GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- J.T. Miller has been a man on the move the last three seasons. Three different teams at three different levels of hockey, and about the only thing in common has been a high level of success for the New York Rangers prospect.

After scoring 50 points in 56 games with the U.S. National Team Development Program in 2010-11, Miller was selected by the Rangers with the 15th pick of the 2011 NHL Draft. He spent last season with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League, where he finished fourth on the team with 25 goals and 62 points.

He's also grown to 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, which has better equipped him to climb another rung on the hockey ladder -- to the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League. In 26 games, Miller is fourth on the team with 14 points. Not bad for a 19-year-old in the AHL, where most of the first-year players are 2-3 years older.

"To be able to play center on the power play in the American Hockey League speaks volumes as to where his development has gone," U.S. coach Phil Housley told NHL.com. "He's very, very strong. You're going to need grit in this tournament, especially our team -- we're playing four games in five nights -- so definitely we're going to have to have some guys that play with some consistency and I see J.T. doing that."

Miller said every season he's played in a different league, the speed and strength of the players he faces on a nightly basis has gone up. And playing against older, stronger players in the AHL could make him better equipped for anything he'll face in the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship.

"It helps with the whole speed and the strength, the thing that's going to help me a lot more," Miller said. "Some of the guys we play against won't seem as strong or fast, and might prepare me that much more to make sure I'm playing my best. Use what I know and everything I've learned in the AHL."

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

Moncton Wildcats left wing Christoph Lalonde, a 2013 NHL Draft prospect, was honored Monday by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as the Second Star of the Week.

In three games last week, the 5-foot-9, 173-pound forward totaled six goals and an assist, even though his team lost two of the three games.

His big week started Tuesday, as he had a pair of goals in a 5-3 win against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan for his first multi-goal QMJHL game. He had an assist and seven shots on goal in a 4-3 overtime loss Friday to the Saint John Sea Dogs. He saved his best for last, however, as he tied a team record with four goals in an 8-6 loss to the Halifax Mooseheads on Saturday.

Lalonde now has 11 goals in 29 games this season, nearly tripling the four he scored in 65 games last season. His 16 points this season is one more than he scored last season.

Lalonde wasn't the only QMJHL draft-eligible player to have a big weekend. Here is how a few others fared:

* PEI Rocket left wing Victor Provencher had a pair of goals Friday in his team's 5-2 win at the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Then on Sunday he had a goal and two assists in the Rocket's 6-3 win against Saint John.

* Saint John left wing Jakub Izacky scored a pair of goals in his team's 4-3 overtime loss at Moncton on Friday.

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- The player most in the spotlight for USA Hockey at this week's World Junior Championship selection camp is defenseman Seth Jones. The 6-foot-4 blueliner is considered by some to be the most talented player in the 2013 NHL Draft class, and after losing a spot on last year's WJC team due to an injury in the final exhibition game, he's considered a lock to fill a major role on this year's team.

"He continues to be a dynamic player that happens to be 6-foot-4 and a defenseman that can do so much in the game. That's rare," U.S. team GM Jim Johansson said. "I think decision-making continues to get better and better. Not that it was poor before, but it seems like his game matures as the competition matures."

He's certainly shown the ability to step up his game to match the competition. In his first season with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League this season, he's tied for fifth among WHL defensemen with 28 points, and he recently had a nine-game point-scoring streak.

"At the start I got a little uncomfortable in the league for it being my first season," Jones said. "The first couple games it really took me a while to get comfortable with the speed of play and the type of play in the league. Right now I think I'm doing great. I'm very comfortable with the way I'm playing. My teammates have been great, they've really helped me get comfortable with the league and develop with the speed of play. It's been an unbelievable year."

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- For their first day on the ice as a full group, U.S. coach Phil Housley focused on drills that got his players' legs moving and blood pumping. And the players afterward said it was just what they needed.

"Everybody's upbeat today, good tempo, try to get the feet moving," forward J.T. Miller said. "It wasn't all that grueling of a practice. We all played [Saturday] for the most part. We've just got to make sure we take every practice like it's a game and come out ready to go."

Most of the drills focused on transition play, which Housley said will be a major part of the team's game plan when they arrive in Ufa, Russia for the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship.

A number of the drills were familiar to most of the 27 players here at the MSG Training Center, as they were the same as the ones Housley ran at the USA Hockey summer evaluation camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., in August.

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Saying Connor Murphy has been unlucky the past few seasons would be a major understatement.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pounder is considered one of the best defense prospects in the Phoenix Coyotes' system, but a series of back issues and a knee injury has seen him play about 80 games over three seasons.

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Stefan Noesen is one of 27 players taking part in USA Hockey's National Junior Team Training Camp here at the MSG Training Center, but his eligibility for the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship remains in question.

Noesen, a forward with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League, was handed a 10-game suspension by the OHL on Dec. 8 for a hit to the head during a game.

Team USA general manager Jim Johannson said he's hoping to have a resolution either way prior to the team's departure for Finland on Tuesday.

"It's still a pending situation, and in fairness to everybody that's involved in it right now I really don't have much more of a comment," Johansson said prior to the U.S. team's first practice. "In our opinion it's pending. It's a matter that's not closed and we're working on that. We hope to have resolution on that before we leave here.

"There's a lot of conversations. Ultimately he has to be eligible for an IIHF tournament. We're working on it as best we can. It takes a lot of communication with a lot of people right now. It's a little bit of uncharted territory for everybody. All I can say is I'm working on it as hard as I can. And I've been happy with the cooperation but it’s a difficult position for everybody and everyone involved is giving it the right diligence right now."

Noesen, a 6-foot, 187-pound right wing taken by the Ottawa Senators with the 21st pick of the 2011 NHL Draft, was part of the best line at USA Hockey's summer evaluation camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., along with Sean Kuraly and Mario Lucia.

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

The accolades keep piling up for Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Jaimen Yakubowski. First it was being named WHL player of the week. And Tuesday, he was named Canadian Hockey League Player of the Week.

The highlight of Yakubowski's week was his five-goal game Friday in an 8-7 shootout loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers. In two WHL seasons, it was the first time he had scored more than two goals in a game.

Yakubowski's big week saw him total six goals and three assists, and gives him a team-high 19 goals this season.

With nine points in three games last week, Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Jaimen Yakubowski has been named Denny's WHL Player of the Week.

It's the second straight week Yakubowski has been honored, after he had eight points in four games the week before. He's just the second player this season to repeat as player of the week, along with fellow 2013 NHL Draft prospect J.C. Lipon of the Kamloops Blazers.

Yakubowski's week started Dec. 5, when he assisted on two of the first three Hurricanes goals en route to a 6-2 Lethbridge win against the Edmonton Oil Kings. Then came Dec. 7, when he scored five goals in an 8-7 shootout loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers. It was just the fourth multi-goal game of his WHL career, and the first time he scored more than two in a game. Then on Dec. 8, he had a goal and an assist in a 6-1 defeat of the Kootenay Ice.

On the season Yakubowski leads the Hurricanes with 19 goals and is second with 32 points in 35 games.

A pair of Omaha Lancers teammates were among the three 2013 NHL Draft prospects honored by the United States Hockey League for their play last week.

Forward Kyle Osterberg was named CCM Forward of the Week and teammate Matias Cleland was named CCM Defenseman of the Week. In addition, Charlie Lindgren of the Sioux Falls Stampede has been named Reebok Goaltender of the Week.

Osterberg, a 5-foot-7.5, 171-pound forward, scored twice Friday in a 4-3 win against Team USA. His first goal, a power-play score with 4:10 left in the first, put Omaha up 3-1. Team USA rallied to tie the game, but Osterberg came up big at 3:56 of the third, putting Omaha ahead for good. He also had an assist Friday for his first USHL three-point game. It also was his first two-goal game.

On Saturday his power-play goal late in the second period that put Omaha up 4-1 against the Lincoln Stars proved to be the difference as Lincoln rallied in the third to make it a 4-3 game.

Cleland has four assists in both games, including primary assists on both of Osterberg's game-winners. He had two assists in Friday's win against Team USA, and then two more in Saturday's 4-3 win against Lincoln. The 5-10.5, 185-pound blueliner has 14 points in 20 games since being acquired by Omaha early in the season. His 16 points overall are tied for second among USHL defensemen.

Shawinigan goalie Marvin Cupper was honored by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as Second Star of the Week.

The 18-year-old goalie stopped 50 of 52 shots in two games last week. On Friday, he made 23 saves for his first QMJHL shutout in a 4-0 win against the visiting Sherbrooke Phoenix. One night later, in the back-end of the home-and-home set, he stopped 27 of 29 shots in regulation and overtime, plus all three in the shootout, as Shawinigan took a 3-2 shootout win.

Cupper, in his first season in the QMJHL, is 6-17-3, with a 3.57 goals-against average and .893 save percentage. He'll soon leave the Cataractes for Germany's World Junior Championship tryout camp.