When the American Hockey League released the rosters for the 2015-16 All-Star Classic, there were a few familiar faces that popped up. In fact, 14 of the 52 players selected had already appeared in an AHL All-Star Game at some other point in their career.

Dustin Jeffrey, the lone representative for the Springfield Falcons, is one of those familiar faces.

Jeffrey is in his first year in the Arizona Coyotes organization, and at both the AHL and NHL level, he has made a noticeable impact, something he set out to do when he signed his one-year, two-way contract on July 1.

“One of the reasons I signed with this organization I thought it was an opportunity to play games in the NHL and get back to it,” Jeffrey said in an one-on-one interview with Along the Boards. “I felt I played really well in the games that I was up, so I think that is kind of what I was looking for when I signed here.”

Standing Above the Rest

At the AHL level, Jeffrey has certainly put together an All-Star caliber season, with an 11-19-30 line and a plus-6 rating through 31 games. Those points have been coming in bunches as well. By Nov. 1, Jeffrey already had a trio of three-point nights and was named the CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Nov. 1. In that time, he had two goals, five assists and a plus-four rating in three games.

“He’s got a lot of experience in the league, when we were looking at veterans obviously in the offseason to target he was one of the top guys because he brings a pretty complete game to us,” said Springfield Coach Ron Rolston. “Obviously the thing that we see is his ability offensively to make plays, and every night he’s gotta be a guy who creates offense for us. He’s got really good vision, real good stick skills and can make plays in small areas. He runs our power play, so he’s someone we thought could generate for us but also be a complete player.”

In the midst of all of this, Jeffrey quietly assembled a five-game point streak from Oct. 24 through Nov. 6, with four goals and five assists in that span.

This led to a pair of early season call-ups to Arizona.

In seven games with the Coyotes this season, he notched a goal and an assist along with a plus-2 rating while playing alongside Max Domi as he filled in for Antoine Vermette.

This put a unique twist on Jeffrey’s game, as his role in Arizona was unsurprisingly different than in Springfield. In his case however, the communication between Rolston and Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett eased his transitions.

“I know is what my role is down here [in Springfield]. I’m going to play a lot more minutes and I’m going to play in every situation,” Jeffrey said. “When I go [to Arizona], credit to Tippett he’s an awesome coach, he makes it pretty known what they expect of you and what they want you to do while you’re there … It’s pretty easy to tailor your game when there’s a clear line of communication.”

Second Go-Around at the AHL All-Star Game

Monday will not be Jeffrey’s first time playing in the AHL All-Star game, having been selected while with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the 2009-10 season.

“The first one was really cool,” he said. “The game was in Portland, Maine, so my family was able to come in, my parents came to the game. It was just kind of a cool experience for everybody. It was pretty exciting to be in your second year pro and play in an All-Star game and obviously play with a lot of great players.”

Disenchanting is an understatement when describing the Falcons season thus far. Though not totally off the pace in the Eastern Conference, the Falcons performance on the ice has put them in a challenging position to recover in the final stretch.

Jeffrey, however, has been a welcome change on the ice, giving Falcons fans something to look forward to at the MassMutual Center, not to mention the fact that he has been more than serviceable at the AHL level as well. And according to Rolston, the low-key demeanor he maintains on the ice is commensurate with his demeanor off the ice.

“He plays a lot like his personality in the sense where he’s very smooth, more on the quiet side but he sets a good example for the guys,” Rolston said. “He’s not going to be a ‘rah rah’ guy but somebody that comes in and works hard every day.”

At 27 years old and a seasoned veteran of both the AHL and NHL, Jeffrey’s game is highly developed. And no matter which level of the game he has found himself at this season, he’s undisputedly assimilated seamlessly into the role well.

But he’s not done. In fact, in his mind there’s still plenty to do the next few months beyond the All-Star game.

“We can still make playoffs and that’s our goal,” Jeffrey said. “For me if I can help out in any way, if it’s offensively or defensively or special teams or whatever it is we’ve just got to find a way to win hockey games and to climb into the playoff picture. And with the way our division is right now it’s not out of grasp.”