AHL Season Preview: Matt Murray Among NHL’s Familiar Names Back in AHL

The NHL salary cap can be brutal. So is a long and winding injury history. Or a decline in performance.

Just as the AHL’s reputation is built on drafting and sending young prospects to the NHL, it may also be a way to fall back on the NHL’s mainstream names. Often high prospects themselves, those players find themselves tasked with making that climb back to the NHL.

Something – be it the salary cap, injuries, a long slump, a new management team, or just plain bad luck – brought these players back to the AHL.

Once NHL stars, the likes of Jonathan Cheechoo, Dany Heatley, Andrew Ladd, Alex Mogilny, Scott Gomez, Wade Redden, Cory Schneider, and Sheldon Souray all found themselves sent to the AHL for the second half of their careers. In time, a player like Ladd will return to the NHL to find another way and stick. Some manage to move up that NHL-AHL line for a while, get a brief recall here and there, but never make it back to the NHL. And for some, the AHL is their last stop.

This season is no different. For any number of reasons, a group of seasoned veterans find themselves in the AHL to begin this campaign. Here’s a look at some of the prominent members of that group:

Pierre Engvall – Bridgeport Islanders (New York Islanders)

There was a lot of grumbling this week when New York made the 28-year-old forward. Engvall was fired and found himself in Bridgeport leading the club’s season opener Saturday night against Providence.

It was only two years ago that Engvall had a solid 17-goal season between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Isles. After being traded late in the 2022-23 season to New York, he appeared to be part of the future on Long Island. Islanders management seems to think so. After all, it had been 15 months since they gave Engvall a seven-year contract.

Now Engvall is back in the AHL for the first time since his stint with the Toronto Marlies. What’s next?

Boris Katchouk – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh Penguins)

A 2016 second-round pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Katchouk found his career in a tough spot at age 26.

The forward has bounced around the Lightning, Chicago, and Ottawa over the past three seasons. A training camp tryout with Anaheim this preseason did not yield an NHL job. So it’s back to the AHL for Katchouk, who signed an AHL contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this week. As someone who showed scoring ability during his time with Syracuse, this new contract is an opportunity to regain that touch on the net.

Matt Murray – Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs)

Bilateral hip surgery ended most of Murray’s 2023-24 season in Toronto as he opts out of a four-year contract he signed with Ottawa in 2020. And over the past two seasons, Murray has played just 48 games in the NHL. and the AHL.

But while last year’s surgery was expected to sideline Murray for up to eight months, he was able to bounce back to salvage a year as he appeared in three postseason games with the Marlies.

As the Marlies prepare to open their season at home Saturday afternoon against San Diego, Murray’s battle to revive his career will continue in the AHL, where he emerged as a top prospect back in 2014-15 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. A year after winning nearly every league trophy as a rookie, Murray had graduated to the NHL and won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. Now 30 years old, the Leafs are giving Murray another chance with the new one-year contract he signed this past summer.

Colin White – San Jose Barracuda (San Jose Sharks)

Veteran after veteran struggled to find work this past season.

Even spending the better part of the last six seasons in the NHL wasn’t enough to get White at least a two-way NHL deal. So the 27-year-old took a different approach and signed an AHL deal with the Barracuda instead.

Now White will move into a potentially better position. Starting with him and Andrew Poturalski, the Barracuda offense will have a lot of power, which should allow White to put up some solid numbers. And with the Sharks needing help, a good start could lead to them ripping up White’s AHL contract and offering him a contract that would bring him back to the NHL.

Jarred Tinordi – Calgary Wranglers (Calgary Flames)

Tinordi is well-acquainted with the ups and downs of the hockey business.

A 2010 first-round pick by the Montreal Canadiens, it took the defenseman 12 years to find himself a regular on the NHL’s blue line. He ended up playing in 96 games over the past two seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks. Turns out it’s worth someone who ended up in Chicago as a rescission claim. But with the Hawks rebuilding this summer, Tinordi found himself looking for a job in the program that began in September.

The 32-year-old is starting with the Wranglers, but a return to the NHL could mean a trip down the hallway to the Flames’ locker room.

When Does the 2024 AHL Season Start?

The season starts on Oct. 11, 2024 when the Milwaukee Admirals travel to the Grand Rapids Griffins at 7 pm EDT and the Syracuse Crunch travel to the Utica Comets at the same time.

There are 29 games in total during the opening weekend.

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