Carcone, Andreoff capture AHL scoring titles

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … Tucson Roadrunners forward Michael Carcone and Bridgeport Islanders forward Andy Andreoff have won the American Hockey League’s two prestigious offensive awards for the 2022-23 season.

Carcone has won the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the leading point-getter in the AHL, while Andreoff has captured the Willie Marshall Award as the AHL’s leading goal scorer in 2022-23.

A seventh-year pro from Ajax, Ont., Carcone established career highs across the board with 31 goals, 54 assists and a league-best 85 points in 65 games for Tucson this season. Carcone had more multiple-point games (25) than scoreless games (18), and he had the longest scoring streak in the league this season when he compiled 30 points over a 15-game span from Dec. 17 to Jan. 31. Carcone was voted a First Team AHL All-Star for 2022-23, and was selected as the AHL Player of the Month for December. He participated in his first AHL All-Star Classic this season, and also recorded two goals and one assist in nine NHL games with Arizona.

In 398 career AHL games with Tucson, Belleville, Toronto and Utica, Carcone has collected 123 goals and 144 assists for 267 points. He signed as a free agent with the Coyotes on July 29, 2021, and has totaled six goals and three assists in 30 career NHL contests.

Andreoff scored a league-best and career-high 37 goals in 69 games for Bridgeport, including 13 goals in his final 15 contests to take the goal-scoring title. He recorded two hat tricks on the season – the second and third of his career – and scored 13 power-play goals, tied for fifth in the league. Andreoff added 28 assists to finish with 65 points, also a personal high.

An 11th-year pro from Pickering, Ont., Andreoff has played 403 AHL games with Bridgeport, Lehigh Valley, Syracuse and Manchester, totaling 124 goals and 130 assists for 243 points. He has also tallied 14 goals and 13 assists in 188 career NHL contests, including one assist in three games with the New York Islanders this season. Andreoff was originally a third-round selection by Los Angeles in the 2011 NHL Draft.

The AHL’s leading-scorer trophy was originally named after Wally Kilrea, who held the AHL’s single-season scoring record when the award was instituted in 1947-48. That year, Carl Liscombe broke Kilrea’s record, and the award was renamed in his honor. In 1955, the AHL Board of Governors voted to name the trophy after John B. Sollenberger, a long-time contributor to the league as manager and president of the Hershey Bears and former Chairman of the AHL Board of Governors. Previous winners of the John B. Sollenberger Trophy include Fred Glover (1957, ’60), Willie Marshall (1958), Bill Sweeney (1961, ’62, ’63), Don Blackburn (1972), Paul Gardner (1985, ’86), Bruce Boudreau (1988), Peter White (1995, ’97, ’98), Derek Armstrong (2001), Jason Spezza (2005), Alexandre Giroux (2009), Keith Aucoin (2010), Brandon Pirri (2013), Travis Morin (2014), Chris Bourque (2016), Chris Terry (2018), Carter Verhaeghe (2019), Sam Anas (2020) and Andrew Poturalski (2021, 2022).

The AHL’s goal-scoring award was established in 2004 to honor Willie Marshall, the AHL’s all-time leader in goals, assists, points and games played; winners include Mike Cammalleri (2005), Alexandre Giroux (2009, ’10), Tyler Johnson (2013), Frank Vatrano (2016), Carter Verhaeghe (2019), Alex Barre-Boulet (2019), Gerry Mayhew (2020), Cooper Marody (2021) and Stefan Noesen (2022). Other previous yearly goal-scoring leaders include Bryan Hextall (1937), Lou Trudel (1942, ’45), Fred Glover (1951), Dunc Fisher (1958), Jimmy Anderson (1961, ’64), Yvon Lambert (1973), Gordie Clark (1980), Paul Gardner (1985, ’86), Jody Gage (1988) and Brad Smyth (1996, 2001).

In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 32 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.