2021/22 Utica Comets and ECHL Talk

[Bad Goalie]

Gauthier cleared waivers today but hasn't been assigned to Utica yet. Probably when Wood or Thompson return.

Wotherspoon hasn't been released from his PTO, so he is considered non-roster.

I hate to be unreasonable, but Fitz needs to make a move with Wotherspoon or figure out a way to obtain a couple of solid AHL level D-men from the number of guys currently being waived or released. The Comets have 7 D-men in camp. As it stands right now, Masonius is the only extra D-man in Utica and he is not AHL good. The Comets cannot survive with 6 d-men and the guys that are in Adirondack have already proven to be incapable of taking on a day to day role in the AHL.

Wotherspoon has 8 professional seasons behind him and 843 GP in the AHL. He would be just fine. Unless Fitz has reason to believe this guy has issues, he needs to get a contract of some kind, NHL 2-way or AHL at a commensurate salary for a veteran AHL D-man comparable to Tyler.

I believe Colton White was supposed to be here and if the out of commission Devils get back I have to think he'll be sent down. A big plus is he does not count as a veteran does not count as a veteran.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Some preliminary thoughts on forward lines that I like to see in Utica.

Foote-Boqvist-Holtz
De Leo-Thompson-Clarke
Talvitie-Gauthier-Zetterlund
Gambardella-Schnarr-Greer

I'm assuming Studenic spends the majority of the season in NJ . Thompson should get sent down once his injury has healed

 

[UticaHockey]

Some preliminary thoughts on forward lines that I like to see in Utica.

Foote-Boqvist-Holtz
De Leo-Thompson-Clarke
Talvitie-Gauthier-Zetterlund
Gambardella-Schnarr-Greer

I'm assuming Studenic spends the majority of the season in NJ . Thompson should get sent down once his injury has healed

Brian Flynn is also in Utica so in a perfect world when everyone is healthy there will be a bit of a log jam at forward. But as we know perfect worlds don't exist very long. My guess is Flynn was signed to provide the veteran leadership down on the farm and will likely wear the C on his sweater.

 

[UticaHockey]

Should be a nice day to get out on the lake.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

2 Vukojevic, Michael D
5 Russo, Robbie D
9 Holtz, Alex RW
7 De Leo, Chase C/LW
10 A Flynn, Brian C
11 Masonius, Joe F/D
13 A McGrath, Patrick RW
15 Gambardella, Joe C
16 Schnarr, Nate C
17 A Greer, A. J. LW
20 Zetterlund, Fabian C
22 Walsh, Reilly D
25 Foote, Nolan LW
26 A Schmelzer, Ryan C
34 Mitens, Mareks G
35 Daws, Nico G
38 A Groleau, Jeremy D
38? Gauthier, Frederik F?
40 Schmid, Akira G
44 Stevens, Luke LW
77 Talvitie, Aarne C
82 A Okhotiuk, Nikita D
88 Bahl, Kevin D
90 Boqvist, Jesper C
92 Clarke, Graeme RW​

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[Classic Devil]

2 Vukojevic, Michael D
5 Russo, Robbie D
9 Holtz, Alex RW
7 De Leo, Chase C/LW
10 A Flynn, Brian C
11 Masonius, Joe F/D
13 A McGrath, Patrick RW
15 Gambardella, Joe C
16 Schnarr, Nate C
17 A Greer, A. J. LW
20 Zetterlund, Fabian C
22 Walsh, Reilly D
25 Foote, Nolan LW
26 A Schmelzer, Ryan C
34 Mitens, Mareks G
35 Daws, Nico G
38 A Groleau, Jeremy D
38? Gauthier, Frederik F?
40 Schmid, Akira G
44 Stevens, Luke LW
77 Talvitie, Aarne C
82 A Okhotiuk, Nikita D
88 Bahl, Kevin D
90 Boqvist, Jesper C
92 Clarke, Graeme RW​

Oh no. Holtz in 9? I hope he sticks with 10 in the NHL... I don't want to have to have him compete with Hall, Parise, and Muller to make my all-time teams. With 10 he only needs to beat out Broten.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

I hate to be unreasonable, but Fitz needs to make a move with Wotherspoon or figure out a way to obtain a couple of solid AHL level D-men from the number of guys currently being waived or released. The Comets have 7 D-men in camp. As it stands right now, Masonius is the only extra D-man in Utica and he is not AHL good. The Comets cannot survive with 6 d-men and the guys that are in Adirondack have already proven to be incapable of taking on a day to day role in the AHL.

Wotherspoon has 8 professional seasons behind him and 843 GP in the AHL. He would be just fine. Unless Fitz has reason to believe this guy has issues, he needs to get a contract of some kind, NHL 2-way or AHL at a commensurate salary for a veteran AHL D-man comparable to Tyler.

I believe Colton White was supposed to be here and if the out of commission Devils get back I have to think he'll be sent down. A big plus is he does not count as a veteran does not count as a veteran.

Who is missing? They have Russo plus Bahl, Okhotyuk, Vukojevic and Walsh as well as Groleau. I'm fairly certain NJ isn't going with 10 defensemen and once Smith and Severson are healthy either White, Jaros, and/or possibly Wotherspoon will all be available.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[Guttersniped]

Doggos!

 

[Bad Goalie]

Who is missing? They have Russo plus Bahl, Okhotyuk, Vukojevic and Walsh as well as Groleau. I'm fairly certain NJ isn't going with 10 defensemen and once Smith and Severson are healthy either White, Jaros, and/or possibly Wotherspoon will all be available.

You are correct. That's 6 D.

Wotherspoon is a mystery. He wasn't signed and they haven't announced his release. He should be a Comet, but it hasn't happened.


Blackwood has caused Utica's likely #1 Wedgewood to be listed in the NY 23 man roster. That's led NJ to have 13 forwards and 7 D. That issue would require the Devils to send down 2 D when Smith and Severson come back. When /if the Blackwood issue is settled, NJ can add either one more D or one F. Their forward issue would give them 2 more up front and once again more reassigned guys.If all 4 return the ths Devils would be 4 over.

My guess with all things working out perfectly would be White and Gauthier come down provided they clear waivers.
I'd guess Thompson. The 4th is up in the air.

So what we know is 6 + a not very good Masonius. 7

White and Wotherspoon would be 9 and Masonius gets a short ride to Adirondack making 8.

The Comets need to have 10 available if possible because the Devils will be recalling to fill in all season long. Uitca will suffer their share of games lost. If those things 0ccur simultaneously, it much better to have in house players rather than going to the ECHL for inferior talent. We know the inferior line is correct based upon their camp showing and the preseason games where the NJ signed D basically played both games.

I have no idea how NJ sees things, but in the past 8 seasons the Comets went through D-men like changing socks due to Vancouver recalls, Utica injuries, and the double whammy of both at the same time. There were times when the top 6 was decimated and at one point the Comets Top 6 consisted of 2 backups and 3 ELC. At other times we saw 1 and 2 D-men playing forward and they made a total of 12 players available to play. They even played with the only 11 players they had on hand for 2 games in a row.

The Comets can be raided of their best players. A minor league team when faced with a player shortage only have their backups and then it's ECHL fishing. Therefore, the better you build your in house roster, the better you can hold it together in tough times. Some teams do it and other teams are left to sputter, flounder, and finally drown.

Right now the remainder of this week will telegraph where the Comets stand roster wise when hitting the ice for their opening contest on the 17th. At the moment, I don't think we sees anybody released or sent to Adirondack. What's here is necessary to practice and be prepared for injury here or in NJ or a sudden illness. The point is that there are very few extra bodies.

 

[UticaHockey]

You are correct. That's 6 D.

Wotherspoon is a mystery. He wasn't signed and they haven't announced his release. He should be a Comet, but it hasn't happened.


Blackwood has caused Utica's likely #1 Wedgewood to be listed in the NY 23 man roster. That's led NJ to have 13 forwards and 7 D. That issue would require the Devils to send down 2 D when Smith and Severson come back. When /if the Blackwood issue is settled, NJ can add either one more D or one F. Their forward issue would give them 2 more up front and once again more reassigned guys.If all 4 return the ths Devils would be 4 over.

My guess with all things working out perfectly would be White and Gauthier come down provided they clear waivers.
I'd guess Thompson. The 4th is up in the air.

So what we know is 6 + a not very good Masonius. 7

White and Wotherspoon would be 9 and Masonius gets a short ride to Adirondack making 8.

The Comets need to have 10 available if possible because the Devils will be recalling to fill in all season long. Uitca will suffer their share of games lost. If those things 0ccur simultaneously, it much better to have in house players rather than going to the ECHL for inferior talent. We know the inferior line is correct based upon their camp showing and the preseason games where the NJ signed D basically played both games.

I have no idea how NJ sees things, but in the past 8 seasons the Comets went through D-men like changing socks due to Vancouver recalls, Utica injuries, and the double whammy of both at the same time. There were times when the top 6 was decimated and at one point the Comets Top 6 consisted of 2 backups and 3 ELC. At other times we saw 1 and 2 D-men playing forward and they made a total of 12 players available to play. They even played with the only 11 players they had on hand for 2 games in a row.

The Comets can be raided of their best players. A minor league team when faced with a player shortage only have their backups and then it's ECHL fishing. Therefore, the better you build your in house roster, the better you can hold it together in tough times. Some teams do it and other teams are left to sputter, flounder, and finally drown.

Right now the remainder of this week will telegraph where the Comets stand roster wise when hitting the ice for their opening contest on the 17th. At the moment, I don't think we sees anybody released or sent to Adirondack. What's here is necessary to practice and be prepared for injury here or in NJ or a sudden illness. The point is that there are very few extra bodies.

I agree that starting the season with so little depth on defense is asking for trouble. Tyler Wotherspoon on paper looks like the perfect solution but the reporting on him has been non existent even though he has been in the Devils camp for a few weeks now.

Joe Masonius is an interesting player. Nothing in his pro career stats makes him look like an AHL player. He is yet to play in a single game in the AHL and last year he played in a total of nine games all of which were in the SPHL a league even lower than the ECHL. But he does have a decent pedigree as a former 6th round pick (never signed) by Pittsburgh and he played two full seasons on the US Development Team with teammates like Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkuchuk. We didn't get to see much from him in his one Comets preseason game because he was ejected in the first period for a dirty open ice head shot on a Syracuse Crunch player.

 

[UticaHockey]

Masonius was just assigned to Adirondack so there must be another defenseman or two coming to the Comets.

 

[Zippy316]

What's the scouting report on Boqvist?

I’m sure it’s been answered, but think Marcus Johansson play style wise. Loves to skate with the puck, has a ton of speed as well, and is more of a set up guy. Not the best guy in the corners and in tight, but has improved in recent years.

He still needs to improve a bit to translate his skills to the NHL level. He also suffers a bit because the Hughes has a very similar skill set and struggles in a lot of the same areas. So the players that would help cover up Boqvist’s weaknesses in an ideal world are playing with Hughes.

Good chance he ends up as trade bait as well considering every other top nine Devils forward is left handed shooting LW who can also play center.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

2 Vukojevic, Michael D
5 Russo, Robbie D
7 De Leo, Chase C/LW
9 Holtz, Alex RW
10 A Flynn, Brian C
13 A McGrath, Patrick RW
15 Gambardella, Joe C
16 Schnarr, Nate C
17 A Greer, A. J. LW
20 Zetterlund, Fabian C
22 Walsh, Reilly D
25 Foote, Nolan LW
26 A Schmelzer, Ryan C
35 Daws, Niko G
38 A Groleau, Jeremy D
38? Gauthier, Frederik F?
40 Schmid, Akira G
44 Stevens, Luke LW
77 Talvitie, Aarne C
82 A Okhotiuk, Nikita D
88 Bahl, Kevin D
90 Boqvist, Jesper C
92 Clarke, Graeme RW
-- Wotherspoon, Tyler D

 

[UticaHockey]

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Utica Comets (New Jersey Devils)

Tell me something interesting about the Comets: Devils affiliate this year, Devils were bad last year in Binghamton, so this is one of the two teams I do not think make playoffs this season. Probably the one team I would put money on (if I did that) to miss playoffs. Team will be looking to maximize points against this team early and often.

https://chirpsfromcenterice.com/2021/10/12/21-22-opp-pview/

 

[UticaHockey]

Utica Comets (New Jersey Devils)

Tell me something interesting about the Comets: Devils affiliate this year, Devils were bad last year in Binghamton, so this is one of the two teams I do not think make playoffs this season. Probably the one team I would put money on (if I did that) to miss playoffs. Team will be looking to maximize points against this team early and often.

https://chirpsfromcenterice.com/2021/10/12/21-22-opp-pview/

Not a lot of meat there other than the they were bad last year so expect them to be bad again this year logic.

 

[Bad Goalie]

That's good news. Been waiting on this for days now. It was obvious he had no chance of making the Devils. Then the final 23-man roster and a report of his release was not announced.

He has signed an AHL contract with the Utica Comets. How much that contract is for is nigh on impossible to get.

This is a good signing for the Comets. The guy is a journeyman AHL D-man. This is the 4th NHL affiliate AHL team he has played for. Calgary for 5 seasons (Abbotsford, Adirondack, and Stockton), 1 season with St. Louis in San Antonio, and the last 2 seasons with Philadelphia in Lehigh Valley. He was on 2-way contracts for each of those 8 seasons. This is the first time he is on an AHL contract. It may have been the reason for the lapse of time during which there was no news. He made $375K in his last 2 seasons with Lehigh Valley on the AHL end of his 2-way. Going with an AHL contract only had to have been a letdown for him unless the salary he signed for was commensurate.

At any rate he is the kind of AHL contract player I was talking about in post #688. (That post lists the current camp players and their positions). 14 forwards (2 of which I don't think will remain), 7 D, and 2 keepers. Still not enough players for an AHL team. They need a couple more D-men and at least 3 more dependable AHL at least talent level upfront.

White probably comes down soon and then ?
I think Gauthier will be one of those forwards and likely Thompson. NJ isn't going to send 3 down.

Fitz (or whichever AGM he has given that task to (should be Comets GM Dan MacKinnon) needs to keep scouring the released players off other rosters to find a couple guys to add depth for the Comets.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Masonius was just assigned to Adirondack so there must be another defenseman or two coming to the Comets.

That's not exactly looking like a promising group to provide anything more than a very short emergency stand in.

 

[Bad Goalie]

@UticaHockey

Did you get what you were looking for in the assessment of Boqvist?

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced the following suspensions:

Utica Comets defenseman Joe Masonius has been suspended for two (2) games as a consequence of an illegal check to the head of an opponent in a preseason game at Syracuse on Oct. 9.

Masonius will miss the next two games for which he is on an active AHL roster.

https://theahl.com/ahl-announces-suspensions-21oct13

 

[Bad Goalie]

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced the following suspensions:

Utica Comets defenseman Joe Masonius has been suspended for two (2) games as a consequence of an illegal check to the head of an opponent in a preseason game at Syracuse on Oct. 9.

Masonius will miss the next two games for which he is on an active AHL roster.

https://theahl.com/ahl-announces-suspensions-21oct13

That doesn't seem like it will happen very soon. That blunder may keep him right where he is. The AHL teams normally call a guy up from the ECHL to fill an immediate need. Calling a guy up to play in the 3rd game after you bring him on board isn't a normal action.