Andrew Poturalski earns another Cup celebration, contracts with NHL’s Kraken | Buffalo Sabers News

Poturalski and his wife, Haley, welcomed a baby boy this spring; the 28-year-old forward won his second consecutive scoring title in the AHL with 101 points in 71 regular-season games; again, he raised the Calder Cup, the championship trophy of the 31-team league; and his remarkable season with the Chicago Wolves earned him a two-year, one-way contract with the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.

“It’s been pretty crazy,” he told The Buffalo News.

Following a round of golf at Crag Burn Golf Club in East Aurora, Poturalski and the partygoers dined on a Buffalo-style buffet of chicken wings from Bar-Bill Tavern, Imperial Pizza and beef on weck.

It was a gathering of the people who have supported Poturalski during his relentless pursuit for a full-time job in the NHL.

His path to supremacy in the AHL required patience and perseverance. He wasn’t drafted by an NHL team and, despite consistent production in six professional seasons, he appeared in only four games with the Carolina Hurricanes. There’s been elation and frustration, triumph and tumult.

Poturalski, known as “Potsy” to many of the 100 people at the championship celebration Saturday, never relented. He has used the dream of the NHL as his guide.

“When you work your whole life to play in the NHL, and you feel like you’re so close, but you just can’t get that one break or that opportunity, it for sure gets frustrating at times,” Poturalski, who attended Nichols School and played for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres, said. “But you know, the only real way to look at it is to put your head down and keep working and move forward.

“I was never drafted and wasn’t really too big of a highly touted player in minor hockey or anything like that, so that’s just always been the story of my career. I don’t see it any other way. Hockey has been my passion since I was a kid. And that’s all I’ve worked for is to try and play in the NHL. I’m trying to do whatever it takes to get there. And, you know, kind of write my own story and be a late bloomer and someone who gets there.”

Poturalski has been a play-driving dynamo at every level in which he’s been given an opportunity. He ranked within the top 10 in scoring in the United States Hockey League and NCAA before earning an entry-level contract with the Carolina Hurricanes as an undrafted free agent in March 2016.

Upon turning pro, Poturalski totaled 64 goals across his first three full AHL seasons, capped by him being named most valuable player of the Calder Cup Playoffs in 2018-19 when he led the Charlotte Checkers to the championship with 23 points in 18 games.

The Anaheim Ducks lured Poturalski to California that summer with a one-year contract, but an NHL opportunity didn’t materialize during his two seasons in the organization, despite him leading the AHL in scoring during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 campaign.

Determined to close any possible gap between him and the NHL, Poturalski changed his training regimen last summer. He eliminated heavy weight training, improved his explosiveness with dry-land sprinting and hired a track coach to learn proper running form, in addition to all of his on-ice skill work. And upon joining the Chicago Wolves on a contract with Carolina, his coach, Ryan Warsofsky, switched Poturalski back to center, the position Poturalski played until a few years prior.

Headlining unquestionably the most talented roster in the AHL, Poturalski had a career year. He became the fifth player in league history to win back-to-back scoring titles and captained Chicago to the championship. He totaled 28 goals and 101 points in 71 regular-season games before adding another 23 points in 18 playoff games.

Enticed by Poturalski’s play at center, consistent production in the AHL and improved speed, multiple NHL teams offered him a contract at the start of free agency last month. In Seattle, though, he’s reuniting with Kraken General Manager Ron Francis and Assistant General Manager Rick Olczyk, both of whom were in Carolina when Poturalski signed as a college free agent.

Entering its second season in the league, the Kraken need capable playmakers like Poturalski.

“It’s the same mindset I’ve always kind of had going into every year,” he said. “I don’t expect anything to be given to me. Obviously, we were so excited with the contract that we got and the opportunity that’s presented there. But you’ve gotta go into camp with no expectations and just put your head down and work. Let hockey take care of itself, and you can’t worry about what other people are thinking or what’s going on with management stuff. You just gotta go out there and play hockey.”

Poturalski appeared in two NHL games in 2017 and waited over four years for another chance. Donning a Hurricanes jersey twice last season came after an unusual few days of travel. With the club in the throes of a Covid-19 outbreak, and Poturalski having posted 10 points in three games against the Texas Stars, he was recalled to Carolina and took the morning skate in preparation for a game Dec. 14.

The game was postponed, and Poturalski was sent back to Chicago the following day. He didn’t have to wait long to return, though. The Hurricanes recalled him again Dec. 16, and he recorded a pair of power-play assists in two games before joining the wolves. His parents, Diane and Joe, were in Raleigh’s PNC Arena when Poturalski assisted on the Hurricanes’ second goal in a 5-1 win over Los Angeles.

“It was a pretty crazy week with a lot of flights,” he said with a laugh.

In Seattle, Poturalski will have an opportunity to earn a job. That’s all he sought when free agency opened. The one-way contract provides financial certainty – he will be paid the same amount if he spends time in the AHL – and it signals the organization’s commitment to a player whose earned everything he’s attained.

“Hopefully, they signed me for a reason and that if I play my game to the best of my ability, things will work out,” he added. “My dream has always been to play in the NHL, and for whatever reason, I haven’t gotten too big of a stint there. And I’m hoping this could be the year where I finally break through.”