If you are a fan of the Henderson Silver Knights and watched Ian McCoshen suit up 22 times this season, you might just assume that he had signed an AHL deal for this season. That wasn’t the case though, as McCoshen had actually been on a tryout to this point. No more, as the veteran defenseman has inked an AHL contract for the rest of the season.
McCoshen, 26, was the 31st overall pick in 2013, selected by the Florida Panthers the same year as Aleksander Barkov (and MacKenzie Weegar, who went 206th overall). After three very good seasons at Boston College, it looked like McCoshen was going to be a key building block for the Panthers. In his first professional season, he suited up three times at the NHL level as a polished college product.
Things didn’t quite go as planned, however, as McCoshen has totaled just 60 games so far in his NHL career. More than half of those came in the 2017-18 season and he hasn’t seen the league since 2018-19. This season in 22 games for Henderson he has four points.
Once again there is a prize for players like McCoshen, who are not signed to NHL deals this season. He would potentially be eligible to play at the Olympics, where USA Hockey will have to ice a team made up of minor league, college, and international talent. Years ago, McCoshen played in two different World Junior tournaments for his country. Depending on how young the management group decides to go, a 6’3″ minor league veteran like McCoshen could potentially be an option.