Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Nothing needs to be permanent about an assignment to the AHL coming out of training camp.
Plenty of chatter and debate will ensue when a top candidate for an NHL job is sent to the AHL instead when opening-night rosters are submitted each October. But the age-old advice from NHL management and coaches – go to the AHL, take care of business and perform – holds true. Several top performers through the first month of the AHL regular season have overcome that disappointment, dug in, and put themselves back in the NHL.
Let’s break down some of those players who have created early NHL opportunities for themselves.
Matěj Blümel, Providence Bruins (Boston Bruins)
Following a league-leading 39-goal season with the Texas Stars last season, Blümel had a long list of potential suitors going into free agency. He ended up choosing Boston, signing a one-year deal on the opening day of free agency.
With Marco Sturm taking over as head coach in Boston and plenty of change surrounding the team after nearly two decades as a Stanley Cup contender, Blümel’s decision made a lot of sense. Boston’s roster had opportunities, and the 25-year-old forward joined the organization after a career season. Boston has a long history of giving its older players in Providence a chance to earn ice time with the NHL club.
It did not work out as planned, though. Boston instead sent Blümel to Providence before the start of the regular season. But injuries hit, as they tend to do, and the NHL club needed reinforcements. Fortunately for Blümel, he had positioned himself as one of the organization’s top recall options. With Providence off to a 12-2-0-0 start, Blümel’s 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in 13 games rank him third in team scoring.
On Monday morning, the call came for Blümel, who had recorded a point in four of his previous five games before that promotion. He made his Boston debut and played 13:10 in a home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. With Boston heading out to the West Coast this week, more playing time may be coming his way.
Braeden Bowman, Henderson Silver Knights (Vegas Golden Knights)
Undrafted as an over-ager out of the Ontario Hockey League, Bowman took a one-year AHL contract offer from the Silver Knights in July 2024.
While Henderson missed the Calder Cup Playoffs last season, Bowman made the most of his chances last season and ended up tied for second in team scoring with 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists) in 68 games. That set up the 22-year-old forward well coming into this season. His seven goals in 12 games have him even with rookie Tuomas Uronen for the Henderson lead, and he had a pair of two-goal outings for the Silver Knights.
The Golden Knights summoned Bowman last week, and he has quickly found plenty of work. He collected his first NHL goal this past Saturday night in St. Louis, and his 19:05 the next night at Minnesota put him fourth among the team’s forwards.
Jared Davidson, Laval Rocket (Montreal Canadiens)
A fifth-round pick isn’t going to get an easy ride to a full-time NHL job.
It was not that way for Davidson, who was bypassed in his first two years of NHL draft eligibility before the Canadiens made him a fifth-round pick in 2022. Like Bowman, he had to play his overage junior season and spent it with the Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds before earning a job with Laval in 2023-24. After being limited to 38 AHL games as a rookie, he broke loose with a 24-goal effort last season for the Rocket. He has hardly slowed down, either, and his nine goals in 13 games put him a second-place tie in the AHL.
The forward’s call to the NHL came last Friday when the Canadiens brought him up from Laval. And his NHL debut came in one of the brightest spots imaginable: Saturday night in Montreal in an Original Six match-up with the Bruins.
Dryden Hunt, Calgary Wranglers (Calgary Flames)
Being a top producer at the AHL level and also serving as an easy plug-and-play recall option for the NHL parent team can be a reliable niche to fill.
Hunt went undrafted but has built himself a solid career doing just that. Amid a 58-goal campaign in the 2015-16 WHL season, the forward got a chance with the Florida Panthers organization as a signing late in that season. He turned pro the following season, and by 2017-18 he had already gotten NHL recall time. He ended up playing 63 regular-season games with the Panthers while also producing a pair of 23-goal seasons in the AHL.
From there it was on to Arizona Coyotes, New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche, and Toronto Maple Leafs for abbreviated stops. Finally it was a March 2023 deal sending him to the Flames that has provided him a sustained landing spot.
A steady go-to recall option for the Flames, he has also been able to drive offensive production with the Wranglers. After 16 goals in 49 games last season for the Wranglers, he got off to 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in his first 16 AHL Games this season to tie for third in league scoring.
His call back to the NHL team came Monday morning in advance of Tuesday’s road game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Sergei Murashov, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Written off in many preseason predictions, Pittsburgh has instead gotten off to a solid 10-5-4 start to sit just three points off the pace in the NHL’s Eastern Conference.
After a strong 2024-25 campaign with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers, Murashov went to training camp with Pittsburgh and made a further impression. Pittsburgh management opted to send the 21-year-old back to the AHL for further work. But Murashov, a 2022 fourth-round pick, may be forcing his case with Pittsburgh even sooner than expected. He went to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and ended up being named the AHL Goaltender of the Month in October after he finished 5-1-0 with a 1.68 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage to go with a shutout.
When Tristan Jarry went on injured reserve, Pittsburgh put in a call for Murashov on Nov. 4. He made his NHL debut facing the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 9 and handled himself well. With the NHL team in Stockholm for the NHL Global Series this past weekend, he returned in net Sunday and provided a 22-save shutout in defeating the Nashville Predators, 4-0. Between offseason acquisition Artūrs Šilovs, the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the Calder Cup Playoffs last season with the Abbotsford Canucks, and Murashov, Pittsburgh has an intriguing goaltending situation to monitor.
Alex Steeves, Providence Bruins (Boston Bruins)
Like Blümel, Steeves had a dominant 2024-25 campaign with the Toronto Marlies that he used to pivot to a new opportunity. He also signed with Boston as free agency opened.
And like Blümel, he found himself back in the AHL. But he got down to work and generated eight points (three goals, five assists) in his opening nine games for Providence. That NHL call came Nov. 8 for the 25-year-old forward. That same night he made his Boston debut at Scotiabank Arena against Toronto, his first NHL organization. In a rematch with the Leafs in Boston on Nov. 11, he pocketed his first goal in a win.
He has started to find his way in Sturm’s lineup, has averaged 12:31 of ice time in five games, and has also gotten time on the Boston penalty kill.
Riley Tufte, Providence Bruins (Boston Bruins)
Tufte completes the trio of P-Bruins forwards now in Boston.
Unlike Blümel and Steeves, this is Tufte’s second year in the Boston organization. The 27-year-old forward, a first-round pick by the Dallas Stars back in 2016, has grown into a proven AHL scorer across the past three seasons. Now Tufte, who is 6-foot-6 and 233 pounds, might be finding another level. His eight goals through 13 games tie him for third in the AHL, and his 16 points also rank him third in the league.
He joined Blümel in Monday’s recall and supplied Boston’s only goal in the loss to Carolina while skating 15:13.