New York Rangers‘ 4th year center Jayson Megna(23) signed a one-year, 1-way deal at the beginning of free agency as an unrestricted player, having just turned 25 and was at the end of his short-term contract extension with Pittsburgh Penguins.
The 6’1″ 195 lbs. forward skated half of his sophomore campaign in the NHL amassing 36 games with 5 goals and 4 assists.
In the following season he would only get into 12 games with the parent club and could only manage 1 assist.
He set new personal records in the minors though, scoring a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins‘ team leading 26 goals, 13 assists for 39 points and a +18 rating through 63 AHL games.
Starting the 2015/2016 as a late cut from training camp, reassigned to affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack he got right to business and has a 2nd best 11 assists and 18 points to go along with 7 goals and a league leading 110 shots on net.
His hard work has earned him a first recall to the big league.
In his first appearance with his new squad, he played 18 shifts for 11:51 of ice time with one goal, one assist, 3 shots, 1:53 on the power play and a +1 rating in a 6-2 blowout.
He may only be up due to an injured starter but could play his way into some extended time with a performance like his debut.
Jayson Megna(19) Pittsburgh Penguins
Undrafted 2nd year center Jayson Megna(19) didn’t spend long pursuing a degree in college hockey after a couple of seasons in US junior hockey before signing a 2-year entry level deal with Pittsburgh Penguins.
He put up virtually point-per-game numbers in his last pair of campaigns in the USHL with Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, then one-year at University Of Nebraska-Omaha.
The 6’1″ 195 lbs. forward spent his entire rookie season in the AHL with minor league affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins where he dropped in 5 goals and 7 assists with a -12 rating playing most limited duties in the lineup.
He somewhat broke out in the Calder Cup Playoffs with a pair of strikes and 3 assists in 12 games and that play has carried over into this the final year of his contract.
In 6 games he’s already put in another 3 goals and 2 assists with a +8 rating.
This play earned him his first NHL recall 10/25. In his debut he skated 13 even strength shifts with total ice time of 9:26 and an unfortunate -1 in the late third period defeat to the Islanders.
You can definitely see that this is a player with something to prove this season. He’s always easily spotted out there because he’s always squarely in the middle of the play.
10/28: In his second big league game he gets his first NHL goal and adds an assist in the win.