CHL to NHL: Five alumnus make NHL debuts
Five CHL alumnus made their NHL debuts Thursday night.
Tyler Angle (WSR), Damien Giroux (SAG), Max Guenette (VDO), Samuel Knazko (SEA) and Stanislav Svozil (REG) all played their first NHL games on the penultimate night of the NHL regular season.
Angle was one of three players to debut with Columbus last night. The Niagara Falls, Ont., native played 10:49 in a 3-2 overtime win over Pittsburgh where he had one shot and one hit. Angle spent four seasons in Windsor where he played 228 games, the 25th most in team history, and scored 61 goals and recorded 132 points. As a pro, he played 159 games with AHL Cleveland before his NHL debut. The 22-year-old was a seventh round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.
Welcome to the big stage, Tyler 💪@Enterprise | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/qMtLBAjWnm
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 13, 2023
Giroux saw 13:57 of ice time for Minnesota in a 4-3 overtime loss to Nashville. The 155th overall pick in 2018, Giroux had an assist in his debut and tallied two blocks and a hit. Giroux played 249 games with Saginaw, the ninth most in franchise history, while his 194 career points rank eighth. The Sudbury, Ont., native had appeared in 147 AHL games with Iowa before his NHL debut.
Guenette played 8:47 for Ottawa in a 4-3 overtime defeat to Buffalo. Guenette, a seventh-round pick in 2019, had two shots, one block and one hit in his debut. Guenette 227 games with Val-d’Or rank 20th in team history. The 21-year-old blueliner had appeared in 117 AHL games with Belleville before he debuted with the Senators.
Knazko also debuted with Columbus where he played 9:35 against Pittsburgh. His CHL experience was brief as the Slovak native played just 27 games with Seattle during the 2021-22 season where he recorded 20 points.
Svozil saw 19:13 of ice during his debut for the Blue Jackets where he recorded an assist. He also recorded one shot, hit and block while 2:53 of his ice time came on the power play. Svozil is coming off of a career year with Regina where he tallied 78 points, the 10th most in a season by a Pats d-man. In 115 career WHL games, the Czech native has tallied 119 points.
🚨 FIRST NHL POINT ALERT 🚨 pic.twitter.com/clNbWK609J
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 14, 2023