Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
“Bettendorf, Iowa,” Luke Toporowski says.
Born and raised.
In a business known for players bouncing around North America – as well as the rest of the globe – the new Iowa Wild forward is getting a fresh start by coming home.
The 22-year-old Toporowski was at morning skate with the Providence Bruins last Friday morning as the team geared up to face Hartford that night. Digging into his pre-game meal, his phone rang. He had just been traded to Minnesota, part of the package that brought three-time Stanley Cup champion Patrick Maroon to Boston.
It also made him the first Iowa-born player in the AHL club’s history.
“It was a total surprise,” Toporowski said. “It was cool to come home.”
And while Minnesota is where he eventually is aiming to land, Iowa is where the son of former minor pro forward Kerry Toporowski has his deepest roots. Des Moines is a straight shot west from Bettendorf, about 170 miles away on Interstate 80. The Toporowski family settled in the state after Kerry finished his career with the United Hockey League’s Quad City Mallards in 2004.
While Iowa has long supported hockey, it has only produced a handful of pro-level players. But now Luke has a chance to show what he can do in front of his fellow Iowans.
“It would be really cool if kids could maybe look up to us and know that they can chase their dreams,” Toporowski said. “Even being from Iowa, you can still work hard and make it to the AHL and then hopefully one day the NHL.”
Toporowski played five seasons of junior hockey with Spokane and Kamloops in the Western Hockey League before he landed in Providence on a one-year, show-me deal in 2022. And he proved himself worthy, producing 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) in 47 games as the P-Bruins won the Atlantic Division last regular season.
Toporowski earned his first NHL contract, a two-year entry-level deal from Boston, in the offseason.
The undrafted forward moves well and possesses an excellent shot. This season he had 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in 49 games with Providence before the deal, and while had shown that he could generate offense, the Boston organization wanted to see him build out a reliable three-zone game. That meant plenty of sit-down video sessions with head coach Ryan Mougenel and working with assistant coach Trent Whitfield to bring those parts of his game up to a dependable pro level.
“I couldn’t thank them enough,” Toporowski said of the Providence coaching staff. “They gave me every opportunity to showcase what I bring, and they worked with me constantly to build my game. They were very patient with me and worked with me weekly, if not daily, on video on how to grow my game and be more of a 200-foot player, and I think that’s just really helped me to become the person and player I am today.”
While the P-Bruins are comfortably in a playoff position as the AHL regular season enters its final quarter, Iowa is in a more precarious predicament, and Toporowski found himself immersed in a standings fight when the trade went down. Iowa, which is idle until Friday when a three-in-three weekend begins, is five points behind Manitoba for the fifth and final postseason spot in the Central.
Toporowski registered a goal and two assists during the Wild’s two-game home series with the Moose, as head coach Brett McLean installed him on a line with Kevin Conley and former junior teammate Caedan Bankier.
This weekend brings a two-game visit to Grand Rapids followed by a quick stop in Chicago. The pressure is growing.
“I think that’s a good thing,” Toporowski said. “Sometimes that pressure, if you’re in the right mindset and you’re the right player, it brings the best out of you. So I’m just going to do everything I can each practice, each game to help this team and grow with this team. Hopefully we go on a little tear here down the stretch and can get into a playoff spot.
“I’m just going to roll with the opportunity they give me.”
TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams has been on the American Hockey League beat for nearly two decades for outlets including NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and SLAM! Sports, and was most recently the co-host of The Hockey News On The ‘A’ podcast. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.