SUNDAY FEATURE: Willman Working Toward Earning First NHL Contract

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ALLENTOWN, Pa. - It's never been 'easy' for Max Willman throughout his hockey journey.

Growing up on Cape Cod, it wasn't exactly a hockey hotbed. Willman played public high school hockey and, after not receiving any Division I NCAA offers, opted for an extra year of prep school hockey at Williston Northampton for some extra exposure.

It was only then, after a standout prep hockey season where he captained the team and tallied 44 points (21 goals, 23 assists) in 25 games, did Willman garner more attention - being selected in the 5th round of the 2014 NHL Draft by the Buffalo Sabres and accepting an offer to play collegiate hockey at Brown University.

"I think every step of the way in my career so far, it's always been about taking that opportunity and making the most of it," Willman told InsideAHLHockey in a 1-on-1 interview at the end of February.

And the bumps in the road were just getting started as Willman suffered a season-ending ACL injury early on in his senior season at Brown. He was able to execute a graduate-transfer to play his final year of NCAA eligibility in the 2018-19 season with Boston Univeristy, where he was a teammate of now Philadelphia Flyers forward Joel Farabee.

Though Willman had attended the Buffalo Sabres development camps, he never received that entry-level contract. Following his collegiate career, it was a long off-season heading into the 2019-20 season - not knowing where he would play until September when Reading Royals head coach Kirk MacDonald called.

Willman began last season with the Flyers' ECHL affiliate in Reading, where he was a healthy scratch - an extra depth forward - for 10 of the team's first 11 games.

Then, opportunity struck. And like so many times before, he made the most of it.

After nine goals and 16 assists in 20 games with Reading, injuries and call ups decimating the Lehigh Valley Phantoms roster had Phantoms' bench boss Scott Gordon giving MacDonald a call looking for that proverbial next man up.

At Willman's first practice with the AHL club, Gordon instantly noticed his high-end skating abilities.

"Usually, when you're able to come up from the ECHL there's usually some flaws that eliminate your opportunities in the AHL," Gordon told InsideAHLHockey.com earlier this season. "Usually, the first one is skating, and then maybe size and then after that it's one thing to have size and to have skating, but then the hockey sense piece of it is important. The commitment to playing at both ends. As he started to go through the season last year he started checking a lot of boxes."

A mid-season AHL call up, Willman was relegated to playing a fourth line role with limited ice time. He wasn't going to play on the power play, as the PP units were set at the start of the season. Special teams simply wasn't an option. It was a pretty typical ease-him-in kind of process that just about all ECHL to AHL players go through as they jump up to the next level of competition.

Willman finished the pandemic-shortened season with nine points (three goals, six assists) in 24 AHL games with the Phantoms. His impressed upon his arrival, finishing the season on an AHL contract that - luckily for him at the time - was a two-year deal that finishes with the conclusion of this current season.

He headed into the extended off-season knowing he had to continue to put in the work and push for a larger role in Lehigh Valley in 2019-20. Together with his girlfriend, they moved to Allentown toward the end of the summer to get an early headstart on training for this season. Settled in and getting familiar with his surroundings, Willman was able to focus on improving his game.

It ended up being a blessing that Willman was in Allentown early. With the Philadelphia Flyers an hour down the road and opening their NHL training camp, a couple of injuries had the Flyers calling Willman and inviting him to his first NHL training camp as a late addition to the camp roster.

"Definitely wasn't expecting that phone call," Willman said. "But I was ready and prepared to go out there and play. So yeah, definitely a pretty cool experience. They were definitely thankful that I was in the area and could come and help out. "

Not only did Willman show up, he also made quite the first impression on the Flyers NHL staff/management group.

"I think everyone up there saw what we saw last year, so now it's kind of a situation even though he's on an AHL contract there's abilities there that are translatable to the NHL," Gordon said of Willman's impressive showing at NHL camp.

Gordon cited Willman's ability to be able to play in a bottom-six role in the AHL as what will translate into what would be a similar role he'd play at the NHL level.

"They were definitely impressed with how I played," Willman told InsideAHLHockey.com on the feedback he received from the Flyers, adding, "and basically just said I was on track and to keep playing the way I've been playing, and hopefully be able to earn a contract for next season."

Soaring with confidence, Willman has entered the 2020-21 AHL season as a man on a mission.

That first NHL contract is within his sights.

All that hard work is starting to pay off.

Now, the real work begins.

Willman has continued his strong play from NHL training camp to begin this AHL season, and is on a tear offensively after hitting a few posts in the opening three games of the season - later tallying goals in four straight games on his way to earning CCM/AHL Player of the Week honors for the final week of February. His six goals on the season are one back of the active rookie goal-scoring leader, Jeff Malott (Manitoba Moose).

"Now that I'm playing a little bit of a bigger role here with [Lehigh Valley], I'm taking full advantage of it and trying to prove that I can be a top player in this league and a player that can play at the next level as well."

READ ALSO: Checking In With Max Willman -> https://insideahlhockey.com/article/checking-in-max-willman

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