Mateychuk Begins Pro Career In AHL With Monsters

While there's the obvious disappointment of not making the Columbus Blue Jackets out of training camp for defenseman Denton Mateychuk, there seems to be an understanding that playing big minutes in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Cleveland Monsters to begin the 2024-25 season will only be a benefit as he makes the transition to pro hockey full-time this fall.

"You are disappointed when you're that close to the NHL level," Mateychuk told InsideAHLHockey.com last weekend in Hershey. "But at the same time, I'm just really excited to be with Cleveland and a great group of guys and staff. It's good to get going here and play some hockey."

Coincidentally, Mateychuk's 2024-25 season began where last season ended for him - at Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Last spring, Mateychuk joined the Cleveland Monsters amid their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Hershey Bears. The Monsters battled back and forced Game 7 into overtime, but the Bears prevailed and advanced to the 2024 Calder Cup Finals where they went on to win their second AHL championship in as many years.

For Mateychuk and the Monsters, it was a heartbreaking defeat and a summer thinking about what could have been.

When the AHL's regular season schedule for 2024-25 was announced, it ended up being that Cleveland was beginning their season on the road back at Giant Center in Hershey last weekend for a pair of games.

While Hershey was raising their championship banner and wearing specialty back-to-back champions jerseys on the weekend, the Monsters were in town trying to forget about last year's playoff run coming up short and focusing on the new season ahead.

"It brings back memories from last year," Mateychuk admitted. "We battled hard in that series and you don't forget about that stuff that quick."

Mateychuk joined the Monsters in early June and made his pro debut in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, appearing in the remainder of the series and fitting right in - appearing three assists with a plus-five in four games.

The end result - a Game 7 overtime loss - was certainly not the result Mateychuk wanted to experience in his first taste of pro hockey, but being able to come in and play pro games at a high level in the AHL postseason provided a great glimpse of the road ahead.

"I think it was really good. It helps your base your summer off of some of that stuff that you learned from those games," Mateychuk explained, adding, "it was a short time, but I still feel like I learned a lot. Bring that into the summer and learn as much as I can."

By all accounts, Mateychuk performed well in Columbus Blue Jackets training camp last month. He was one of the final cuts made before the Blue Jackets finalized their opening night roster, and joins Cleveland in a situation where he'll be playing a large role and get more reps to fully adapt to the pro game.

"I felt like I played well. I worked really hard this summer to be as best as I could for that camp," Mateychuk said. "I feel like I showed my game."

Last weekend in Hershey, Mateychuk was playing in all situations with a large role on both the power play and penalty kill as well as playing top pairing minutes. He tallied a goal, his first career AHL goal, and an assist in their opening night loss to the Bears Saturday and while he didn't appear on the score sheet Sunday he was able to help his team win in other ways - by killing plays quickly in the defensive zone and helping shut down the Bears' top offensive scorers.

Now that he's in Cleveland, he'll be working closely with Monsters head coach Trent Vogelhuber and the AHL coaching staff.

According to Vogelhuber, it's more about working on the finer details with Mateychuk to help him become better equipped to handle himself at the pro level.

For an undersized defenseman by NHL standards, Mateychuk is listed at 5-11 and 185 pounds, that means things like body positioning, closing on guys along the boards, board play and how to effectively box-out opposing forwards around the net.

"Everybody's bigger here, and they're even bigger at the next level," Vogelhuber told InsideAHLHockey.com "And then just doing it against men with a ton of minutes consistently. That's hard too. The games are harder, and you can't have an off night. So you'd rather learn how to keep that consistency here than in the than in the NHL."

So far Mateychuk appears to be heeding the messaging from the staff. He has a basic understanding of the pro game already thanks to his AHL playoff experience last June, and now he gets to add in those finer details to his game to make him a more complete player.

"Just rounding out the professional game," Mateychuk said when asked about what the messaging from the Blue Jackets was when they cut him from training camp and sent him to the AHL. "I think it's different than junior, and you're gonna have nights where it's tough and you have to be able to adapt and learn. And I think that's the main message for me down here. Just get better every day."

The sky is the limit for Mateychuk, which should come as no surprise considering he was the 12th overall selection in the 2022 NHL Draft. But it's not a situation any different from any other incoming rookie to the pro game.

"That's part of what this league is for," Vogelhuber said of the AHL being a battleground for development. "So again, he's got tons of talent. We're excited to have him, but we're going to continue to push him to be better."