Some players take a more scenic route through the AHL, and the road can look very different from one player to another.
Here are five intriguing AHL forwards working their way toward the NHL:
Brooks Macek -- Chicago (Vegas Golden Knights)
The forward, 26, is back in North America after five years in the top tier of German professional hockey, Deutsche Eishockey Liga.
Those are hardly the typical credentials for a future NHL player, but do the Golden Knights have something in Macek? In a new era where once-overlooked forwards Yanni Gourde of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Jonathan Marchessault of the Golden Knights have gone on to top NHL roles, the question cannot be so easily dismissed.
The Detroit Red Wings selected Macek in the sixth round (No. 171) of the 2010 NHL Draft, but he did not stick with the organization. When Macek headed to Germany in 2013 after five seasons in the Western Hockey League, big, heavy hockey was in style.
The game that Macek returned to this year is much more suited to his size (5-foot-11, 180 pounds) and on-ice vision.
The Golden Knights signed Macek, a Winnipeg, Manitoba native, to a one-year contract June 12 after he had a 26-goal season with Munich in winning the DEL championship.
Macek leads the AHL in goals (14) and points (21) through 14 games. He had five assists in a 5-3 win at Milwaukee (Nashville Predators) on Nov. 7 to go with four two-goal games and a hat trick.
With the Golden Knights trying to recover from a 7-10-1 start, Macek may be in prime position for an NHL callup.
Michael McCarron -- Laval (Montreal Canadiens)
With the Canadiens attempting to rebuild their farm system, they need a player that they invested a first-round pick (No. 25) on in the 2013 NHL Draft to pan out.
It has been an uneven road for McCarron. The forward had 17 goals as an AHL rookie in 2015-16. He saw callups to Montreal in each of the past three seasons (69 NHL games total) but could not stick. The Canadiens signed him to a one-year contract Sept. 10.
McCarron, 23, knows he is on the clock, which is why he spent this summer retooling his game. Skating has been the most significant blemish on his scouting report, so he worked with renowned power skating coach Kathy McLlwain.
For a player with size (6-6, 230) and a willingness to drive the net, adding speed would make McCarron an issue for opposing defensemen.