Rookies who made the cut? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

simmer2 · 10-01-2009, 11:24 AM

I'm pretty sure we had this thread last year, it's always interesting to see which rookies ended up sticking with their respective clubs. This obviously increases the value of those players and is an important part of the game.

Here is a list of Habs players who've managed to make Opening Night Roster:

Shawn Matthias(C) - I was surprised by this, he stunk last year but played well in pre-season
Mika Pyorala (C/W) - UFA signing that has made the 3rd line for the Flyers
Artem Anisimov (C) - shone in pre-season, let's see how he does now
James Wright (C/W) - 4th rounder in 2008 has somehow made Tampa's 3rd line
Tim Kennedy (LW) - Slated to play on a line with Hecht and Pominville...may or may not get sent down after Mair comes back
Alexander Salak (G) - Impressed in pre-season, still on roster but FLA is carrying 3 goalies.

Honourable Mentions:

Kyle Clifford had an outstanding camp in LA and was one of the last cuts.
Carl Gunnarsson impressed the Leafs brass and could be an early call-up.
Francis Pare had a solid camp with the Wings and could be an early call-up.

Disappointments:

Alex Sulzer had a 1-way deal and lost out to Teemu Laakso for the 6th d-spot. Got put on waivers yesterday
Corey Crawford (G) - Moved to disappointments. Lost the backup job to Antti Niemi for now, was put on waivers and apparently cleared so he's in the AHL.

Antithesis · 10-01-2009, 03:12 PM

Well, I have a bit more to brag about this year as compared to last year. Here is the Devils' list:

Jason Jaffray – Flames – probably going to be sent down shortly
Staffan Kronwall – Flames - 7th d-man
Jamie Benn – Stars – haven't finalized roster yet but he's still there
Darren Helm – Red Wings – not much of a surprise
Ryan Stone – Oilers – surprise guy makes the team as a 12th or 13th forward
Trevor Lewis – Kings – forward I've been waiting to make the jump for awhile finally does it
Johnny Boychuk – Bruins – finally makes the jump, looks like a 6th/7th guy this year
Ryan Parent – Flyers – though technically not a rookie in the NHL, still glad this AHL prospect made it

Disappointments

Ryan Stoa – Avs – thought he'd make it but it appears not to be
Brad Marchand – Bruins – late cut

Swayze11 · 10-01-2009, 03:20 PM

Heres the Avs list:
Zenon Konopka (TB)
Byron Bitz (BOS)
Radek Smolenak (CHI)
David Koci (COL)
Thomas Greiss (SJ)

and my 1st pick in the CPHL draft - Ryan O'Reilly (COL)

not bad I suppose.

looooob · 10-01-2009, 03:28 PM

wow surprised to see Zenon Konopka back in the show. that guy was a CPHL sabre off and on for a few years now, but I thought he was kind of done, good for him

as for the Sabres I don't think we have too much...Tuuka Rask I think is closer to being established as the backup in Boston, can't come soon enough for us. Josh Bailey isn't a true rookie I guess, but still an ECHLer for us and young so we'll count him.
while not rookies several of our AHLers like Sydor, Kreps, Steckel are certainly going to have NHL roles this year and at some point we'll try and fit them all back into our CPHL squad

Sylvanfan · 10-01-2009, 03:38 PM

Oilers have nothing in the pipeline going forward. The handgrenade is in our hands, and the pin has been pulled.

Enforcer · 10-01-2009, 04:55 PM

Viktor Stalberg made the Leafs and might be starting on the top line. One of my many UFA prospect signings.
Rickard Wallin made the Leafs and will be on the 3rd line, he isn't really a rookie but he's back in the NHL for the first time since the lockout. UFA signing.
Matt Gilroy is on the Rangers, guess what another UFA prospect signing. I signed him on November 5, 2007.
Dmitry Kulikov has been signed by the Panthers and made the trip to Finland.

Young Guns · 10-01-2009, 05:55 PM

Wings have way to many players to list.

Da_Chief · 10-01-2009, 08:00 PM

Flyers

James Howard - Wings backup
Daniel Larsson - Still with the Wings, carrying 3 tenders, likely going down soon
Jonas Gustavsson - Leafs backup
Sergei Shirokov - Possibly on Nucks top 6
Filatov - Made the Jackets, likley 10 minutes a night

Moore - Huge showing at the camp but Jackets wanted him to play a lot

Rest all got cut or didn't bother showing up.

With these guys plus last years rookie addition, the Flyers will get a boost of youth next year with Brassard/Frolik/Simmonds/Powe/Fehr all looking to make the team next year.

Flickered Flame · 10-01-2009, 08:05 PM

Flames are pleased to see both Chris Bourque and Jamie Sifers start the year in the NHL.

JiriHrdina · 10-01-2009, 08:24 PM

The Wild have a few guys who have made the show to start the year:
- James Van Riemsdyk - has won a spot with the Flyers and could compete for the Calder
- Janik Hansen - made the Canucks but is on IR and will be for quite some time.
- Ville Leino - will play in the Wings top 9, and is also a Calder candidate.
- Anssi Salmela - stuck with ATL but could be a scratch. We'll have to see how much he plays.
- Alexandre Picard - should put in a full season with Ottawa
- Matt Smaby - made the bolts over the likes of Matt Lashoff but T-bay STILL has like 8 NHL bodies on the blueline.
- Anton Stralman - should have traded him to the Ducks when he was a Flame but looks like he'll get a long look with CBJ.
- Ondrej Pavalec stats the year in ATL. No idea what will happen once Lehtonen returns
- Luca Sbisa should put in a full year with the Ducks.
- Alex Pieterangelo - with the Blues still, could be sent back to junior
Dissapointments:
- Anders Ambuhl was cut early from the Rangers
- Carl Soderberg who is NHL ready still refuses to come across the pond to join the Bruins.
- Kyle Turris - will start the year in the AHL. Not a surprise but it's lame that some Gm actually signed this guy to an AHL contract before he was in the NH
- Corey Schneider goes down to the AHL - needs to get dealt.

Slava · 10-01-2009, 08:36 PM

Predators have a few bright spots thus far:

Jamie McGinn appears to be holding on in the Sharks line-up
Mike Brown in Anaheim
Mike Santorelli in Nashville
Chris Butler (played about 40 games last year though) in Buffalo
Jack Hillen (also about 40 games last year) on NY Island
Sami Lepisto in Phoenix
Danny Syvret in Philly

Caged Great · 10-02-2009, 07:00 AM

Nobody other than I suppose Foligno and Polak on the Panthers, but that really isn't a shocker with most of my AHL and ECHL guys being more diamond in the rough types.

Expecting Andrew MacDonald to get a call up later in the year once any injuries occur to NYI. Looks very similar to Giordano when we first signed him.

Sylvanfan · 10-02-2009, 10:30 PM

You want to hear something funny? JF Jacques who I signed as an unclaimed free agent and got to the AHL via waivers and is 3rd on my AHL LW Depth chart....Is the NHL Oilers starting top line LW to begin the year. How does that go again ha ha stupid ?

looooob · 10-02-2009, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

You want to hear something funny? JF Jacques who I signed as an unclaimed free agent and got to the AHL via waivers and is 3rd on my AHL LW Depth chart....Is the NHL Oilers starting top line LW to begin the year. How does that go again ha ha stupid ?

the sad thing is I also tried to sign this feller but you beat me to him....I saw no point in claiming him on waivers , not realizing he was an NHL first liner

JiriHrdina · 10-02-2009, 11:00 PM

I think I actually was the club that cut Jacques to make him a free agent. I dealt for him years ago when he was a fairly highly thought of prospect and then got tired of waiting him to make the NHL.

mbeauchamp76 · 10-02-2009, 11:50 PM

Islanders Prospect Development

Made The Big Show (The 2 Nicks and the Giant)
Nicklas Bergfors RW NJ 4GP 1G 3A 4PTS +1 (3rd on Depth RW Depth)
Niklas Hjalmarsson D CHI 3GP 0PTS Even (Cracked Top 4 D)
Tyler Myers D BUF 6GP (Straight from WHL to NHL)

Final Cuts
Mike Weber D BUF (Sept 30 sent to AHL)
Matt Lashoff D TB (Sept 30 Cleared Waivers sent to AHL - Ouch)
Jonathan Bernier G LA (Sept 30 sent to AHL)
Brayden Schenn C LA 5GP 2G 0A 2PTS Even (Sept 28 sent to Juniors)
Alexandre Bolduc C VAN (Sept 28 sent to AHL)
Late Cuts
Jamie McBain D CAR (Sept 27 sent to AHL)
Jeff LoVecchio LW BOS (Sept 26 sent to AHL)
Paul Szczechura C TB (Sept 26 sent to AHL)
Veteran NHLer Cuts
Patrick Rissmiller LW NYR (Sept 18 assigned to AHL camp) On the way out the door or just a reconditioning assignment?
Other Dissapointing Cuts
Ilkka Heikkinen D NYR (Sept 19 assigned to AHL) Victim of Matt Gilroy's good camp - could be first in line for a call-up though so I won't waive him just yet but don't want to keep him on the big club if he's not going to play NHL

Mango · 10-03-2009, 12:24 PM

We have a handful, but we are very excited about goalie Anti Niemi. He'll be backing up Huet this year with the Hawks and he earned a shutout today against the Panthers.

simmer2 · 10-03-2009, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mango

We have a handful, but we are very excited about goalie Anti Niemi. He'll be backing up Huet this year with the Hawks and he earned a shutout today against the Panthers.

I was hoping Crawford would beat him out but it looks like Niemi has the upper hand now...hopefully he works out for you. It's always nice to find legit NHL goaltenders through waivers!

Knut · 10-03-2009, 02:02 PM

Caps have a few

D: Jordan Hendry - Playing alongside Cam Barker in Chi
D: Alec Martinez - one of the 8 Dmen left on the roster in LA.
D: Mark Fraser - Spare-part on the NJ defense.
C: Rod Pelley - Should play as the 4th line Center in NJ for the year.

Sylvanfan · 10-03-2009, 11:30 PM

Did you guys see JF tonight he's a monster, threw those sissy boys like Regehr and Phaneuf all over the ice. He was a man among boys. He also looked like a guy who's got 1 goal in 62 career games.