The first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft was loaded with impact players: Steve Stamkos, Drew Doughty, Alex Pietrangelo, Erik Karlsson and Jordan Eberle, to name a few.
Then there’s the guy that went No. 11 overall -- Kyle Beach.
Beach, a Chicago draftee that was traded to the Rangers last season, has signed in Austria with EC Red Bull Salzburg, the club announced on Thursday. The move comes after the 24-year-old spent last season between AHL Rockford and Hartford, along with a brief stint on loan in Sweden with HV71.
A former WHL standout who’s junior career was marked with disciplinary issues, Beach has received plenty of attention (yes, from this site specifically) despite having never played a regular-season NHL game. He was a compelling story in his draft year and continued to be one during his professional career; last summer, Chicago gave him a one-year extension to possibly replace Dan Carcillo as the team’s “sandpaper” element... but three months later, the ‘Hawks waived him during the preseason.
“There’s been a lot of guys that have made that next step and got a chance here,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said at the time of waiving Beach, per the Sun-Times. “I guess you’ve got to earn it.
“Some guys got the opportunity based on how they were playing.”