Badgers in the NHL, Part I

Now that NHL camps are wrapping up and rosters are getting finalized, I'll have a few installments of former Wisconsin Badgers either playing for an NHL team or in a squad's minor league system. Today we'll take a spin through the NHL's Eastern Conference.

D Ryan McDonagh '10, New York Rangers

McDonagh has been viewed as the most NHL-ready of last year's Badgers, and with good reason. The rock-solid defender's rights were traded from Montreal in a deal for Scott Gomez in 2008, and his chances of playing in New York improved after defenseman Wade Redden was sent to the minors on Sunday. McDonagh has impressed in camp with his physical play, and if he's not in playing his home games at Madison Square Garden in early October, his Rangers debut won't come much later. McDonagh led the Rangers in ice time on Sunday in an exhibition against the Detroit Red Wings, which bodes well for his immediate future.

C Derek Stepan '10, New York Rangers

I remember the moment when I knew Stepan was truly something special. While he had a magnificent sophomore year last year, his real coming-out party was when he scored two shorthanded goals in the same penalty against North Dakota on March 7th, 2009. Efforts like that get noticed, and he reminded me of that game tonight when he notched a shorty in the first period of the Rangers' game against Ottawa and a certain former Badger goaltender (more on him shortly). That was Stepan's second goal of the week, as he scored on Sunday against Detroit (with Brendan Smith on the ice). He also assisted on Marian Gaborik's OT game-winner last Thursday against New Jersey. At this time last week, I would have guessed that he'd be starting the season with Hartford of the AHL, but he's making a big run at a roster spot now, and my guess is he and McD are both in Gotham. If he does start in the minors, I expect him to be with the Blueshirts by the time they visit Columbus in mid-December.

D Jamie McBain '09, Carolina Hurricanes

McBain impressed in his first stint in the big leagues last season, putting up three goals and seven assists with a +6 rating in just 14 games at the end of the year. The Canes' early line sheet shows McBain matched up with US Olympian Tim Gleason on the second pair, and they should see plenty of ice time in all situations.

D Kyle Klubertanz '08, Montreal Canadiens

Kluby signed with the Habs over the summer after playing for a few years in Europe, where he ranked fifth in scoring among defensemen in the Swedish Elite League. He'll be manning the blue line for Montreal's AHL affiliate in Hamilton this season.

D Josh Engel '08, Toronto Maple Leafs
He of the miracle pass to Jack Skille against Cornell played all of last season for the Toronto Marlies, the Leafs' AHL affiliate, putting up 17 points in 70 games. He was invited to Leafs' camp this fall and will fight for a roster spot, but he will likely return for another year with the Marlies.

G Brian Elliott '07, Ottawa Senators

The goaltender on Wisconsin's most recent championship team entrenched himself as the starter in Ottawa over the second half of last season, posting a 2.57 goals-against and a .909 save percentage. Elliott struggled in his first playoff series, but many goalies have difficulty against the Pittsburgh Penguins' offense. Pascal Leclaire, from whom Elliott took the job, is still around, but he was ineffective last season. Elliott hasn't been extremely impressive in the preseason, but it appears that he'll go into the season as the starter.

D Joe Piskula '07, Philadelphia Flyers

Piskula signed a professional tryout contract with the Flyers, and was given the opportunity to play for a spot in the organization. Unfortunately, he was released over the weekend. Hopefully Joe can catch on elsewhere after playing three seasons for the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL. (UPDATE: Chuck reports that Piskula has signed with the Abbotsford Heat, Calgary's AHL affiliate, but this report puts him in Oklahoma City, the Oilers' farm team.)

C Steve Reinprecht '00, Florida Panthers

The guy who arguably should have won Wisconsin's first Hobey Baker award in 2000 will play his second season as a Panther after four years in Phoenix. Reinprecht consistently scores around 40 points per season, and will likely maintain that level of production for a seemingly constantly rebuilding Florida organization.

That's it for part one. Stay tuned for a look through the Western Conference soon.

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Reinprecht traded to Florida

The Phoenix Coyotes have traded Steve Reinprecht to the Florida Panthers in exchange for minor-league forward Stefan Meyer. The Panthers have signed Reinprecht, who would've been become a UFA if not signed before July 1, to a 3-year deal.

From the Panthers website: Official release, more on the trade

Panthers Assistant GM Randy Sexton: Steve is a smart, high character, hard working player who fits our club’s need for a second line center. We are constantly looking to upgrade our team speed and he brings this to our club as part of his skill set. He also possesses an ability to win face-offs, another area our team looked to improve on this off-season.

Reinprecht: It doesn’t matter where I play, who I play with, what the situation is, I make sure I go out there, work my hardest, try to provide some offense, and I take care of our defensive zone. I always want to play the best I can.

For schmucks like Gandalf (kidding!) who didn't get much of a chance to see Reino as a Badger, here's a bit of a refresher: A forward from Edmonton, AB, Reinprecht wore the Cardinal & White for 4 seasons (1996-2000). In 154 games, he recorded 72 goals and 90 assists for 162 points. During his All-American season, he recorded 26 goals and 40 assists for 66 points to lead the nation in scoring.

In addition to his All-American honors, he was 1st-Team All-WCHA and WCHA Player of the Year in 2000, Hobey Baker Finalist in 2000, and 2nd-Team All-WCHA in 1998. And in addition to leading the Badgers in both total points and assists during the 1999-00 season (Dany Heatley had more goals, but Reino had more points), he also led the Badgers in goals and and total points during the 1998-99 (16-17-33) and 1997-98 (19-24-43) seasons.

And, of course, he wore the "C" during his junior and senior seasons. He was named Team MVP during his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons, sharing the honor with Graham Melanson in 1998-99 and Joe Bianchi in 1997-99.

Reino sounds like a really nice guy, and he sure was a heck of a player for the Badgers. His line with Dany Heatley and David Hukalo was a major reason why the Badgers did as well as they did in ’99-’00, accounting for 43% of the teams goals that year. As far as the Hobey goes, he probably should’ve won, but he didn’t, and there’s nothing that we can do about it now.

After leaving Wisconsin, Reinprecht played part of a season with the LA Kings, 2 & 1/2 seasons with the Colorado Avalanche (where he won a Stanley Cup in 2001), 2 seasons with the Calgary Flames (with a year in France sandwiched in-between due to the NHL lock-out), and 4 seasons with Phoenix (where he served as an alternate captain).