The Portland Pirates seem to have the luck with the rookie of the year award as Luke Adam was announced as the 2010-2011 Rookie of the Year. This is the third year in a row that a Pirate has won the rookie of the year award, with Tyler Ennis winning in 2009-10 and Nathan Gerbe winning in 2008-09. Adam had led all rookies with 28 goals and was second among rookies with 60 points. Adam also played 19 games with the Buffalo Sabres this season and had three goals and an assist in those games.
Along with Adam, Marc-Andre Gragnani was named the outstanding defenseman of the year for the Pirates. Gragnani had 60 points, which led all AHL defenseman, in 63 games this season and has one goal and one assist in seven games for the Sabres this season.
Gragnani will factor into the Sabres playoff plans as long as Jordon Leopold will be out of the lineup and Adam could factor in if another player goes down. Much like Ennis and Gerbe made a splash around the playoffs last year, Gragnani could make his own splash this year.