NHL Preview:
Making the Cut
by Christopher Kober
Hockeytalk.biz
October 1, 2009
On Wednesday at 3:00 PM Eastern Time the NHL’s 30
teams made their 2009-10 rosters official. Among the fortunate 690 were
highly touted prospects like John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene.
In fact, five of this year’s first round Entry Draft class made the final
cut. Below are a few slightly less heralded players who took a little longer
getting there, but will begin their first NHL season this weekend.
Matt Gilroy, D, New York Rangers
 Last
week Matt Gilroy won the Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award, naming him the best rookie
at the Rangers’ training camp. While not as prestigious as the Hobey Baker
Award he won in April, as the best player in the NCAA, the honor means that
the former Boston University walk-on will likely make his NHL debut in
Pittsburgh on Friday.
Only six days after leading BU to the National
Championship, Gilroy was signed to a two year 3.5 million dollar contract
with the Rangers. He now joins Marc Staal, 22, and Michael Del Zotto, 19, on
the Blueshirts’ increasingly young blue line.
The 25-year-old offensive defenseman will look to
add some defensive scoring depth to a team that finished 28th in goals per
game last year. Gilroy tallied one goal and was plus one in five preseason
appearances.
 Jimmy
Howard, G, Detroit
Chris Osgood’s less than stellar performance in the
regular season last year (.887 SV%; 3.09 GAA) forced back-up Ty Conklin into
40 contests. Osgood has since proven himself in the playoffs, while
Conklin’s departure has made way for Jimmy Howard’s promotion to the NHL.
Long considered the goaltender of the future in
Detroit, Howard was drafted in the second round of the 2003 draft (64th
overall) after his first of three years at the University of Maine. He has
played in nine NHL games thus far in his career, posting a formidable save
percentage of .908 and a goals against average of 2.76.
Howard is upbeat about his first extended stint in
The Show, telling NHL.com’s Dan Rosen that “There’s no way you can’t get
better with these guys shooting on you. You can only go up.” As Osgood’s
back-up, Howard should have upwards of 30 opportunities to improve in front
of NHL fans this year.
 James
Van Riemsdyk, F, Philadelphia
On June 22, 2007 James Van Riemsdyk joined the likes
of Brendan Shanahan, Chris Pronger and Marcel Dion as the second overall
pick in the NHL Entry Draft.
Since being drafted Van Riemsdyk has been over a
point per game player in each of his two years at the University of New
Hampshire. He lead the 2008 World Junior Championships in scoring with 11
points (five goals, six assists), followed by another strong showing last
December (6-4-10) and has made his mark in the NHL preseason this year.
Van Riemsdyk and Claude Giroux, Philadelphia’s
breakout prospect of last season, have found chemistry in the Flyers’
exhibition games and figure to log third line minutes at the Wachovia Center
this season.
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