2022-23 Utica Comets and ECHL thread
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as a talented Swedish forward drafted by the Devils in the first round, the odds are unfortunately against him
- Apr 20, 2005
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PizzaAndPucks
New Jersey Angels diehard
- Nov 29, 2018
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Vilen , Misyul , Brennan , Stillmann , etc....Utica should have some players to keep eyes on next season. All of these players have potential NHL chops but are going to need at minimum a year down there without getting called up. These are the guys that don't have crazy high floors but as we can see those 3rd pairing and bottom 6 fwds make a big difference when it matters. Brennan is an intriguing player , it's hard to predict goalies but with the way Schmid has kind of blossomed this year it makes me excited to see what the next in line Brennan can amount too.
Lou is God
Registered User
- Dec 1, 2019
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That’s too bad. Had high hopes for him as a feisty bottom sixer but the injuries and the personally tragedy really derailed him. I wish him the best.
So the rumors are true that not all 6th round picks are gold?
Too bad, I had hopes as well, but he'll be playing pro hockey in his home country. There is that silver lining for the euro's that don't pan out here in NA.
he looked like an NHL player in the making at the WJC where he injured his knee. He was fearless, decisive, smart, and showed more skill than a typical low round pick. He played both special teams and could play with and against the best players in the world in his age group. Really a shame he never got it back completely.
PizzaAndPucks
New Jersey Angels diehard
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Sucks he hasn't panned out but that knee injury was bad. Not really a big loss considering where he was picked. Was worth the shot on him. He had a good first year in college too. Atleast he signed with us and gave it a good shot. He will probably make more $$$ back home so it's understandable he is leaving. Maybe a few years from now he develops and gives the NHL another shot.
Devils731
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- Jun 23, 2008
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big goal from Nemec, also i’m siked to see Vilen get in a game
PizzaAndPucks
New Jersey Angels diehard
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Daws with the awful 3rd goal he let in and that brutal penalty shot call really sunk the Comets. Watch the replay for the penalty shot goal. The Marlies player got the shot off easily whole the peanlty was being taken. Ref should of called just a hook/slashing call.
Jersey Fan 12
Positive Vibes
- Nov 20, 2006
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Something tells me he replaces another forward from Sweden - with a lot smaller contract.
is there any potential in Talvitie to make the jump as a serviceable 13th/14th forward at the NHL level? or is he gonna be a career minor leaguer if he remains in north america?
See above. Looks like he's going back to Finland next year.
Don't think he had a chance to make it in the NHL.
Yeah Talvitie is replacement-level at best, going back home to play is the right thing for him.
If this were 2015, he’d probably be a top-5 prospect in the system and expected to be a bottom-6 center or something. But there’s too many players ahead of him on the depth chart.
If this were 2015, he’d probably be a top-5 prospect in the system and expected to be a bottom-6 center or something. But there’s too many players ahead of him on the depth chart.
Antiillafire
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PizzaAndPucks
New Jersey Angels diehard
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Suprised Bad Goalie didn't post in here.
Seasons over. Atleast they made the playoffs again and won a round. Sucks Holtz had no goals in like 6 games. Atleast Nemec and Clarke had good seasons. Holtz development has been a joke with him sitting in the press box and him not getting alot of games down there this year. I'd say Halonen had a good rookie season too.
Next year we will have more prospects to keep an eye on. Hopefully Daws can bounce back and Brennan breaks in nicely. Villen , Misyul , Stillmann maybe Filmon too...Some good players will be joining the Comets next year. Would be nice to get a real Calder Cup run down there someday.
Seasons over. Atleast they made the playoffs again and won a round. Sucks Holtz had no goals in like 6 games. Atleast Nemec and Clarke had good seasons. Holtz development has been a joke with him sitting in the press box and him not getting alot of games down there this year. I'd say Halonen had a good rookie season too.
Next year we will have more prospects to keep an eye on. Hopefully Daws can bounce back and Brennan breaks in nicely. Villen , Misyul , Stillmann maybe Filmon too...Some good players will be joining the Comets next year. Would be nice to get a real Calder Cup run down there someday.
Emperoreddy
Show Me What You Got!
Organization needs to get more vet support for Utica this offseason.
Ditto this in spades!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'll be back soon with my thoughts.
Utica Comets post season thoughts.
Part I
The Utica Comets actually overachieved. They were nothing better than a .500 team coming out of the gate. Eliminating all of the 1 point games (the OT BS), the Comets finished 35W/37L. They went 3-3 in the playoffs with a dismal showing against Toronto blowing a 3-0 lead in game 1 and getting embarrassed in the last 2 losses. Again 3-3=.500.
The norm was a great goalie performance and the Comets could win. Without it, they weren't going to pull off many Ws. The forward defense was pitiful all season with an occasional full team effort that brought them success, but those efforts were few and far between (and were associated with certain lineups) most obviously absent in games 3 and 4 with Toronto on Wednesday and last night. The only thing keeping those games close to respectable was Nico Daws who had a very good 6-game effort excusing the terrible 3rd goal vs TO in game 3. Every keeper, including the best, surrenders a stinker occasionally.
Stevens, Clarke, Pinho, and Thompson were major defensive liabilities up front. Their useless stick sweeps or simply poking them out to their sides resulted in nothing more than players, passes, and shots going by them on a steady basis. They might as well have been wearing white gloves and directing players and the puck past them like a British traffic cop. It also mimed their offensive efforts. You didn't find these guys in any kind of traffic.
Clarke majored in open ice shots and points. His passing was rare and when he did, it was not good. We joked that he didn't pass because he couldn't. His most successful passes were back to the D-men. He played with zero physicality. This guy's game will have to improve immensely to survive in the show should he make it there. Guys who have put up much bigger numbers than his have never made it out of the AHL.
Thompson skated like a mad man chasing down the puck and players with it, but whenever he caught up nothing happened. Have rarely seen a player skate harder and accomplish less than him. He tried to be physical, but usually came out on the short end.
Pinho never gets close enough to anyone to do anything effectively defensively. Like Clarke it's an extended stick forward or sideways like trying to cut off passes with his stick, but he's always a day late and a dollar short and the puck never touches his stick. He does get around the net where most of his goals came from on rebounds, tips, or just having the shot go off his body and in. He got 2 in the playoffs. He had 8 in the first 13 games and just 2 more the rest of the season, so his 2 in the playoffs were a bit surprising. 1 was the 5th and tie goal vs Toronto with the goalie pulled. Holtz originally got the credit as it was his shot, but it hit Pinho for the score. It sent the game to OT where they lost anyways. The other was the 7th and final goal in game 2 won 7-2 by the Comets.
Stevens had a good spurt before an injury which saw him with 12 goals and 15 assists 2nd only to Clarke with 15 goals and 19 assists at the time. That was thru Game 43 when Stevens went down. He has not been the same since. Like Clarke he isn't keen on passing the puck when he has it in the offensive zone. His D is much like the others mentioned here.
Physicality is not a visible trait for 3 of the 4. Thompson tries to be physical, but as mentioned usually comes out on the short end of most checks. He also will try to mix it up with opponents, but has proven that not to be wise on his part.
To be fair 3 of these guys shouldn't be in a comparison with the 4th. Stevens at 26 was in his 5th yr of professional hockey after 4 full seasons at NCAA Northeastern. All 5 seasons have been in the AHL and this has been his best of the 5 with 15G/18A/33Pts. He was never drafted and has never played an NHL game.
Compare that with:
- Graeme Clarke, a 2019 3rd round selection (#80) of the NJ Devils. This is his 3rd pro season with the 1st being the '20-21 COVID debacle that only saw him get 31 games. He will still be on an ELC next season. He is supposedly a promising prospect having led the Comets in scoring with 58 Pts in 68 GP.
- Tyce Thompson was playing in his 3rd season of pro hockey, which if you look at his past, was really his first season. He is a 2019 4th round selection (#96), only16 players after Clarke. Not a big separation in selections. However, Thompson has a an injury history which has resulted in having seen him only play 36 pro games before this season, but 7 of those were with the Devils his first go round effectively burning off a full season of his ELC. This is key since considering his NCAA play and burning off that season, he was an RFA last season and he signed a 2-yr deal with the Devils who apparently saw a serious prospect when they signed him to a 2-yr NHL contract. I'm sure the 2nd year was based upon their expectations that he would be a Devil in the 2nd season. I'll tend to that later.
- Brian Pinho was a 2013 6th round selection of the Washington Capitals. He didn't sign a pro contract until he finished 4 yrs at NCAA Providence. He played 2 games with Washington in his 3rd season. Washington gave up on him and he signed a free agent contract with NJ for his 5th. He came to Utica as a 27/yr old player with 174 pro games played of which only 2 were in the NHL. They paid him $325,000 to play in Utica this season. They paid him that sum for 10 goals and 28 Points. It was defintiely an over payment. Guys paid that sum up front are supposed to put up numbers among the team's best.
Stevens (1) should have been considered signed as a bottom 6 center. His previous numbers would back up that theory.
Unfortunately, only Schmelzer (2) and Talvitie (3) were also known to be centers.
Apparently Pinho (4) was supposed to be the #1. His most productive AHL time had come while playing RW.
Dineen spent most of the season trying to force the square peg into the round hole. Pinho was just not a center but he played most of his games there moving up and down the placement of #1-4 at center based upon the wings he centered.
Thompson (5) was crammed into the center spot and his squareness just wouldn't fit into the round hole either. Thus, he got moved out to RW where he belonged.
28-yr-old Nick Hutchison (6), a center, was signed to an AHL contract in the off season and played there most of the 31 games he played when not being scratched. Injury ended his season. He missed the last 20 regular season games and all of the playoffs. He had 4G and 9Pts. He wasn't a top 6 center either.
Foote (7) got some play there late in the season. He played 11 straight games there before his call-up to NJ. He didn't return there when he came back. He was injured in the last regular season game and did not participate in the playoffs.
In essence, Utica played the season without a center considered better than a #3.
Schmelzer and Talvitie were 3 and 4 in '21-22. That's where they should have been this year. Maybe Stevens would have pushed Talivitie to the wing as happened last season when the Comets centers were all healthy. As this season moved along, Dineen changed his wings off and on regularly and moved his centers in between them. Thus, his lines were not set and the centers were just there. There definitely was not a number one on the roster. It's doubtful any of them would have been penciled in on any other AHL roster above the basement dwellers as a #2 and maybe not even there.
It was no exaggeration to say the Comets were starved for adequate center depth. It had a big influence on the numbers the wings put up as well as the team's record. It didn't matter who the better wings skated with the results were similar. Thus, Schmelzer, Stevens, Pinho, Foote, Hutchison, Thompson, would all have been tabbed as the #1 or #2 centers on any given night.
Part I
The Utica Comets actually overachieved. They were nothing better than a .500 team coming out of the gate. Eliminating all of the 1 point games (the OT BS), the Comets finished 35W/37L. They went 3-3 in the playoffs with a dismal showing against Toronto blowing a 3-0 lead in game 1 and getting embarrassed in the last 2 losses. Again 3-3=.500.
The norm was a great goalie performance and the Comets could win. Without it, they weren't going to pull off many Ws. The forward defense was pitiful all season with an occasional full team effort that brought them success, but those efforts were few and far between (and were associated with certain lineups) most obviously absent in games 3 and 4 with Toronto on Wednesday and last night. The only thing keeping those games close to respectable was Nico Daws who had a very good 6-game effort excusing the terrible 3rd goal vs TO in game 3. Every keeper, including the best, surrenders a stinker occasionally.
Stevens, Clarke, Pinho, and Thompson were major defensive liabilities up front. Their useless stick sweeps or simply poking them out to their sides resulted in nothing more than players, passes, and shots going by them on a steady basis. They might as well have been wearing white gloves and directing players and the puck past them like a British traffic cop. It also mimed their offensive efforts. You didn't find these guys in any kind of traffic.
Clarke majored in open ice shots and points. His passing was rare and when he did, it was not good. We joked that he didn't pass because he couldn't. His most successful passes were back to the D-men. He played with zero physicality. This guy's game will have to improve immensely to survive in the show should he make it there. Guys who have put up much bigger numbers than his have never made it out of the AHL.
Thompson skated like a mad man chasing down the puck and players with it, but whenever he caught up nothing happened. Have rarely seen a player skate harder and accomplish less than him. He tried to be physical, but usually came out on the short end.
Pinho never gets close enough to anyone to do anything effectively defensively. Like Clarke it's an extended stick forward or sideways like trying to cut off passes with his stick, but he's always a day late and a dollar short and the puck never touches his stick. He does get around the net where most of his goals came from on rebounds, tips, or just having the shot go off his body and in. He got 2 in the playoffs. He had 8 in the first 13 games and just 2 more the rest of the season, so his 2 in the playoffs were a bit surprising. 1 was the 5th and tie goal vs Toronto with the goalie pulled. Holtz originally got the credit as it was his shot, but it hit Pinho for the score. It sent the game to OT where they lost anyways. The other was the 7th and final goal in game 2 won 7-2 by the Comets.
Stevens had a good spurt before an injury which saw him with 12 goals and 15 assists 2nd only to Clarke with 15 goals and 19 assists at the time. That was thru Game 43 when Stevens went down. He has not been the same since. Like Clarke he isn't keen on passing the puck when he has it in the offensive zone. His D is much like the others mentioned here.
Physicality is not a visible trait for 3 of the 4. Thompson tries to be physical, but as mentioned usually comes out on the short end of most checks. He also will try to mix it up with opponents, but has proven that not to be wise on his part.
To be fair 3 of these guys shouldn't be in a comparison with the 4th. Stevens at 26 was in his 5th yr of professional hockey after 4 full seasons at NCAA Northeastern. All 5 seasons have been in the AHL and this has been his best of the 5 with 15G/18A/33Pts. He was never drafted and has never played an NHL game.
Compare that with:
- Graeme Clarke, a 2019 3rd round selection (#80) of the NJ Devils. This is his 3rd pro season with the 1st being the '20-21 COVID debacle that only saw him get 31 games. He will still be on an ELC next season. He is supposedly a promising prospect having led the Comets in scoring with 58 Pts in 68 GP.
- Tyce Thompson was playing in his 3rd season of pro hockey, which if you look at his past, was really his first season. He is a 2019 4th round selection (#96), only16 players after Clarke. Not a big separation in selections. However, Thompson has a an injury history which has resulted in having seen him only play 36 pro games before this season, but 7 of those were with the Devils his first go round effectively burning off a full season of his ELC. This is key since considering his NCAA play and burning off that season, he was an RFA last season and he signed a 2-yr deal with the Devils who apparently saw a serious prospect when they signed him to a 2-yr NHL contract. I'm sure the 2nd year was based upon their expectations that he would be a Devil in the 2nd season. I'll tend to that later.
- Brian Pinho was a 2013 6th round selection of the Washington Capitals. He didn't sign a pro contract until he finished 4 yrs at NCAA Providence. He played 2 games with Washington in his 3rd season. Washington gave up on him and he signed a free agent contract with NJ for his 5th. He came to Utica as a 27/yr old player with 174 pro games played of which only 2 were in the NHL. They paid him $325,000 to play in Utica this season. They paid him that sum for 10 goals and 28 Points. It was defintiely an over payment. Guys paid that sum up front are supposed to put up numbers among the team's best.
Stevens (1) should have been considered signed as a bottom 6 center. His previous numbers would back up that theory.
Unfortunately, only Schmelzer (2) and Talvitie (3) were also known to be centers.
Apparently Pinho (4) was supposed to be the #1. His most productive AHL time had come while playing RW.
Dineen spent most of the season trying to force the square peg into the round hole. Pinho was just not a center but he played most of his games there moving up and down the placement of #1-4 at center based upon the wings he centered.
Thompson (5) was crammed into the center spot and his squareness just wouldn't fit into the round hole either. Thus, he got moved out to RW where he belonged.
28-yr-old Nick Hutchison (6), a center, was signed to an AHL contract in the off season and played there most of the 31 games he played when not being scratched. Injury ended his season. He missed the last 20 regular season games and all of the playoffs. He had 4G and 9Pts. He wasn't a top 6 center either.
Foote (7) got some play there late in the season. He played 11 straight games there before his call-up to NJ. He didn't return there when he came back. He was injured in the last regular season game and did not participate in the playoffs.
In essence, Utica played the season without a center considered better than a #3.
Schmelzer and Talvitie were 3 and 4 in '21-22. That's where they should have been this year. Maybe Stevens would have pushed Talivitie to the wing as happened last season when the Comets centers were all healthy. As this season moved along, Dineen changed his wings off and on regularly and moved his centers in between them. Thus, his lines were not set and the centers were just there. There definitely was not a number one on the roster. It's doubtful any of them would have been penciled in on any other AHL roster above the basement dwellers as a #2 and maybe not even there.
It was no exaggeration to say the Comets were starved for adequate center depth. It had a big influence on the numbers the wings put up as well as the team's record. It didn't matter who the better wings skated with the results were similar. Thus, Schmelzer, Stevens, Pinho, Foote, Hutchison, Thompson, would all have been tabbed as the #1 or #2 centers on any given night.
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It's a wonder they won so many games. Not blaming any players -- just that what they had was not that talented. Time will tell what next year will bring.
Post season thoughts
Part II
The defense.
The Comets defense was thought to be the Comets strong point when the season opened.
The veterans Wotherspoon and Russo were back. (2)
Prospects Okhotiuk and Walsh were back. (4)
2022 #2 overall pick Simon Nemec was assigned to Utica. (5)
Vukojevic and Groleau were back.
Blujus signed as a depth defender who can play both sides.
On the right side:
Russo played every game both regular season and the playoffs.
Walsh played 71 regular season and the playoffs.
Nemec 65 regular season and the playoffs.
The right side of the defense missed 8 games and 7 of them were Nemec. He missed 6 games while playing in the World Jrs. Groleau played in Nemec's spot for all six games.
He missed the other for what Dineen called a rest day for the 3rd game after he returned from the worlds.
On the left side:
Wotherspoon played 65 regular season and the playoffs. His 6 missed games were due to 2 NJ call-ups.
Groleau (43GP) missed 5 due to injury and 24 were healthy scratches.
Vukojevic (37GP) missed the last 23 regular games and the playoffs due to a fractured finger repaired by surgery that had a pin placed in it.
Okhotiuk played the first game and was injured in it and was out until game 10, 9 games missed. Played the next 15 and then was called up to N.J. missing 18 more games. He returned on Feb 1st and played. He was injured in that game and missed 2 more. He returned for 2 games and was injured again on 2/11 and never returned before his trade. In total, a guy expected to be a big part of the D-corps played 20 games.
Blujus played a total of 19 games (before asking for an out and was granted his request and traded to Belleville on 3/10. The Comets played their 56th game that night in Belleville and Blujus remained in his new home.
Geertsen played his 1st game on defense on 12/28 and played 6 consecutive games at LD. After 6 more games he was back at LD for a game. 9 games went by and he was back at LD for another out for 1 and back in for another. He would play 6 more before the regular season ended. Thus, he played 15 games at LD. In the playoffs he played all 3 games against Toronto at LD.
Zack Hayes was acquired from Chicago for forward Jack Dugan on 3/10. Hayes played 15 games for the Comets after he arrived.
Kevin Bahl was sent down on 11/22 and played 3 games played before returning to NJ after the 11/26 game.
Jarrod Gourley got 8 games on call-ups from Adirondack.
Ivan Chukarov played 1 game on a call-up from Adirondack.
The left side was a revolving door with a new guy in the lineup a lot of nights.
Nevertheless, the D was not bad, but they were not the super group so many believed they would be. They were solid and you can't hope for more than that. Injuries chewed through the lineup, but there were were always 6 competent D in the lineup.
They were weak around the net front and left the back door open way too often. They lost too many board battles. Too many times they made perfect turnover passes. You could argue those things could be any team on any given night and you would be correct.
Part III to follow.
Part II
The defense.
The Comets defense was thought to be the Comets strong point when the season opened.
The veterans Wotherspoon and Russo were back. (2)
Prospects Okhotiuk and Walsh were back. (4)
2022 #2 overall pick Simon Nemec was assigned to Utica. (5)
Vukojevic and Groleau were back.
Blujus signed as a depth defender who can play both sides.
On the right side:
Russo played every game both regular season and the playoffs.
Walsh played 71 regular season and the playoffs.
Nemec 65 regular season and the playoffs.
The right side of the defense missed 8 games and 7 of them were Nemec. He missed 6 games while playing in the World Jrs. Groleau played in Nemec's spot for all six games.
He missed the other for what Dineen called a rest day for the 3rd game after he returned from the worlds.
On the left side:
Wotherspoon played 65 regular season and the playoffs. His 6 missed games were due to 2 NJ call-ups.
Groleau (43GP) missed 5 due to injury and 24 were healthy scratches.
Vukojevic (37GP) missed the last 23 regular games and the playoffs due to a fractured finger repaired by surgery that had a pin placed in it.
Okhotiuk played the first game and was injured in it and was out until game 10, 9 games missed. Played the next 15 and then was called up to N.J. missing 18 more games. He returned on Feb 1st and played. He was injured in that game and missed 2 more. He returned for 2 games and was injured again on 2/11 and never returned before his trade. In total, a guy expected to be a big part of the D-corps played 20 games.
Blujus played a total of 19 games (before asking for an out and was granted his request and traded to Belleville on 3/10. The Comets played their 56th game that night in Belleville and Blujus remained in his new home.
Geertsen played his 1st game on defense on 12/28 and played 6 consecutive games at LD. After 6 more games he was back at LD for a game. 9 games went by and he was back at LD for another out for 1 and back in for another. He would play 6 more before the regular season ended. Thus, he played 15 games at LD. In the playoffs he played all 3 games against Toronto at LD.
Zack Hayes was acquired from Chicago for forward Jack Dugan on 3/10. Hayes played 15 games for the Comets after he arrived.
Kevin Bahl was sent down on 11/22 and played 3 games played before returning to NJ after the 11/26 game.
Jarrod Gourley got 8 games on call-ups from Adirondack.
Ivan Chukarov played 1 game on a call-up from Adirondack.
The left side was a revolving door with a new guy in the lineup a lot of nights.
Nevertheless, the D was not bad, but they were not the super group so many believed they would be. They were solid and you can't hope for more than that. Injuries chewed through the lineup, but there were were always 6 competent D in the lineup.
They were weak around the net front and left the back door open way too often. They lost too many board battles. Too many times they made perfect turnover passes. You could argue those things could be any team on any given night and you would be correct.
Part III to follow.
- Status
