The Fourth 2019-20 Utica Comets Thread

[Megaterio Llamas]

 

[Bad Goalie]

Blues 2020 1st Rd selection Jake Neighbours (18 Yrs-old) is now on the St.Louis Taxi-Squad as is Jake Walman (Blues 2014 3rd rounder). Both were originally in the 19 players sent to Utica.

I'm told Neighbours will be on some pro roster until/if the Jr league he was supposed to go to begins their season. I'd have to guess he will be back in Utica when their camp opens so the kid can play hockey.

As injuries occur in the NHL, AHL players will for the most part be recalled to the taxi squad while a taxi member moves onto the active roster. In a rare circumstance I guess you could see the call-up pass the Taxi and go straight to the NHL active roster.

Comets camp opens Tuesday, Jan 26. They will open their regular season on Friday, Feb. 5th in Rochester at 7:05 and the following night, Feb 6, will play in Syracuse at 7pm.
The next week the Comets have a single game vs Binghamton on Saturday, Feb 13, at 4 pm, in Newark, N.J., their home for 2021.

The Comets will open their home schedule on Wed, Feb 17 at 7pm.

 

[UticaHockey]

Comets schedule

 

[Bad Goalie]

I am slightly disturbed at GM Johnson dragging his feet about releasing a list of the 2021 Camp skaters.

This has always been done in the past by this time. The list has never been absolute. Sometimes listed players never appeared. Sometimes Vancouver recalled a guy before camp opened and thus, he wasn't there and sometimes a non-listed player would be there as a late addition.

I don't care about the circumstances after the listing is made public. That goes with the uncertainty that always haunts a minor league roster. I'd just like to see a confirmed list of our likelies. I don't want to enter guys they have no intention of inviting and leaving out guys they do from my notebook roster where I keep my own tabs on these guys. LOL, it makes thing messy and I like to be neat.

 

[VanJack]

I am slightly disturbed at GM Johnson dragging his feet about releasing a list of the 2021 Camp skaters.

This has always been done in the past by this time. The list has never been absolute. Sometimes listed players never appeared. Sometimes Vancouver recalled a guy before camp opened and thus, he wasn't there and sometimes a non-listed player would be there as a late addition.

I don't care about the circumstances after the listing is made public. That goes with the uncertainty that always haunts a minor league roster. I'd just like to see a confirmed list of our likelies. I don't want to enter guys they have no intention of inviting and leaving out guys they do from my notebook roster where I keep my own tabs on these guys. LOL, it makes thing messy and I like to be neat.

I think the problem might be that the players the Canucks are actually sending to the Comets could still be in limbo. They just signed an agreement with the Manitoba Moose to locate up to five players there. Initial reports were that those players were Graovac, Baertschi, Silovs and Sautner to the Moose....but I think the agreement is for up to 'five players' so another body likely ends up there...maybe someone like Rathbone.

And I think they're still probably thinking about sending Woo back to junior; and Jasek-Silovs back to Europe on a loan agreement....but who knows?

So it's understandable that the Comets roster might be in a bit of limbo. One thing's for sure....Drawing on prospects from two NHL organizations, you'd have to think that Utica will end up with a pretty powerful squad in this truncated season.

 

[Bubbles]

I think the problem might be that the players the Canucks are actually sending to the Comets could still be in limbo. They just signed an agreement with the Manitoba Moose to locate up to five players there. Initial reports were that those players were Graovac, Baertschi, Silovs and Sautner to the Moose....but I think the agreement is for up to 'five players' so another body likely ends up there...maybe someone like Rathbone.

I believe it's only 3 players. Graovac, Sautner and Silovs. Link

Baertschi has been assigned to the Comets officially, but is kind of in limbo until they play games.

 

[Bad Goalie]

I think the problem might be that the players the Canucks are actually sending to the Comets could still be in limbo. They just signed an agreement with the Manitoba Moose to locate up to five players there. Initial reports were that those players were Graovac, Baertschi, Silovs and Sautner to the Moose....but I think the agreement is for up to 'five players' so another body likely ends up there...maybe someone like Rathbone.

And I think they're still probably thinking about sending Woo back to junior; and Jasek-Silovs back to Europe on a loan agreement....but who knows?

So it's understandable that the Comets roster might be in a bit of limbo. One thing's for sure....Drawing on prospects from two NHL organizations, you'd have to think that Utica will end up with a pretty powerful squad in this truncated season.

Let's examine your thoughts here.
Graovac, Baertschi, Sautner, and Rathbone to Manitoba.
Jasek back to Europe.
Silovs bac to Europe or JRs.
Woo back to JRs
Chatfield and Juolevi on the Vancouver roster.
DiPietro, Michaelis, Bailey, Rafferty, Briesbois, and at the moment Rathbone on the Taxi Squad.

That would leave Lind, Gadjovich, Lockwood, Focht, Teves, Eliot, Kielly as the only Vancouver signed players in Utica. They have signed no one else to a contract.

Let's look at these guys.
Lind and Gadjovich are still on ELCs and entering their 3rd pro season, 1 RW and 1 LW. They should be able to hold their own providing they can play with the talent they were aligned with last season. Neither can carry a line.

Lind's points came on the AHL's #4 PP with the likes of Boucher (#2 AHL/#1Utica), Bailey (#19 AHL/#3Utica), Baertschi (#28 AHL/#4 Utica), Goldobin (#11 AHL/#2Utica), Rafferty (#29 AHL/#3 AHL D-men/#5Utica). His center was mainly Carter Camper (the #16 pt totals of AHL centers) and his 2 RWs were Goldobin (#2 Pts Utica or Bailey #3 points Utica). He was always skating with the top point recorders on the team. We'd like to see what he could do having to be the man on his line.

Gadjovich is the front of the net guy on the 2nd PP unit and a garbage collector 5 on 5, by going to the net and tipping shots and picking up scraps on rebounds. That got him 13 goals with only 4 assists, but that was in 38GP. He's missed games like that in both of his seasons to injury.


Lockwood is a ROOKIE and is expected to show real talent. We have had those hopes for players before, but there are 2 guys on this particular list alone that came here with similar expectations and flopped their first season, Lind and Gadjovich. There have been many more. It's not unusual for AHL rookies to flounder in their 1st season. For some it's the sign of things to come and for others a sizeable improvement is seen the 2nd year.

Focht does not have the credentials to be expected to sparkle. He's most likely got a hard row to hoe if he's going to be anything.

Teves and Eliot were scratched more than they played last season.
Eliot notched 3/2/5 in 27GP.
Teves 0/2/2 in 29GP.
Expecting these 2 to rise to strong defenders is not a wise decision. You would hope to see these guys improve to 5-6 defenders and on a very poor D-Corps they might.

Kielly has played 2 AHL games. He's not likely to be the #1. They would hope he can handle the #2 and see maybe 10-12 of the Comets 32 games. If Mikey were here Kielly be #3 right off the bat and maybe not get a single game in the real short season.

The list you have left the Comets with contains 3 game day players and 2 forwards we'd hope would be top 6. You identify them. Thus, St.Louis better have sent a wealth of talent here if the team you have left them with is going to be a"pretty powerful squad".

Now, from what we have been told Baertschi will report to Utica. He will definitely be a key piece. But the contributions on Vancouver contracts will be on the short end of the roster if Utica turns out to be a "pretty powerful squad". Of course the rosters of Syracuse supplied by both Tampa Bay and Florida and Rochester supplied by Buffalo will have a lot to do with that. They will play 12 games against each of them, 2 with Binghamton, 2 with Providence, and that's the season.

 

[UticaHockey]

Here is the training camp roster.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Here is the training camp roster.

I only have one BIG BIG question.

WHERE is Scott Perunovich on this list?

CapFriendly doesn't show him on the St. Louis roster nor the St. Louis Taxi Squad.

EliteProspects lists him as a Comet.

He was listed among the players St.Louis sent to Utica on Jan 13.

Is this just an error by the Comets in the release of the camp roster.

 

[UticaHockey]

I only have one BIG BIG question.

WHERE is Scott Perunovich on this list?

CapFriendly doesn't show him on the St. Louis roster nor the St. Louis Taxi Squad.

EliteProspects lists him as a Comet.

He was listed among the players St.Louis sent to Utica on Jan 13.

Is this just an error by the Comets in the release of the camp roster.

Perunovich is injured. Listed as an upperbody injury and will be assigned to the Comets when healthy.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Here is the training camp roster.

Vincent Arseneau and John Stevens are not prospects and were not assigned to Utica by Vancouver. They are AHL contracts.
Stevens is 4th line C at best and really should be a depth player.
Arseneau, LW, is a very good 4th line/energy/shutdown line player, but not a dangerous offensive type, 23 Pts in 91 GP in Utica over 3 seasons.
Carson Focht, Rookie C, until he proves differently, is not a hot prospect.

Sven Baertschi, LW, is the only veteran returning to the roster. He is a dynamic player and puts up points. He is a playmaker first and his assist totals will outnumber his goals scored. 2019-20 #s - 13G/33A/46Pts in 46GP.

Kole Lind, RW, is the best returning Comets roster prospect. 2019-20 #s - 14G/30A/44Pts in 61GP.
Lukas Jasek, C, had a good season and really needs to get better. 2019-20 #s - 14G13A/27Pts.
Jonah Gadjovich, LW, has shown promise, but needs to actually play a full season. With only 32 games to be played he absolutely can't get injured again. Also need to contribute to the offense with more than goals. 2019-20 #s - 13G/4A/17Pts.
It is really important that over the course of 32 games these 3 players must really assert themselves as impact players on this roster.

Will Lockwood, RW, is the only new forward prospect and arrives with high expectations.

The trio of D-men includes 2 2nd yr players who were depth defenders last season, Josh Teves and Mitch Eliot.
Eliot, 22 yr-old RD, played 27 games and produced 2G/3A/5Pts. Eliot has a little more time before his plight is desperate, but he must become a steady everyday player.
Teves, 25 yr-old LD, played 29 games and produced 0G/2A/2Pts. At 25 Teves has to impress big time if has any hope of becoming a NHL D-man.
If the total number of defenders (8) on the training camp roster is it, these 2 should get their chances.

Jett Woo, a rookie RD, is actually an unheralded kid who many thought should be returned to Jrs for another season.

Jake Kielly, G, played 2 AHL games last season. His AHL #s were good, no doubt about it, but the work load is way too small to pass any judgement. 1.84 GAA/.923 SV% in 2GP. His ECHL #s were not so rosy. 3.97 GAA/.887 SV%.

St. Louis contributed some very good and some good players and some highly regarded prospects.

Sam Anas - 5th -yr pro C. Last year's AHL scoring leader while playing with AHL Iowa Wild.
Nathan Walker - A veteran 8th-yr pro LW, who recorded 19G/13A/32Pts in 46GP with San Antonio.

Curtis McKenzie - An veteran 8th-yr pro LW, who recorded 17G/28A/42Pts in 61GP.
Nolan Stevens - A 3rd-yr LW, who recorded 9G/22A/31Pts in 50GP.

Hugh McGing - Rookie C out of NCAA Western Michigan where he recorded 46G/71A/117Pts in 147 GP. He is the St Louis version of Lockwood.
Scott Perunovich - Rookie D-man out of NCAA University of Minnesota Duluth and the 2019-20 Hobey Baker Award winner as the best college hockey player in the USA. (Quinn Hughes was a finalist for this award in 2018-19)
Scott is currently injured and will report top the Comets when he is pronounced game ready.

Steve Santini - A defensive D-man, 5th-yr pro with NJ and Nashville. Last year 2G/10A/12Pts in 54GP with AHL Milwaukee.
Mitch Reinke - 3rd-yr pro D-man, free agent signing by the Blues out of Michigan Tech, 5G/17A/22Pts last year with San Antonio. .
Nathan Walker - 8th-yr veteran pro LW. 55PPG since joining San Antonio in the last 2 seasons. Good #s.

Jon Gillies - 6th yr G, with 180 AHL GP, 2.92 GAA/.906SV%. He will be the #1 keeper by default. There is no one else.

There are other St. Louis players.
Tyler Tucker - Rookie D-man out of Canadian JRs where he was a career .62 PPG player.

Tanner Kaspick - 3rd yr ELC C, 2 seasons with AHL San Antonio. Last year 6G/8A/14Pts in 59 GP. These are Cole Cassels type #s after 2 seasons.
Dakota Joshua - 2nd yr ELC C after 4 seasons with NCAA Ohio State. Last year with San Antonio 3G/4A/7Pts in 30 GP. Played 20 games in ECHL Tulsa.
Evan Fitzgerald - G, a 3rd yr pro with 8 AHL GP. The first season he got 4 AHL and 25 ECHL games. Last season he played a total of 12 games with TWO ECHL teams.
4 AHL and 25 ECHL games as a rookie. Last year he played for 2 ECHL teams and played a total of 12 games.
These 3 have not come close to demonstrating AHL level play and if they continue at this pace they won't even make it in the AHL.

Josh Wesley - D, On an AHL contract with San Antonio in his 4th-yr after not being offered a QO by Carolina after his ELC ran out. He has spent more time in the ECHL (135GP) than the AHL (37GP). The exact type GM Johnson signs for depth.
Robby Jackson - 2nd yr pro C, on an AHL contract. Played all of last season save 4 games in ECHL Tulsa. Another player of the type Johnson would sign as depth. These guys are even farther down the depth chart than the 3 above.

Basically this roster is not bad, but it has holes. There are 7 D-men at the moment. Unless they know Perunovich will be healthy and on deck soon (8), going into a season with only these 7 guys would be a real circus. They need more depth on D to go through a season. Even 8 is questionable
Reinke, Santini, and Perunovich should be the backbone and 3 of the other guys will become their partners. Problem is Perunovich isn't here yet
Perunovich would be an automatic, but he's not here.
The other 3 would come from Tucker, Teves, Eliot, Woo, and Wesley. So, that would be 2 extras. Wouldn't be surprised to see a bit of a rotation among all 5 of these guys.

The team has;
2 RWs: Lind and Lockwood. Arseneau has played RW with the Comets

6 LWs: Baertschi, McKenzie, Walker, and Gadjovich are the best based on their pasts.
If Arseneau is tapped to play RW, there is one LW left Nolan Stevens. One of these 5 can be moved to RW


8 centers:
Anas, Jasek, and McGing draw in right away.
John Stevens is the best of the rest.
4 extras
That leaves these 4:
Focht
Kaspick
Joshua
Jackson
These could actually be the only 4 left out. I would look for Cull and company to figure out a way to rotate these guys in and out as well and then their play determines who gets the most ice.

 

[Bad Goalie]

St. Louis giveth and St. Louis taketh away.

Perunovich comes off injured list and is assigned to the Blues Taxi Squad. DAMN!!!!!!!!!

So much for getting a look at the kid before he becomes an NHL player.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Vancouver has played 9 games and the kids on the taxi squad have seen 0 game time.

I would identify them as DiPietro, Rathbone, and Michaelis.

It would appear that no matter what, DiPietro will lose a full season of playing hockey beyond some practice with the taxi squad and an occasional day here and there when the Canucks put 3 keepers on the ice like this morning. It would appear the powers that be don't see Mikey as a serious threat to make it as an NHL goalie. Anyone who knows this game knows a goalie has to play games to grow his game. That doesn't happen in practice sessions, especially in sessions with 6 guys plus roster guys who are trying to keep pace after being scratched between sporadic insertions onto the game day roster.

Marc Michaelis and Jack Rathbone are pro rookies with great promise. The Canucks have played 9 games and these 2 have not played once. 5 more games, it has not been reported either is in the lineup tonight, and they will, have missed 25% of this season. I don't care what kind of logic you wish to use to support this, it is not wise to waste a year of hockey for these prospects. If they get a handful of games before this season is over, it will have been a wasted year of development.

The Comets will play 32 games between today and May 16th. That's a season that lasts for 109 days. Minus the 32 games, the Comets season will include 67 off days. They will play 28 of those games against NYS Thruway rivals Syracuse and Rochester, 14 games each. Meaning very simply they will be back home the same night after a 1hr ride from Syracuse or a 2 hour ride from Rochester. The number of days to practice with a full team, with designated lines and D-pairs, working on offensive forechecking and defending against aggressive forechecking, Power Play work, and PK work, 3 on 3, 4 on 4, and shootout practice. This is incredible time spent on the issues the prospects need to learn and work on to become adept at all of the facets of the game. Then they get to play what they've learned in the games, go over the game tapes and see what they still need to improve upon. This is the norm for any pro hockey player and the taxi rookies are missing out on both ends of this valuable development period.

As much as I love the presence of Sven Baertschi in the Comets lineup, he should be on the taxi squad while Michaelis is playing with a team on a set line working on every aspect of the game he was signed to play. If not Sven then Graovac. The Taxi should be driven by vets who have shown their worth while the kids who are not going to be used, get valuable hockey time.

There is also a false belief that Benning assigned 12 players to the Comets. The number is actually 10. The other 2 are on AHL contracts and were simply re-signed by GM Johnson. Vancouver assigned 10 players here while ST. Louis assigned 14, but took 2 of them back in the persons of Scott Perunovich and Jake Walman. So there are 12 players assigned by the Blues and they also have 2 players signed by San Antonio.

St.Louis signed several veteran types THIS YEAR to help develop their kids: Sam Anas, Nathan Walker, Curtis McKenzie, Steve Santini, and Jon Gillies. They are paying these 5 guys a combined $1,600,000.

Benning's brilliant management has resulted in Baertschi ($2,400,000) and Teves ($700,000) making $3,100,000. Yeah, Teves originally signed to make $700K on a 1-way contract in his 2nd season. Imagine that. Rafferty, in spite of his defensive weaknesses, was the Comets 5th leading scorer and a firts team AHL All-Star and the 2nd leading goal scorer and 3rd leading point producer among all AHL D-men. He also would make $700K in Utica if he were to play here. Teves wasn't even in the top 6 D-men last year and played in 29 games and amassed a whopping 2 points, both assists. He will have to play this season since the Comets currently only have 7 total D-men since Perunovich was never actually sent here. he went to the Taxi Squad when he recovered from a training camp upper body injury.

 

[VanJack]

You'd like to think that Benning and the Canucks have some sort of plan for the prospects languishing on their taxi squad.

Could be they're just practicing with the big club until the AHL season gets started.....and then because they don't need waivers, are sent to the Comets to suit up.

You hope that's the case....otherwise it would be a lost season for the likes of Rathbone, DiPietro and Michaelis. It's coming up on an entire year since these guys played in a meaningful game. Canuck have hopes for these guys....and they need to play.

 

[Bad Goalie]

The Utica Comets will HAVE to add to their roster. They have 7 D-men period. At that, it's a very unimpressive group after Santini and Reinke, 2 good veterans.
Teves and Eliot were depth D-men last season and in a combined 56 games played they totaled 7 points.

The Comets only other D-man is ROOKIE Jett Woo.
St.Louis sent ROOKIE Tyler Tucker.
In their final year in Jrs:
Woo recorded 7G/39A/46Pts in 64 GP
Tucker recorded 17G/39A/56 Pts in 55 GP
These are not impressive numbers for a player in his final JR season.

San Antonio signed Josh Wesley. He has played pro hockey for 4 years. 73 AHL GP/9Pts and 135 ECHL GP/64Pts.

Regardless of how good or bad this group might be there are only 7 of them. 32 games or 76 games is immaterial. There will be injuries to the D-corps. Should Hawryluk return to the roster, Vancouver has to reduce its roster by one and Hamonic would mean 2. However, the way injuries move through the roster, it is likely there will always be a couple missing from the roster and the taxi will remain the same. However, it is imperative the Comets add at least 2 more D-men to the roster. it would be nice if they just re-signed Dylan Blujus to an AHL contract, but they dragged their feet for so long that he is now a Rochester American! They have done this feet dragging every single season so that when they needed to fill out their roster everyone of value was gone. I would venture to say that would be just as true this season.

GM Johnson believes he has covered his ass already by announcing from the get go that this season will be dedicated to development. H-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m, isn't that supposed to be the goal every season??????

 

[VanJack]

The Utica Comets will HAVE to add to their roster. They have 7 D-men period. At that, it's a very unimpressive group after Santini and Reinke, 2 good veterans.
Teves and Eliot were depth D-men last season and in a combined 56 games played they totaled 7 points.

The Comets only other D-man is ROOKIE Jett Woo.
St.Louis sent ROOKIE Tyler Tucker.
In their final year in Jrs:
Woo recorded 7G/39A/46Pts in 64 GP
Tucker recorded 17G/39A/56 Pts in 55 GP
These are not impressive numbers for a player in his final JR season.

San Antonio signed Josh Wesley. He has played pro hockey for 4 years. 73 AHL GP/9Pts and 135 ECHL GP/64Pts.

Regardless of how good or bad this group might be there are only 7 of them. 32 games or 76 games is immaterial. There will be injuries to the D-corps. Should Hawryluk return to the roster, Vancouver has to reduce its roster by one and Hamonic would mean 2. However, the way injuries move through the roster, it is likely there will always be a couple missing from the roster and the taxi will remain the same. However, it is imperative the Comets add at least 2 more D-men to the roster. it would be nice if they just re-signed Dylan Blujus to an AHL contract, but they dragged their feet for so long that he is now a Rochester American! They have done this feet dragging every single season so that when they needed to fill out their roster everyone of value was gone. I would venture to say that would be just as true this season.

GM Johnson believes he has covered his ass already by announcing from the get go that this season will be dedicated to development. H-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m, isn't that supposed to be the goal every season??????

I think there's a good chance that both Rathbone and Rafferty end up back in Utica....Canucks won't want to keep them on taxi squad indefinitely.

 

[Bad Goalie]

I think there's a good chance that both Rathbone and Rafferty end up back in Utica....Canucks won't want to keep them on taxi squad indefinitely.

That's logical rational thought. When have we ever seen that in Utica when related to Johnson/Benning?

Secondly, who do they replace them with in Vancouver if they were to send them down? They have been so lax in bringing in D-men beyond Vancouver that there is no one else to bring up.

Sautner is in Manitoba and would be the only possibility and one I would have put there since the beginning. That would give them Brisebois, Sautner, Juolevi, Chatfield, Hamonic, and Benn to rotate around. Their top 4 are obvious with Hughes, Schmidt, Edler, Myers. Together that's 10 D-men.

Remember their farm has a total of 7 and only 3 are on Vancouver contracts.

In Utica as I have already pointed out you only have Teves, Eliot, and Woo. Woo needs the every day hockey that I think Rathbone and Michaelis also need. Teves and Eloit weren't even good enough to crack the Comets lineup last season. Thus, I don't see Vancouver ever considering either of them this season if ever.

I hope you are correct but I won't hold my breath. Would be glad to say I'm wrong. Time will tell. Comets play a preseason game tomorrow and open up, Feb 5th. The Canucks don't have a lot of time to act on your theory.

 

[VanJack]

Well, as soon as Hamonic returns, it's likely back to the Taxi Squad for Chatfield. And rumors are circulating that Benning is still interested in dealing for another depth d-man, although he has precious little cap space. And of course they still have Juolevi kicking around.

And the reality that DiPietro, Rathbone and Rafferty desperately need some game action, means that they probably make their way to Utica eventually. As I understand it, all are waiver exempt, so they could be recalled at any time.

 

[Bubbles]

Well, as soon as Hamonic returns, it's likely back to the Taxi Squad for Chatfield. And rumors are circulating that Benning is still interested in dealing for another depth d-man, although he has precious little cap space. And of course they still have Juolevi kicking around.

And the reality that DiPietro, Rathbone and Rafferty desperately need some game action, means that they probably make their way to Utica eventually. As I understand it, all are waiver exempt, so they could be recalled at any time.

Some teams are frequently changing players between the taxi squad and active roster, I guess the Canucks could do that. Maybe when we play the Sens again we can throw on our AHLers to get some experience.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Well, as soon as Hamonic returns, it's likely back to the Taxi Squad for Chatfield. And rumors are circulating that Benning is still interested in dealing for another depth d-man, although he has precious little cap space. And of course they still have Juolevi kicking around.

And the reality that DiPietro, Rathbone and Rafferty desperately need some game action, means that they probably make their way to Utica eventually. As I understand it, all are waiver exempt, so they could be recalled at any time.

But would have to quarantine for 14 days. That's the main reason they are holding onto any possible talent. Manitoba would destroy their own farm unless they get some GD D-men.

St. Louis earmarked 2 other D-men for the AHL in Perunovich and Walman, but kept Walman right out of camp. Perunovich was injured when the other players were sent to Utica and instead of sending him on when he became medically released they put him in the Taxi. Thus, Utica now with 7 d-men and only 2 would normally crack the Top 6. Walman, Perunovich, and Rathbone would have made a good top 6 with a vet on every pairing. Brisebois or Sautner could have been that vet instead of Walman, Hell, Blujus could have served that role as well, but he wasn't made an offer so he signed with Rochester.

Incidentally, as you have read no doubt, I was firm on my belief that Mikey, Rathbone, and Michaelis desperately need game action and team practices in all aspects of the game and the Comets will have a ton of practice time. I was strong on those guys and left Rafferty out of it. 2 of my choices are rookies and Mikey is a 2nd year goalie with a history of 36 AHL and 2 NHL games in which he was lit up like a Christmas tree. I agree with you wholeheartedly. These guys need to PLAY! They have been out of the game for basically an entire year. They last played in their different shortened 2019-20 seasons. If they don't play in the AHL, they will basically not be playing competitive hockey until 2021-22. That's a huge chunk out of their development. That is not even close to sound prospect development and the Canucks are not deep in pro level prospects.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Some teams are frequently changing players between the taxi squad and active roster, I guess the Canucks could do that. Maybe when we play the Sens again we can throw on our AHLers to get some experience.

Vancouver has done that with Juloevi, 7 GP. Of the other D-men in the taxi Rafferty has played 1 game. Rathbone and Brisebois haven't played a single game. So the Canucks are not following the system you mentioned. In essence Olli is the only guy getting in and out and he is not in the Taxi.

As a matter of fact the 6 guys riding in the taxi right now have played a total of 1 game and that was Rafferty and he had a not so good night.

You have to realize you are dealing with lame duck Green. He has had a strong reluctance to play inexperienced players. When he does they get a real short leash. That is another huge reason to get the kids to the AHL where they will be integral parts of the machine. Fill the Taxi with experienced players if he's not going to use them anyways. Graovac, Bailey, Brisebois, Sautner, Baertschi, and a free agent keeper can ride around in the Taxi. It won't matter because they aren't going to play anyways unless the Canucks roster is decimated.

 

[VanJack]

Vancouver has done that with Juloevi, 7 GP. Of the other D-men in the taxi Rafferty has played 1 game. Rathbone and Brisebois haven't played a single game. So the Canucks are not following the system you mentioned. In essence Olli is the only guy getting in and out and he is not in the Taxi.

As a matter of fact the 6 guys riding in the taxi right now have played a total of 1 game and that was Rafferty and he had a not so good night.

You have to realize you are dealing with lame duck Green. He has had a strong reluctance to play inexperienced players. When he does they get a real short leash. That is another huge reason to get the kids to the AHL where they will be integral parts of the machine. Fill the Taxi with experienced players if he's not going to use them anyways. Graovac, Bailey, Brisebois, Sautner, Baertschi, and a free agent keeper can ride around in the Taxi. It won't matter because they aren't going to play anyways unless the Canucks roster is decimated.

I don't blame Green for the lineup decisions....his job is clearly on the line this season and he just trusts his veterans, whether they're playing well or not.

But at some point the GM has to step in. Rathbone and DiPietro are two of the Canucks best prospects. And as far as Michaelis is concerned, he's an older guy but still hasn't played a game of pro hockey. And they signed him basically because of the Tofoli trade and the loss of Madden.

So they need games....not two months from now....but NOW as in the next couple of weeks. So if Benning is doing his job, he recalls guys like Baertschi, Sautner and maybe Keilly and installs them on the taxi squad.....while the youngsters head the other way to get some action.

 

[Bad Goalie]

I don't blame Green for the lineup decisions....his job is clearly on the line this season and he just trusts his veterans, whether they're playing well or not.

But at some point the GM has to step in. Rathbone and DiPietro are two of the Canucks best prospects. And as far as Michaelis is concerned, he's an older guy but still hasn't played a game of pro hockey. And they signed him basically because of the Tofoli trade and the loss of Madden.

So they need games....not two months from now....but NOW as in the next couple of weeks. So if Benning is doing his job, he recalls guys like Baertschi, Sautner and maybe Keilly and installs them on the taxi squad.....while the youngsters head the other way to get some action.

From what I have read on this topic, I know you and I are on the same page and I know there are others who agree. I have, however, never placed the same confidence in Benning to the right things for his players.

Rathbone, Michaelis, and DiPietro are the prime players in this debate. THEY NEED TO PLAY GAMES. They also need the organized team practices in which all the aspects of the game are gone over and practiced as a team with their own D-partners and line mates. PK and PP just as examples. They are not getting this several times a week every week in Vancouver, especially when the team is playing games so close together and practice basically involves voluntary morning skates. Player development is crucial for rookies and goalies and that doesn't happen riding around in the Taxi!!!!!!!!!

 

[Bad Goalie]

Hey, a shout out to the poster formally known as @Helpful Comets Hockey Fan (I think that was the handle). If it is you, I miss our pregame chats with the group. If that title is not you,I hope from the gist of this post you know who you are. Let me help you out just a bit more. You figured out who I was during a long wait in line in the Aud lobby. You sneakily with a grin silently mouthed out, "You're Bad Goalie".

I would like to talk with you some more and since we can't go to the Aud and I won't go there anyways until this dread COVID is fixed. I'm too old and my wife is compromised so that's settled. Open an account and talk to me. This season has created a lot to talk about. Neighbours and Perunovich are 2 big deals. The treatment of Mikey, Rathbone, Michaelis, and Baertschi is also worth a bunch of big discussions.

You don't have to have anything to do, with the Vancouver critiques, though they are really not all that bad. For the ones who continually rub you the wrong, way can simply press the ignore feature and voila, they're gone.

Hope you are still reading this thread. I'd like to catch up. Our group discussions were often the highlite of game nights. Especially, when you could keep from hugging and kissing on your lady friends, LOL LOL.

 

[Fatass]

From what I have read on this topic, I know you and I are on the same page and I know there are others who agree. I have, however, never placed the same confidence in Benning to the right things for his players.

Rathbone, Michaelis, and DiPietro are the prime players in this debate. THEY NEED TO PLAY GAMES. They also need the organized team practices in which all the aspects of the game are gone over and practiced as a team with their own D-partners and line mates. PK and PP just as examples. They are not getting this several times a week every week in Vancouver, especially when the team is playing games so close together and practice basically involves voluntary morning skates. Player development is crucial for rookies and goalies and that doesn't happen riding around in the Taxi!!!!!!!!!

We are now sharing the Comets with the Blues, right? No certainty the young guys will get ice time on that team now too. This year is a mess.