Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Sometimes opportunity comes from where you don’t expect it.
For some players, the NHL waiver wire provides a fresh start in the days leading up to the regular season. Last year, goaltender Brandon Bussi saw his career path take a dramatic turn when he was claimed by the Carolina Hurricanes from Florida. Eight months later, he was a Stanley Cup champion.
Several familiar AHL names have found new opportunities this fall.
Andreas Englund (Calgary Flames → Detroit Red Wings)
The Detroit organization is familiar with the 30-year-old Englund from his days battling for the Milwaukee Admirals against the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Englund had signed with Calgary as a free agent after 52 games last season in Milwaukee. He will offer the Detroit defense corps size and a physical presence. Along with 352 AHL games, he has also played 200 NHL games and could be an easy plug-and-play option in Detroit.
Leevi Meriläinen (Ottawa Senators → Vancouver Canucks)
With Thatcher Demko out of action, Vancouver had a need in goal that Meriläinen could fill.
Meriläinen, 24, has been a familiar presence with the Belleville Senators since the 2022-23 season. He split last season between Ottawa (20 games) and Belleville (19 games) in his most lengthy NHL run to date. Along with 34 career games for Ottawa, he played 84 games with the B-Sens and went 39-29-10 with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. With Meriläinen working alongside Kevin Lankinen, Vancouver sent Nikita Tolopilo to the Abbotsford Canucks for further development.
As for Ottawa’s goaltending depth chart, the Senators acted quickly to bring in experience by acquiring Jonas Johansson from the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 31-year-old Johansson spent the past three seasons with the Lightning backing up star Andrei Vasilevskiy, but he has 105 career NHL games. He also has played 69 career AHL games between the Rochester Americans, Colorado Eagles, and Charlotte Checkers, going 39-21-6 with a 2.56 GAA and .911 save percentage.
Rémi Poirier (Dallas Stars → New Jersey Devils)
Poirier showed two key traits in net for the Texas Stars: he’s a workhorse and a battler.
A 2020 sixth-round pick by Dallas, Poirier now has put himself on an NHL roster after an extensive run in the Dallas system. He also showed that he could handle a heavy workload. His 52 regular-season appearances with Texas last season tied him with Devon Levi for the AHL lead. Having become the clear number-one in Texas, he went 27-19-6 with a 2.61 GAA and .912 save percentage. Now the Devils are bringing in the 24-year-old to push incumbents Jake Allen and Nico Daws for playing time.
Texas is still strong in net, however. Offseason free agent signing Brandon Halverson is on the Texas roster to bring elite-level goaltending alongside returnee Arno Tiefensee, who earned his first 20 AHL appearances last season.
Clay Stevenson (Washington Capitals → Winnipeg Jets)
Connor Hellebuyck’s holdout left a significant hole on the Winnipeg roster, so the Jets have turned to one of the great goaltending production lines of the past two decades.
Stevenson is the latest in a long line of goaltenders who developed with the Hershey Bears before moving on to the Capitals or NHL work elsewhere. The 27-year-old Stevenson went through four seasons of training in the Washington development chain and played 109 games with the Bears. Along with a 63-31-9 record to go with a 2.50 GAA and .909 save percentage, he also won the Calder Cup with the Bears in 2024.
Stevenson is a loss for the Bears, but Washington may have some insurance in net. They brought veteran Cal Petersen to training camp, and he signed a one-year AHL deal with the club Tuesday. Petersen has played 248 career AHL games along with 106 NHL appearances and spent last season with the Iowa Wild.
William Trudeau (New York Rangers → Nashville Predators)
Trudeau was slated to be part of a deep Hartford blue line until Nashville scuttled the Rangers’ plans. The Predators made Chris MacFarland their new president of hockey operations and general manager in the offseason, and a significant roster reshaping is already well underway.
Trudeau, who turns 24 on Oct. 11, had signed with the Rangers as a free agent this past July following four seasons with the Laval Rocket. A reliable defensive presence for the Rocket, he also showed an ability to distribute the puck. He posted 90 points (28 goals, 62 assists) in his 260 regular-season outings with the Rocket.
On the American Hockey League beat for more than two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2015-16.
