2018-19 Utica Comets, Pt. V

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Guardian452

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Do you mean too many bodies to juggle or too many bodies by rule. There are no number restrictions after the TDL.

I can see Benning signing him playing him and then sending him back to Jrs in the Fall. He can't burn off the 9 games because they won't have 9 left. You know really encourage the kid to work all summer to be NHL ready by September. A "reel gud idea"!

Jett Woo is signed for the 2019-20 season and can’t be added to the Canucks roster. He is eligible for an ATO with the Comets.
 
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Bad Goalie

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You are right that there was a zero chance that Teves would sign an ATO in the AHL for the remainder of this season and his ELC starting in 2019-20 but not because he was a UFA it was because of the GM that signed him. When a GM has a reputation for always burning off a year of an ELC with NCAA players, always adding more term to bottom six UFAs and always throwing in draft picks with trades Jim Benning starts every negotiation at a disadvantage.

To say that a college UFA has a zero chance of signing an ATO with the AHL farm team and have his NHL ELC start in July is simply not true. These signings happen every season and you don't have to look very hard to find a new example. Joseph Duszak is a higher regarded NCAA defeneman prospect than Josh Teves (A top 10 Hobey Baker finalist) . Duszak had multiple teams interested in him so the leverage was his on negotiating a contract that would get him into NHL games this season but instead he signed with the Leafs starting in the 2019-20 season and an ATO with the Marlies so that he could get meaningful minutes this year in the AHL.

Don't say that there is a zero chance of these things happening because it isn't true. Don't accept Benning's excuses for this or why he has packaged draft picks with trades in the past or why he wasn't able to trade for picks at the deadline. The best thing for Teves, the Canucks and certainly the Comets would be for Teves to be playing in the AHL adjusting to the pro game after his college career and not sitting in a NHL press box. It is up to Benning to sell that idea to him in his negotiations. But Benning never does.





"You are right that there was a zero chance that Teves would sign an ATO in the AHL for the remainder of this season and his ELC starting in 2019-20 but not because he was a UFA it was because of the GM that signed him."

Let me illustrate this a little better.
Since March 20th these are some college guys who signed ATOs.

1) Ludvig Larsson (Undrafted) - C/D, NCAA Penn State, 25Pts/39 GP. Assigned to AHL Binghamton.

2) Christopher Brown (6th RD Buffalo) - C, NCAA Boston College, 16Pts/39GP, Assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Assume Buffalo lost interest as W-B/S is the Pittsburgh farm.

3) Michael Kim (Undrafted) - D, NCAA Boston College, 15Pts/39GP, Assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

4) Tommy Marchin (Undrafted) - LW, NCAA Brown, 26Pts/34GP, Assigned to AHL Providence.

5) Kurt Gosselin (Undrafted) - D, NCAA Alabama-Huntsville, 15Pts/25GP, Assigned AHL Rochester.

6) Sebastian Vidmar (Undrafted) - LW, NCAA Union, 22Pts/39GP, Assigned AHL Stockton.

7) Atte Tolvanen (Undrafted) G, NCAA Northern Michigan, 2.35/.917/39GP, Assigned AHL Syracuse.

8) Tyler Sheehy (Undrafted) - C, NCAA Minnesota, 41Pts/38GP, Assigned to AHL Iowa.

9) Matt Morelli (Undrafted) - F, NCAA Nebraska - Omaha, 34Pts/36GP, Assigned to AHL Stockton.

10) Corey Schueneman (Undrafted) - D, NCAA Western Michigan, 21Pts/37GP, Assigned to AHL Stockton.

11) Colt Conrad (Undrafted) - C, NCAA Western Michigan, 38Pts/37GP, Assigned to AHL Toronto.

12) Grant Hutton (Undrafted) - D, NCAA Miami of Ohio, 21Pts/37GP, Assigned to AHL Bridgeport.

13) Ryan Dmowski (Undrafted) - F, NCAA UMass Lowell, 23Pts/37GP, Assigned to AHL Hartford.

14) Cole Maier (Undrafted) - C/LW, NCAA Union, 32Pts/39GP, Assigned AHL Manitoba.

15) Adam Rockwood (Undrafted) - F, 35Pts/38GP, NCAA Northern Michigan, Assigned to AHL Springfield.

16) Ryan Walker (Undrafted) - LW, NCAA Union, 29Pts/35GP, Assigned to AHL Binghamton.

17) Peter Tischke (Undrafted) - D, NCAA Wisconsin, 10Pts/36GP, Assigned to AHL Colorado.

18) Brendan Robbins (Undrafted) - F, NCAA Maine, 14Pts/36GP, Assigned to AHL Springfield.

19) Dylan Steman (Undrafted) - C, NCAA Michigan Tech, 13Pts/37GP, Assigned to AHL Hershey.

20) Mason Bergh (Undrafted) - F, NCAA Colorado College, 28Pts/41GP, Assigned to AHL Ontario.

Drafted players
1) Jake Oettinger (1st RD Dallas, signed) - G, NCAA Boston U, 2.45/.926 in 36GP, Assigned AHL Texas.

2) Brent Gates (5th RD Anaheim, unsigned) - C, NCAA Minnesota, 31Pts/38 GP, Assigned to AHL San Diego.

3) Steven Ruggiero (6th RD Anaheim, unsigned) - D, NCAA Lake Superior, 11Pts/37GP, Assigned to AHL San Diego.

4) Ryan Lohin (7th RD Tampa Bay, signed) - F, NCAA UMass Lowell, 27Pts/33GP, Assigned to AHL Syracuse.

5) Chase Pearson (5th RD Detroit, signed) - C, NCAA Maine, 29Pts/34GP, Assigned to AHL Grand Rapids.

6) Tommy Novak (5th RD Nashville, unsigned) - C, NCAA Minnesota, 21Pts/38GP, Assigned to AHL Milwaukee.

7) Fredrik Oloffsson (4th RD Chicago, unsigned) - LW, NCAA Nebraska - Omaha, 34Pts/36GP, Assigned to AHL Rockford.

All of the above players were assigned to AHL rosters
whether they were drafted high or low or not drafted at all. They were assigned to the AHL clubs of high ranked NHL teams and low ranked NHL teams in the current NHL standings. It didn't matter. This is standard procedure for all but the very highest profiled kids coming out of the NCAA. Those guys are just like the highest profile Canadian Jrs entering the pro ranks. They are thought to be can't miss, blue chip rookies and will likely start their pro careers in the NHL. Apparently none of the above meet that criteria as of today.

JOSH TEVES (undrafted, signed by Vancouver) - D, NCAA Princeton, 20Pts/30GP, Placed on the Vancouver Canucks roster.

This player is just like all of the above. Players like him ARE NOT signed or you lose them. They are looking for a job. The reason to sign with Vancouver would be the sorry state of their defense corps and thus the greater the chance to break into the NHL with them than a lot of other teams. Giving up a contract spot to a player like this is not a high percentage use of a contract when you can sign them to an ATO and then release them if their play in the AHL doesn't meet your expectations.

This kid will become an RFA and likely end up with a better contract than the ELC players on the Comets roster making $70Gs. It will be the 3rd season for MacEwen, Brisebois, and Chatfield and the 2nd for Gadjovich, Lind, Jasek, and Palmu (if he shows up again) and any other incoming 1st year ELC player like Eliot. They will all be at or less than that $70Gs income. Does this breed resentment in the ranks if that guy doesn't produce at a higher level than all of these guys making less? I know it's a business but that doesn't mean these guys will be smiling it if happens. Thus, in their RFA seasons Benning gets an earful from their agents demanding compensation. We all know how he reacts to that.
 
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UticaHockey

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Tage Thompson has been in the NHL all season and played 65 games for the Sabres. But I'm sure this is going to devastate him emotionally because he thought that he was a NHL player and going down to the AHL will scar him for life. Jim Benning the Zen Master knows something that these other NHL GMs are all ignorant about. He is the Mind Whisperer,

 

Bad Goalie

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I have said in my terms that the Comets are primarily a squad of plumbers. It's my way of saying the team, for the most part, lacks players with puck skills. I have repeated this all season in my game play by play reports and in various other posts on several of the Vancouver related HF pages.

It's taken a long time, but apparently Cull couldn't hold it in any longer. In an article highlighting Comets college rookie, Seamus Malone, in this morning's OD, he slipped up and admitted publicly that the Comets lack puck skilled players.

"He's got some poise and confidence with the puck. We're looking for that. It is a team where we don't have a lot of those puck-skilled guys right now, so he's getting some opportunities and we're trying to find the right combination of guys that hopefully find some chemistry together."

The latter part of this quote makes little sense. He's been shaking up lines all season trying to "find some chemistry together". The only forward the Comets have lost to Vancouver is Gaudette.

Forwards out with injuries are Lind and Hamilton, day to day and Jonah Gadjovich had a set back and who knows what that will mean, but he won't play this weekend. Arseneau hasn't been mentioned, but he did suffer an injury on the 22nd and missed the next/last game on the 23rd. None of these guys can be called puck skilled by their performances this season.

Gaudette had puck skills. Of the remaining Comets forwards on the roster, their lack of puck skills are what hold some of these guys back in the AHL.

Boucher has an accurate bullet shot, but he is not good carrying the puck. He turns it over continuously trying to do such when his line mates reveal the inability to do the same and thus, get him the puck. So, he tries to do what he can't do.

MacEwen is a wild man crashing and banging and skating all over the rink, but when he gets possession he reveals his shortcoming, stick handling one on one vs a defender. The entire league is now onto his toe drag and step around technique. It doesn't work and he has no other tricks in his arsenal. The PP play can't get set up because it usually one of Boucher or MacEwen that ends up bringing the puck into the zone and turning it over by either getting stripped or making an errant pass. We won't even try to explain what goes on when those 2 are not out there. The Comets lead the league in short handed goals against with 17 and Syracuse has scored 12 of them.

Kero is a center with lots of points, but they don't come from any slick puck moves. He can shoot and lots of his assists come from rebounds of his shots or simple passes to wide open guys on the PP who in turn shoot or pass the puck for what ends up a goal. You do not see Tanner Kero carrying the puck up the ice weaving around, beating a defender or 2, and laying off a brilliant tape to tape O'Reilly-like pass for a scoring chance. There is not one Comet who ever does that!!!!

Pyatt has a few moves, but is as slow as dripping sludge. Jasek and Lind are too eager to throw the puck to someone else. Gadjovich rarely has the puck. Gaunce has moves and makes good passes, but his speed limits his ability to display those skills because he is met by defenders too quickly and when he does make the pass either the guy he's passing to isn't where he should be or flubs the pass.

Darcy, Woods, Hamilton, and Gardiner are the poorest excuses for centers ever. They might all be decent bottom six wingers on a mediocre team, but can't be called centers on even a bad team. They have NO PUCK SKILLS seen in any competent center. If you tried these guys out in a whole slew of players looking for a job, the last spot you would assign them is center.

Bancks and Arseneau are exactly what they are, hard checking, in your face nuisances to play against. Good 4th line players who execute their jobs well. Lack of puck skills and speed are what relegates them to that position in the first place.

They all pass errantly and flub up pass after pass to them. They misfire, whiff, or shoot the puck weakly. Get their shots blocked or hit the goalies as perfectly as possible directly in the midsection to the crest on their jersey. They out shoot the opponent consistently, but an old lady in a rocking chair lined up perfectly with the shooter would be hit by the puck 99% of the time. They then fail to contact the puck for a rebound attempt swiping wildly and missing or shoot it high or wide or both.

So in short, Cull, who I am not a big fan of, has been dealt a poor hand and when the push came to shove as teams geared up for the playoff run, these plumbers were unable to do what you have to do to win hockey games at crunch time, SCORE! The checking gets closer, the time and space shrinks, and the lesser skilled players come up short. That's where the Comets have been for the last month and 1/2. On their best night they have barely gotten by the league's worst and have also lost to them. It has been revealed that goaltending was always the Comets secret weapon. Without Demko the team has fallen off the map. He kept them afloat and allowed them to get away with the errors that now end up in the back of the net.

Dahlen and Gaudette are the only losses the Comets have suffered up front since the TDL when the Comets went to ****. With all of his faults, Dahlen could pass the puck and he scored goals. Gaudette was here for 14 games and can hardly be called a key factor in the Comets season, but they were far better with him than they ever were without him since the centers here are just not centers.

You can rationalize all you want and say the Comets centers are just fine for the AHL, but anyone making those statements has no idea how good the AHL is and how centers like the Comets possess are eaten up and spit out by AHL defenders. The centers on the successful teams in this league are good. Maybe not NHL quality usually due to size, speed, or both, but they can skate, stick handle (many in a phone booth), shake and bake, juke, deke, avoid, elude, and whatever else you want to call having moves. They can pass through crowds, past/over/under/or around a defender in the way of their intended target, and saucer pass with the best of them. Most important of all, their passes are tape to tape. It's called puck skills and Cull has finally admitted he has a team without those necessary talents.

*****EDIT******
I forgot to mention the team did have a couple other guys up front who could handle the puck besides Gaudette and Dahlen in Archibald and Carcone (too much too often, but he could handle the puck), but as usual anybody the Comets come to rely upon for goal scoring gets traded. Only Gaudette, however, was a center.
 
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Hit the post

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I have said in my terms that the Comets are primarily a squad of plumbers. It's my way of saying the team, for the most part, lacks players with puck skills. I have repeated this all season in my game play by play reports and in various other posts on several of the Vancouver related HF pages.

It's taken a long time, but apparently Cull couldn't hold it in any longer. In an article highlighting Comets college rookie, Seamus Malone, in this morning's OD, he slipped up and admitted publicly that the Comets lack puck skilled players.

"He's got some poise and confidence with the puck. We're looking for that. It is a team where we don't have a lot of those puck-skilled guys right now, so he's getting some opportunities and we're trying to find the right combination of guys that hopefully find some chemistry together."

The latter part of this quote makes little sense. He's been shaking up lines all season trying to "find some chemistry together. The only forward the Comets have lost to Vancouver is Gaudette.

Forwards out with injuries are Lind and Hamilton, day to day and Jonah Gadjovich had a set back and who knows what that will mean, but he won't play this weekend. Arseneau hasn't been mentioned, but he did suffer an injury on the 22nd and missed the next/last game on the 23rd. None of these guys can be called puck skilled by their performances this season.

Gaudette had puck skills. Of the remaining Comets forwards on the roster, their lack of puck skills are what hold some of these guys back in the AHL.

Boucher has an accurate bullet shot, but he is not good carrying the puck. He turns it over continuously trying to do such when his line mates reveal the inability to do the same and thus, get him the puck. So, he tries to do what he can't do.

MacEwen is a wild man crashing and banging and skating all over the rink, but when he gets possession he reveals his shortcoming, stick handling one on one vs a defender. The entire league is now onto his toe drag and step around technique. It doesn't work and he has no other tricks in his arsenal. The PP play can't get set up because it usually one of Boucher or MacEwen that ends up bringing the puck into the zone and turning it over by either getting stripped or making an errant pass. We won't even try to explain what goes on when those 2 are not out there. The Comets lead the league in short handed goals against with 17 and Syracuse has scored 12 of them.

Kero is a center with lots of points, but they don't come from any slick puck moves. He can shoot and lots of his assists come form rebounds of his shots or simple passes to wide open guys on the PP who in turn shoot or pass the puck foe what ends up a goal. You do not see Tanner Kero carrying the puck up the ice weaving around, beating a defender or 2, and laying off a brilliant tape to tape O'reilly-like pass for a scoring chance. There is not one Comet who ever does that!!!!

Pyatt has a few moves, but is a slow as dripping sludge. Jasek and Lind are too eager to throw the puck to someone else. Gadjovich rarely has the puck. Gaunce has moves and makes good passes, but his speed limits his ability to display those skills because he is met by defenders too quickly and when he does make the pass either the guy he's passing to isn't where he should be or flubs the pass.

Darcy, Woods, Hamilton, and Gardiner are the poorest excuses for centers ever. They might all be decent bottom six wingers on a mediocre team, but can't be called centers on even a bad team. They have NO PUCK SKILLS seen any competent center. If you tried these guys out in a whole slew of players looking for a job, the last spot you would assign them is center.

Bancks and Arseneau are exactly what they are, hard checking, in your face nuisances to play against. Good 4th line players who execute their jobs well. Lack of puck skills ad speed are what relegates them to that position in the first place.

They all pass errantly and flub up pass after pass to them. They misfire, whiff, or shoot the puck weakly. Get their shots blocked or hit the goalies as perfectly as possible directly in the midsection to the crest on their jersey. They out shoot the opponent consistently, but an old lady in a rocking chair lined up perfectly with the shooter would be hit by the puck 99% of the time. They then fail to contact the puck for a rebound attempt swiping wildly and missing or shoot it high or wide or both.

So in short, Cull, who I am not a big fan of, has been dealt a poor hand and when the push came to shove as teams geared up for the playoff run, these plumbers were unable to do what you have to do to win hockey games at crunch time, SCORE! The checking gets closer, the time and space shrinks, and the lesser skilled players come up short. That's where the Comets have been for the last month and 1/2. On their best night they have barely gotten by the league's worst and have also lost to them. It has been revealed that goaltending was always the Comets secret weapon. Without Demko the team has fallen off the map. He kept them afloat and allowed them to get away with the errors that now end up in the back of the net.

Dahlen and Gaudette are the only losses the Comets have suffered up front. With all of his faults, Dahlen could pass the puck and he scored goals. Gaudette was here for 14 games and can hardly be called a key factor in the Comets season, but they were far better with him than they ever were without him since the centers here are just not centers.

You can rationalize all you want and say the Comets centers are just fine for the AHL, but anyone making those statements has no idea how good the AHL is and how centers like the Comets possess are eaten up and spit out by AHL defenders. The centers on the successful teams in this league are good. Maybe not NHL quality usually due to size, speed, or both, but they can skate, stick handle (many in a phone booth), shake and bake, juke, deke, avoid, elude, and whatever else you want to call having moves. They can pass through crowds, past/over/under/or around a defender in the way of their intended target, and saucer pass with the best of them. Most important of all, their passes are tape to tape. It's called puck skills and Cull has finally admitted he has a team without those necessary talents.
Can't help but think the Canucks might just walk away from Gaunce (I don't think he's been called up once despite all the injuries since he was sent down early this season). Not that he'd be a huge loss for the Canucks who management doesn't have a ton of faith in but it would be another salvo to the gut of the Comets when he just signs with another AHL team or goes overseas.
 

Bad Goalie

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Can't help but think the Canucks might just walk away from Gaunce (I don't think he's been called up once despite all the injuries since he was sent down early this season). Not that he'd be a huge loss for the Canucks who management doesn't have a ton of faith in but it would be another salvo to the gut of the Comets when he just signs with another AHL team or goes overseas.

It's never bothered Benning to do it before and it won't bother him to do it again. The Comets must get extreme top talent in the 5 vets they carry and the also need to sign a real good Vet exempt allowing for 6 real good hockey players to support the rest of the roster.

It should be 2 on defense and 4 up front and at least 2 of those should be centers. Since the Canucks have no center options in their pool, it would be wise to be sure 3 of those vets or 2 and the VE are centers. It's time to cut bait on AHL contracted Woods, Darcy, and Gardiner.

Kero should be re-signed. He would be the VE and a center.
Boucher would be the vet forward.
XX
XX are the 2 veteran centers.
Schenn is the solid leader on D.
X is the veteran puck moving D-man/#1 PP QB the Comets have desperately needed since Fedun in 15-16.

Finish up the D with
Sautner
Brisebois
Chatfield
Blujus
LeBlanc
Eliot
None of these guys are veterans by AHL rules.

Don't re-sign any of Sifers, Graham, or McEneny. Sifers is too old and McEneny is too much of a risk due to the multiple knee injuries. He was already seriously compromised skating this season before suffering his 4th season ending knee injury.
me.
Dirk and Anselmini don't get re-signed period because they are not even decent emergency replacements.

Comets have used 17 different D-men this season and the 6 listed above + Schenn are the only ones I'd want back.

Maybe stash Graham and Saucerman in the ECHL for an urgent emergency, but not as a fill-in for any length of time.

Up front we know Lind, Gadjovich, Jasek, and maybe Palmu are back. This is year 2 for them and they HAVE to come back in better than when they left or you are looking at 4 Cole Cassels.

Zack MacEwen is better than 50-50 to be back.

So from this year's roster the definite returns and the guys I listed as wanting to see re-signed the Comets (Pay no attention to which line has who. I'm just filling in the slots.) would look like:
Gaunce/Kero (VE)/Boucher
Gadjovich/XX (VET) or Gaunce (VE), MacEwen
?/XX (VET)/Jasek
?/?/Lind

Sautner/XX (VET)
Brisebois/Schenn (VET)
Blujus/LeBlanc-Chatfield
?/Eliot

Those ?s could be filled in by demotions or acquisitions from Vancouver. The major problem with Benning's demotions is they are all vets. Because he has no centers in his depth pool that ****s up everything because his vets have to play and that means more **** like Darcy, Woods, Hamilton, and Gardiner in the middle and another year of crap results for the wingers.
 
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go comets

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I don't see Gaunce or Boucher back, kero wil be let go too.

Chances are both Darcy and Woods return, along with Hamilton and Bancks. We can't have too many 4th line checkers and as Johnson states the vets can not be better than the prospects....
 

Clinton Comets EHL

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I don't see Gaunce or Boucher back, kero wil be let go too.

Chances are both Darcy and Woods return, along with Hamilton and Bancks. We can't have too many 4th line checkers and as Johnson states the vets can not be better than the prospects....
Chances are both Darcy and Woods return, along with Hamilton and Bancks.


make me puke. Bancks and Hamilton are already signed, right?
 

Bad Goalie

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I don't see Gaunce or Boucher back, kero wil be let go too.

Chances are both Darcy and Woods return, along with Hamilton and Bancks. We can't have too many 4th line checkers and as Johnson states the vets can not be better than the prospects....

I wholeheartedly agree this is what will happen. I was just explaining a path that might bring a good team for the few prospects still here to play with.

Their plan will be to look at what was here at the end of the season that costs nothing, the AHL contracts (Darcy, Woods - VE , Hamilton - VET, Bancks - VET, Arseneau, Blujus, and Sifers - Vet).

Then add in their so called prospects (Lind, Jasek, Gadjovich, Palmu for another go round, Chatfield, Brisebois, and Sautner) . MacEwen will be considered more than those other prospects, but he will be here also.

Any new acquisitions that will be called prospects will also be on the roster. The 2 most likely are Teves and Eliot. I don't see any new forward prospects. Correct me if any of you know a new forward prospect I haven't mentioned.

I'm not sure they take a flyer on Seamus Malone, but it would be like them to give him an AHL contract if his agent can't find something better a la MacMaster.

ALL of this eliminates the Canucks management from having to WASTE VALUABLE NHL time looking for players for the meaningless farm. It's a job Ghost Johnson should have been doing all season long and immediately go to work on making happen as soon as the regular season ends. We know that won'y happen because it's not really his job anyways.

Then they will guess who will be sent down after the parent team is selected and that won't happen until early October. They will all be veterans.

Finally, they add whatever is missing from the dregs still looking for a job.

Di Pietro and Bachman, both already under contract, will be the goalies.

RFAs Gaunce, Kero, Boucher will not be signed a la Grenier.

They have already elected to stop signing top AHL UFAs like O'Reilly, Sanguinetti, Acton, Fedun, Hensick, etc.

Pyatt will leave as a UFA.

If Ottawa doesn't elect to sign Archibald and he can't get a 2-way gig with another NHL team, I wouldn't be shocked to see him return to the city that referred to him as the Mayor. I think somebody will sign him.

This is the way they have done things for the last 4 years. Why would they change anything now?
 

Bad Goalie

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I don't see Gaunce or Boucher back, kero wil be let go too.

Chances are both Darcy and Woods return, along with Hamilton and Bancks. We can't have too many 4th line checkers and as Johnson states the vets can not be better than the prospects....

"Johnson states the vets can not be better than the prospects...."

And if that's the case, I'm not sure there ARE any vets that meet that exact criteria. The forward prospects, based on this season, are not very good to begin with.
 

go comets

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"Johnson states the vets can not be better than the prospects...."

And if that's the case, I'm not sure there ARE any vets that meet that exact criteria. The forward prospects, based on this season, are not very good to begin with.

Idk about anyone else, but I now regret renewing my season tickets for next year.... Can't even give away tickets now.......

I'm expecting a half full building for the rest of the season as they play out the season...... This sell out streak is a joke at this point......
 

Megaterio Llamas

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Idk about anyone else, but I now regret renewing my season tickets for next year.... Can't even give away tickets now.......

I'm expecting a half full building for the rest of the season as they play out the season...... This sell out streak is a joke at this point......
I can relate to that in a way even though I'm in Vancouver. Was looking forward to having some fun on here this year with the gang watching the games on AHLtv but I have lost interest completely. They just don't have the horses to compete not to mention not having any decent prospects to follow. It's become a waste of time.
 

timbermen

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Yes and Adam Gaudette is just as much in need of AHL seasoning today as he was a year ago when he signed. It's possible Benning figures this out before it's too late and he's wasted a promising player.
I think Guudette should have stayed in Utica for the year. It did hurt Virtanen's progression , bringing him up too early. Gaudette had better coaching than JV at North Western , though. JV had WD. Josh Teves could easily be the next Molino , I don't see him as the one getting Utica to the post season.
 
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UticaHockey

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Yes and Adam Gaudette is just as much in need of AHL seasoning today as he was a year ago when he signed. It's possible Benning figures this out before it's too late and he's wasted a promising player.
The problem in Vancouver starts with ownership wanting to sell tickets and extends to management wanting to push prospects along too quickly. The Vancouver marketing team pushed so hard on Gaudette signing his NHL contract last year during the final weeks of a lost season there was no way he was going to spend the year in Utica.
 
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tantalum

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Yes and Adam Gaudette is just as much in need of AHL seasoning today as he was a year ago when he signed. It's possible Benning figures this out before it's too late and he's wasted a promising player.

The problem with Gaudette is that if a 23 year old needs AHL seasoning before seeing NHL action that often means he's just an AHL player. Good for Utica but not what you want to see happening from the canucks perspective.
 

Megaterio Llamas

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Oct 29, 2011
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The problem with Gaudette is that if a 23 year old needs AHL seasoning before seeing NHL action that often means he's just an AHL player. Good for Utica but not what you want to see happening from the canucks perspective.
The thing is, he's been struggling all year just to keep his head above water at the NHL level. Two years of this and he'll be going to Utica through waivers as a write off. He was a barely twenty-two year old college fifth round prospect last fall. The normal course of action for the responsible organization is to wend that player down to the minor league affiliate until he graduates the level of competition. I know the concept is foreign here in lotusland, but that's how it's done.
 
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Nucker42

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Nov 27, 2011
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Gaudette is playing with garbage wingers and is defensively reliable.... doesn’t hurt the team what so ever and isn’t placed in offensive situations ever....

I like Gaudette where is he and he’s only going to get better...
 

tantalum

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The thing is, he's been struggling all year just to keep his head above water at the NHL level. Two years of this and he'll be going to Utica through waivers as a write off. He was a barely twenty-two year old college fifth round prospect last fall. The normal course of action for the responsible organization is to wend that player down to the minor league affiliate until he graduates the level of competition. I know the concept is foreign here in lotusland, but that's how it's done.

I understand what you're saying. Bring him up and take a look now and then but when he starts to really struggle get him back down to Utica. They were sort of doing that but stopped on his last call up. They appeared to be happy to let him struggle with low icetime instead of work on his game with 20 minutes a night of ice in Utica.

I'm just saying that he'll be 23 when the puck drops next season. It's not old and of course he can still make the NHL but if he's in the AHL he is going to start getting passed on the depth chart as NHL bound prospects don't make a long stop in the AHL. Now lucky for him, the canucks don't actually have a lot of NHL bound prospects. And certainly not at center.
 

Megaterio Llamas

el rey del mambo
Oct 29, 2011
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The problem in Vancouver starts with ownership wanting to sell tickets and extends to management wanting to push prospects along too quickly. The Vancouver marketing team pushed so hard on Gaudette signing his NHL contract last year during the final weeks of a lost season there was no way he was going to spend the year in Utica.
Bingo. A top exec with the Aquilini ownership wrote an op ed piece in one of the local papers a few years ago that laid bare this philosophy that the team is 'sports entertainment' and the focus is on live event production. It really resembles the early California markets forays into the NHL a la Jack Kent Cookes' LA Kings and Charlie O Finley's Oakland Seals with the colored skates gimmicks and the habitual trading of first round picks to Sam Pollock in Montreal because 'the fan base has no patience' and it's a non traditional marketplace.

Those franchises ultimately adapted or moved to other cities while Vancouver remained stuck in a time warp.
 
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