Prospect Info: Albany Devils and ECHL talk (2015-16 season)

[devilsblood]

Gragnani does lead the d-men in assists, is 2nd in points.

Mozik leads the team in +/-.

O'Brien has 19 points in 30 games.

O'Neil has 15 in 21.

Tropp has 26 in 46.

Not sure who get's credit for Danis.

I think Shero deserves at least some credit for Albany's good play this year.

 

[JimEIV]

Gragnani does lead the d-men in assists, is 2nd in points.

Mozik leads the team in +/-.

O'Brien has 19 points in 30 games.

O'Neil has 15 in 21.

Tropp has 26 in 46.

Not sure who get's credit for Danis.

I think Shero deserves at least some credit for Albany's good play this year.

You can do the exact same thing with career minor leaguers from last year probably to a much better extent....last year we've could've played:

Thompson top 10 in goals

Whitney top 20 in points

Timmins 26 points in 42 games

Hrabarenka 27 points in 47 games.

I see no difference whatsoever in the filler...that is normal career AHLers doing their thing and they turnover every year or two.

The big difference this year was that our young REAL prospect were able to take on key roles. Blandisi and Lorito on the top line, Boucher and for a time Coleman on the second line. Pietila and Thomson have been fixtures in a checking role from the 3rd line.Add the depth in more prospects like Kujawinski and Black filling in.

The difference this season was our prospects, that were already in the system not career minor leaguers.

 

[NJDevs26]

I don't get why this always has to be an either-or argument. Clearly Shero cares more about having a good AHL team than Lou has the last decade and a half (Lou would never get a guy like Tropp on a loan and used the AHL as a stopping ground for a lot of players' family members who otherwise wouldn't have a job, along with Cam-types), and I don't mind more of an emphasis on being good in the AHL really cause you want your AHL guys to experience winning and get big-game practice, and there was a lot of dead weight that needed to be purged - but also just as clearly a lot of the main guys including the staff are ALL Lou holdovers.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I don't get why this always has to be an either-or argument. Clearly Shero cares more about having a good AHL team than Lou has the last decade and a half (Lou would never get a guy like Tropp on a loan and used the AHL as a stopping ground for a lot of players' family members who otherwise wouldn't have a job, along with Cam-types), and I don't mind more of an emphasis on being good in the AHL really cause you want your AHL guys to experience winning and get big-game practice, and there was a lot of dead weight that needed to be purged - but also just as clearly a lot of the main guys including the staff are ALL Lou holdovers.

Shero also wanted to keep Whitney. Another Lou holdover.

 

[NJDevs26]

Shero also wanted to keep Whitney. Another Lou holdover.

I still don't get why Whitney left to go to the Isles. It'd be one thing if he left for Buffalo or some other team where he could have easily cracked the lineup with an injury or two.

If they did re-sign Whitney maybe they don't bother with acquiring a guy like O'Neill, who always looked like a AAAA player.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I still don't get why Whitney left to go to the Isles. It'd be one thing if he left for Buffalo or some other team where he could have easily cracked the lineup with an injury or two.

If they did re-sign Whitney maybe they don't bother with acquiring a guy like O'Neill, who always looked like a AAAA player.

I assume he thought he had a better chance their or their AHL team is a better location for him likewise?

Idk because he really doesn't have a chance at the NHL there

 

[JimEIV]

I don't get why this always has to be an either-or argument. Clearly Shero cares more about having a good AHL team than Lou has the last decade and a half (Lou would never get a guy like Tropp on a loan and used the AHL as a stopping ground for a lot of players' family members who otherwise wouldn't have a job, along with Cam-types), and I don't mind more of an emphasis on being good in the AHL really cause you want your AHL guys to experience winning and get big-game practice, and there was a lot of dead weight that needed to be purged - but also just as clearly a lot of the main guys including the staff are ALL Lou holdovers.

Complete falsehood...and how ironic you are perpetuating the one way or the other thing with this statement while asking why.

This is the fist time in a decade in a half we had an influx of good players. It's hard to argue the results we are seeing with the big club. We haven't seen anything like this anytime recently... and they are all Lou's people.

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

It's a large misnomer that Lou didn't care about the AHL team. We just didn't have good prospects there for a while.

 

[NJDevs26]

It's a large misnomer that Lou didn't care about the AHL team. We just didn't have good prospects there for a while.

If he wanted to have a good AHL product he wouldn't have had the Zajac brothers, Parise's brother, Gionta's brother (granted he made himself an NHL player but after a VERY long time, and some still don't think he's an NHL player), Cam and other favorites taking up spots for years. Granted you could argue they weren't doing much better in those days anyway with random players, but it was still part of the mom and pop atmosphere that in a way was special and in a way became outdated IMO.

And it's not that they had bad prospects all the time either, just sometimes they were college kids or came from juniors and didn't really spend a lot of time in Albany. Plus over the last several years they rushed guys to the NHL level way too quickly and that didn't help the NHL or AHL teams either.

This is the fist time in a decade in a half we had an influx of good players. It's hard to argue the results we are seeing with the big club. We haven't seen anything like this anytime recently... and they are all Lou's people.

And I said that later in my post. I just meant it wasn't an either-or in terms of one guy or the other getting all the credit. Shero made some additions/subtractions and at least kept the staff in place and I said it was mostly Lou's players (and Lou's staff for that matter other than Chris L, who had more of a ceremonial role) in key roles, it's denying reality not to say that.

 

[Triumph]

I mean, again, it's just sticking your head in the sand to pretend that A: the Devils don't have much better AHL players this year and that B: most of them are overage type players. The Devils exchanged Whitney, Timmins, K. Zajac, Sestito, and Mike Keenan, and got back Lorito, O'Brien, O'Neill, Tropp, and Gragnani. That's a large upgrade. And I didn't even put Mozik on this list. Blandisi and Boucher were huge, but I don't think Blandisi will play in the minors for the Devils again - maybe they'll send him down on clear day and he'll play in the playoffs if NJ doesn't make the playoffs - and Boucher may not either. Their impact will therefore be less and less important as the season continues. The Devils are going to have a very hard time keeping a good Albany team going forward because they're still short on draft picks, and a lot of those older players will be going elsewhere eventually. The only 'sure things' coming to the AHL are Quenneville, Jacobs, Chatham, Rehill, and Baddock - I could see the Devils not signing any one of the latter 3, or even none of them, and while I imagine Quenneville will be decent, that won't make up for the almost certain loss of O'Neill.

If he wanted to have a good AHL product he wouldn't have had the Zajac brothers, Parise's brother, Gionta's brother (granted he made himself an NHL player but after a VERY long time, and some still don't think he's an NHL player), Cam and other favorites taking up spots for years. Granted you could argue they weren't doing much better in those days anyway with random players, but it was still part of the mom and pop atmosphere that in a way was special and in a way became outdated IMO.

Parise's brother lasted all of two seasons and he was a halfway decent college goalie and the Zajac brothers weren't given roles that outstripped their talent level. Gionta clearly they thought highly of. Since the Devils no longer had good players, they no longer had a need to dig up people's siblings to stash them in their minor league system. Also, it was always outdated.

And it's not that they had bad prospects all the time either, just sometimes they were college kids or came from juniors and didn't really spend a lot of time in Albany. Plus over the last several years they rushed guys to the NHL level way too quickly and that didn't help the NHL or AHL teams either.

No, they had bad prospects most of the time. They almost never had a decent center who got any time there. When they had forwards, they didn't have defense, and vice versa. They also never had great goaltending.

 

[Triumph]

I still don't get why Whitney left to go to the Isles. It'd be one thing if he left for Buffalo or some other team where he could have easily cracked the lineup with an injury or two.

If they did re-sign Whitney maybe they don't bother with acquiring a guy like O'Neill, who always looked like a AAAA player.

The Islanders paid Whitney $275,000 to play in the AHL this year. I doubt the Devils were willing to match that.

 

[Billdo]

I mean, again, it's just sticking your head in the sand to pretend that A: the Devils don't have much better AHL players this year and that B: most of them are overage type players. The Devils exchanged Whitney, Timmins, K. Zajac, Sestito, and Mike Keenan, and got back Lorito, O'Brien, O'Neill, Tropp, and Gragnani. That's a large upgrade. And I didn't even put Mozik on this list. Blandisi and Boucher were huge, but I don't think Blandisi will play in the minors for the Devils again - maybe they'll send him down on clear day and he'll play in the playoffs if NJ doesn't make the playoffs - and Boucher may not either. Their impact will therefore be less and less important as the season continues. The Devils are going to have a very hard time keeping a good Albany team going forward because they're still short on draft picks, and a lot of those older players will be going elsewhere eventually. The only 'sure things' coming to the AHL are Quenneville, Jacobs, Chatham, Rehill, and Baddock - I could see the Devils not signing any one of the latter 3, or even none of them, and while I imagine Quenneville will be decent, that won't make up for the almost certain loss of O'Neill.
.

Baddock and Rehill still don't make any sense to me but I can see Chatham being signed as well as a 4th line role possibly in the NHL in a few years. He's not terrible, like Baddock and Rehill.

 

[devilsblood]

Baddock and Rehill still don't make any sense to me but I can see Chatham being signed as well as a 4th line role possibly in the NHL in a few years. He's not terrible, like Baddock and Rehill.

Rehill has had a decent offensive year this season. 7 goals 22 assists in 48 games. His previous best was 7 and 13 in 68 games. And better then the #'s Jacob's has put up this season. 3+16 in 54.

Granted with a November b-day he's older then most in his draft class.

Big kid at 6'3" 225.

For a 5th rnder he doesn't look like a terrible pick.

 

[Comparison Ford]

Rehill has had a decent offensive year this season. 7 goals 22 assists in 48 games. His previous best was 7 and 13 in 68 games. And better then the #'s Jacob's has put up this season. 3+16 in 54.

Granted with a November b-day he's older then most in his draft class.

Big kid at 6'3" 225.

For a 5th rnder he doesn't look like a terrible pick.

Rehill actually looked pretty good at the prospect game, while Baddock looked like garbage, FWIW.

 

[Billdo]

Rehill has had a decent offensive year this season. 7 goals 22 assists in 48 games. His previous best was 7 and 13 in 68 games. And better then the #'s Jacob's has put up this season. 3+16 in 54.

Granted with a November b-day he's older then most in his draft class.

Big kid at 6'3" 225.

For a 5th rnder he doesn't look like a terrible pick.

All fair assessments. Jacobs did transition from NCAA to OHL but I digress. Rehill seems redundant but has a little room to grow I guess. I'd be floored if Baddock even puts a pen on a professional contract.

 

[Triumph]

Baddock and Rehill still don't make any sense to me but I can see Chatham being signed as well as a 4th line role possibly in the NHL in a few years. He's not terrible, like Baddock and Rehill.

Chatham's having a really unremarkable season and he's already 20 years old and has been almost all season. I wouldn't've thought he could be unsigned but he's on pace for a 20 goal season - I thought he would do much better. I guess with NJ's RW depth they have to sign him but I'm not even sure he will start in the AHL next year.

 

[devilsblood]

Chatham's having a really unremarkable season and he's already 20 years old and has been almost all season. I wouldn't've thought he could be unsigned but he's on pace for a 20 goal season - I thought he would do much better. I guess with NJ's RW depth they have to sign him but I'm not even sure he will start in the AHL next year.

Chatham was doing OK with Flint, 11+18 in 34. but only 4+2 in 16 for Windsor.

Braddock actually has more goals then Chatham this season.

And not that I liked the Braddock pick, but it was a 6th rnd pick.

Side note: Check out Braddock's profile pick of HockeyDB, striking resemblance to Ted Cruz(who is Canadian).

 

[thethinglonger]

Chatham was doing OK with Flint, 11+18 in 34. but only 4+2 in 16 for Windsor.

Braddock actually has more goals then Chatham this season.

And not that I liked the Braddock pick, but it was a 6th rnd pick.

Side note: Check out Braddock's profile pick of HockeyDB, striking resemblance to Ted Cruz(who is Canadian).

Oh my...

 

[Devils Dominion]

Oh my...

Sign him to league minimum and dress him in all games vs Philly

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

I'll be incredibly surprised if Rehill, Baddock, and Chatham end up with more than 50 NHL games combined. Bump the games down to 10 and I'd probably still take the under.

 

[JimEIV]

I'll be incredibly surprised if Rehill, Baddock, and Chatham end up with more than 50 NHL games combined. Bump the games down to 10 and I'd probably still take the under.

I think this is true for Baddock and Chatham...but I wouldn't count out Rehill too soon.

 

[Zippy316]

I think Rehill will end up being our next Dan Kelly.

Baddock and Chatham will probably settle similarly in the AHL. Chatham is the only one I think that has a little NHL potential.

 

[JimEIV]

I think Rehill will end up being our next Dan Kelly.

Baddock and Chatham will probably settle similarly in the AHL. Chatham is the only one I think that has a little NHL potential.

On Rehill:

Possibly. But the very little I've seen of him, he appears to be a good skater. 6'3 - 225 - very tough and a good skater?

When you couple his size with good skating ability, IMO that's a prospect to not discount. We'll see what happens but I find him an intriguing prospect.

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

If he wanted to have a good AHL product he wouldn't have had the Zajac brothers, Parise's brother, Gionta's brother (granted he made himself an NHL player but after a VERY long time, and some still don't think he's an NHL player), Cam and other favorites taking up spots for years. Granted you could argue they weren't doing much better in those days anyway with random players, but it was still part of the mom and pop atmosphere that in a way was special and in a way became outdated IMO.

I grew up near Albany and saw a lot of those really bad teams. The stretch from 2001 to 2004 were the worst years for our farm team. And those teams did not have any shortage of quality AHL veterans. But they were more or less completely devoid of quality young prospects. Some of this was caused by a draft drought, another part of it was that guys like Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta jumped to the NHL quickly from juniors/college.

The 2001-02 Rats were the worst team in the AHL with 57 points. But their leading scorer was 28-year old Steve Guolla, with 27-year old Joel Bouchard leading the defense. Ted Drury (29) and Bruce Gardiner (30) were also on the roster.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0002632002.html

The 2002-03 Rats were one of the worst teams in the AHL with 68 points. But the seven highest scorers on that team were all 24 or older. Craig Darby, Ray Giroux, Greg Crozier, David Roche, Ken Sutton, Steve Kariya and Steve Guolla were all top line AHL players at one point or another.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0002632003.html

We've always had AHL vets floating through our system. Noah Clarke, Jon DiSalvatore, Chris Minard, Matt Anderson, Chad Wiseman, Ben Walter, Cory Murphy, Tim Sestito, etc. If Lou didn't give a crap about the AHL team he wouldn't have signed these guys. Unfortunately we had a pretty bum roster of young talent for a long stretch in the early to mid-2000s.

 

[JimEIV]

And Joe Hulbig!!! Don't forget Hulbig!!! #13 overall Joe Hulbig! Sather liked Hulbig in the first round over Gonchar, Jason Smith and Martin Straka....seems reasonable.

And Steve Kelly! A Sather #6 overall special! One pick before Shane Doan by the way...at least his picks were good filler for Albany.

I can't decide which was a worse pick Kelly or Jessimen. Or Hulbig, or Bonsignore, or....oh goodness there are so many.

Hulbig did play more NHL games than Jessiman, so there is that.