Rich Peverley
Rich Peverley, who is from Guelph, Ontario, was never drafted into the NHL. He played four years with the St. Lawrence University Skating Saints, where he led his team in points in three out of the four seasons. He made his AHL debut during the 2004-05 season, playing in one game with the Portland Pirates. He spent the rest of the season with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays. He was invited to the Nashville Predators’ training camp in 2006 and played the first half of the 2006-07 season with their AHL team, the Milwaukee Admirals, before signing with the Predators in January, playing 13 games in the NHL. He was leading in points with the Admirals when he was called up to make his NHL debut. He split the 2007-08 season between the Predators and Admirals and played in all six playoff games with Nashville, before being eliminated in the first round by the Detroit Red Wings, who went on to win the Stanley Cup that year. He re-signed with Nashville to a two-year contract during the summer and played with them for the first half of the 2008-09 season before being claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Thrashers in January. He achieved new career-highs with 15 goals, 29 assists and 44 points in 66 games with both teams, including an impressive 35 points in 39 games with the Thrashers. He displays good offensive skills and has the potential of becoming a good playmaking forward. But with a late NHL career start when he was 24 years old, he needs to prove himself faster than most players. Peverley, who is 6 feet tall and less than 190 pounds, is considered a small player that lacks physicality in his game.
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