36 AHL alumni play for Florida and Edmonton
The American Hockey League prides itself on being the primary developmental league for the NHL, and you do not need to look any further than the NHL Stanley Cup Finals to see how successful it has been.
36 players total on the two remaining NHL teams are AHL alumni, including Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, Sam Reinhart, and Brandon Montour.
Carter Verhaeghe led the AHL in scoring in 2018-19 while Steven Lorentz won the Calder Cup the same year. Montour, Bouchard, Connor Brown, Derek Ryan, Nick Cousins, and Anthony Stolarz have all been AHL All-Stars. Calvin Pickard won the Calder Cup and Harry Holmes Memorial Award with the Toronto Marlies in 2018.
22 players who have appeared in a playoff game for the Oilers - that is every skater except for Connor McDavid and both goalies - have played in at least one AHL game at some point in their career.
13 of the 20 skaters and one of Florida's two goalies who have played in a playoff game this year have previously appeared in at least one AHL game.
Additionally, coaching staff and management for both teams have AHL ties, Paul Maurice coached the Toronto Marlies in 2005-06 while Kris Knoblauch was Head Coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack for four and a half seasons before joining the Oilers in November.
Florida General Manager Bill Zito served as General Manager of the Lake Erie/Cleveland Monsters for four seasons, winning the Calder Cup in 2016. Edmonton General Manager Ken Holland served in the same role with the Adirondack Wings for three seasons from 1994-97.
A total list of AHL alumni can be viewed here.
Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News' AHL Page for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more.