Jacob Stoller and Patrick Williams discuss the Oilers hiring former AHL Hartford coach Kris Knoblauch, whether Nick Blankenburg and Jiri Kulich should be called up to their NHL teams, the emergence of Isaac Poulter in net, Hurricanes prospects and much more.
Jiri KulichThis week on The Hockey News On The 'A' Podcast with Jacob Stoller and Patrick Williams:
- What are the Edmonton Oilers getting in Kris Knoblauch? Hired by Edmonton on Sunday, Knoblauch was the Hartford Wolf Pack coach since the 2019-20 season. Pat provides some insight into who he is as a coach and how the whole thing went down from the perspective of Hartford's personnel.
- Nick Blankenburg is in the AHL this season following a strong rookie year in the NHL last year. Despite adding Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson to the team's blueline, in addition to Jake Bean returning to full health, Blankenburg is simply too good for the AHL. How much longer will this last?
- Could Isaac Poulter be the next great hidden gem goaltender? The 22-year-old undrafted netminder has recorded a .938 save percentage in seven AHL games this season. His road to his hot start was a murky, bumpy ride. Now, he's on track to get an entry-level contract sooner rather than later.
- Rochester Americans forward Jiri Kulich is the prospect of the week. The 2022 first-round pick by Buffalo is off to a fantastic start to the season, recording 13 points in his first 12 games. With Tage Thompson out and the Sabres struggling to score at 5-on-5 – it's a no-brainer to recall him, even if it's just for a game or two. What's the harm?
- The Carolina Hurricanes are the team profile of the week, with no exact AHL affiliate. Canes prospects Vasily Ponomarev, Domenick Fensore, Griffin Mendel and Ronan Seeley have returned to the Chicago Wolves, who decided to run without an NHL affiliate this season.
- Around the 'A': Pat empties his notebook and dishes out some tidbits from around the league, including Jack Campbell's rocky start in AHL Bakersfield, What the Kris Knoblauch hiring means for the Wolf Pack, Maxim Groshev heating up for the Syracuse Crunch and Chris Terry reaching 700 points.
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