They found NHL stardom. Then came a selection to represent the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics. A gold medal followed.

But before those heady times for these American gold-medalists, they came through the AHL. The United States had a heavy AHL flavor to its roster in helping to defeat Canada, 2-1, this past Sunday to win the country’s first men’s hockey gold medal in 46 years. Years ago, some of those players came into the AHL as surefire prospects. Others, such as standout goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, had to dig in as a lower-round draft pick and play their way up the organizational ladder and into the NHL.

Let’s dig into the AHL history of these American gold-medalists:

Connor Hellebuyck – goaltender
Hellebuyck, a 2012 fifth-round pick by the Winnipeg Jets, is one of the AHL’s top contributions to the Americans’ gold-medal effort. He spent two seasons in the AHL with the St. John’s IceCaps and Manitoba Moose before moving on to full-time duty with the Jets in 2016. A Hart Trophy and three turns as a Vezina Trophy winner later, Hellebuyck has assembled one of the top careers of the past decade. In his 2014-15 rookie season with St. John’s, he made 58 appearances and went 28-22-5 | 2.58 | .921 and had six shutouts. His first international game action came at the end of his rookie AHL season when he represented the US at the 2015 World Championship and went 7-1-0 | 1.37 | .948 in leading his team to a bronze medal. He was named to that tournament’s all-star team as well.

Jake Oettinger – goaltender
As goaltenders go, Oettinger had a relatively quick spin through the AHL with the Texas Stars. After the Dallas Stars chose him in the first round of the 2017 NHL Draft, he went to their AHL affiliate two years after leaving Boston University as a junior. He put in 38 games with Texas in 2019-20 and only needed a total of 54 career AHL games before becoming a number-one goaltender for Dallas.

Zach Werenski – defenseman
Werenski’s time in the AHL came and went quickly, but he managed to make it quite eventful. Taken eighth overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2015 NHL Draft, Werenski had a Calder Cup title less than a year later. After wrapping up his second season at the University of Michigan, it was quite clear that Werenski was more than ready for a bigger challenge. Still just 18 years old, he elected to turn pro and went to the Blue Jackets’ then-new AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters. For a Monsters team that had steadily come together to grow into a threat late in the season, Werenski became the final needed piece for their roster. He played seven regular-season games and then then had 5-9-14 in 17 Calder Cup Playoff games in helping the Monsters to sweep the Hershey Bears in the Calder Cup Finals. By the following fall, he was in Columbus to stay.

Matt Boldy – forward
Boldy came to the Iowa Wild in 2021 as a first-round pick who spent two seasons at Boston College. He needed minimal development time in Iowa, playing 24 games and producing 10-18-28.

Jake Guentzel – forward
No matter the level, Guentzel has always been able to find the net. A stint with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins helped him to round out the rest of his game to translate that scoring touch to the NHL level. Taken in the third round by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2013, he was a late-season addition to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2015-16 and was a part of the team’s playoff roster. He then ripped off 21 goals in 33 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the following season before earning a full-time role in Pittsburgh and winning the Stanley Cup that same season.

J.T. Miller – forward
Miller, now back with the New York Rangers as their captain, first came to that organization as a 2011 first-round pick. He needed to split time in Hartford as an AHL prospect across four seasons.

Brock Nelson – forward
Nelson is now with the Colorado Avalanche after being a fixture with the New York Islanders for more than a decade. A first-round pick who had two seasons at the University of North Dakota behind him, he played one full AHL season with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and delivered a 25-goal season in 2012-13. From there it was on to the Islanders and an NHL career that is approaching the 1,000-game mark.

Tage Thompson – forward
Although Thompson went to the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft, there was minimal indication during his AHL days that he would eventually become one of the NHL’s most dangerous scorers. In parts of his first two pro seasons, he had just 9-11-20 in 46 AHL games as a Blues prospect. But a 2018 deal that sent him to the Buffalo Sabres started to reveal how dangerous he could be. In 24 games across parts of two seasons with the Rochester Americans, he had 12-9-21. He finally became a full-time NHLer and then broke out with a 38-goal season in 2021-22 for the Sabres. Thompson’s family has strong AHL ties as well. His father, Brent, is an assistant coach with Hershey, spent 10 seasons as Bridgeport’s head coach, and played 635 regular-season AHL games as a hard-nosed defenseman and captain. His brother, Tyce, played parts of five AHL seasons for the New Jersey Devils and Islanders organizations.

Vincent Trocheck – forward
The Florida Panthers made Trocheck a 2011 third-round pick. So, he had potential, but third-round picks are hardly sure bets. Coming out of the OHL, Trocheck needed portions of two seasons with Florida’s then-AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage before sticking in the NHL for good in 2015-16.

Cameo appearances
Defenseman Charlie McAvoy made four appearances with the Providence Bruins in 2017. Another blueliner, Jaccob Slavin, logged 14 games as a Carolina Hurricanes prospect for the Charlotte Checkers late in 2015-16. Forward Kyle Connor only dressed twice at the Winter Olympics, but he had a 25-goal rookie season with Manitoba in 2016-17. Another forward, Dylan Larkin, had a six-game spin with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the 2015 Calder Cup Playoffs after his freshman season at Michigan. In net, Jeremy Swayman had 14 games with the P-Bruins.

Coaching staff
USA head coach Mike Sullivan went from his NHL playing career to a head-coaching role with the P-Bruins in 2022. More than a decade later, he had another short AHL head-coaching stint with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before an in-season move to Pittsburgh. Assistant coaches John Hynes, David Quinn, and John Tortorella all developed their pro-coaching profiles in the AHL. After a long tenure at USA Hockey, Hynes became an assistant coach with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2009 before going on to lead that team for the next five seasons. Quinn guided Lake Erie for three seasons in his first pro coaching role. Tortorella’s AHL ties go back to the 1988-89 New Haven Nighthawks. After working as an assistant coach to Buffalo, he went to Rochester for two seasons and won the Calder Cup in 1996. Goaltending coach Mike Buckley had that same role with the Springfield Falcons for two seasons and was also a goaltending development coach for Pittsburgh.

Management
USA general manager Bill Guerin ran Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for two seasons before moving on to the Minnesota Wild. Several assistant general managers have AHL experience as a player and/or management. Chris Drury was general manager of the Hartford Wolf Pack for four seasons. Tom Fitzgerald, now New Jersey’s general manager, was a general manager of that organization’s AHL affiliates for five seasons. He also won the Calder Cup as a player with Springfield in 1990. Bill Zito, general manager of Lake Erie’s 2015-16 Calder Cup championship team, held that role for three more seasons. Assistant general manager Chris Kelleher played 398 games with the Syracuse Crunch, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and Providence.

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