2022-23 Utica Comets and ECHL thread

[Bad Goalie]

Dugan is a good player, has a good shot of seeing some time with the big club this upcoming season. Was blocked in Vegas by a lot of veteran high priced players.

Pinho will be a solid veteran piece, who did see some games with Washington the last few years, so he can move up and down.

Reminds me of the Lou days with a lot of ex-Providence College guys - Dugan and Pinho will battle another ex-Friar in Tyce Thompson for possible call-ups to New Jersey. And Patrick Moynihan on the way in the future...

Is Pinho a 1/2 Centerman or better off on the wing? The Comets played the Bears 2 times last season and Pino scored 2 goals in a Feb. 25, 4-0 victory in Utica. 1 goal was an ENG. He played RW. He didn't play in the 2nd game played on Feb. 27, in Hershey. I have the impression he has been playing RW and Cednter would be pushing him into a position that's not his best spot. Not the ideal way to fill a #1 or #2 center spot with scoring wings who really need a skillful playmaker.

#1 and #2 highly skilled playmaking Centers are critical to this roster. None exist at this time and it was the most obvious weakness on a very good AHL roster last season. Look forward to your deeper analysis.

 

[Bad Goalie]

As of the moment these are signed players who will probably be in Utica. ALL caps are pretty certain and lower case are long shots, but most will be in Adirondack, play elsewhere, or be released.

LW:
DUGAN
GAMBARDELLA
LABERGE
HALONEN
vidmar

Foote (It's possible he's in NJ, but unlikely)

RW:
THOMPSON
PINHO
CLARKE

Holtz (Slight chance, but possible) That would start the bust conversation. Ridiculous at his age. He will be 20 for most of this season. At the end of his 20 year-old season Makar only got games with Colorado in the playoffs after 2 seasons at NCAA U Mass. This is the equivalence of Makar's 2nd season. Hardly bust worthy if he plays in the AHL where he put up 51/52 GP at the age of freshman in college.

C:
TALVITIE
SCHMELZER
hutchinson
rivera
van whye

LD:
VUKOJEVIC
WOTHERSPOON
GROLEAU
gourley
vilen

Bahl
Okhotyuk
I think with Marino in NJ now, only one of these guys goes to NJ. They are really up in the air.

RD:
RUSSO
WALSH
NEMEC - His destination WAS up in the air, but the Marino signing just allowed them to put him in the AHL where 99% of 18-yr-olds that won't turn 19 until mid-February would normally play.

G:
DAWS
SCHMID
MITENS _he's #3, but will be in Adirondack until needed.
poulter

In NJ the forwards that are locked in are:
Hughes, Hischier, Palat, Sharangovich, Bratt, Mercer, Haula

Johnsson and Tatar - People are clamoring for their trades.

Mcleod, Bastian, Boqvist, Wood are there and if Zetterlund and Holtz make the team that's 15. IF they only carry 7 D. Someone here has to go. I beleive without going through all the math on waiver age charts that Holtz and Mercer are the only 2 who are waiver exempt.

Do the Devils risk losing Z by trying to send him down at the roster deadline? If not is Holtz once again the odd man out?

They can keep both Holtz and Z by taking the waiver chance with one of Bastian, Mcleod, Boqvist, or Wood. Is that something we'd see.

Another trade using a couple guys would open a spot up for Holtz and Zetterlund.

On defense
Hamilton, Marino, Severson, Graves, Siegenthaler, and Smith are locked.
1 of Okhotyuk/Bahl are in Utica. Both are waiver exempt.

Geertsen is signed and there is a spot for him in Jersey as the utility guy he was last year should that be the path Jersey takes. That would return both OK and Bahl to the Comets for at least part of the season.

Fanbase was pushing to see T. Smith, Tatar, and Johnsson gone. That could still happen. The Cap has plenty of room. There's $8mil available immediately from Tatar and Johnsson if they join without taking up any new cap space. That's a good chunk of change for a couple more good players. Just have to find somebody willing to take them for something.

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Bratt is coming to the Comets.

 

[UticaHockey]

Bratt is coming to the Comets.

HockeyDB has Bratt listed at 5'7" and 148 lb which would be a yikes. Elite Prospects has him listed at a more reasonable 5' 10" and 176 lb.

 

[Guttersniped]

Bratt is coming to the Comets.

Excited about Parent, who we lured away from college. School’s for losers anyway Xavier! Good choice. (In the sense that it makes me happy lol.)

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Overagers typically don't hold the pedigree or skill of Parent. I'm quite excited to see what he accomplishes in Utica. At the very least, he probably has a similar impact to Brandon Gignac.

 

[Billdo]

Is signing little Bratt nepotism or can he actually play?

 

[OmNomNom]

Overagers typically don't hold the pedigree or skill of Parent. I'm quite excited to see what he accomplishes in Utica. At the very least, he probably has a similar impact to Brandon Gignac.

hopefully this ones' knees hold up

 

[Guttersniped]

Is singing little Bratt nepotism or can he actually play?

He’s not here randomly but this isn’t a pity signing or something. He wasn’t on the draft radar in 2020 because he was very tiny and got crushed in Swedish U20.

There were good comments about his skill (particularly stickhandling), work effort, skating, compete, hockey IQ even then. (Also descriptions of the crushing lol, he was so wee.)

He’s grown since then and in person you can see he’s made an effort to bulk up as best he can, bro has lifted, so he should be sturdier.

How good is defense? No idea since he seemed to maybe play forward a bit too? (Not too sure, Swedish people will know more.)

Had a nice wrister at the 3on3, looks good but we’ll see where he lands in terms of AHL competition. It’s a fun signing to me.

He does Bratt family style things:



Swedes discussing him on Twitter

This dude calling it

 

[Billdo]

He’s not here randomly but this isn’t a pity signing or something. He wasn’t on the draft radar in 2020 because he was very tiny and got crushed in Swedish U20.

There were good comments about his skill (particularly stickhandling), work effort, skating, compete, hockey IQ even then. (Also descriptions of the crushing lol, he was so wee.)

He’s grown since then and in person you can see he’s made an effort to bulk up as best he can, bro has lifted, so he should be sturdier.

How good is defense? No idea since he seemed to maybe play forward a bit too? (Not too sure, Swedish people will know more.)

Had a nice wrister at the 3on3, looks good but we’ll see where he lands in terms of AHL competition. It’s a fun signing to me.

He does Bratt family style things:



Swedes discussing him on Twitter
View attachment 570555
View attachment 570557

This dude calling it
View attachment 570556

Thanks!

 

[Bad Goalie]

1.) Bratt signed a 2-way Ahl contract which means he is going to be in Adirondack. No harm in that.
The Comets have a good nucleus making up their D-corps. If Nemec starts out in Utica, They will have:

RD:
Nemec
Russo
Walsh
2.) Blujus - A former Comet under the Benning regime. Played here from 2017-2020. Was a very competent D-man often having to take a back seat to inferior Vancouver signings. He was acquired in 2017 for depth and finished most seasons as #6-7 and averaged 41 GP/per season. He was a 2nd TB draft selection in 2012. All of his time in Utica was on an AHL contract. He has signed another and this one is 1-way, at 28 he will be in Utica for the season and offer very competent depth.

LD: The left side is stacked and a couple of those guys have played the Right side for the Comets already.
Vukojevic
Wotherspoon
Groleau
Likely one of OK/Bahl
Gourley - Probably Adirondack.

Dineen rarely kept more than 7 D in town, but with Blujus on the 1-way there will be at least 7 and often 8 and that's without Geertsen and who knows if a couple more may end up here before camp opens. Probably need at least 1 more , but he will need to be a guy who has not ventured into AHL vet status.

3 Vets in Russo, Wotherspoon, and Blujus are already on the roster.

3.) Nolan Stevens played here in the Covid shortened 2020-21 season as St. Louis prospect. Like Blujus he has signed a 1-way meaning he will be in town for the season. It doesn't mean he is more than depth. His numbers onn 2 AHL rosters last season don't place him in the mix for a spot on the starting 4 lines.
Springfield - 20GP/3/9/12 (not bad)
Iowa - 33GP/3/4/7 (not good at all)

4.) Parent - Xavier was signed to 2-yr, 1-way AHL contract. Looks like he will get a good look-see. I see him as a decent gamble to find something in the rough. I don't care how big or small a player is, 106 pts, 51 of which ended up in the net, had to have been doing something correct. Usually we hear those kind of numbers for a guy in his last year of Jrs. was due to his being able to use his size to dominate the younger players on a JR. roster. At 5'8" (he's got 170 pounds packed onto that short frame) that can't be said for Parent. He must have some kind of a shot, accuracy, release, wheels, etc. because 51 goals in any league ain't hamburg. I'm excited to see just what's there. Parent is the only guy out of that group of 4 to offer a glimmer of hope for future development.

The other 5 MacKinnon signed earlier are at best depth, but that's not usually the case as most end up like Rivera (see below). They usually can't even tread water.
1.) Nick Hutchinson (C) 27, with 32 AHL GP to his name and 7 Pts..

2.) Sebastian Vidmar (LW), 28, with 2 AHL GP in 3 seasons after 3 years at NCAA Union College.

3.) Nick Rivera (C/RW) 26, will enter his 4th pro season after 4 NCAA seasons at NCAA Minnesota State U. - Mankato. He's played 9 AHL games, all with the Comets last season, and has recorded 1 Pt.

4.) Jarrod Gourley (RD) 23, a recent Grad(?) from 2 NCAA powerhouse programs, 3 at Arizona State U. and finished up with 4th at U. of Connecticut, played in 4 games with Utica (1 Pt) and 10 games with Adirondack (2 Pts).

5.)Isaac Poulter, G) 20, an undrafted goalie from the WHL's Swift Current Broncos, played 49 games there last season with a 3.00 GAA/.911 SV%. He will be in Adirondack or loaned elsewhere as Daws and Schmid own the Comets crease with Mitens down the road in Adirondack. Now, I suppose he could land with the Thunder and blow Mitens out of the crease and earn a look if the Comets need a keeper due to a call-up or injury, but that's not a likelihood.

 

[UticaHockey]

Here are all 50 goals scored by Parent last season. What strikes me is how many of his goals were right around the net and how bad the defense is in the Q.

Xavier Parent's 50 Goals of the Season 50 Buts Pour Xavier Parent Cette Saison

www.oursportscentral.com

 

[Bad Goalie]

Here are all 50 goals scored by Parent last season. What strikes me is how many of his goals were right around the net and how bad the defense is in the Q.

Xavier Parent's 50 Goals of the Season 50 Buts Pour Xavier Parent Cette Saison

www.oursportscentral.com

Thanx for this. It was nice to get a look at some of what this kid has to offer and it looks like quite a bit.
Now, considering the lax defense there are still a lot of good things to see.

He skates very well and seems to have some jump. His peed looks good compared to those he was skating against.

He has a very nice pair of hands and seems to control, the puck well without losing any speed. He finds open space and sits in it.
(Not that the defensive coverage doesn't give him a lot of it! LOL)

He knows where to put the puck when he's looking at what he's got to shoot at and hits it. Now, we don't know how many times he had those same chances and missed.

When he was in on a keeper all alone his hands and agility turned them inside out.

He has the classic one timer from the dot like Boucher, Holtz, and Zetterlund.

Against the opposition he faced he wasn't shy about going to the net. Definitely not a perimeter player at this point anyways.

The kid has lots of promise. He won't be able to just slide in and out around AHL D-men as easily as those in the Q. He's going to have to learn to pick his spots and times. He won't be able to live around the net the way he does in this video and avoid getting plastered.

He's going to have to develop the water bug darting about style that small guys who are successful have and he better learn it quickly if he is to stay healthy.

I like this kid. 20-25 goals as a rookie would put him on the Devils map. I'd like to think that the potential is there, but there is a big jump and a tall learning curve coming from Jrs., especially the D absent Q and the AHL. It all depends on how well he can make the transition. A whole bunch of this kind of undrafted scoring machines break down and rust out in their first season and end up in the ECHL and then Europe where the big ice is more conducive to their game.

Many thanks again for this post. Imagine if the Devils give Holtz a little more perking time. It's inconsequential. The Aud still has some exciting, good times ahead no matter what. Not sure Pinho and Dugan are close to Greer and Deleo, but without any centers beyond Schmelzer and Talvitie it won't matter much anyways. For the life of me I can't figure out what they are waiting for as the good ones have been sucked up left and right. It's not like more good ones will be sitting there waiting to be claimed at the NHL final roster deadline. If they really are good, but were waived, the waiving team will reclaim the second the Devils try to reassign them to Utica.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Just checked out CapFriendly and Sam Anas is an unsigned free agent!

MacKinnon or Fitz or somebody, GO GET THIS GUY!

Veteran dynamic AHL point machine feeding scoring wings. Last season 64 Pts/ 74 GP with 44 assists with Springfield.

He put up 23Pts in 23 GP with 19A for the Comets in the 2020-21 COVID shortened season. St. Louis called him up for part of the season..

He is the #1C the Comets need that's still out there.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Last year I had a post from some guy who compiled a list of every player that was available as an AHL free agent. Does anybody have such a list at this moment?

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

Last year I had a post from some guy who compiled a list of every player that was available as an AHL free agent. Does anybody have such a list at this moment?

Go to your tallest building and send out the @Guttersniped signal. But give her a chance to pick up her cape from dry cleaning first.

 

[Guttersniped]

Last year I had a post from some guy who compiled a list of every player that was available as an AHL free agent. Does anybody have such a list at this moment?

Go to your tallest building and send out the @Guttersniped signal. But give her a chance to pick up her cape from dry cleaning first.

That guy was Patrick Williams and he got a job at AHL.com so he seems less involved. He did post preliminary lists but has not updated them.





A new guy has risen and he has a web site with a list.
@TonyAndrock

Inside AHL Hockey

He has preliminary free lists and then he updates a 2.0 version of the lists daily for subscribers only.

I did subscribe, it’s 3 bucks on Patreon.

 

[Bad Goalie]

That guy was Patrick Williams and he got a job at AHL.com so he seems less involved. He did post preliminary lists but has not updated them.





A new guy has risen and he has a web site with a list.
@TonyAndrock

Inside AHL Hockey

He has preliminary free lists and then he updates a 2.0 version of the lists daily for subscribers only.

I did subscribe, it’s 3 bucks on Patreon.

Thank you.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Since this an AHL thread and he played the better part of the 1965-66 season with the AHL Rochester Americans I'll put it here. Also, I haven't seen it posted elsewhere on this site.

Larry Jeffrey (LW), veteran of 9 professional seasons 6 of the 9 exclusively in the NHL and parts of the other 3, has passed. He played with the Detroit Red Wings, the NY Rangers, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was with the Toronto Maple Leafs organization during the 1965-66 and 1966-67 seasons with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 1967.

I grew up in Rochester and was a die hard Rochester Americans fan during my "formative years". The Amerks were the AHL affiliate of the Torono Maple leafs and the NHL was still comprised of only the original 6.
Jeffrey played 51 games for the Amerks in 1965-66 and Rochester won the Calder Cup. It would be the 2nd of the 3 they would win in 4 seasons from 1965-1968, losing in the finals in 1967 before winning the 4th in1968.

In 1967, Jeffrey played the entire season with the Leafs and they would win the Stanley Cup. It was there 1st after having won 3 straight in '62, '63, and '64. Nobody would have believed at that time it would be their last for the next 55 years and counting.

Jeffrey was 81.

 

[Brodeur]

The logical part of me knows it's a long shot that Utica would do a west coast swing, but the irrational part of me always has a little hope that gets crushed every season.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

hopefully this ones' knees hold up

Is singing little Bratt nepotism or can he actually play?

Never drafted and was in Sweden's third division at one point last season. Can't help thinking this is an effort to encourage Jesper to sign. My hunch is he spends most of the year in Adirondack.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Never drafted and was in Sweden's third division at one point last season. Can't help thinking this is an effort to encourage Jesper to sign. My bunch is he spends most of the year in Adirondack.

And that's even if he's competent enough to make that roster. Could end up nothing more than depth for the Thunder. Let's hope his recent growth was enough to get him some ice time, but I don't have much confidence in that at the moment. Let him hit the ice and they get a good look at him and his immediate future will be determined from there.

 

[Bad Goalie]

The Devils have made no moves to sign the top 2 centers the Comets desperately need.

In my research I have found several veteran centers that I consider capable of carrying that load.

1) Sam Anas (29) - 20/44/64 in 75 GP with Springfield. 284 Pts in 357 AHL GP. .80 PPG.

2) Alan Quine (29) - 6/22/28 in 39 GP with Henderson. 267 Pts in 324 AHL GP. .82 PPG.
These are the 2 centers 1 or 2. Switch 'em up if you wish.

If they get away there is still:
- Kyle Rau (29) - 25/28/53 in 55 GP with Iowa. 257 Pts in 362 AHL GP. .71 PPG.

- Michael Chaput (30) - 12/21/33 in 57 GP with W-B/Scranton. 292 Pts in 445 AHL GP. .66 PPG. Would be a good #2.

- Frederik Gauthier - 8/24/32 in 51 GP with the Comets, but he is not a #2.

Long shots with real, good numbers:
- Cedric Paquette
- Brendan Perlini

Can still sign 1 more vet. MY #1 choice is...

- Chris Terry (33, LW/RW) - 30/31/61 in 61 GP with Bridgeport. 613 Pts in 687 AHL GP. .89 PPG. This guy has aged like fine wine. From 2016-17 to now he has averaged a point/per game or better each season.

Another big piece floating out there is....
- Justin Bailey (27, RW/LW) - 12/15/27 in 30 GP with Abbotsford. 198 Pts in 296 AHL GP. .67 PPG. This guy is the typical high scorer in the AHL, but in the NHL he goes quiet. Better than good speed and a hard accurate shot.

Then there is a bonus package out there. Neither of these 2 guys qualify for either of the AHL Vet classifications.

1) C. J. Smith (27, LW) - 24/34/58 in 60 GP with Chicago. 200 Pts in 244 AHL GP. .82 PPG.
My #1 non vet addition to the Comets.

2) Tyler Benson (C, 24) - 2020-21 10/26/36 in 36 GP and in 2021-22 4/8/12 in 18 games played, both seasons with Bakersfield. 153 Pts in 174 AHL GP. .88 PPG. over the course of 4 pro seasons he got 36 games with Edmonton. This guy could fill the #2 if the Devils don't want the # of Vets up front that I listed. Dumb, but if.

Additions:
- Sam Anas (C,VET)
- Alan Quine (C,VET)
- Chris Terry (LW/RW, VET)
- C.J. Smith (LW)
- Tyler Benson (C)

Comets Vets:
Anas C
Quine C
Terry LW/RW
Russo RD
Wotherspoon (RD)

Blujus RD (depth D)
Geertsen (depth F/D) If I were Dineen I'd pretend he didn't exist. Can't believ someone on the Above list of Vets sits because this lug has to play. Maybe they keep him in lst year's capacity and let the kids who would sit out play and get recalled the second a 7th D was needed. We are not far away and a player can get there easily on the day of a game. If on the road, the guy can probably get there for many of those games as well. If there is a day between games, he gets there with ease. Maybe Fitz decides to carry 8 D and 13 forwards and Geertsen can stay there anyways. A lot of this depends upon what the Devils final roster looks like and there is plenty of time for other things to happen.

 

[Guttersniped]

Well, @Bad Goalie I’ve had long lists since free agency started but didn’t bother posting them. I didn’t see the need to make a spectacle of myself as other teams grabbed everyone on it.

For example: “Ben Jones was still there until 7/16! C’MON, YER KILLING ME FITZ &/or DAN!”

That sort of thing.

I agree with your names plus here’s some more we also likely won’t get. *shrug*

I have a longer list that includes some defensive centers who might work if they have more offensive upside than I would know about. And other forwards, defensemen, etc

I’m just keeping this brief. (Like I always do.)

These are centers. Yep. Sure are. Johnson & Vejdemo had injury-marred season last year, so they might need minor league deals to get on track. Or might not, I won’t pretend to be able to gauge that market or exactly how this goes.:

Brent Gates Jr C/LW/24 [85 pro GP (85 AHL)]
Jordy Bellerive C/23 [157 pro GP (157 AHL)]
Maxim Letunov C/26 [215 pro GP (212 AHL + 3 NHL, thought this guy might be going to the KHL but that’s not announced anywhere I could find.]
Luke Johnson C/27 [Vet-Exempt: 298 pro GP (266 AHL + 32 NHL)]
Lukas Vejdemo C/26 [VET? 337? pro games GP (174 AHL + 13 NHL + 150 SHL, but not sure how many of the SHL GP count)]

Smaller guys with more offensive upside but are less true centermen (I think? They aren’t the most discussed players on the internet.)
Brayden Burke LW/C/25 [192 pro GP (192 AHL)]
Jayden Halbgewachs LW/C/25 [205 pro GP (203 AHL + 3 NHL)]

Super small but skilled waterbug, seriously he’s listed at 5’7” 174, but I just sort of want the little fella. Seems fun. Maybe he never makes it out of the ECHL, but I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him and I will name him…
Odeen Tufto C/25 [8 pro games (8 AHL games)]

Also, maybe this fella gets a minor league deal because he lost last season to hip surgery and might need a gig (and he knows a guy):
Ryan Fitzgerald C/LW/27 [227 pro GP (227 AHL)]

Not a center but if they really want to get the Providence College band back together this dude is available:
Greg Printz LW/24 [79 pro GP (79 AHL)]

 

[Bad Goalie]

Well, @Bad Goalie I’ve had long lists since free agency started but didn’t bother posting them. I didn’t see the need to make a spectacle of myself as other teams grabbed everyone on it.

For example: “Ben Jones was still there until 7/16! C’MON, YER KILLING ME FITZ &/or DAN!”

That sort of thing.

I agree with your names plus here’s some more we also likely won’t get. *shrug*

I have a longer list that includes some defensive centers who might work if they have more offensive upside than I would know about. And other forwards, defensemen, etc

I’m just keeping this brief. (Like I always do.)

These are centers. Yep. Sure are. Johnson & Vejdemo had injury-marred season last year, so they might need minor league deals to get on track. Or might not, I won’t pretend to be able to gauge that market or exactly how this goes.:

Brent Gates Jr C/LW/24 [85 pro GP (85 AHL)]
Jordy Bellerive C/23 [157 pro GP (157 AHL)]
Maxim Letunov C/26 [215 pro GP (212 AHL + 3 NHL, thought this guy might be going to the KHL but that’s not announced anywhere I could find.]
Luke Johnson C/27 [Vet-Exempt: 298 pro GP (266 AHL + 32 NHL)]
Lukas Vejdemo C/26 [VET? 337? pro games GP (174 AHL + 13 NHL + 150 SHL, but not sure how many of the SHL GP count)]

Smaller guys with more offensive upside but are less true centermen (I think? They aren’t the most discussed players on the internet.)
Brayden Burke LW/C/25 [192 pro GP (192 AHL)]
Jayden Halbgewachs LW/C/25 [205 pro GP (203 AHL + 3 NHL)]

Super small but skilled waterbug, seriously he’s listed at 5’7” 174, but I just sort of want the little fella. Seems fun. Maybe he never makes it out of the ECHL, but I will hug him and pet him and squeeze him and I will name him…
Odeen Tufto C/25 [8 pro games (8 AHL games)]

Also, maybe this fella gets a minor league deal because he lost last season to hip surgery and might need a gig (and he knows a guy):
Ryan Fitzgerald C/LW/27 [227 pro GP (227 AHL)]

Not a center but if they really want to get the Providence College band back together this dude is available:
Greg Printz LW/24 [79 pro GP (79 AHL)]

It does make you wonder doesn't it? You watch AHL teams like Chicago, Rockford, Ontario, Toronto, and a few others that almost always are quick on the draw every year between seasons. They snatch up top talent almost as soon as it becomes available. That doesn't mean they always win. They have their prospects to develop and they play so, the eventual outcomes are always in question.

The "new" Comets as a I think of them since the franchise is only 9 years old and about to start year 10 has been run by 2 NHL franchises. They Canucks waited forever every season to build their AHL team and as a result the Comets were stocked with less than stellar talent. In fact, it was sometimes hard to believe some of those guys were considered for an AHL roster. They flat out stunk. Combine that with Jim Bennings propensity to trade away his young minor league talent along with his draft choices and the Comets ended up with prospects, using the term extremely lightly (adverb abuse), that had no chance of becoming more than AHL vets and immigrants to Europe. Many of their prospects (more than normal for NHL draft selections) were so bad they never even got signed. Therefore, the Comets were a conglomerate group of has beens and never would bes with good Goalie prospects e.g. Markstrom and Demko.

In their first season working with the Devils Utica saw a roster laden with high level prospects. That was new to us and those kids were good and very entertaining on cold winter nights. However, the worst deficit a hockey team can suffer is a lack of quality, skilled, playmaking Centers, who also have a touch for scoring. The kind of guys who lead the team in assists and are usually somewhere in the top 4 in team scoring. If the wingers they work with (the top 4 on any team) are anything like what a top 4 group of wings should be, those lines and that team will prosper. The Comets scoring from the wings was very good, but those guys in the middle were not what those guys really needed. Proof in the pudding was the final #s. The top 4 scorers were, in order, DeLeo, Zetterlund, Greer, and Holtz. 4 wings all within 5 points of one another with DeLeo on top with 56. The Comets centers in contrast were Schmelzer (32), Gauthier (32), Schnarr (26, but traded after only 43 GP, and Talvitie (24). It's no surprise that after Schnarr was traded that the Comets scoring started to decrease and finally nose dived in the last weeks of the season.

Meanwhile Andrew Poturalski (Chicago 101), T.J. Tynan ( Ontario 98), Barre-Boulet (Syracuse 63), Dries (Abbotsford 62), Dumont (Syracuse 62), Glass (Milwaukee 62), Peca (Springfield 60), Seney (Toronto 59) all before we find DeLeo behind all these guys and the wings they centered at #29 in AHL scoring. Chase ended up centering the top line in 12 of the Comets last 15 games and all 5 playoff games due to the loss of Gauthier. Imagine a team of high skilled wings being centered by DeLeo ( a top scoring wing himself, Flynn and Schmelzer, PK defensive centers who were used as #s 3 and 4 when centering during the season, and Talvitie, a 4th line C all season. The lack of CENTERS in the end was their downfall.

Apparently Springfield felt very confident with the their 2 top centers, Peca for one and perhaps a prospect or 2 they played for their development, because Anas who finished #13 overall is listed in the AHL .com scoring chart as a RW with 64 Pts., still far ahead of DeLeo's 56.

This offseason has been just like those of Vancouver. They have signed a bunch that McKinnon raves over as his AHL signings. Almost to a man they will be in Adirondack. Blujus and Parent have signed 1-way AHL contracts so they will be here. We know what we have in Blujus and he will serve as a competent D-man, but as a "VET" the team will have to be missing a "Vet" or sit one if he is employed on game night. I have unfounded optimistic hope for Parent, LOL.

Centers do not grow on trees and the real good ones were gone shortly after the start of free agency and many even sooner as they were AHL contracted guys to begin with. The guys you have listed here are mostly young and below "VET" status, which is good, but their resumes excepting maybe one good year don't illustrate numbers much better than Schmelzer if that. They might be decent #2s, but there are still better than that out there. Your most consistent find was Luke Johnson who is .45 PPG in 298 pro games and he would be a "VE". Not to be a dick, but Flynn is .58 in 198 AHL GP and he was barely competent above #3. He was forced into the #2 slot for the playoffs centering Foote/Zetterlund and Thompson and in 5 games he scored 1G and had 2 As. Those guys on his wings were scorers and he wasn't of much help.

The longer the Devils drag their feet the fewer even competent guys will be left. I have to hope they have some kind of process going that is going to provide them with what they want. Schmelzer, Talvitie, and Pinho, who has been a wing with Hershey, is far from what the top 6 needs. While posters like you and I search for what's out there, it does little good because no one is listening to us anyways. HAH! So frustrating. The powers that be are being paid huge paychecks and the guys the farm needs don't require anything but a signature and a low cost negotiation. I'm sure they could give an AG or 2 the leeway to get some of these guys within a specified budget.