Prospect Info: Hartford Wolf Pack/Bloomington Bison Thread: Part XV

bmoak

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Apr 4, 2004
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Should I be concerned that the Bloomington Bison have yet to sign a player for the upcoming season?

PS Haven't seen an official jersey yet, but that Bison logo is majorly overly busy.
 

CHRDANHUTCH

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Mar 4, 2002
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Should I be concerned that the Bloomington Bison have yet to sign a player for the upcoming season?

PS Haven't seen an official jersey yet, but that Bison logo is majorly overly busy.
unofficially, the team hasn't done that efficiently, but it's been there from the get go.... it's just finding the right staff to coordinate everything..... sometimes when a new franchise begins in an established market.... you're going to expect this.... and based off what the market has already gone through in other leagues.... it takes time to get the right staff in place
 
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eco's bones

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Any chance of Rangers signing him to an ELC, maybe next summer? They must see something to even keep him with the Hartford Wolfpack. maybe a prove me AHL deal 1st.

If he plays well.

That said he's got his work cut out for him. A couple/three of these guys should make the Rangers but forwards going into next year in Hartford could include all of Rempe (unlikely), Othmann, Berard, Edstrom, Sykora, Groulx, Belzile, Chmelar, McConnell-Barker, Roobroeck, Nash, Leschyshyn, Korczak, Blidh all of whom have NHL deals and Sucese, Dufort and Barbashev on AHL deals. Vaisanen's playing next year in Finland. That's 14 guys on NHL deals--two/three of whom will be up with the Rangers at any given time. One would also think Sucese would be the most likely of the AHL guys to stick as he's produced a decent amount of offense at the AHL level---44 goals and 81 points in 220 games played.

As an older player in the Q last year I think the hope was that Barbashev could at least be a point a game player and he didn't even get close. It was disappointing. I don't read a whole lot into the Rangers giving him an AHL deal. If he manages to make the Pack and not get sent to Bloomington he's probably going to be a 13th/14th forward and not an every game player. I don't think he has much chance for ice time with the Packs more productive players.
 

cwede

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Blade Jenkins, who last season joined Pack midway, signed AHL deal with them,
and got into 13 RS games, 5 PS games, and was Point/game ECHL player last year,
re-signed with Pack
6'2" LW turns 24 in a couple weeks, had been 5th rd pick of NYI and had ELC'd with them
 

cwede

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Bloomington has a Player! [... a try-out


Two Peoria Rivermen players sign ECHL deals
...
Rivermen winger Mike Gelatt has signed an ECHL tryout deal as well, with expansion Bloomington. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound winger was one of the top rookies in the SPHL last season, netting 11 goals and 16 assists in 34 games.
He added two more goals and four assists in Peoria's seven-game playoff run.
Gelatt finished up at Wisconsin-River Falls in 2022-23 and joined the Rivermen, opening eyes in an eight-game stint at the end of the season.
In 42 total games over parts of two seasons, he delivered 13 goals, 19 assists and added another 3 goals and six assists in 12 playoff games.

 

nyr2k2

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Barbashev will have to really show something to earn an NHL contract. I can't remember the team not offering a guy an NHL contract after drafting him, signing him to an AHL deal, and later signing him to an NHL deal. I'm sure it's happened but I can't remember it happening here or anywhere else. He had a bad year last year, not just in terms of counting stats. He wasn't nearly as involved as you'd expect an overage player to be.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him play most of the year in the ECHL, honestly. Hartford is pretty set up front.
 

bmoak

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Apr 4, 2004
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Bloomington has a Player! [... a try-out


Two Peoria Rivermen players sign ECHL deals
...
Rivermen winger Mike Gelatt has signed an ECHL tryout deal as well, with expansion Bloomington. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound winger was one of the top rookies in the SPHL last season, netting 11 goals and 16 assists in 34 games.
He added two more goals and four assists in Peoria's seven-game playoff run.
Gelatt finished up at Wisconsin-River Falls in 2022-23 and joined the Rivermen, opening eyes in an eight-game stint at the end of the season.
In 42 total games over parts of two seasons, he delivered 13 goals, 19 assists and added another 3 goals and six assists in 12 playoff games.

A 25 year-old rookie who was 9th on his SPHL team in scoring. Sometimes I think jumping from SPHL to ECHL is a bigger jump than going from ECHL to AHL.
 

Ranger Ric

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Pack sign another young-ish winger, Blake Mclaughlin [ 79thOA in '18, Anaheim]
Had been on ELC w Ducks
age 24, entering 3rd year pro, after 4 seasons as a Gopher
all his pro success to-date has been at ECHL level
That's nine AHL contracts, about what Hartford usually signs each year.

Barring injuries Bloomington will start with:

G: Ollas and Boyko
F: McLaughlin, Jenkins, Basbashev, Dufort and possibly another younger player depending on how many kids make the Rangers (probably no more than two)
D: At least two of McCarthy, Berger and Siedem (Assuming Ruhwedal is the Rangers 7th D and the Rangers don't lose a defenseman on waivers.
 

cwede

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That's nine AHL contracts, about what Hartford usually signs each year.

Barring injuries Bloomington will start with:

G: Ollas and Boyko
F: McLaughlin, Jenkins, Basbashev, Dufort and possibly another younger player depending on how many kids make the Rangers (probably no more than two)
D: At least two of McCarthy, Berger and Siedem (Assuming Ruhwedal is the Rangers 7th D and the Rangers don't lose a defenseman on waivers.
makes sense
the 2 most seasoned AHL guys are most likely AHL guys to stick:
that would be Hillman on D
and the new W, Nate Sucese, 28, who scored 23G in AHL last season

... Aug 15 is tomorrow, we'll see if NYR sign any drafted but unsigned NCAA UFAs
 

nyr2k2

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i don't vouch for completeness or accuracy of this article,
but here's one site's reporting of list of
drafted unsigned NCAA guys who become UFA, after today, when draft rights expire

Owen Lindmark and Ben Meehan are worth looks. I thought Cooper Moore was good a couple years ago but I don't know what the deal is with him now and why he's unsigned. Eamon Powell has to get a deal somewhere. Carson Bantle isn't anything special but could be a good organizational guy.

The rest of the guys I either don't know much about or don't think they're even worth considering.

EDIT: Brodzinski will get an AHL deal at least, we've discussed him before though.
 
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cwede

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..Carson Bantle isn't anything special but could be a good organizational guy...
i don't recall the context, and i've never seen him play,
but a couple years back, i was reading a thread re Coyotes' prospects and some posting fans had great hopes for Bantle as a power forward/winger and that name stuck with me

lot of goalies on the list, I don't see NYR signing any, but maybe Hartford, even with a deep pipeline on NHL contracts

a handful of USA Hockey and Connecticut connections on the list,
which might tempt Drury or Ryan Martin
 

Ranger Ric

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Owen Lindmark and Ben Meehan are worth looks. I thought Cooper Moore was good a couple years ago but I don't know what the deal is with him now and why he's unsigned. Eamon Powell has to get a deal somewhere. Carson Bantle isn't anything special but could be a good organizational guy.

The rest of the guys I either don't know much about or don't think they're even worth considering.

EDIT: Brodzinski will get an AHL deal at least, we've discussed him before though.
I think you hit the right guys.

A few months ago I checked on Eamon Powell's status on Elite Prospects and I'm certain it had him returning to BC but when I just checked he no longer had a listing for 24-25. As an offensive, puck moving defenseman he would at the very least fill a current need in Hartford.

Brodzinski is worthy with an obvious Rangers' connection.

Another poster on HF listed Rhett Pitlick as eligible. He lead Minnesota in scoring last year, Brodzinski was one point behind him, and is not listed as coming back to Minnesota in 24-25.

Bantle is a guy that people seemed to like but he wasn't that productive last year at Wisconsin as an older player.

Lindmark, Meehan and Moore are other guys who should be able to get AHL deals.

The only other player I'd add to your list is McCade Webster who captained Denver's NCAA championship team last year. He had a pretty good year last year and is one of those high character, glue guys that every team needs.
 

Vitto79

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So on D is Mancini the only real prospect ?

Robertson hanging on I guess
Scanlin is older but plays both sides

Fitzgerald , Mackey , Harpur are vet call ups

That’s why drafting a young D 1st round this year was needed
 

Ranger Ric

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So on D is Mancini the only real prospect ?

Robertson hanging on I guess
Scanlin is older but plays both sides

Fitzgerald , Mackey , Harpur are vet call ups

That’s why drafting a young D 1st round this year was needed
Fortescue is a good, real prospect. Mancini and Emery are the right shot prospects. Also interested to see whether any of the three defenseman signed to AHL contracts, McCarthy, Burger, Siedem, show any promise.
 
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eco's bones

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The thing with all of Mancini, Emery and Fortescue is that they're all defensive D's......none of them are offensive players really. They're shutdown types and all very good at it.....and that's a good thing but we could use a more offensive D who is also rounded enough to play pretty good defense and if that guy was more a normal size 6' or 6'1 190 or + lbs. that would be a bonus. Size might not matter all that much in the regular season but it does matter a lot the deeper a team goes into the playoffs. D take a lot of abuse in the postseason.
 
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bmoak

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Apr 4, 2004
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I suspect Ollas and Boyko will be in for some rough sledding down in Bloomington, who's only signed rookie pros who played in the Canadian Uni system and one D who played NCAA for Sacred Heart.
 

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