The American Hockey League postseason has historically been a platform in which the future stars of the NHL have made their mark.

In this year's Calder Cup Playoffs, Winnipeg Jets prospect and St. John's IceCaps center Eric O'Dell is adding to that tradition.

"For every team at this point in the year, you need your best players to be just that, and he's done that for us," said Keith McCambridge, third-year coach of the IceCaps. "He's given us key goals at important times during games and has continued to just get better and better every single second here during the season."

Brendan Ranford has come a long way during his rookie season with the American Hockey League's Texas Stars.

After five seasons of junior hockey with the Kamloops Blazers in the Western Hockey League, Ranford, a forward originally drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010 but never signed by the club, signed a professional tryout contract with Texas prior to the start of the 2013-14 season.

He's now leading the AHL in goals during the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League and their NHL affiliate in Pittsburgh, much more is shared than simply a synonymous mascot. The success of the Pittsburgh Penguins and their partners in Northeastern Pennsylvania has been actively intertwined since their affiliation began in 1999.

"The way we view it, it's really one team," said John Hynes, the AHL's 2011 Coach of the Year who is in his fourth season at the helm for Wilkes-Barre. "Between the management and coaches, we're on the same page as far as how we like to run the two teams and the values we want to have within our locker room."

It's a sense of unity that resonates across the board. Through the years, Pittsburgh has looked to Wilkes-Barre for the development of players such as goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, defensemen Kris Letang, Alex Goligoski, Ben Lovejoy, Rob Scuderi, Michal Rozsival and Brooks Orpik and forwards Mark Letestu and Maxime Talbot.

If you're not familiar with Sam Carrick already, you will be soon.

The second-year center is turning heads in his first full American Hockey League season, scoring 14 goals and 35 points in 62 games with the Toronto Marlies during the regular season. Six of his goals were game-winners, and he also led all Marlies forwards at plus-17.

Drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fifth round (No. 144) of the 2010 NHL Draft, Carrick spent four years in the Ontario Hockey League with Brampton before spending most of his first pro season in the ECHL.

He made his AHL debut with the Marlies on March 2, 2013, and had four points in 19 games down the stretch. He also appeared in five Calder Cup Playoff games last spring.

The Detroit Red Wings are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 23rd consecutive year despite a series of injuries that plagued them throughout the 2013-14 regular season. That accomplishment can be attributed in large part to the reinforcements provided by their American Hockey League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Thirteen members of the 2013 Calder Cup champion Griffins have skated for Detroit this season, including impact players such as defensemen Danny DeKeyser and Brian Lashoff, and forwards Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist, the latter of whom led the Red Wings with 28 goals. Several others, including Nyquist and forwards Tomas Jurco, Luke Glendening and Riley Sheahan, spent time in Grand Rapids again this season.

The Griffins and Red Wings, whose affiliation began in 2002, have fostered a model relationship between an AHL team and its parent NHL club.