TJ Hensick Signs With Hamilton Bulldogs

With the free agency frenzy swirling around like crazy, many AHL and minor league players have also found themselves with new homes either as free agents or through trades. TJ Hensick is one of those players who has found himself a new home as he joins the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL. Hensick comes the Bulldogs way courtesy of the Rangers AHL team, the Hartford Wolfpack. He recorded 42 regular season games with Hartford, the 28-year-old recorded 34 points while splitting team with MODO in the Swedish Elite League.

Hensick has been around the NHL and back again but can’t manage to stick with any NHL club longer than a season, but that doesn’t worry the Montreal Canadiens who signed him to lead their AHL team with solid veteran leadership that he has shown. He was originally drafted in the third round of the 2005 draft by the Colorado Avalanche but only played parts of three seasons with the Avalanche. Before joining the NHL or AHL ranks, Hensick played at the University of Michigan where he won the CCHA rookie of the year and lead the CCHA in scoring twice. He also led the NCAA in scoring during his 2006 season recording 23 goals and 69 points.

Dating all the way back to his days with the United States developmental league, TJ Hensick has shown that he can be a point-per- game player, almost wherever he plays. He has recorded several 50 point seasons in the AHL and the Bulldogs are confident he can bring that scoring and producing pace to their squad to help them improve their 182 goals for which ranked them 2nd last in the league. A very interesting and noteworthy stat relating to how significant he could be is that despite playing only 42 games last year in the AHL, Hensick put up 34 points which would still have placed him in the top five in Bulldogs scoring despite playing roughly 30 fewer games. Either Hensick is really good or the Bulldogs were horrible at scoring last season; perhaps a little bit of both.

In 363 career AHL regular season games the 5 foot 9, 195-pound forward has compiled 371 points. Aside from his point production and leadership, TJ Hensick is renowned for his playmaking and skating ability in addition to his great hands and hockey sense on the ice. Basically he’s the complete package any AHL team would like to have. His offence is stellar and his leadership improves his value for any team. The Bulldogs have become a better team just by signing him.