Kerby Rychel's hockey career hits rock bottom.

This has to be a new low. 

Since being drafted all the way back in 2013 the career trajectory of 24 year old forward Kerby Rychel can only be described as disappointing. Rychel was drafted by the Blue Jackets in the first round (19th overall) of the 2013 National Hockey League Entry Draft, but the talented forward has never lived up to the hype that saw him selected in the top 20 of an NHL draft.

Following the draft from Columbus Rychel would turn pro during the 2014 - 2015 regular season, a season he split betwene both the NHL and the American Hockey League. Granted Rychel spent the majority of his time as a member of the Springfield Falcons of the AHL, appearing in 51 games and recording 12 goals and 21 assists for a total of 33 points, but he did also appear in 5 games for the Blue Jackets and looked impressive in the process. Rychel kicked off his NHL career with 3 points over those first 5 games, certainly a strong start, but it would not last. The very next season Rychel saw 32 games of NHL action but was unable to match the production from his previous season, recording just 2 goals and 7 assists for a total of 9 points over that stretch.

Shockingly that would effectively be the end of Rychel's career at the NHL level. Rychel and his father, who also serves as his agent, would demand a trade out of Columbus due to his lack of playing time and eventually they got their wish. Rychel was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs where he would truly be buried in the AHL, arguably the primary reason he had requested a trade out of Columbus. Rychel would never so much as appear in a single NHL game for the Maple Leafs, and it was less than 2 full season before he was once again traded, this time to the Montreal Canadiens. Rychel did not last long in Montreal either, appearing in just 4 total NHL games before the Habs also decided to move on. In what was likely his last shot at cracking an NHL roster, Rychel joined the Calgary Flames organization but that was more of the same. 

After just 2 games at the NHL level the Flames washed their hands of Rychel, once again forcing him to spend an entire season at the AHL level. Now you might think that Rychel never really got a fair shot, but based on the news coming out today it sounds like Rychel may have no one but himself to blame for his poor performance. 

After failing to secure a deal of any kind on this side of the ocean Rychel signed a deal with Orebro HK of the Swedish Hockey League, but it seems even that organization wants nothing to do with the former first round draft pick. According to multiple reports out of Europe Rychel has been cut by Orebro HK after he showed up to camp out of shape and performed poorly during a number of preseason games, truly a low point for a player once considered among the 20 best players in an NHL draft class. 

This has to be rock bottom for Rychel at this point, but hopefully this rather embarrassing development will serve as a wake up call for a young man who seems to be in desperate need of one.