overall), big-as-can-be defenseman Jared Cowen(4) scored his first regular season professional goal in the team’s 5-3 loss to Boston Bruins on Tuesday night at the TD Garden.
He played 10 postseason games with Binghamton Senators last season after his junior team was knocked out of the playoffs and put up four assists on their way to winning the AHL Calder Cup Championship.
Most folks thought that was pretty much the only time they would see him in the league as he was pegged to become a top 6 defenseman in his rookie season and from the looks of it he’s been successful in achieving that goal.
Here’s this year’s pro hockey thinker.
33-year old, Swiss-born 1997 Colorado Avalanche 6th round draft pick (#161 overall) David Aebischer(1) is back playing in a league he hasn’t played in for over a decade, the AHL.
He won the Stanley Cup in 2001. Sure he only played in one game, because some goalie named Patrick Roy happened to be the starter.
To his credit he has 214 games of NHL experience and posts a fairly impressive 2.52 GAA and .912 SV%.
During the last four seasons he has been playing net in his native Switzerland for the team he signed with the year of the lockout, HC Lugano.
In 2011/2012 seemingly out of nowhere, Winnipeg Jets offered him a training camp tryout and he was subsequently signed and reassigned to their AHL affiliate, St. John’s IceCaps.
Weirdo fact: he has an action figure of his goaltending likeness with the Avalanche.
