Previously: Part 1

Yesterday we began our sprawling update on all former Michigan Hockey players currently playing pro hockey around the world. In Part 1 we covered the firmly established, everyday NHLers with name-brand value. Today is the more odd-ball sequel piece, where we check in on our recently departed alums, those who have retired since the 2022 update article, and all the minor league/international players, so buckle in: 

Young guys finding their way

This category is for the players who have left Michigan since the last article and haven't yet developed in the NHL to the point that they fit into one of the yesterday categories the way Beniers and Power already have: 

Gavin Brindley/Frank Nazar III/Dylan Duke: The recent signees only got into a couple games at the NHL/AHL level before the season concluded, given that Michigan's campaign went into mid-April yet again. Check back next year. 

Johnny Beecher, C, Boston Bruins: After spending a season in the AHL, Johnny Beecher finally got his crack at the NHL this season and carved out a role as a pretty generic 4th line center and penalty killer for a good Boston team. Then, in the first game of the playoffs, he scored the series opening goal against Toronto. Only seven goals and ten points in 52 games is indicative of a player who's probably never going to score much in the NHL but if Beecher can continue to hone his skills in the faceoff dot and on the penalty kill, he can perhaps grow into a Luke Glendening type career. 

Thomas Bordelau, C, San Jose Sharks: Bordeleau has played a couple seasons now in the AHL with good production and has been looking for his first full-time gig in the NHL. 27 games towards the end of this past season in San Jose was the closest he's gotten to that. Bordeleau chipped in 6 goals, most effective on the power play, during his short trial this season on a godawful Sharks team. I don't think Bordeleau has big time upside, but his faceoff abilities and skill should allow him to be a 3rd line center and hopefully he'll get a real shot to prove that next season, as he's still only 22. 

[James Coller]

Kent Johnson, F, Columbus Blue Jackets: The first of our three Columbus players in this category, KJ has had to endure the bizarre saga that is the Blue Jackets franchise, a team that fired its coach before the season started and then canned its GM midseason, while a series of embarrassing headlines continue to plague the franchise. Johnson was caught up in that, as there seems to be some conflict between the player and the team. When he's played in the NHL, his ice time has been very limited, and they sent him down to the AHL this season even though he scored 40 points in the NHL last season. Johnson put up 15 points in 10 games in the AHL, making it pretty clear that sending him down was worthless. 

I continue to be befuddled by what's going on here, as Johnson has been an okay player at the NHL level. One with flaws yes, but he needs ice time to iron out those flaws. Plus, it's not like the Jackets are a team that is so good they can't give out ice time to young players anyway. If the Blue Jackets aren't going to give it to him for whatever reason, they should do right by the player and trade him to a new team. Hopefully new management in Columbus will resolve this situation and get him back on a developmental track, because this season was a fork in the road for Johnson, with only 16 points in 42 games, receiving under 14 minutes per game on ice. 

Adam Fantilli, C, Columbus Blue Jackets: Fantilli has mostly been spared the buffoonery of Columbus, but his rookie year was unfortunately hampered by injury. He played only 49 games due to multiple ailments, scoring a decent 27 points on a pretty bad Jackets team. Fantilli played this season at 19, so there's really no cause for alarm there. Next season, if he stays healthy, should see Fantilli begin an ascension to being a top line centerman in the NHL and maybe with it, he can lead Columbus out of the cartoonish ineptitude that has submarined the team basically since inception. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: increasingly obscure players]

[James Coller]

Mackie Samoskevich, RW, Florida Panthers: Mackie spent this season in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers, scoring 22-32-54 in 62 games. For a 21-year-old rookie in a pro league, that's pretty solid production. Samo got a brief trial with his NHL club, the Florida Panthers, but did not find the scoresheet. The Panthers are one of the NHL's foremost Stanley Cup contenders this season, so it didn't make much sense to play a rookie on a team like that. I expect he'll get a more extended trial in the NHL next season, as Samoskevich still has the ability to be a winger on a first or second line in the NHL down the line based on his stellar AHL production. 

Brendan Brisson, F, Vegas Golden Knights: Brisson finds himself in a very similar position to Samoskevich, just a year older in the developmental track. Like Samo, Brisson's rights are owned by a Cup-contending team that doesn't have room or interest in putting a rookie on the team while they play meaningful hockey, so Brisson is left waiting in the AHL. He's completed two seasons for the Henderson Silver Knights, posting nearly identical scoring clips both years. He got 15 games with the big club this season, putting up 8 points and scoring his first NHL goal, and perhaps Vegas' impending cap crunch will necessitate Brisson's promotion next season. 

Nick Blankenburg, D, Columbus Blue Jackets: Blankenburg is also a member of the Columbus Wolverines Blue Jackets, having settled into a AAAA sort of role, a depth defenseman at the NHL who also plays some in the AHL. Blankenburg dealt with injuries this season and split his healthy time between Columbus (12 games) and Cleveland, the AHL affiliate (24 games). He's still filling a valuable role with the organization, playing with top prospect Adam Jiriček in Cleveland, helping him get adjusted to North American pro hockey. Blankenburg turns 26 next week, so he's probably getting close to what he's going to be, not quite an NHL starter, but not a career minor leaguer. That's alright for a guy who was never drafted and played hockey before Michigan in the AJHL. It's been a remarkable ride for Blanks. 

[James Coller]

Luke Hughes, D, New Jersey Devils: Luke just finished his rookie season with the New Jersey Devils, being named a finalist for the Rookie of the Year a few days ago, giving Michigan their fifth finalist for the award in the last decade (Werenski, Quinn, Power, and Beniers). Luke isn't going to win the award, as brother Quinn didn't, but he had a solid rookie year. Luke didn't make quite the same impact as Quinn did as a rookie; Quinn excelled and was instantly a top pair stud, while Luke was more "hanging in there", but Luke did amass quite a few points on the power play and showed his nose for offense. It was a bit of a nightmarish season for the Devils, but Luke Hughes and fellow young defender Simon Nemec were relative bright spots for the franchise. The question for Luke now is how he can grow in the coming seasons and round out his game, while adding to his impact offensively at 5v5.  

Erik Portillo, G, Los Angeles Kings: Portillo is Michigan's best chance to produce an established NHL goalie since Al Montoya, as the LA Kings' top goalie prospect. Portillo spent his first year of pro hockey in the AHL with LA's affiliate, the Ontario (California) Reign. He played 39 games posting a very respectable .918 SV%, which was 5th among AHL goalies to play at least 30 games this season. In the AHL playoffs, Portillo is 3-0 with a .962 as of this writing. It's been nice to see Portillo get his career back on track after a choppy last year at Michigan, presumably being coached properly again. Los Angeles has immense uncertainty in their crease next season (they have zero goalies signed as of right now), so there remains a chance that Portillo could be on the team, but I think it's likelier that he's the #3 goalie in the organization in 2024-25, biding his time in the AHL, waiting for an injury call-up. That said, still only 23 years old, Portillo is on track to eventually be an NHL netminder. 

[Martin Vioet/UM Photo Services]

Au Revoir 

Two players who appeared in the article last time have since retired: 

- Carl Hagelin, LW: The speedy Swede had a nice NHL career, playing 713 regular season games + 141 playoff games. Hagelin was always a role player, but he was a valued penalty killer and third line contributor on a number of very good teams. He made two deep runs with the Rangers (lost in ECF one year, SCF the other year) and then embarked on two more successful deep runs in Pittsburgh, winning back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017. Hagelin never scored more than 17 goals or 38 points, but he knew his role and showed how versatile of a player he could be on the '16 Penguin playoff run, when he was the winger opposite Phil Kessel on the famed "HBK line" with Nick Bonino centering it, Pittsburgh's best line those playoffs. Hagelin finished his career in Washington with the Caps, before a convergence of a scary eye injury and a terrible hip injury ended his career. All in all, a nice run for Hagelin, who also took silver at the Olympics (2014) and the World Juniors (2008) and retires with career earnings totaling $33.25 M. 

- Greg Pateryn, D: Pateryn called it quits a couple summers ago after a decade of professional hockey, following four years at Michigan from 2009 to 2012. Pateryn was never more than a AAAA sort of player, ferried back and forth between the AHL and the NHL as a depth defensive defenseman. He played 290 NHL games in total across six different teams, plus 210 AHL games, the consummate journeyman career. Never made a huge impact in the league and only played seven NHL playoff games, but there's no shame with collecting checks playing the game you love into your 30s. Good luck on the rest of life, Greg. 

[James Coller]

Minor Leaguers From The Past 

Here we have guys who are likely never going to be real NHLers (or at least won't be in the future), but I wanted to update their minor league happenings just the same: 

- Steven Kampfer: After a long career moving back and forth from the NHL to the AHL as a depth defender, Kampfer is now probably just an AHLer. He spent this season with the Tucson Roadrunners (where he served as the captain!), who appear to be moving to Tempe as part of the Arizona Coyotes' relocation to Utah. Unclear if the 35-year-old will continue his pro hockey career, or if he's hanging them up. 

- Jack LaFontaine: JLF famously bolted Minnesota (where he transferred after leaving Michigan) in the middle of the 2021-22 season because the Carolina Hurricanes needed an emergency goalie. It may have been the right call, because those two games he played for the 'Canes may well end up being the only two NHL games he ever plays. LaFontaine is now firmly an ECHLer, posting a .911 SV% this season for the Kansas City Mavericks (while playing a few games on call-up to the AHL for Coachella Valley). 

- Will Lockwood: Lockwood really deserves his own category, because he's the only true "fringe" NHLer in this piece, playing nearly as many NHL games as AHL ones this season. Indeed, he played 26 games for Florida in the NHL, playing few minutes in those games and scoring only one point, against 32 highly productive games (12-12-24) for Charlotte of the AHL, where he was a teammate of Mackie Samoskevich. Turning 26 next month, Lockwood is more or less at his hockey peak and thus has probably topped out as a fringe NHLer who will spend much more time in the AHL. I'd like to see him finally score an NHL goal at some point, though.  

[James Coller]

- Nolan Moyle: Moyle began his professional career this season by playing in the KHL for Kunlun Red Star, the one Beijing-based team in a mostly Russian hockey league. The KHL is probably the best non-NHL league in the world, so that's a pretty nice gig for Moyle to have, scoring a very typically Moyle 4-7-11 line in 55 games. If nothing else, we can say Moyle is the one Michigan Hockey alum who actually embodied the "get ready to learn Chinese, buddy" meme, but in a good way. 

- Luke Martin: Another former Wolverine who took his talents overseas, Martin was a good ECHLer who I guess was tired of pushing for the AHL so he signed in Finland for HIFK Helsinki of the SM-Liiga. There, Martin managed to score 47 points (10 goals!) in 56 games, the highest scoring defenseman on the team. This is a rather startling development for those of us who remember Martin the Wolverine, who was an all-defense defenseman that seldom scored in NCAA games. I'm not sure where this offensive transformation came from, but it's something to observe. 

- Garrett Van Wyhe: Speaking of players undergoing a stark transformation, Garrett Van Wyhe is currently playing defense for the Jacksonville Icemen of the ECHL in the playoffs. He's spent two years in that league and his coaching staff have decided the best place for GVW right now is on defense, which is the sort of creativity you don't see much of in the NHL and I welcome it. 

- Strauss Mann: It seems like Strauss has become a goalie that straddles the fringe of the ECHL and the AHL, posting good stats in the former over the past two seasons but very poor stats in the latter. Here's hoping that the former Michigan goalie can figure out how to break in to the AHL and with goalies, you never really know because they don't conform to typical aging curves. 

[James Coller]

- Nick & Michael Pastujov: The Pastujovs are grouped together, because they are playing together in the Austrian league, the ICEHL. I know a lot about a lot of hockey leagues but to be honest with you, I really don't know much about the ICEHL. It's not a league that anyone connected with the NHL really plays in, but I guess it happens to host the Pastujovs. They are currently playing on the Vorarlberg Pioneers, based out of Feldkrich, in the western Austria state of Vorarlberg. Apparently they had a good season, Nick scoring 44 points and Michael scoring 30 (the ICEHL plays a 48 game season). Good for them!   

- Alex Kile: Kile had a career year this season for the Maine Mariners of the ECHL, scoring 37 goals (tied for 3rd in the league... with Jacob Hayhurst) and 83 points (4th in the league). Kile has gotten chances to stick in the AHL, but in the end has topped out as being a high level ECHL player. 

- Joe Cecconi: Quinn Hughes' defense partner hasn't had the career that Quinn has (no one expected him to), but he's become an everyday AHLer. After 4.5 seasons with the Texas Stars, Cecconi is now with the Rochester Americans, bringing him closer to his birthplace of Youngstown, New York. This year Cecconi played 58 games, scoring 13 points while racking up 60 PIM. So long as Cecconi wants to play in the AHL, it appears there will be a place in the league for him. 

- Brendan Warren: Also in the category of full AHLers is Brendan Warren, who is a teammate of Cecconi's on the Rochester Americans. Warren remains a defense-first forward, as he was at Michigan, scoring just 6 points in 33 games this season. 

- Jack Becker: Captain Jack was on the AHL/ECHL fringe this season, playing a nearly even amount of games in both leagues. He scored nearly a point-per-game for Idaho in the ECHL, while scoring only 7 points in 33 games for Texas in the AHL. 

[James Coller]

- Cooper Marody: Marody has played seven NHL games in his career, but he's ultimately a career AHLer- and a good one at that. This season he scored 56 points in 68 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, his third consecutive season near a point-per-game. Nothin' wrong with that. 

- Jimmy Lambert: Over the past two seasons, Lambert has proved he is able to produce at a high level in the ECHL. On two different teams, Lambert has put up 58 points in 62 games. The next step is cracking the AHL, where he struggled last season. His 10 games with Providence this season were rather unremarkable, so perhaps that'll be a task for future seasons. Also of note: he appears to have acquired the nickname "the great Lambino". 

- Griffin Luce: Last time I did this piece, Luce was in the AHL as a regular for Springfield. Unfortunately, he's dropped down to the ECHL in the intervening time, playing this last season with the Atlanta Gladiators. The defenseman scored 12 points in 63 games, pretty typical for a player who was never a high scorer at Michigan. 

[James Coller]

- Dakota Raabe: The one-time speedy winger is still in the ECHL (his ceiling in North America), having finished up his second full season in that league. This year Raabe split time between the Utah Grizzlies and the Iowa Heartlanders, scoring 21 points in 45 games. 

- Luke Morgan: Morgan may have left the University of Michigan but the native Michigander stayed in-state, having played the last 1.5 seasons for the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL. His production is pretty middling, with 19 points in 42 games this season for KZoo. 

- Jay Karenen: Keranen was a teammate of Morgan's in Kalamazoo, playing his first year of pro hockey with the Wings. He scored 5 points in 32 games, normal for the defensive defenseman. Due to his tenure at Michigan coming rather late in his hockey career, Keranen is about to be 26 next week. 

- Jacob Hayhurst: Hayhurst got mentioned previously, for his excellent season that saw him tie with Kile for 3rd in the ECHL's goal scoring chase this year. Now with the Kansas City Mavericks, the 27-year-old has settled in to being an elite ECHL player.