OHL | CollegeHockeyPlayers

13Nov

Nick Cousins(25) Adirondack Phantoms

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Philadelphia Flyers‘ 3rd round pick in the 2011 draft (#68 overall), center Nick Cousins(25) was more than a point-per-game player in 4 years of junior hockey with Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

His totals in his last two seasons were completely off the hook, scoring 62 goals and 129 assists in 129 OHL games and picking up another 6 in 6 in the playoffs.

In 14 AHL games, the 5’11” 190 lbs. rookie forward leads minor league affiliate Adirondack Phantoms in scoring with 3 goals and 6 assists.

He is signed through 2016 on a three-year entry level deal and despite his sort of small-ish size, he moves pretty quickly into the open spaces on the ice and does look to have almost unassumingly good play-making abilities.

At only 20-years old, he may even be a little ahead of the parent club’s schedule for his progress but seeing as where the NHL team is in the standings at this point, they could use some nice surprises to add to the roster.

12Nov

Cody Ceci(7) Binghamton Senators

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Ottawa Senators‘ 1st round pick in the 2011 draft (#15 overall), defenseman Cody Ceci(7) is off to an explosive start in his rookie season.

In 13 games with minor league affiliate Binghamton Senators he already has a pair of goals and 10 assists with a +4 rating on what’s turning out to be a good team at the start of 2013/2014.

He made his pro debut in the AHL at the end of last season after his four year OHL career wrapped up with Owen Sound Attack. He managed to pocket his first tally and added a helper before playing three postseason games.

The fairly large 6’2″ 209 lbs. blue liner proved his ability to mark up the score sheet finishing up juniors with nearly a point-per-game in his final two years.

He’s signed through 2016 and looks to be soundly on track to make his NHL debut in his current campaign.

The still unbelievably young 19-year old is certainly a player to watch.

09Nov

Mike Halmo(26) Bridgeport Sound Tigers

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

New York Islanders‘ undrafted, 2nd year left wing Mike Halmo(26) is off to a flying start with minor league affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

In 8 games he’s already surpassed (by 1) the 5 goals he scored in 46 games from his rookie season. He’s also less than half a dozen assists and points away from eclipsing those marks as well.

The 5’11” 195 lbs. forward put up big numbers in his final year of juniors with Owen Sound Attack and may just be starting to catch fire on the score sheet as a pro. He also their captain and won an OHL Championship in 2010 with the team

He signed a three-year entry level deal that keeps him in the prospect system through 2015.

The 22-year old is making a solid argument that he belongs on a higher level of play but the parent club is probably waiting a little bit to see if he can sustain it.

07Oct

Scott Sabourin (25)

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Sizable, undrafted rookie right wing Scott Sabourin(25) signs a 3-year entry level deal with Los Angeles Kings after a very impressive training camp.

He somewhat oddly signed a two-year deal with their minor league affiliate Manchester Monarchs after completing three years in the OHL with Oshawa Generals last season.

He joined the team for 5 AHL regular season and all three playoff games to start his pro career.

At 6’3″ 208 lbs. he’s built like a true power forward and never shies away from getting right into the middle of the action.

He was never the biggest goal scorer in junior hockey, doing ok enough to contribute on the score sheet with decent frequency but with an average of over 100 penalty minutes he’ll definitely be keeping opponents honest out there.

At only 21-years old, he could easily find that scoring touch and add a whole other level to his game but the parent club likes their players with size, so he could easily fit right in as a fourth line energy guy and find a foothold in the NHL.

05Oct

Lucas Lessio(38) Phoenix Coyotes

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Phoenix Coyotes‘ 2nd round pick in the 2011 draft (#56 overall) left wing Lucas Lessio(38) makes his NHL debut to start his rookie season.

He signed an ato to join their minor league affiliate Portland Pirates to start his pro career after three years in the OHL with Oshawa Generals.

In 5 AHL games he scored his first goal and assist and added another pair of helpers in 3 playoff contests.

The 6’1″ 206 lbs. forward was basically a point-per-game player in juniors racking up 80 goals and 70 assists in 167 games.

He’s signed to a 3-year entry level deal that keeps him with the team through the 2015/2016 season.

At only 20-years old he’s projected to become a top six, power forward in the league.

20Sep

Alex Hutchings(11) Gwinnett Gladiators

Posted in AHL, ECHL, NHL | Leave a comment

4th year left wing Alex Hutchings(11) will put on the skates for Gwinnett Gladiators in 2013/2014.

Originally a Tampa Bay Lightning 4th round pick in 2009 (#93 overall), he was signed to a 3-year entry level deal but spent most of his playing time in the ECHL with affiliate Florida Everblades than he did in the AHL with Syracuse Crunch or Norfolk Admirals.

In the last two campaigns in the league, the 5’10” 178 lbs. forward recorded almost a point-per-game with 26 goals and 32 assists in 63 games.

He set similar marks in four seasons of junior hockey in the OHL with Barrie Colts, where he exploded for 111 goals and 97 assists.

At only 22-years old, he’ll likely continue to occupy the score sheet in the lower league and will likely receive a call-up or two but will have to contribute more to stay put.

31Aug

Nick Palmieri(44) EHC München

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

After his first year of playing entirely in the minors and getting traded from Minnesota Wild/Houston Aeros to New York Rangers/Connecticut Whale, right wing Nick Palmieri(44) will lace up the skates in Germany’s DEL for EHC München in the upcoming season.

He has skated in 87 NHL games, mostly with New Jersey Devils, who made him their 3rd round pick of the 2007 draft (#79 overall). For now he leaves with 13 goals and 12 assists to his credit.

The rangy 6’3″ 220 lbs. winger has played 221 AHL games, 3 seasons with Lowell/Albany Devils with 49 goals and 46 assists in the league, easily less than anticipated from a prospect his size and potential power forward abilities.

In four years of junior hockey in the OHL he always put up decent numbers but again seemed a bit underwhelming.

The 24-year old should be able to become a 1.5 point-per-game guy overseas but we shall see.

All said, we’re still pulling for the guy to break out of his proverbial shell.

11Aug

Ryan Hayes(18) Stockton Thunder

Posted in AHL, ECHL | Leave a comment

Undrafted 3rd year right wing Ryan Hayes(18) played for three different ECHL teams last season after being involved in a pair of trades that eventually brought him to Stockton Thunder to finish out the remainder of 2012/2013.

And what a finish it was. In 12 games he scored 5 goals and added another 6 assists bringing his totals to 14-13-27 in 40, which was under what he put up in his rookie campaign but close and in 23 less games played.

Great marks all around for the only 5’9″ 185 lbs. forward but once it hit playoff hockey time he stepped his scoring output to the next level.

In 23 Kelly Cup postseason match-ups he was able to strike for 9 tallies and 15 helpers while going a +8, good enough for 2nd overall in scoring.

Those postseason numbers were in line with what he attained in 22 OHL playoff games with Plymouth Whalers (12-13-25).

Very smartly Stockton taps into his scoring performance for another season signing him to a one-year deal.

It won’t be surprising to see the 24-year old earn his first AHL call-up or appear in a higher league training camp.

31Jul

Nikolai Prokhorkin(17) CSKA Moskva

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Los Angeles Kings‘ 4th round pick in the 2012 draft (#121 overall), Russian left wing Nikolai Prokhorkin(17) bounced around a lot and never really playing any amount of games last season (rookie?) but will pretty much stay put in the KHL to skate with CSKA Moskva for a fourth straight campaign.

He’s still only 19 years old and has skated in 35 games since 2010 – 2011 scoring 3 goals and 2 assists. He legitimately took that up to the next level with 3 goals and an assist in 9 playoff games.

The 6’2″ 183 lbs. forward also played in 8 AHL games with Manchester Monarchs at the start of 2012/2013 but only managed one assist.

It was said that he signed a three-year entry level deal but there’s no confirmation of that on the parent club’s Capgeek and ultimately was revealed he was actually still under contract in his home country.

There was also a thought that he would go play for Barrie Colts in the OHL but that idea was squashed as his abilities were already well above playing junior hockey level. He was originally a 1st round pick by London Knights but had his rights traded.

Regardless, they should continue to keep an eye on his while they still can.

20Jul

Nick Crawford(20) Buffalo Sabres

Posted in AHL, NHL | Leave a comment

Buffalo Sabres‘ 6th round pick in the 2008 draft (#164 overall), restricted free agent defenseman Nick Crawford(20) re-signs to rejoin the team’s prospect system for a fourth season.

He has yet to earn an NHL call-up but has skated in 199 games for AHL affiliates Rochester Americans and Portland Pirates scoring 18 goals and 54 assists.

The 6’1″ 192 lbs. blue liner has shown the ability to be a play maker throughout his playing career, especially in his last two seasons of OHL junior hockey with Saginaw Spirit and Barrie Colts and his first year as a pro.

The 23-year old is fairly steady on ice but will need to step up those appearances on the score sheet to continue to find his spot on the minor league roster and keep the eyes of the suits on his game.