Patrick Williamstheahl.com writer
For AHL players, each path to the NHL looks different.
Some are usually the highest draft picks to the fast route of the American Hockey League. They need ice time and figure out some of the remaining weaknesses in the game, and AHL provides that.
It will take several seasons for other players to become viable NHL choices in the AHL. Maybe they need to recast from the top scorers in academy and junior high school, defensively oriented players who can play very different roles in the NHL. Or they need a lot of work in their game. For these players, AHL may also be a necessary bridge. Goalkeepers usually need to be extended.
Then, there were some veterans who spent several years at the AHL level as reliable producers and leaders. Maybe there are some NHL memories here and there too.
With the opening of this week's NHL regular season, 596 AHL graduates will start their season on the NHL roster. Let's take a look at some of their stories.
Andrew Agozzino – Utah Mammoth
Another chance in the NHL is Agozzino's 34-year-old.
Agozzino is one of the most respected veterans in the AHL and has been aligned with the league since 2012. In eight of his 13 AHL seasons, he hit 20 or more goals in Tucson, including last year. He has won the AHL All-Star twice, and is also a winner of his Community Work Player of the Year Award, and has invested 791 regular season games for 10 AHL clubs. He is always a reliable call option and he has played 51 NHL games.
Now, with Utah’s roster bursting a little, the season has begun, and management has rewarded Agozzino for years of work and reliability, with the opportunity to start in the NHL this season.
Jet Green – Columbus Blue Jacket
Not every rookie enters the AHL with great fanfare. But some people left the AHL to bring a lot of optimism to the NHL.
Greaves is one of them. Greaves stood out from the Antario Hockey League and raised a long and steady climb along the Columbus development ladder. His 2021-22 rookie season broke up between the ECHL and the Cleveland Monsters signing an AHL contract. Midway through that season, he signed an NHL deal with Blue Jackets, but this was his second season, establishing himself as the number one AHL, playing 43 games for the Monsters. Season 3 saw him running the monsters until Game 7 overtime in the Eastern Conference Finals, where he played 40 games for Cleveland last season.
On the way, during the NHL recall, Blue Jacket made 21 appearances. Last spring, he also received recognition from the AHL's top prospects team.
four seasons. ECHL time. Lots of AHL experience. Now, he is a 24-year-old full-time NHL goalkeeper.
Logan Mailloux – St. Louis Blues
During two seasons with Laval, Mailloux made the Rockets a difficult, frustrating opponent.
Now, the St. Louis Blues hopes the 22-year-old defensive defender, who received from the Montreal Canadiens last summer, can do the same for them. He played a key role in helping the Rockets release AHL's regular season record and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals last spring. Along the way, he was a member of the 2023-24 AHL All-Rookie team and then joined the AHL Top Prospects team last season. He also won two choices for the AHL All-Star Classic.
Matt Savoie – Edmonton Oilers
Savoie has been on the brink of NHL duties for some time.
The ninth pick in the 2022 NHL Draft played against the Buffalo Sabers in 2023-24. He played four games with the Oilers last season after Sabres sent him to Edmonton in July 2024. In the middle of it all, the forward with elite speed last season scored 19 goals and 54 points in the Bakersfield Condors and took a spot in the Pacific Division roster of the AHL All-Star Classic.
Edmonton-area natives join a team of oilers who competed in the Stanley Cup finals in the back-to-back season and may be back home.
Artūrsšilovs – Pittsburgh Penguin
The 24-year-old goalkeeper led Abbotsford Canucks to their first Calder Cup title and returned to the NHL in less than four months.
The Jack A. Butterfield Trophy won the opening night of Pittsburgh and won the game in Pittsburgh, the most valuable player in the Calder Cup playoffs last season, and it was also a new NHL opportunity, and it was also a new NHL opportunity. Pittsburgh acquired him from Vancouver three weeks after lifting the Calder Cup. The Šilovs played 19 NHL regular seasons for Vancouver in Vancouver, having the chance to seize his best chance.
During the fifty years in the American Hockey League, Theahl.com writer Patrick Williams currently covers NHL.com and Flosports leagues and is a regular contributor to Siriusxm NHL New Network Radio. He won the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding league coverage in 2016.
