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ECHL

Brandon Hawkins, Michal Stinil Highlight 11 Of ECHL's Most Exciting Players

Brandon Hawkins, Michal Stinil Highlight 11 Of ECHL's Most Exciting Players

ECHL columnist Justin Cohn shares his thoughts on 11 ECHL players that are worth the price of admission as some of the league's most exciting performers.

Nov 6, 2024 by Justin Cohn
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Michal Stinil leads the ECHL in scoring three weeks into the season – he leads all skaters in goals (eight) and points (14) through eight games – and it’s kind of cool to see.

I’ve long felt that Stinil is one of the ECHL’s most overlooked players, especially when it comes to entertainment value, and maybe that’s because he’s been with the Wichita Thunder throughout his four-season career in the league.

While some of you may know him because of his successful attempt at The Michigan Move, the lacrosse-style goal he scored in 2023, others may be naïve to his talent because he’s yet to participate in a playoff game.

This could be the season the Thunder get off the schneid; they’re at the top of the Mountain Division with a 6-2-0 record.

Stinil, a 25-year-old forward, isn’t big at 5-foot-11, 194 pounds, but he’s electric, especially when he slithers his way through opponents while entering the offensive zone. And he’s a good finisher; finding his way to space and blasting shots that befuddle netminders.

In 192 ECHL games, he has 84 goals and 190 points.

Here’s a look at 10 more exciting ECHL players you should get to know. They’re not necessarily the best players, but they’re likely to put on a show this season.

2024 Allen Americans vs Wichita Thunder


Brandon Hawkins, F, Toledo Walleye

Sorry to take the low-hanging fruit here – he’s the ECHL’s reigning MVP – but Hawkins’ shot is simply magnificent, perhaps the best outside of the NHL. That makes you wonder why Hawkins, 30, has only logged 28 American Hockey League games. His 5-10 size probably hasn’t helped.

It’s fascinating to watch the chess match on the ice when opponents face the Walleye: They have to always be mindful of where Hawkins is because if he gets an open look, he’s going to shoot, and it’s impossible to always contain him on power plays.

This season, he has three goals and 10 assists in seven games. That’s right, he’s been a distributor of the puck, too, even though he leads the ECHL with 35 shots on goal.

Hawkins comes up big in big spots, too, and helped Fort Wayne to the 2021 Kelly Cup and Toledo to the Finals in 2022. He recently became the Walleye’s all-time leading goal scorer with 117.

Matthew Quercia, F, Wheeling Nailers

The 25-year-old forward has good size – he’s 6-3, 218 pounds – and is an absolute handful for goalies and defensemen when he gets around the net. And he pretty much lives around the net.

Quercia plays with an edge and isn’t afraid to mix it up with opponents. Last season, he had 11 goals, 33 points and 152 penalty minutes in 64 games for the Nailers. That included eight fights.

He also played six games in the AHL for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

His statistics in the ECHL may seem modest – 15 goals and 41 points in 89 regular-season games – but he has a knack for impacting games during big moments. In the playoffs, he’s got three goals and 10 points in 17 games. That includes a 15-foot shot on the road, in overtime, in one of the ECHL’s hardest places to play, Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to win a Game 7 in 2022.

This season, Quercia has one goal and 16 penalty minutes, including two fights, in six games for the Nailers.

2024 Wheeling Nailers vs Cincinnati Cyclones


Jack Gorniak, F, Fort Wayne Komets

He’s probably the fastest player in the ECHL and his speed impacts the Komets’ games in a number of ways.

Gorniak is a tenacious defender and often strips opponents of the puck to take off on an odd-man rush the other direction. His speed often leads to opponents using their sticks as a last resort, resulting in Fort Wayne power plays. And Gorniak has potted some big goals – 10 in his first 71 games over two seasons – though he still needs to work on his finishing.

A standout at Wisconsin from 2018 to 2023, Gorniak was expected to be decent at this level. But he’s exceeded expectations because his speed is so daunting. The 25-year-old forward, who is 5-11, has gotten some brief looks by AHL teams but hasn’t yet skated in an AHL game. That’s bound to change soon.

Jérémie Biakabutuka, D, Florida Everblades

If you’re a sucker, like I am, for a defenseman unafraid to look for opportunities to rush the net, you’ll probably like Biakabutuka.

And if you’re a Michigan football fan, like I am, you may be interested to know this is the nephew of legendary running back Tim Biakabutuka. Just thought I’d throw that in there.

Jérémie Biakabutuka is a 6-4 blue liner who totaled four goals, 18 points, 31 penalty minutes and a plus-1 rating in 63 games last season for the Orlando Solar Bears. There, in his rookie season, they needed him to really be a guy to drive the offense and he showed he could by looking for seams and taking advantage of slower defenders.

Now with the defending-champion Everblades, he’ll probably be asked to mind the defensive zone a little bit more. In his first six games, he has a goal, three points and a plus-4 rating. Biakabutuka racked up 71 hits and 67 shot blocks last season, but chances are those numbers go up this season in the Everblades’ systems.

Justin Vaive, LW, Cincinnati Cyclones

I’m a big believer that every team needs at least one guy who will constantly camp out in the front of the other team’s crease, be an agitator of opposing defensemen and goaltenders, hopefully run his mouth, and go for the redirection and mop-up goals.

That’s Vaive, 35, in a nutshell. The Cyclones captain has been doing it seemingly forever, better than everyone else in the ECHL.

Vaive, 6-6, 237 pounds, has totaled 168 goals, 301 points and 768 penalty minutes – yes, he fights – in 470 regular-season ECHL games. He’s added 23 goals and 43 points in 75 playoff games, winning the Kelly Cup with Fort Wayne in 2021 when the Cyclones didn’t play because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vaive has one goal in five games this season and it was a big one, making him the Cyclones’ all-time leading goal scorer with 148. He did it in Fort Wayne, where he’s still celebrated for his one season there amid 10 with the Cyclones dating back to 2010.

Ruslan Gazizov, RW, Tulsa Oilers

I literally had to double- and triple-check Gazizov’s height and weight, and his measurables were indeed only 5-11, 187 pounds. My surprise was rooted in the way he plays the game. He goes to the net like a power forward. He plays bigger than he is.

His style has been effective to start the season and he has four goals and nine points in his first seven professional games for the Oilers. Last year, he had a whopping 36 goals and 81 points in juniors for the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights.

Gazizov is only 20 and still pretty raw, but he’s fun to watch. He has a penchant for surprising goalies with shots from along the boards, and those have led to scoring chances for teammates. And Gazizov has been good on power plays with two goals and an assist.

Aaron Luchuk, RW, Orlando Solar Bears

Truth be told, he doesn’t get enough attention. Luchuk. 27, has averaged almost a point per game throughout his seven seasons in the ECHL. He has 102 goals and 244 points in 249 regular-season games, and four goals and eight points in 17 playoff games.

If you enjoy watching a good, smart hockey player, Luchuk will be your jam. He knows where to be, is equally adept at finishing shots or setting up others, and he doesn’t seem to take many shifts off.

Think David Perron of the NHL: Crafty, wise and productive. And he stays out of the box; only eight penalty minutes in 61 games last season.

He does his best work on a line with Brayden Low and Tyler Bird, and they’re savvy enough to be a top-line scoring group or a situational checking line.  

Mark Sinclair, G, Bloomington Bison

If you like small, acrobatic goalies, Mark Sinclair is certainly worth a watch.

He’s off to a 2-2-1 start with a 1.58 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage for the expansion Bison.

Sinclair is 6-0, 170 pounds, and moves really well throughout the crease, using his seemingly superior vision.

He was really good in 2022-23 with the Cincinnati Cyclones – 19-7-3, 2.70 GAA, .915 SP, 4 SOs – but he took a step back last season statistically with the Allen Americans. But Allen’s defense wasn’t good, so it wasn’t all his fault.

At 28, Sinclair has two AHL games on his résumé and there should be more in his future, especially if he keeps playing as he has so far this season. He’s going to get tested often by the talented Central Division shooters and it’ll be fun to watch.

2024 Kalamazoo Wings vs Bloomington


Gianfranco Cassaro, D, Reading Royals

Hockey players don’t take enough wrist shots these days. Cassaro apparently didn’t get the message.

The defenseman loves snapping the puck from long range to catch goalies off guard and it has helped set up scoring chances for the resurgent Royals. As the old hockey mantra goes: Throw the puck on net and good things happen.

Cassaro, 5-11, 25 years old, has one goal and six points in his first nine professional games, which is good but I’m bringing him more because I see the possibilities.

Last season at the Rochester Institute of Technology, he had 18 goals, which led all blue-liners in the country, and 38 points in 40 games. Pull up the film, he seemed more like a forward.

So far this season, Cassaro has held things in check in terms of attacking the net, but I’d expect that to change once he gets more comfortable at this level. That should be a lot of fun to watch.

John Muse, G, Worcester Railers

This goalie is no spring chicken at age 36. And he’s also no behemoth in the net at 5-11, 185 pounds.

But he’s been playing some of the best hockey of his career since joining the Railers in 2023 after four seasons overseas.

Muse has appeared in a whopping 131 games over eight ECHL seasons and is 68-46-16 with a 2.83 GAA, a .908 SP and seven shutouts. Last season, he was 15-12-3 with a 2.77 GAA, a .911 SP and two SOs.

He backstopped the Florida Everblades to the Kelly Cup back in 2012. I’m not going to tell you he’s a better player now, but he is a different player. He’s often more aggressive, and he also has a veteran savvy that befuddles opposing shooters. In the North Division, you’ve got be ready for a lot of traffic in front of the net, and Muse knows where to be.

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