NHL

5 AHL Players to Watch in 2016-17

5 AHL Players to Watch in 2016-17

With another NHL season underway, up-and-coming players like Anthony Mantha, Curtis Lazar, Brendan Leipsic, Jack Roslovic, and Malcolm Subban are continuing to build their resumes and hone their skills in search of their dream job.

Oct 21, 2016 by Jacob Messing
5 AHL Players to Watch in 2016-17
With another NHL season underway, up-and-coming players are continuing to build their resumes and hone their skills in search of their dream job.

Affiliate teams across the nation are full of high-end draft picks, late bloomers and undrafted hopefuls seeking the next step. Below are five AHL players on the brink of the NHL who deserve your attention this season.

1. Anthony Mantha

Age: 22
Position: Left Wing/ Right Wing
Draft Position: 2013 Round 1, No. 20 overall by Detroit Red Wings
AHL Career Statistics: 155 GP, 41 G, 42 A, 83 Pts.
2016-17 Statistics: 3 GP, 5 G, 0 A, 5 Pts.

Anthony Mantha was the Detroit Red Wings' very last cut in training camp. He was sent down to Detroit’s AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, just hours before the roster deadline.

Mantha's had more than his share of adversity since hearing his name called at the draft. Hyped as a potential linemate for Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk ahead of the 2013-14 season, Mantha broke his leg in the Traverse City Prospects Tournament just before the opening of NHL training camps.

Red Wings Senior Vice President Jim Devellano called Mantha “very, very, very disappointing” in his rookie season with the Griffins, where he scored just 15 goals and 33 points in 62 games after missing the first two months healing and rehabbing his leg.

Mantha responded with a stronger sophomore season by scoring 21 goals and 45 points in two less games. His play earned him a 10-game stint with the Red Wings, in which he chipped in two goals and an assist.

Now in his third season with the Griffins, Mantha has a hat trick and five total goals in his first three games this season. His numbers are good enough to currently lead the league in goals and share the lead in points. If Mantha continues his stellar play, his AHL days will soon be behind him.

2. Curtis Lazar

Age: 21
Position: Center/ Right Wing
Draft Position: 2013 Round 1, No. 17 overall by Ottawa Senators
AHL Career Statistics: 1 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 Pts.
2016-17 Statistics: 1 GP, 0 G, 0 A, 0 Pts.

Lazar is an interesting case. He increased his goal, assist and point totals in three straight WHL seasons for the Edmonton Oil Kings. His display of growth caught the eye of the Ottawa Senators, who drafted him 17th overall in 2013.

Ottawa sent him back to the Oil Kings ahead of the 2013-14 season. Lazar increased his totals across the board for a fourth straight season when he scored 41 goals and 76 points in just 58 games.

Following training camp for the 2014-15 season, Ottawa surprisingly announced Lazar had made the team. It’s not often that a player (aside from perhaps a top-three pick) makes the leap from the WHL to the NHL full-time. Lazar’s flashes of talent saw him score six goals and 15 points in 67 games.

Ottawa likely attributed the low totals as growing pains because Lazar started the 2015-16 season with the club again, scoring six more goals and 20 points in 76 games.

Ahead of the 2016-17 season, Ottawa sent Lazar to their AHL affiliate Binghamton. Still just 21, Lazar playing against lesser talent in the AHL could help him regain his confidence and reestablish himself as an offensive weapon. If that happens, full-time NHL action could come sooner rather than later.

3. Brendan Leipsic

Age: 22
Position: Center
Draft Position: 2012 Round 3, No. 89 overall by Nashville Predators
AHL Career Statistics: 141 GP, 35 G, 78 A, 113 Pts.
2016-17 Statistics: 2 GP, 1 G, 4 A, 5 Pts.

Leipsic was involved in the 2015 trade that sent Maple Leafs Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli to the Nashville Predators. In exchange, Toronto acquired Leipsic, Olli Jokinen and Nashville’s 2015 first-round pick (which became Philadelphia’s Travis Konecny).

Leipsic was having a good rookie year for Nashville’s AHL affiliate Milwaukee, posting seven goals and 35 points in 47 games. In his final 27 games after the trade, Leipsic scored another seven goals and 19 points to bring his 2014-15 AHL season stats to 14 goals and 54 points in 74 games.

Leipsic built on his rookie season--in nine fewer games, he scored an extra six goals and managed another 54-point campaign. In 2015-16, Leipsic also got a six-game stint with the Maple Leafs, scoring a goal and adding two assists.

There were some expectations that Leipsic would make the leap to Toronto full-time this season, but that fell through when he was cut in training camp by coach Mike Babcock.

Leipsic’s NHL days are on the horizon if he can continue to be a regular contributor for the Toronto Marlies. At just 22, he could prove to be a large part of the Maple Leafs commitment to a rebuild alongside other young players including Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Morgan Reilly.

4. Jack Roslovic

Age: 19
Position: Center/ Right Wing
Draft Position: 2015 Round 1, No. 25 overall by Winnipeg Jets
AHL Career Statistics: 4 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 Pts.
2016-17 Statistics: 4 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 Pts.

The only AHL rookie on this list, Roslovic has been close to a point-per-game player in almost every league he has played in, and that hasn’t changed through four AHL games.

Roslovic was drafted after two strong seasons in the USHL, where he accumulated 15 goals and 52 points through 59 games. The goal totals don’t quite match the elite level Roslovic plays at, mainly because it’s his passing that sets him apart from the crowd.

After wrapping up the 2014-15 USHL season, Roslovic played for the U.S. Under-18 Team, for whom he scored an impressive 27 goals and 79 points in 65 games. He later won a gold medal with the United States National Team in the 2015 World Junior Championship, where he continued to lead the way by scoring 11 points in the tournament.

Roslovic stuck with his 2013 commitment to the University of Miami Ohio ahead of the 2015-16 season. After one season with the RedHawks, in which Roslovic scored 10 goals and 26 points in 36 games, he chose to leave school and join Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.

Winnipeg’s solid prospect pool isn’t on Roslovic’s side. The rookie will have to keep turning heads before he cracks Winnipeg’s depth of Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Kyle Connor and 2016 second-overall pick Patrik Laine.

5. Malcolm Subban

Age: 22
Position: Goaltender
Draft Position: 2012 Round 1, No. 24 overall by Boston Bruins
AHL Career Statistics:  GP, 2.84 GAA, .902 SV%, 5 SO
2016-17 Statistics: 2 GP, 4.18 GAA, .857 SV%

Subban is now in his fourth AHL season with the Providence Bruins. Ahead of the 2012 draft, Subban was compared to Carey Price; heralded for his poise, quick glove, butterfly style and positioning.

Selected by Boston a little over a year after the Bruins won the 2011 Stanley Cup, Subban was hyped to eventually push Tuukka Rask out of the crease in Boston.

Subban has just one game of NHL experience under his belt, and it’s one he'd like to have back. He was pulled halfway through the game after allowing three goals and finished with a .500 SV% and 5.81 GAA.

The time could be now for Subban. In Boston’s home opener, Rask may have tweaked something in his left leg; he overstretched it on a play he struggled to get up from afterward. He missed the next game and allowed back-up goalie Anton Khudobin to get his first start for his new team. 

In Boston’s Thursday night game against the New Jersey Devils, Rask appeared to tweak the same leg in similar style, and got up slow, but stayed in the game. If Rask were to miss significant time, Subban could see his third call-up and second stint of NHL action.