Minor Distractions - Movers and Shakers

The injury plagued season has caused a lot of movement up and down, but it appears that we are finally starting to get back to some semblance of health, which has allowed some key players to return from whence they came. So I have separated the players into 3 groups. The first group are those that have spent some time as call-ups with the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins and have since been returned to the AHL. The second group are those that have spent some time as call-ups with the AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and have since been returned to the ECHL. The last are those that have spent time with the ECHL Wheeling Nailers but are currently still playing in the AHL.

Trying to find the cutoff date to focus on was less straight forward. Most of the movements seem to coincide with the Olympic break, as we have coincidental movement of 3 players being sent down to the AHL on February 8th followed by 4 players being sent down to the ECHL on February 13th. However, if we used February 8th as our cutoff that would only give us a 6 game AHL and 7 game ECHL sample to work with. So I decided to stretch that out a bit and include all games played since January 24th, which was the other cutoff date for the Olympic break. That gives us a 13 game sample to work with for both the AHL and ECHL. I looked at all games since the player's most recent call-up going back to that cutoff date.

Team Stats

Before looking at the players it is important to look at the team itself. The WBS Baby Pens have been going through an extremely rough stretch as of late. In the past 6 games going back to February 8th they have gone 1-3-2, were outscored 16 to 24 for a -8, outshot their opponents 182-181 for a +1, went 5 for 30 on the PP for a 16.7 PP%, and killed 26 of 34 for a 76.5 PK%. If we stretch that to the past 13 games going back to January 24th we instead have a 4-7-2 record, were outscored 29 to 38 for a -9, outshot their opponents 359-323 for a +36, went 7 for 66 on the PP for a 10.6 PP%, and killed 48 of 60 for a 80.0 PK%.

Down in The Wheel, however, they have started to climb back up out of the basement. In 7 games going back to February 8th they have gone 5-2-0, outscored their opponents 25 to 16 for a +9, were outshot 202 to 207 for a -5, went 6 for 24 on the PP for a 25.0 PP%, and killed 25 of 28 for a 89.3 PK%. If we stretch that back to the past 13 games going back to January 24th we instead have a 8-5-0 record, outscored their opponents 38 to 30 for a +8, were outshot 365 to 385 for a -20, went 11 for 49 on the PP for a 22.4 PP%, and killed 43 of 50 for a 86.0 PK%.

NHL to AHL Transfers

Jayson Megna was returned to the AHL on February 8th. Since that time he was played in 4 games, during which he scored 1 Goal and an even 0 rating. They gave him the first two games off to rest up and he joined the lineup after the All-Star break.

Zach Sill was returned to the AHL on January 23rd. He had played just 2 games going back to January 24th, scoring 1 Goal and a +1 rating. He suffered an arm laceration from an opponent's skate and had to undergo surgery, so he has been out of the lineup since then.

Brian Gibbons was returned to the AHL on February 8th. Since that time he has played in 4 games, during which he scored 2 Goals, 1 Assist, and an even 0 rating. 1 of his Goals and his Assist were scored on the PP and 1 of his Goals was scored shorthanded. They gave him the first two games off to rest up and he joined the lineup after the All-Star break.

Harry Zolnierczyk was returned to the AHL on February 8th. Since that time he played in 5 games, during which he scored 3 Goals, 1 Assist, and an even 0 rating. He was scratched for one game but came back the next night desperate to prove himself.

Andrew Ebbett was returned to the AHL on February 4th. Since that time he played in 7 games, during which he scored 2 Goals, 2 Assists, and was a -1 rating. 1 of his Goals and both of his Assists were scored on the PP.

Nick Drazenovic was returned to the AHL on January 16th. He played in all 13 games going back to January 24th, during which he scored 3 Goals, 5 Assists, and a -4 rating. 1 of his Goals and 2 of his Assists were scored on the PP.

Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond was returned to the AHL on January 16th. He played in 11 games going back to January 24th, during which he scored 1 Assist and a -3 rating. He missed two games after getting banged up in a game but has since returned to the lineup.

Simon Despres was returned to the AHL on January 16th. He played in all 13 games going back to January 24th, during which he scored 8 Assists and a -3 rating. 3 of his Assists were scored on the PP.

Brian Dumoulin was returned to the AHL on December 30th. He played in 5 games going back to January 24th, during which he scored 2 Assists and a -2 rating. He has been out with a lower body injury for the past few weeks.

Philip Samuelsson was returned to the AHL on December 24th. He played in all 13 games going back to January 24th, during which he scored 3 Assists and a +3 rating.

AHL to ECHL Transfers

Carter Rowney was returned to the ECHL on February 13th. Since that time he played in 4 games, during which he scored 2 Goals, 3 Assists, and an even 0 rating. 1 of his Goals and 2 of his Assists were scored on the PP.

Denver Manderson was returned to the ECHL on February 13th. Since that time he played in 4 games, during which he scored 3 Goals, 3 Assists, and an even 0 rating. 1 of his Goals and 2 of his Assists were scored on the PP.

Cody Sylvester was returned to the ECHL on January 8th. He played in all 13 games going back to January 24th, during which he scored 4 Goals, 8 Assists, and a +5 rating. 4 of his Assists were scored on the PP.

Zach Torquato was returned to the ECHL on February 13th. Since that time he played in 4 games, during which he scored 2 Goals, 4 Assists, and a +1 rating. 1 of his Goals and 1 of his Assists were scored on the PP while 1 of his Assists was scored shorthanded.

Barry Goers was returned to the ECHL on February 13th. Since that time he played in 4 games, during which he scored 1 Assist and a -1 rating. His lone Assist was scored on the PP.

Peter Merth was returned to the ECHL on January 8th. He got injured not long after and has not played in any recent games.

Dustin Stevenson was returned to the ECHL on December 30th. He played in 12 games going back to January 24th, during which he scored 5 Assists and a -4 rating. 2 of his Assists were scored on the PP while 1 of his Assists was scored shorthanded. He was scratched for 1 game.

Peter Mannino reported to the ECHL on January 16th. He played in 5 games going back to January 24th, during which he had a 3-2-0 record, a 1.95 GAA, and a .935 Sv%. He has been serving as a backup and as one of three goaltenders sometimes doesn't even dress for the game.

ECHL to AHL Transfers

Anton Zlobin was called up to the AHL on December 2nd. He played in 10 games going back to January 24th, during which he scored 2 Assists and a +1. 1 of his Assists was scored on the PP. With the return of so many other players he has been bouncing in and out of the lineup as a healthy scratch in recent games.

Nick D`Agostino was called up to the AHL on February 3rd. Since that time he played in 4 games, during which he scored 1 Assist and a +2 rating. He has been splitting time as the 6/7 D.

Harrison Ruopp was called up to the AHL on February 3rd. Since that time he played in 3 games, druing which he went scoreless and an even 0 rating. He has been splitting time as the 6/7 D.

Eric Hartzell was called up to the AHL on November 18th. He played in 10 games going back to January 24th, during which he had a 3-5-0 record, a 2.62 GAA, and a .896 Sv%. He has been playing as the starter, but he was pulled 3 times in the past 5 games so his status may have reverted to being backup again until he can regain his form.