Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
The NHL preseason continues, and so does the work of several prospects to further their bids for full-time NHL work.
After excellent 2024-25 performances in the AHL followed by a summer of training, these hopefuls have anywhere from a week or two of the preseason schedule to show that they are worthy of starting the season in the NHL. And if not October, then they can make the case that they should be first-recall options when a need arises on the NHL roster later.
Let’s break down some top performances that started the preseason slate.
BOSTON BRUINS (PROVIDENCE BRUINS)
After his 39 goals for the Texas Stars led the AHL last season, forward Matěj Blümel hit free agency this summer.
With a path to the NHL difficult to find with the Dallas Stars, a team that finished in the final four of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring, Blümel opted to take a one-year contract with Boston on the first day of free agency. Change is all around the Bruins this fall, including new head coach Marco Sturm, who had been with the Ontario Reign. Bruins management is looking for scoring, something that Blümel certainly has shown that he can do at the AHL level.
To that end, they are giving Blümel a good look at training camp. He has been in their lineup for each of the first two games of the preseason schedule, and he got on the scoreboard early Tuesday night for the Bruins in what became a come-from-behind 5-4 overtime win against the New York Rangers.
CALGARY FLAMES (CALGARY WRANGLERS)
Following a breakout 33-goal season for the Wranglers, forward Rory Kerins is back in the goal column.
This time it is for the Flames, who got a goal and an assist from Kerins in Tuesday night’s 4-1 home win against the Seattle Kraken. Named the game’s first star, the 23-year-old is trying to find his way to a full-time job with the Flames. An AHL All-Star last season, he also appeared in five games with the Flames, who had taken him as a sixth-round pick in 2020.
DETROIT RED WINGS (GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS)
The Red Wings got plenty of offense from their forward prospects Tuesday night to take a 3-2 win against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.
Detroit got goals from Carter Mazur and Nate Danielson, who both spent last season with the Griffins. Danielson, the ninth pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, had 39 points (12 goals, 27 assists) as a rookie last season with Grand Rapids. After an encouraging 2023-24 rookie season, injury limited Mazur to just 20 games with the Griffins last season, though he did post 15 points (eight goals, seven assists).
Emmitt Finnie, who got a 10-game late-season look last spring with the Griffins, added a goal and an assist in the win to earn first-star honors. Michael Brandsegg-Nygård, another late addition to the Griffins last season, picked up two assists for the Red Wings. Detroit took him 15th in the 2024 NHL Draft.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (TORONTO MARLIES)
With goaltender Joseph Woll taking a personal leave of absence to handle a family matter, the Leafs are giving Dennis Hildeby a long look in training camp.
Hildeby got the start Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators and played the first two periods. Stopping all 23 shots that he saw, he gave way to backup Artur Akhtyamov in an eventual 3-2 victory. A two-time AHL All-Star, Hildeby played 30 games for the Marlies in 2024-25 and went 16-9-4 with a 2.55 goals-against average and .908 save percentage. The Leafs signed the 24-year-old to a three-year contract extension Sept. 2; that contract is a two-way deal this season and next before it becomes a one-way in 2027-28.
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
