Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Feature Writer
For AHL players, every road to the NHL looks different.
Some people, usually high-round picks, will take the fast route of the American Hockey League. They need ice time and address some of the remaining weaknesses in the game, and the AHL provides that.
Other players need to play in the AHL for several seasons to be a viable option in the NHL. Maybe they need to re-engineer from top scorers in college and teenage levels to defensive players who can play very different roles in the NHL. Or there are loopholes in their game that require a lot of improvements. The AHL can also be a necessary bridge for these players. Goalkeepers usually take longer.
There are also veterans who have devoted years to the AHL level as reliable producers and leaders. Perhaps there have been some recalls in the NHL.
With the NHL regular season kicking off this week, 596 AHL graduates will start their season on the NHL roster. Let’s take a look at some of their stories.
Andrew Agozino – Utah Mammoth
Agozino, 34, has another NHL chance.
Agozino is one of the most respected veterans in the AHL and has been struggling in the league since 2012. He scored 20 or more goals in eight of his 13 AHL seasons, including last year’s in Tucson. He was twice selected for the AHL All-Star and won the Team of the Year Award for his community work, and has played in 791 regular season games for 10 AHL clubs. He has always been a reliable call-up option and has also competed in 51 NHL games.
Now, as Utah’s roster starts a bit hard at the start of the season, management rewards Agozino for years of work and reliability and has the opportunity to start the season in the NHL.
Jet Legguards – Columbus Blue Jacket
Not every rookie enters the AHL with big fanfare. But some people left the AHL and headed to the NHL to create a lot of optimism.
Greaves is one of them. Greaves lost from the Ontario Hockey League and made a long and stable climb on the development ladder of Columbus. In his 2021-22 rookie season, he played for the ECHL and the Cleveland Monsters on an AHL contract. He signed an NHL contract with the Blues mid-season, but this was his second season, where he played 43 games for the Monsters, establishing himself as the No. 1 defensive player in the AHL. In the third season, he led the Monsters to the seventh overtime game of the Eastern Conference Finals, and last season he played 40 games for Cleveland.
During the NHL recall, the Blues made 21 appearances. He was also recognized for the AHL All-Rookie Team last spring.
four seasons. ECHL Time. Rich AHL experience. Now at the age of 24, he is a full-time goalkeeper in the NHL.
Logan Melux – St. Louis Bruce
During Laval’s two seasons, Malux made the Rockets a difficult and frustrating opponent.
Now, the St. Louis Blues hopes the 22-year-old guard who brought in from the Montreal Canadiens last summer can do the same for them. Last spring, he played a key role in helping the Rockets create the highest AHL regular season record and reach the Eastern Conference Finals. Along the way, he was selected for the AHL All-Rookie Team in the 2023-24 season and was selected for the AHL All-Rookie Team last season. He also was selected for the AHL All-Star Classic twice.
Matt Savoy – Edmonton Oilers
Sava has been on the brink of NHL duties for some time.
The ninth pick in the 2022 NHL Draft played a game against the Buffalo Sabres in the 2023-24 season. He played four games for the Oilers last season after Sabres sent him to Edmonton in July 2024. During this time, the forward with elite speed scored 19 goals and 54 points last season as a Bakersfield Condors rookie and had a spot on the Pacific Division roster for the AHL All-Star Classic.
The Edmonton native may be back home and staying after joining the Oilers who reached the Stanley Cup final for two consecutive seasons.
Artus Silovs – Pittsburgh Penguins
The 24-year-old goalkeeper returns to the NHL less than four months after leading the Abbotsford Canucks to win the Calder Cup for the first time.
In the opening game at Madison Square Garden, the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy winner won the start and finished the finale for Pittsburgh as the Calder Cup playoff MVP last season, and after an eventful offseason, he himself got a new NHL chance. Three weeks after he lifted the Calder Cup, Pittsburgh acquired him from Vancouver through a deal. Silovs played 19 NHL regular season games for Vancouver in three seasons and had a chance to seize his best chance yet.
Regarding the American Hockey League’s 20 years of flair, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. In 2016, he won the AHL James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league.
