2021-22 Utica Comets and ECHL thread - part V

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Springfield's OTL drops Utica's conference clinching magic number to nine.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Utica clinches a playoff berth on Monday with: (a) a Belleville regulation loss vs. Laval

However, a Laval regulation loss @ Belleville on Monday drops Utica's division clinching magic number down to six from eight.

 

[SKNJD9]

Not Utica but our old pal Stefan Noesen first AHL player in 11 yrs to hit 40g

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[UticaHockey]

Utica clinches a playoff berth on Monday with: (a) a Belleville regulation loss vs. Laval

However, a Laval regulation loss @ Belleville on Monday drops Utica's division clinching magic number down to six from eight.

That is my preferred outcome. It also keeps Rochester in 6th place and currently out of a playoff position. The underachieving Amerks will have a scary roster once Buffalo's season ends and Krebs, Fitzgerald and Samuelsson all return. It's mind blowing to me how much Rochester has under preformed with the talent that team has. I still don't want to face them in the first round however.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

That is my preferred outcome. It also keeps Rochester in 6th place and currently out of a playoff position. The underachieving Amerks will have a scary roster once Buffalo's season ends and Krebs, Fitzgerald and Samuelsson all return. It's mind blowing to me how much Rochester has under preformed with the talent that team has. I still don't want to face them in the first round however.

Imagine if Rochester could add Owen Power.

 

[UticaHockey]

Imagine if Rochester could add Owen Power.

Thankfully they can't.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Imagine if Utica could add Dawson Mercer.
They could have.

Real shame Fitz decided not to paper Mercer.

Dawson Mercer - NJ Devils, 20 yrs-old, ELC yr 1, projected 82 games. Will be shut down after the last NJ game.

Vasily Podkolzin - Vancouver Canucks, 20 yrs-old, ELC yr 1, projected 79 games. Will join the Abbotsford Canucks for the Calder Cup Playoffs at the conclusion of the NHL season.

Podkolzin is 4 months older than Dawson. He will be a force for the Canucks. Good skater, ferocious forechecker, very physical, great set up man. Really starting to put it together over the past month. When he brings those skills to the AHL he will be a force to be reckoned with.

 

[Bleedred]

Not Utica but our old pal Stefan Noesen first AHL player in 11 yrs to hit 40g

Feels like he should be 35 already, but he only just turned 29.

Probably the fact that he hasn't been much of an NHL regular in a couple of years or really a full season since he last played here, combined with the fact that he had an older look about him. He looked 32 back in 2018.

 

[Devils731]

Imagine if Utica could add Dawson Mercer.
They could have.

Real shame Fitz decided not to paper Mercer.

Dawson Mercer - NJ Devils, 20 yrs-old, ELC yr 1, projected 82 games. Will be shut down after the last NJ game.

Vasily Podkolzin - Vancouver Canucks, 20 yrs-old, ELC yr 1, projected 79 games. Will join the Abbotsford Canucks for the Calder Cup Playoffs at the conclusion of the NHL season.

Podkolzin is 4 months older than Dawson. He will be a force for the Canucks. Good skater, ferocious forechecker, very physical, great set up man. Really starting to put it together over the past month. When he brings those skills to the AHL he will be a force to be reckoned with.

Podkolzin has also played the last 3 years in men’s league while this is Mercer’s first year against adults.

While I hope Utica has a big run this offseason, I can see why Mercer wouldn’t be sent down. The longer offseason and workouts should be more beneficial for him and the Devils than playing more hockey.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Podkolzin has also played the last 3 years in men’s league while this is Mercer’s first year against adults.

While I hope Utica has a big run this offseason, I can see why Mercer wouldn’t be sent down. The longer offseason and workouts should be more beneficial for him and the Devils than playing more hockey.

Mercer might be in Helsinki next month.

 

[Devils731]

Mercer might be in Helsinki next month.

Good call but I’d rather he just take the offseason to skill build and workout.

But playing for your country is something I wouldn’t blame him for saying yes to.

 

[Guttersniped]

Podkolzin has also played the last 3 years in men’s league while this is Mercer’s first year against adults.

While I hope Utica has a big run this offseason, I can see why Mercer wouldn’t be sent down. The longer offseason and workouts should be more beneficial for him and the Devils than playing more hockey.

Yes, I saw an article about Pod & the AHL playoffs in the Athletic, and there was a twinge of regret, but the kid will have had a long season.

Both had truncated seasons in the last two years, but Pod did manage to play more games last year. Not sure that played a huge part in it though. More just a difference in philosophy.

Plus Mercer has played bigger minutes this season, averaging 16:36 TOI/GP in 72 GP. Pod has averaged 12:23 in 70 GP.

Mercer’s minutes dipped in January but then he started to play on Jack’s line, and now with Jack out he plays more, so his minutes are way up again.

In their last 16 games, Mercer has averaged 18:47 TOI/GP while Pod has 11:59 TOI/GP.

 

[RSeen]

Podkolzin has also played the last 3 years in men’s league while this is Mercer’s first year against adults.

While I hope Utica has a big run this offseason, I can see why Mercer wouldn’t be sent down. The longer offseason and workouts should be more beneficial for him and the Devils than playing more hockey.

Agree with this and Mercer proved he is clearly an NHL player. No need for him to play against inferior competition.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

Comets clinch with Laval 5-1 win over Belleville.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[Emperoreddy]

Well deserved no matter what

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

 

[Bad Goalie]

Podkolzin has also played the last 3 years in men’s league while this is Mercer’s first year against adults.

While I hope Utica has a big run this offseason, I can see why Mercer wouldn’t be sent down. The longer offseason and workouts should be more beneficial for him and the Devils than playing more hockey.

I wonder if you would be so understanding if the Devils had made the playoffs and they decided to end Mercer's season because the offseason and workouts should be more beneficial to his future and his place with the Devils than playing more hockey against men in his first year against men.

Oh well, I guess that would be so much different. How is different for the Kids playing in Utica who are just as young and have never played more than a regular season in their pro careers either? Maybe they should just shut the team down because they are too young (average age of the Utica Comets is 21 and 1/2 years old) to play more games, especially against the older AHL players on teams built for the playoff. Those teams will also be building up their rosters with top young NHL players assigned to the AHL precisely for a chance to experience post season playoffs.

No need to argue. Just a difference of opinion.

 

[Devils731]

I wonder if you would be so understanding if the Devils had made the playoffs and they decided to end Mercer's season because the offseason and workouts should be more beneficial to his future and his place with the Devils than playing more hockey against men in his first year against men.

Oh well, I guess that would be so much different. How is different for the Kids playing in Utica who are just as young and have never played more than a regular season in their pro careers either? Maybe they should just shut the team down because they are too young (average age of the Utica Comets is 21 and 1/2 years old) to play more games, especially against the older AHL players on teams built for the playoff. Those teams will also be building up their rosters with top young NHL players assigned to the AHL precisely for a chance to experience post season playoffs.

No need to argue. Just a difference of opinion.

That’s the reality of NHL/AHL relationships, it’s always to the ultimate benefit of the NHL team.

Young guys who end up established at the NHL level are not normally sent down for the AHL playoffs. It’s not surprising Mercer was not papered down for the playoffs.

 

[HBK27]

I'm sure it's been discussed before, but I'm just learning that 23 teams make the AHL playoffs.

23 teams to qualify for 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs

theahl.com

What an odd format too, with the top 3 teams (out of 7 total) in the North & Central divisions getting a 1st round bye while only the #1 seed in the 9 team Pacific division gets a bye.

 

[UticaHockey]

I was hoping Mercer would be papered to the Comets even though I knew it was a longshot. But the possibility was there because Fitz had previously mentioned potentially doing it.

I'm a Comets fan so naturally I was hoping to strengthen the Comets roster heading into the playoffs. But fans tend to lose sight of the fact that hockey in both a sport and a business. From the business side why would Dawson Mercer want to go down to the AHL after completing a NHL season where he played in all 82 games?

Someone correct me if I am wrong but I am 90% sure that the salary players receive from their NHL contracts end when the NHL season ends. In the case of Mercer he will receive the full $832.5K plus bonus NHL side of his two way contract. He would not receive a penny more in salary for coming down to Utica to play in the AHL playoffs. He would receive is a portion of the AHL playoff revenue pool that is shared will all AHL players that participate in the playoffs.

The AHL playoff revenue pool is certainly not comparable to the pool of money available to the players in the NHL playoffs. The AHL is a gate driven revenue business and the sad fact is on average the AHL attendance drops significantly during the first two rounds compared to the regular season. The reason is many local businesses that buy season ticket packages do not purchase playoff ticket packages. It is just not something that they budget for so a large number of seats sold during the regular season remain unsold for the AHL playoffs.

For players on AHL contracts or two way contracts that played most of the year in the AHL it is a chance to earn a little extra money and keep playing longer. For players on one way contracts or those that played most of the year in the NHL the AHL playoff pool money is insignificant to what they have already earned.

To circle back to Dawson Mercer why would he want to come down and play for an AHL team that he has no connection with for pennies on the dollar? From the Devils perspective why would they want to send a young player down that exceeded expectations and is projected to play in all 82 games? Yes there is an argument that can be made that Mercer could help the Comets play deeper in the playoffs which could benefit the development of other prospects in Utica but it still isn't the best thing for Dawson Mercer himself.

If Mercer has a chance to play for his country at the worlds that would be a much greater perk than playing in the AHL playoffs as a reward for a nice rookie season. A hockey vacation in Helsinki is probably a little more rewarding than the AHL playoff grind in Utica.

 

[Guttersniped]

I was hoping Mercer would be papered to the Comets even though I knew it was a longshot. But the possibility was there because Fitz had previously mentioned potentially doing it.

I'm a Comets fan so naturally I was hoping to strengthen the Comets roster heading into the playoffs. But fans tend to lose sight of the fact that hockey in both a sport and a business. From the business side why would Dawson Mercer want to go down to the AHL after completing a NHL season where he played in all 82 games?

Someone correct me if I am wrong but I am 90% sure that the salary players receive from their NHL contracts end when the NHL season ends. In the case of Mercer he will receive the full $832.5K plus bonus NHL side of his two way contract. He would not receive a penny more in salary for coming down to Utica to play in the AHL playoffs. He would receive is a portion of the AHL playoff revenue pool that is shared will all AHL players that participate in the playoffs.

The AHL playoff revenue pool is certainly not comparable to the pool of money available to the players in the NHL playoffs. The AHL is a gate driven revenue business and the sad fact is on average the AHL attendance drops significantly during the first two rounds compared to the regular season. The reason is many local businesses that buy season ticket packages do not purchase playoff ticket packages. It is just not something that they budget for so a large number of seats sold during the regular season remain unsold for the AHL playoffs.

For players on AHL contracts or two way contracts that played most of the year in the AHL it is a chance to earn a little extra money and keep playing longer. For players on one way contracts or those that played most of the year in the NHL the AHL playoff pool money is insignificant to what they have already earned.

To circle back to Dawson Mercer why would he want to come down and play for an AHL team that he has no connection with for pennies on the dollar? From the Devils perspective why would they want to send a young player down that exceeded expectations and is projected to play in all 82 games? Yes there is an argument that can be made that Mercer could help the Comets play deeper in the playoffs which could benefit the development of other prospects in Utica but it still isn't the best thing for Dawson Mercer himself.

If Mercer has a chance to play for his country at the worlds that would be a much greater perk than playing in the AHL playoffs as a reward for a nice rookie season. A hockey vacation in Helsinki is probably a little more rewarding than the AHL playoff grind in Utica.

Mercer played 23 regular season QMJHL games last year in a jerky schedule that stopped and started all year long, 9 playoff QMJHL games and 7 games at the U20 last season.

The season before he played 42 regular season games QMJHL games, the playoffs were canceled, and also 7 games at the U20 tourney.

It would be cool to have him in the AHL playoffs but he’s 20 years old and he’s going to have (knock on wood) played 82 NHL games. The only forwards with more average TOI/GP are Hughes, Nico, Bratt, and Zacha.

There’s such a thing as the rookie wall, and he’s admirably avoided it for the most part, but he will run out of gas. He needs the off-season to decompress.

I get wanting him to be a part of it. This team didn’t do the best job getting depth for the AHL team, so I can even see wondering if they just don’t plan in strategic terms with the AHL team in mind.

But the kid will have played a lot more hockey than Pod this season even if you add in the AHL playoffs (particularly if you are realistic about his team’s chances in a brutal Conference) so it’s a different circumstance. Mercer is a full-time NHL player now. Not sure he goes to the WC either, but who knows.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]