2018-19 Utica Comets, Pt. IV: Six more years as your Vancouver Canucks affiliate

[UticaHockey]

Going forward nothing is certain in life so we couldn't have known that Markstrom would play well and Demko would be hurt, but they are hardly surprising.

1. The Nilsson trade was made January 2.

In the month preceding the trade Markstrom had a .943 save % and a goals against average of 1.62.

From January 2 to February 4 Markstrom had a .912 save percentage and a 2.67 goals against average.

Demko's getting into only one game up to the time he was hurt can hardly be attributed to Markstrom being surprisingly good. The hot streak Markstrom was on before the trade has cooled off and his play has been that of a capable NHL starter behind a team that was giving up a lot of scoring chances.

2. An NHL player getting injured is never surprising. It is expected and, in places other than Vancouver, planned for.

There was no real reason to make the Nilsson trade when they did other than some self created pressure to call up Demko after the first of the year. And then after that self created pressure Demko only gets into a single game in a months time before injuring himself in warm ups for a game that he wasn't even scheduled to play in.

With Bachman out for the season Benning made a trade for a depth goalie that required clearing waivers to bring Demko up knowing full well that there was not another NHL contracted goalie available in the AHL if McKenna gets claimed. Why was there such a rush to make this trade happen. If they insisted on having Ottawa pass McKenna through waivers first then the risk of not having an NHL depth goalie in the minors is eliminated. If Ottawa doesn't agree to these terms then walk away and continue to look for another team that may have a goalie need before the deadline.

There was no real reason why Demko had to be called up (and not played) when he was. Even if Nilsson didn't get traded they still could have called Demko up after the trade deadline when rosters are expanded and give him as many starts as they want to see what they have in him for next season.

 

[sting101]

There was no real reason to make the Nilsson trade when they did other than some self created pressure to call up Demko after the first of the year. And then after that self created pressure Demko only gets into a single game in a months time before injuring himself in warm ups for a game that he wasn't even scheduled to play in.

With Bachman out for the season Benning made a trade for a depth goalie that required clearing waivers to bring Demko up knowing full well that there was not another NHL contracted goalie available in the AHL if McKenna gets claimed. Why was there such a rush to make this trade happen. If they insisted on having Ottawa pass McKenna through waivers first then the risk of not having an NHL depth goalie in the minors is eliminated. If Ottawa doesn't agree to these terms then walk away and continue to look for another team that may have a goalie need before the deadline.

There was no real reason why Demko had to be called up (and not played) when he was. Even if Nilsson didn't get traded they still could have called Demko up after the trade deadline when rosters are expanded and give him as many starts as they want to see what they have in him for next season.

Except for the pressure from the player the agent the family and Vancouver who was watching younger prospect goalies jumping into the NHL and having success with less lower level success than Demko.?
This is a laughable complaint with a self serving agenda. It was time....Nilsson needed to go he wasnt winning any of his starts which puts any success Demko may have as an upgrade at the position for the Canucks to say nothing about Thatcher's camp pushing for a NHL look as far back as last spring.

If Demko didnt get hurt he would have just played one of the back to backs.

Look i get it....you lost 2 good AHL goalies. Bachman was unfortunate but something will flush out soon.

 

[FroshaugFan2]

Except for the pressure from the player the agent the family and Vancouver who was watching younger prospect goalies jumping into the NHL and having success with less lower level success than Demko.?
This is a laughable complaint with a self serving agenda. It was time....Nilsson needed to go he wasnt winning any of his starts which puts any success Demko may have as an upgrade at the position for the Canucks to say nothing about Thatcher's camp pushing for a NHL look as far back as last spring.

If Demko didnt get hurt he would have just played one of the back to backs.

Look i get it....you lost 2 good AHL goalies. Bachman was unfortunate but something will flush out soon.

So what? Lots of AHL players and their agents believe they should be in the NHL. That doesn't mean you have to make a sub par trade to satisfy them all. There was no ticking clock to call up Demko in January.

Any trade should have been contingent of getting an AHL goalie under contract. If that wasn't possible for whatever reason then make a seperate deal at the same time. Jared Coreau went for future considerations the day after the Nilsson trade. The Canucks couldn't match that? Now no doubt the price for such a goalie to the Canucks has risen as other GMs can smell blood in the water.

I don't understand how it's still disputable that this wasn't handled well. The Canucks have one healthy goalie option for 9 games in 15 days. Better hope Markstrom is well rested from the break.

 

[sting101]

So what? Lots of AHL players and their agents believe they should be in the NHL. That doesn't mean you have to make a sub par trade to satisfy them all. There was no ticking clock to call up Demko in January.

Any trade should have been contingent of getting an AHL goalie under contract. If that wasn't possible for whatever reason then make a seperate deal at the same time. Jared Coreau went for future considerations the day after the Nilsson trade. The Canucks couldn't match that? Now no doubt the price for such a goalie to the Canucks has risen as other GMs can smell blood in the water.

I don't understand how it's still disputable that this wasn't handled well. The Canucks have one healthy goalie option for 9 games in 15 days. Better hope Markstrom is well rested from the break.

LOL....yes a 6th for a trash NHL goalie, Cap space and a roster spot for our stud 23yr old prospect goalie is a bad move.

As i said give it some time.....someone will likely flush out.........and furthermore.....has goaltending been an issue in Utica lately?

 

[FroshaugFan2]

LOL....yes a 6th for a trash NHL goalie, Cap space and a roster spot for our stud 23yr old prospect goalie is a bad move.

As i said give it some time.....someone will likely flush out.........and furthermore.....has goaltending been an issue in Utica lately?

What exactly are the Canucks going to do with their $10M of cap space this season? You really think freeing up Nilsson's cap space is going to make a difference? The same roster spot could have been made by waiving Nilsson. The only value from the trade is the 6th.

The Comets GAA over the last nine games is 3.67. The Canucks have been forced into starting Markstrom for 4 games in 6 nights and have 5 games in the following 9 days.

 

[UticaHockey]

Except for the pressure from the player the agent the family and Vancouver who was watching younger prospect goalies jumping into the NHL and having success with less lower level success than Demko.?
This is a laughable complaint with a self serving agenda. It was time....Nilsson needed to go he wasnt winning any of his starts which puts any success Demko may have as an upgrade at the position for the Canucks to say nothing about Thatcher's camp pushing for a NHL look as far back as last spring.

If Demko didnt get hurt he would have just played one of the back to backs.

Look i get it....you lost 2 good AHL goalies. Bachman was unfortunate but something will flush out soon.

Demko is out for at least 10 days with a sprained knee. This is not a Comets issue it's a Canucks issue that could have been avoided. And if Markstrom goes down now what is Benning's plan for an NHL goaltender? He put himself in a situation where he had no healthy NHL contracted goalie when he made this trade and the current goaltending situation in Vancouver was a very real possibility. That possibility turned into a reality. Now you have to hope that the possibility of another injury doesn't turn into a reality.

 

[sting101]

What exactly are the Canucks going to do with their $10M of cap space this season? You really think freeing up Nilsson's cap space is going to make a difference? The same roster spot could have been made by waiving Nilsson. The only value from the trade is the 6th.

The Comets GAA over the last nine games is 3.67. The Canucks have been forced into starting Markstrom for 4 games in 6 nights and have 5 games in the following 9 days.

Demko gets promotion.....win
6th rd pick.........................win
Money and cap space........win

This is only an issue because McKenna got claimed and they lost Bachman for the year

 

[FroshaugFan2]

Demko gets promotion.....win
6th rd pick.........................win
Money and cap space........win

This is only an issue because McKenna got claimed and they lost Bachman for the year

That's some awfully shallow thinking.

Demko could have been promoted by waiving Nilsson. The salaries are damn near even. Nilsson in the NHL + Archibald in the AHL = $2.25M. Demko in the NHL + Pyatt in the AHL = $2.03M. Cap space is only a win if it is used, and the Canucks aren't going to use the savings from this trade. The 6th is the only win from this trade.

Bachman was out for the year before the trade and the Canucks should have expected Philly or Toronto or someone else would claim McKenna. Fans on the internet predicted this, surely the Canucks have a better idea of what's going on in the league than fans on the internet.

 

[VanJack]

This whole goalie fiasco is the reason why you have to be filled with trepidation as Jimbo approaches the trade deadline. Trading your veteran backup goalie without a Plan B is just awful asset management.

They'd have been far better off to just have McKenna wear a ball-cap and back-up Markstom in VanCity and just leave Demko in Utica playing a majority of the games. Then if they wanted to flip McKenna and Demko later in the season, it wouldn't have been a problem.

As Casey Stengel used to say in the first year of managing the sad-sack New York Mets: "Does anybody around here know how the play this game?"

 

[sting101]

That's some awfully shallow thinking.

Demko could have been promoted by waiving Nilsson. The salaries are damn near even. Nilsson in the NHL + Archibald in the AHL = $2.25M. Demko in the NHL + Pyatt in the AHL = $2.03M. Cap space is only a win if it is used, and the Canucks aren't going to use the savings from this trade. The 6th is the only win from this trade.

Bachman was out for the year before the trade and the Canucks should have expected Philly or Toronto or someone else would claim McKenna. Fans on the internet predicted this, surely the Canucks have a better idea of what's going on in the league than fans on the internet.

wouldnt Nilsson get claimed if McKenna did....not seeing how that works.
No 6th and Nilsson gone hmmmmnn
an people rag on Benning

 

[FroshaugFan2]

wouldnt Nilsson get claimed if McKenna did....not seeing how that works.
No 6th and Nilsson gone hmmmmnn
an people rag on Benning

So you agree with me then. The only value the Canucks got out of the trade was the 6th.

Demko's promotion and clearing Nilsson's cap hit would have been achieved by waiving him.

 

[sting101]

So you agree with me then. The only value the Canucks got out of the trade was the 6th.

Demko's promotion and clearing Nilsson's cap hit would have been achieved by waiving him.

you dont want the pick?

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

you dont want the pick?

A seventh round pick in exchange for having to ride both Markstrom and Kubalkov until their wheels fall off?

Yeah sure, sign me up for that right now

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

Fans on the internet predicted this, surely the Canucks have a better idea of what's going on in the league than fans on the internet.

We must be a regular circle of geniuses here; that's the only explanation for this....

 

[go comets]

McKenna should have been waived before the trade was made, so obviously Ottawa management was smarter than Canucks management. Bachman was already gone. Both Toronto and Philly had goaltending issues.
Leaving McKenna in Vancouver was the right thing to do, or just delaying the entire trade for a few weeks would had worked to.

Just piss poor management....

 

[sting101]

How is the centre ice position looking these days?

 

[Guardian452]

How is the centre ice position looking these days?

Funny that we're not hearing any complaints about Kero/Gaunce/Gaudette, which is the lineup would have been for most of the year if it weren't for injuries.

 

[Jyrki21]

Despite being the first-ever parent club of the Syracuse Crunch, Vancouver is now firmly in Utica's corner, and doing what it can to throw wrenches in the plans of the Comets' biggest rival. (This is from Pass it to Bulis co-founder Harrison Mooney):

Vancouver crane collapse delays New York AHL team's bobblehead night

The muscular mascot for the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch was set to star in a bobblehead giveaway night on Feb. 16. But an incident at the Port of Vancouver has forced the upstate New York hockey club to reschedule.

Late last month, the boxship Ever Summit collided with a crane at the port, causing the ship-to-shore crane boom to collapse onto a stack of containers at the back of the vessel. Among the containers on the Ever Summit: the full shipment of Crunchman bobbleheads, thousands of them, en route from overseas.

In short, the initial report that “no other operations outside that terminal were impacted” isn’t entirely true. It ruined a bobblehead night in New York.

 

[go comets]

Funny that we're not hearing any complaints about Kero/Gaunce/Gaudette, which is the lineup would have been for most of the year if it weren't for injuries.

The Centers have been the driving force behind the teams turn around.

The real question is why the heck did it take these idiots 3 years to figure out they need centers on their AHL team so that they can develop players properly???

As usual, the Canucks screw stuff up season after season and the finally correct their mistake and Canuck fans run around beating their chest about how great management is.... Absolutely Ridiculous.......

Not to mention that the fans in Utica have been stating those facts for 3 seasons......

 

[UticaHockey]

Despite being the first-ever parent club of the Syracuse Crunch, Vancouver is now firmly in Utica's corner, and doing what it can to throw wrenches in the plans of the Comets' biggest rival. (This is from Pass it to Bulis co-founder Harrison Mooney):

Vancouver crane collapse delays New York AHL team's bobblehead night

 

[VanJack]

J.D. Burke of the Athletic on TSN 1040 with Halford & Brough ripping the Comets for the way they're developing (or not) Canuck prospects. Is the criticism fair or justified?

 

[Blue and Green]

In net for the opposition tonight: McKenna.

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

J.D. Burke of the Athletic on TSN 1040 with Halford & Brough ripping the Comets for the way they're developing (or not) Canuck prospects. Is the criticism fair or justified?

I'll assume he doesn't watch the games then. That opinion is a clear tell.

Comets in action tonight vs Mike McKenna and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Nice to see Ashton Sautner back in action with the full cage.

 

[bobbyb2009]

In net for the opposition tonight: McKenna.

Wow... That is hilarious. Brutal....

 

[Lindgren]

Not dressed for the Comets: Dahlen and Gadjovich. They're going with 7 defencemen.

Lind, Gaunce, and Gaudette were the starting forward line.