2018-19 Utica Comets, Pt. VI

[krutovsdonut]

so they eliminated conacher's position and gave johnson higgins as a utica assistant instead?

if so i can see the fit. higgins is from ny state and has family there.

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

if so i can see the fit. higgins is from ny state and has family there.

It does occur, then one recalls that Higgins has put down roots right here in Vancouver and that Long Island might as well be in another state as Utica anyway. No, this is just a sign of Higgins advancing his position in the alumni hierarchy. There have always been paid positions available for favored alumni.

 

[krutovsdonut]

It does occur, then one recalls that Higgins has put down roots right here in Vancouver and that Long Island might as well be in another state as Utica anyway. No, this is just a sign of Higgins advancing his position in the alumni hierarchy. There have always been paid positions available for favored alumni.

maybe. but if i was higgins i'd go work in ahl hockey in new york state and pay dues and network my brains out and keep the place in vancouver just in case i can move up.

 

[UticaHockey]

Canucks Add New Hockey Operations Staff


"Vancouver Canucks alumni, Chris Higgins, re-joins the team as Assistant Director, Player Development. Higgins will support Ryan Johnson in his role as Senior Director, Player Development & Utica Comets General Manager."

"Patrik Jonsson, Vincent Montalbano and Brandon Benning take on new assignments among the Amateur Scouting staff. Pat Conacher moves to the Amateur staff after five seasons as Director, Hockey Operations with Utica."

And now when the Comets need to supplement the roster with ECHL PTOs it is on Johnson to find them. I hope he learned well from Pat Conacher.

 

[Bad Goalie]

And now when the Comets need to supplement the roster with ECHL PTOs it is on Johnson to find them. I hope he learned well from Pat Conacher.

Doomed!

 

[tyhee]

Canucks Add New Hockey Operations Staff


"Vancouver Canucks alumni, Chris Higgins, re-joins the team as Assistant Director, Player Development. Higgins will support Ryan Johnson in his role as Senior Director, Player Development & Utica Comets General Manager."

"Patrik Jonsson, Vincent Montalbano and Brandon Benning take on new assignments among the Amateur Scouting staff. Pat Conacher moves to the Amateur staff after five seasons as Director, Hockey Operations with Utica."

I have hopes for Higgins. Of course that isn't based on management experience and may turn out to be misplaced.

Otoh, it has to be scary for Comets watchers that Conacher won't be around.

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

The Johnson/Higgins - manage the Comets from Vancouver tandem strikes as another one of Mr Aquilini's cushy no show/no work Canucks alumni gigs but I guess we'll see.

 

[F A N]

so they eliminated conacher's position and gave johnson higgins as a utica assistant instead?

if so i can see the fit. higgins is from ny state and has family there.

In reality, Conacher's prior role was taken over by Johnson when Johnson became the Comets' GM. Personally, I'm not so sure about moving Conacher. He's suppose to be an experienced guy who knows the different leagues and likely played a key role in filling Comets' roster with PTOs. But then again, his experience comes from being a player and coaching prior to joining the Comets. I suppose another way to look at it is that Conacher's experience might be put into better use scouting for the Canucks.

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

 

[Bad Goalie]

[MOD]

Johnson did not take over Conacher's job when named GM. Not even on the same page. The first season Johnson was rarely even in the same city. Last year he was around, but Conacher and Esche ran the Comets and and Cull and his staff coached them. Everything you hear Benning say about prospects here and their progress is what Johnson tells him and he rarely tells him anything negative.

Benning made his first trip to Utica in years at the end of last season when the majority of the players on the ice were PTOs or AHL contract players. Benning then said he was very pleased with the Comets efforts on the ice and liked what Cull was doing for the prospects.

[MOD]

 

[Hit the post]

[MOD]

Johnson did not take over Conacher's job when named GM. Not even on the same page. The first season Johnson was rarely even in the same city. Last year he was around, but Conacher and Esche ran the Comets and and Cull and his staff coached them. Everything you hear Benning say about prospects here and their progress is what Johnson tells him and he rarely tells him anything negative.

Benning made his first trip to Utica in years at the end of last season when the majority of the players on the ice were PTOs or AHL contract players. Benning then said he was very pleased with the Comets efforts on the ice and liked what Cull was doing for the prospects.

[MOD]

Don't blame the fool. Blame the fool that hires the fool.

 

[RobertKron]

Don't blame the fool. Blame the fool that hires the fool.

Why not blame both?

 

[Bad Goalie]

Why not blame both?

We thank you!

 

[UticaHockey]

So with training camp starting today and Brock Boeser still unsigned let me remind everyone what BG and I said when Benning panics and signs college kids to play a handful of games in April thus burning off a full year of their ELC. If Benning held his ground and used some salesmanship to talk Boeser into playing in the AHL on a PTO with the ELC starting the following season he would be in camp now with a full year left on his ELC.

Same thing with Quinn Hughes who will now be coming off his ELC the same year as Pettersson instead of a year after....wait til Benning tries to manage both of them at the same time under the cap.

When we warned of this most every poster on here thinks we are crazy because they are worried the college picks will stay in school four years and walk or they just want to see their shiny new toy play in a handful of meaningless games in April. These high end prospects are not going to stay in school 4 years no matter how worried and insecure the fan base gets....

 

[Scumbag Frank]

So with training camp starting today and Brock Boeser still unsigned let me remind everyone what BG and I said when Benning panics and signs college kids to play a handful of games in April thus burning off a full year of their ELC. If Benning held his ground and used some salesmanship to talk Boeser into playing in the AHL on a PTO with the ELC starting the following season he would be in camp now with a full year left on his ELC.

Same thing with Quinn Hughes who will now be coming off his ELC the same year as Pettersson instead of a year after....wait til Benning tries to manage both of them at the same time under the cap.

When we warned of this most every poster on here thinks we are crazy because they are worried the college picks will stay in school four years and walk or they just want to see their shiny new toy play in a handful of meaningless games in April. These high end prospects are not going to stay in school 4 years no matter how worried and insecure the fan base gets....

Devil's advocate though, Brock could end up signing for 7x7 or something and then go on to have a monster 50+goal year on Pettersson's wing.
In your scenario, the 2nd contract would be negotiated after this season and could end up being 7x8.5 or 7x9.

I don't think burning off the first year of the ELC is always bad. For someone like Brock I would rather take my chances negotiating his second contract after a sophomore slump year than a monster breakout 3rd year, which we see quite often in star players.

 

[go comets]

Conacher was in Utica full time. Back when they actually allowed people in the building to watch practice, conacher was here most the time. He also scouted and scoured the ECHL for talent.
I seriously doubt anyone is going to do what conacher did. If injuries hit again this season this year will be hopeless......

 

[UticaHockey]

Sounds like Ferraro is being considered for center depth in Utica.
Ben Kuzma: Canucks impressed with Landon Ferraro’s never-say-quit attitude, skill

 

[Bad Goalie]

Sounds like Ferraro is being considered for center depth in Utica.
Ben Kuzma: Canucks impressed with Landon Ferraro’s never-say-quit attitude, skill

Chalk one up for my side. LOL

The second I found out he was invited to Vancouver's camp, I knew there could only have been one reason for it. I posted such in the training camp thread and this one. They were going to give him a chance to prove he was still a hockey player. They would never admit it, but they knew they hadn't fully addressed the Center problem in Utica. He is definitely not top 6 ready, but as I have previously posted, he has put up .52 PPG in his 354 AHL GP. That's better than any center below the top 2 Utica has had every season since O'Reilly was here (I'm pulling that up from memory and if I'm wrong correct me).

EDIT:
I couldn't allow myself to stand on memory alone. I just checked out center stats for the time span I stated. Nobody that was below the the top 2 centers during any of those seasons had better than a .52 PPG.

Last year Kero was it. We can't count Gaunce's .63 PPG because he mostly played LW and Gaudette doesn't count either having only played 14 of the Comets' 76 games. I will say it until the ice is gone. Wings need centers to succeed. Not just any center (e.g. Cassels, Woods, Darcy), but good play making centers.

If Ferraro is good enough to be extended a contract, he will fill a key role the Comets have never had since Henning left, a reserve center that can step up when injuries occur or players are called up.
Right now the center situation is up in the air based upon the Canucks cuts. We are pretty sure of the following:
Graovac
Camper
Hamilton
Gaudette - Looks like he should be here to start based on not having to clear waivers. Any other player the Canucks might try to send here would have to clear. Cannot predict that will happen.
Schaller - Looks to be a good choice since he didn't mean much to them last season and the 2 new forwards make him easily expendable.

I don't see them sending Eriksson here despite so many posters wanting such a move.

If they keep 14 forwards, which hasn't been the norm, Biega or Fantenberg will be waived. Biega makes the most sense for Utica since he is a RD and the D-corps marked for assignment here are overloaded with lefties and Fantenberg would only add to that number.

If Vancouver goes with 13 forwards, the Comets will start the season without at least 1 veteran D-man for the first time in there existence.

The problem with the Vancouver demotions is that they will overload the roster with veterans. Interesting since Johnson is on record as not wanting vets that will deny the kids ice time. Got news for him. Only 5 can play at one time anyways. Bailey will be a Veteran Exempt, meaning he can play with those 5 actual veterans. Also the only kids he actually has up front down here are Gadjovich, Lind, Jasek, and Malone.

Boucher, Graovac, Camper, Bancks, and Hamilton with Bailey are already earmarked for the roster.

Schaller for Hamilton with Wacey as #5 would suit me just fine.

Biega or Fantenberg is an automatic #1 if one of them is here.

Ferraro would also be also a vet. He can work on his getting his game back until, the first issue occurs requiring his service. If he's already game ready, he can rotate with Hamilton. If he is AHL ready there is room for him on the roster and knowing how seasons progress at the AHL level, he will get plenty of ice time.

Camper could also be shifted to RW making it possible for another center to play.

Schaller is also a LW making the center slot even more accessible.

Lots of possibilities. We'll have to see how it all shakes out.

 

[Bad Goalie]

I do have a question. Hope somebody can help me out.

Why isn't Seamus Malone in Vancouver for training camp. He is signed to an AHL contract. He is the only player signed to such a contract that isn't there. Every bum who will be in Kalamazoo when Utica sets their roster is there. Why not Malone? He is a better hockey player than any reserve forward Johnson signed for Zoo depth. If he plays like he did in the 6 games he played here at the end of last season when he scored 3 goals, he will push for a spot among the top 4 LWs.

Someone help me out here.

 

[Guardian452]

I do have a question. Hope somebody can help me out.

Why isn't Seamus Malone in Vancouver for training camp. He is signed to an AHL contract. He is the only player signed to such a contract that isn't there. Every bum who will be in Kalamazoo when Utica sets their roster is there. Why not Malone? He is a better hockey player than any reserve forward Johnson signed for Zoo depth. If he plays like he did in the 6 games he played here at the end of last season when he scored 3 goals, he will push for a spot among the top 4 LWs.

Someone help me out here.

Wasn't he injured at the end of last season? Perhaps he's not a 100% ready to go.

 

[VanJack]

I suppose there's a chance Ferraro gets a Utica contract, but I'm still having trouble seeing the Canucks wasting another two-way contract spot on him. According to Cap Friendly they're getting up there in terms of the 50 contract limit..

Besides, after this NCAA season there's a good chance they sign both Madden and Lockwood in March, and assign them to Utica. Also a possibility they'll need another contract slot for Tryamkin.

 

[vanuck]

^ They can always sign them to PTO's like every other team does with their college draftees. Tryamkin... not holding my breath.

 

[UticaHockey]

^ They can always sign them to PTO's like every other team does with their college draftees. Tryamkin... not holding my breath.

And that is the only way they can be assigned to Utica in March. If Benning goes with his usual method he will sign them to NHL contracts which makes them ineligible for the AHL while burning a full year of their ELCs. I bet he would like that year back on Boeser's ELC right about now.

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

And now when the Comets need to supplement the roster with ECHL PTOs it is on Johnson to find them. I hope he learned well from Pat Conacher.

He hasn't and won't.

This could be Utica's worst season ever in the AHL.

Certainly, we can hope the team is entertaining even if it's lousy. With Johnson's history, I doubt it.

Comets will be lucky to win 30 games.

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

Devil's advocate though, Brock could end up signing for 7x7 or something and then go on to have a monster 50+goal year on Pettersson's wing.
In your scenario, the 2nd contract would be negotiated after this season and could end up being 7x8.5 or 7x9.

I don't think burning off the first year of the ELC is always bad. For someone like Brock I would rather take my chances negotiating his second contract after a sophomore slump year than a monster breakout 3rd year, which we see quite often in star players.

Brock is never going to score 50 goals in a season. Not in Vancouver, anyway.