CS-CBJ-WerenskiNorris Going into January, Monsters' center Luca Del Bel Belluz is leading the AHL scoring race. After a rookie season in which he played 58 games and totaled 31 points, the second-round sleeper pick in 2023 has now become the Monsters' top guy. Through 31 games this season, LDBB has a scoring line of 17-18-35. He's also chipped in five power-play goals and a game-winning goal. His 17 goals are third, and his 18 assists are 19th in the league. Two of Del Bel Belluz's teammates, Trey Fix-Wolansky(32) and Rocco Grimaldi(31) are also in the top 5 in AHL scoring. Rookie Denton Mateychuk leads all defensemen in scoring with 25 points and is third among all rookies. Del Bel Belluz was called up last season by the Columbus Blue Jackets to play in the final game of 2024 against the Carolina Hurricanes. In that game, he played 9:35 of ice time and had two shots. During his first shift, he took his first shot and scored his first NHL goal just after serving a too many men on the ice penalty. He also drew a penalty later in that first period. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km93bJf9Jp0[/embed] Many people think that Del Bel Belluz won't be able to crack the lineup as a center for Columbus. Sitting behind Sean Monahan, Adam Fantilli, and Cole Sillinger, it'll be hard for him to beat those guys out. But with changes likely coming at the end of this season, he may just get his shot to make the Jackets roster next season. What's Next - The Jackets play game two of a three-game home stand against the Detroit Red Wings [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings/] on Thursday night. What do you think? Please share your thoughts on our forum. [https://thehockeynews.rtb.io/NHLCBJ/posts]
