Tyler Seguin, taken second overall in last year's draft, has been under the strictest of microscopes, and he's contributed eight goals and 17 points in 50 games wearing the black and gold.
Jordan Caron, the 25th overall selection in 2009, began the year in Boston and appeared in 20 games while recording seven points before falling victim to a numbers game and getting assigned to Providence, where he's flourished with 16 points in 24 AHL games after a slow start.
A year earlier, big Joe Colborne was drafted with the 16th pick in 2008, and he's put together very respectable totals with 11 goals and 25 points in 47 games for Providence in his first full season at the professional level.
Then there's Zach Hamill. Surrounded by lofty expectations as the eighth overall pick in the 2007 draft, he's since floated under the radar as someone who's battled issues with size, strength and inconsistency. For those reasons, along with Boston's significant depth at the center position in recent years, the 5'11'', 180-pound former junior scoring champion has been relegated to Providence, save for a brief one-game recall to Boston for the regular season finale in Washington last season.
This year has been a bit different for Hamill. While in previous seasons, he was entrusted almost automatically with the responsibility of being a first-line centerman or the quarterback on the power play, in part because of the expectations that come with being a high draft pick, this season has seen Hamill play throughout the line-up. Now in his third pro season, the days of a certain skill level being assumed are gone. Instead, he's been forced to play with several players of varied skill in hopes of a return to top line duties, no different than a lower round pick, an undrafted selection, or an ECHL call-up would have to do to earn his minutes.
It's worked, though, and, as a result, he's heading back to Boston.
''I'm excited and ready to go,'' Hamill said by phone shortly after receiving the good news from Bruins assistant general manager Don Sweeney on Thursday. ''Just feeling pumped up to play.''
It's been an up and down season for Hamill. After a disastrous October in which he tallied only one assist in eight games, and was even benched by Providence coach Rob Murray for one game as something of a wake-up call, Hamill returned to form in November by averaging a point a game in 11 contests, including a four-assist effort in Albany. He thrived playing with the likes of Jeremy Reich and David Ling, as well as Lane MacDermid, and former Providence forward Jordan Knackstedt.
But, the ups turned to downs again starting in late November as Hamill went nine straight games without a point, finishing up the month of December with only four points, two of which came on New Year's Eve. It's unknown if he made a New Year's resolution for 2011 on that day, but he hasn't looked back since.
''I think I've just been gaining confidence and being more creative on the ice,'' said Hamill, who is coming off a 12-point January. ''You know, if there are plays out there I want to make, earlier in the year I wasn't making them, but now, I think, if the play is there, I'm making that play and having the confidence to be able to make it. Playing all three zones is a big key to that too.''
Much of Hamill's success over the last month has come from playing consistently with Reich and Caron. The three have been on a line together since the calendar turned to 2011, and Hamill's pass-first mentality has done worlds for his confidence now that he's joined by big-bodied forwards who love going to the net.
''It's been huge,'' Hamill said of playing with his linemates. ''I think I'm a guy that gets used to his linemates and wants to know where they like to go and where they want to be. Sometimes with those guys, without looking, I know where they want to go and where they want to score goals, so it's nice to build chemistry with those two guys.
''They are obviously two bigger guys,'' he continued, ''which creates room, and they get in the corners with me. I like passing the puck and they both have great shots. They're really easy to play with.''
You can't argue with the results. Hamill's point-totals last month were surpassed in Providence's line-up only by Caron, who scored six goals and added seven assists. Reich collected seven points, including six of his 11 goals on the season.
''Ham makes a lot of good passes and has great vision,'' said Caron of his linemate. The three play a simple game and, as significant as their success on the score sheet has been their defensive zone play, where they've prided themselves on getting pucks out of their own zone.
Naturally, their coach has taken notice.
''After Christmas, [Zach] came back with a purpose,'' remembered Murray. ''I don't know whether he was playing a little guilty at first because he had immigration problems after taking the wrong Visa back with him when he went back for Christmas to Vancouver, but he's come back with a little bit of an edge to him and he's really played well.
''That chemistry with him, Jeremy Reich and Jordan Caron has really propelled his game because the plays that he's making are ending up finding guys open and those guys are executing and scoring goals for him.''
The goals have resulted in 25 assists for Hamill, good for first in Providence, and his 28 points rank second behind All-Star Jamie Arniel's 30. Now, Hamill must examine his own goals. He's a third-year guy playing in a contract year and he undoubtedly feels like he has something extra to prove as a first-rounder whose career has been spent almost entirely in the minors. And, with Marc Savard’s timetable for a return uncertain at best, it's a potentially lengthy opportunity to show there is still some value in his first round stock.
''I'm just gonna take it day by day, even smaller than that, shift by shift, and just work hard, go out there and play my game and try to make the most of the opportunity,'' said Hamill of his NHL expectations.
Still, he knows this situation, this time of the year, is far more substantial than his last stop in Boston 10 months ago, which was for many nothing more than a playoff tune-up.
''Last year, it was obviously nice to play my first NHL game,'' Hamill acknowledged. ''At the same time, I don't want to say it was a mean-nothing game because it obviously wasn't for me being my first game, but now, especially with the standings the way they are in the Eastern Conference, every game is huge, so to hopefully be a part of that will be pretty special.
''I'll go out there and compete every shift to hopefully help the team make the playoffs. If I can help the team out, I'll do what I can.''
