Although the Monsters are out of the AHL playoff race, there will be a lot to play for in the team’s final three games of the regular season, as a few roster spots will be occupied by a youthful generation that will be auditioning for a place on next year’s club.

In the past two weeks, general manager David Oliver has stayed busy, signing five college players (Colby Cohen, Zach Cohen, Kevin Shattenkirk, Boston University; Mike Carman, University of Minnesota; and Mark Olver, Northern Michigan;) to amateur tryout contracts.

After winning a National Championship with Boston University and Monsters head coach David Quinn in 2008-09, Shattenkirk and Colby and Zach Cohen reunite with Quinn in Cleveland for the Monsters final regular season games. Shattenkirk and Colby Cohen were drafted by the Avalanche while Zach Cohen was signed as a free agent. Both Colby and Kevin were selected in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, as Shattenkirk was Colorado’s first round pick (14th overall) while Cohen was selected in the second round (45th overall).

Prior to coming to Cleveland this season, Colby Cohen, a right-handed defenseman from Villanova, Pa., recorded 30 points (14G,16A) and 82 penalty minutes in 36 games with Boston in 2009-10. In his three-year career with the Terriers, Cohen registered 78 points (25G, 53A) and 181 penalty minutes in 118 games with the Terriers.

Zach Cohen, who was signed in late March, put up 25 points (10G,15A) and 30 penalty minutes in 38 games with the Terriers this season. In his four-year career at BU, Cohen, a native of Schaumburg, Ill., recorded 52 points (31G,21A) and 68 penalty minutes in 130 games.

Ending his collegiate career with a 29-point season (7G, 22A), Shattenkirk, a defenseman from Greenwich, Conn., put up 78 points (18G, 60A) in 121 games over the course of three years with the Terriers.

A fifth-round choice of the Avalanche in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft (140th overall), Olver comes to the Monsters after playing the past three seasons at Northern Michigan. A native of Burnaby, British Columbia, Olver recorded 122 points (56G, 66A) in 119 games with the Wildcats, spending three years in the CCHA.

Coming in from the lauded University of Minnesota program, Carman, a center, recorded 18 points (8G,10A) and 39 penalty minutes in 39 games with the Golden Gophers in 2009-10. Colorado’s third-round choice (81st overall) in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Carman put up 66 points (29G,37A) in 135 games with Minnesota over a four-year span.

Zach Cohen, Carman and Olver have all made their professional debuts, and Colby Cohen and Shattenkirk will be available to make their professional debuts on Wednesday, when the Monsters host the Abbotsford Heat at 7:30 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena. After Wednesday, Lake Erie travels to Grand Rapids for a 7:00 p.m. contest Friday before wrapping up the season with Fan Appreciation Night on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against Abbotsford.

Wednesday's game and the rest of the games this season will be broadcast on the Monsters flagship radio station, ESPN 850 WKNR.  Listen Live on ESPN 850 WKNR | Watch here via AHL Live