FloHockey identifies 10 recent AHL graduates who made NHL opening-night rosters. The piece singles out Ilya Protas, Devon Levi and Konsta Helenius with concrete performance notes to watch as the NHL season begins.
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This is as good a reminder as any that the path to the NHL goes through FloHockey and getting a subscription allows you to catch all of these players before they become NHL stars.
# Why this matters
# Who to watch first
At 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds, Protas offers size plus scoring. He posted 66 points in 69 AHL games as a rookie and won the Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL's top rookie. Protas also has junior production in the USHL and OHL and made a rapid transition to pro hockey. Expect him to get NHL minutes early and possibly play alongside his brother Aliaksei in Washington.
Levi already appeared in NHL games before spending time in the AHL, and he logged heavy AHL minutes: 94 appearances across the last two regular seasons, and a reported 159 games with Buffalo/Rochester. His AHL track record places him among the league's better goaltenders, and he arrives in Edmonton with a clear opportunity: provide consistency in net and contend for the NHL No. 1 job.
Helenius is notable for pro seasoning at a young age: two professional seasons in Finland plus two full AHL seasons before turning 20. He was a point-per-game player for the Rochester Americans last season, earned a longer look with the Sabres late in the year, and scored two goals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. If Buffalo gives him regular minutes in favorable situations, he could stick in the NHL.
FloHockey frames these individual stories as part of a larger trend: the AHL continues to influence NHL opening-night rosters. The piece notes that multiple players who spent significant time in the AHL will start the season on NHL rosters and need to make the case they belong at the higher level. The article also points readers to AHL coverage on FloHockey for tracking these players' development.
# What to watch this season
# Bottom line
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