In coordinating an interview for a story on the hot start he was off to with the Wheeling Nailers, Patrick Watling found himself having to send a bit of an unexpected text thanks to a suddenly shorter window of interview availability. 

“Are you free right now,” he asked. “Flying out to Syracuse tomorrow morning.”

Syracuse. The Syracuse Crunch. The American Hockey League.

Finally.

The 28-year-old got the call he’d been waiting for, putting together an MVP-type start to his season in the ECHL, as seen exclusively on FloHockey, that could no longer be ignored.

With nine goals and 15 assists in just 14 games, Watling found himself as the league’s second leading scorer, and earned a professional try-out contract (PTO) with the Crunch. It will mark his first stint at the highest level of the minors since a 29-game stint with the Toronto Marlies in his first professional season back in 2014-15.

“This is pretty nice,” Watling told FloHockey via cell phone. “The way it started and the way it’s been going, it kind of felt like something might happen. You hope that you’re going to get called up, but you just control the controllable and worry about how you’re playing and getting better each day. Hopefully, the cards would fall.”

A skilled two-way centerman who put together strong seasons at the junior level with both the Guelph Storm and Soo Greyhounds, Watling struggled to match that production at the AHL level in that first stint; he was a point-per-game player for the Orlando Solar Bears that year, but potted just two goals and added one assist with Toronto.

He says that since then, he’s put on weight in the right places, has improved his puck control, is faster and has a better shot; all factors he hopes will lead to a much better showing in this big opportunity.

“This is a second chance, so there are a little butterflies, I’m not going to lie, especially being given a chance of this magnitude,” Watling said. “I just want to go in there, play a hard game, do what the coaches ask of me, and hopefully produce. I’ve been up (to the AHL) before, so I’ve been around, and I know a couple people on the team, so it’s nice to be able to get reacquainted with them. I just want to go out there and show what I can do.”

Watling will join fellow ECHL call-up Aaron Luchuk–he was the league’s fourth leading scorer, and also just signed a PTO with Syracuse–as further proof that the league continues to work as the top “AA” league in the country, and the top feeder league for the AHL. He was able to use his time with the Nailers to further develop his game, and re-establish himself as one of the top options for teams at that level looking for help.

“Besides improving puck control, it’s just been working on playing better offensively,” he said. “It seems like a lot of people usually accumulate their points off the rush, but I feel like the way I’ve taken the next step in getting those points this year is overall O-zone play and being able to break teams down in their own end.”

It’s been a bit of a circuitous route to get back to the AHL for the Canadian-born Watling, who took three years away from the pro game to return to University, helping the U. of New Brunswick win two national titles before returning with the Nailers last season.

“I had a good stint there, it’s a great group there,” he said. “Gardiner MacDougall and everyone there run a great program, and it was just like professional hockey. They do a great job of developing people, even while getting an education. I feel like the best thing he taught me, as well as others, is just the mindset and how to approach the game on and off the ice. That’s something that’s given me an extra edge.”