2018-19 Utica Comets

[F A N]

I have a very simple stance on the players and their pro development. NA players are not allowed to report to the AHL until 20 if they have participated in Canadian JRs. Americans usually get their statr there. Those that don't can sign and play in the AHL at 18. Europeans can do likewise. Several Europeans have done such in recent history. I have nothing against the Europeans drafted by Vancouver playing at home until 20, but after turning 20 they should follow the same path as their fellow NA draftees. That's how I see it and I am entitled to that opinion and it shared with many hockey fans including posters on this site from Vancouver. The escape clause back to Europe has to be okayed by NHL management. If they want all of their top prospects in the AHL and playing together then they should not provide the out clause to those individuals. If the player truly wants to be an NHL player, he will report. I am talking about the Dahlens not the Gunnarssons.

I have no problem with you being biased as I understand it, but I wish you can try to understand the other side. Player development isn't just about the NHL team forcing the player to do their bidding. You want to do what's best for the player's development but also take into consideration what the player wants.

You keep attacking Dahlen but like Ryan Johnson said, Dahlen's confidence was shot and didn't think he was ready to play in the AHL. I repeat, according to Johnson, Dahlen told him that he doesn't think he is ready to play in the AHL. So what would you have him do? Play in Utica? You try to make it like this is some prima donna who had no interest in playing in the AHL and simply left without telling his coach. But that's not the case at all.

When players go back to Europe they are also giving up the chance to play in the NHL this season. That's not insignificant. If AHL is the best league to develop players, then then players are also giving up the chance to better themselves. In reality, many European or college players don't think the AHL is the best league for their development outside of "adjusting to the pro game" or "adjusting to North American hockey."

Look. I think the AHL is the best developmental league because it is the closest to the NHL game. I want our prospects (except for the skinny under 21 year olds) to play in the AHL because there is more control over their development. In reality, if a full year of NHL development time benefits the player a whole lot more than playing back home or spending another year in college, the chances are that that player is more than a year from being ready to play in the NHL.

 

[Bad Goalie]

So why does Benning not send Archie through waivers last spring for fear of loosing him and then turn around and not sign him????

Archi. Archi who? Who the hell is Archi and why are you bothering me with that right now? I have to get this Beagle into the fold.

JB obsesses on things one at a time. He has a one track mind. When he is dealing with an issue like not losing Archi if he sends him down at the end of the 2017-18 season to the current battle to sign Beagle, he can't think about or address any other issue and apparently doesn't give anyone else the ability to do so either. While obsessing with Beagle, Roussel, and who knows who else he no longer even thinks about Archi. Archi? Who? He was 3 months ago's immediate concern.. It was like the year he was so busy doing nothing at the TDL, he forgot to paper players for Utica. He can't multitask and won't give up control of any decisions. It's also why he continuously changes his mind about what the Canucks are actually trying to do. He sticks to a plan only until a new vision arises or the old plan appears not to be working fast enough so it's on to the next plan. Hasn't that been evident for 5 seasons while he is busy as a beaver at it again this very moment?

Another example. "Utica needs play making centers." Quote Benning and Linden at different times more than once. As that issue is overshadowed by the next thing to arise it is totally dismissed. Result no play making centers for 3 years. This season could turn out even worse unless someone keeps their eye on it. Right now the only guaranteed center in Utica is last season PTO to AHL contract Cameron Darcy who was re-signed to another AHL contract.

Yeah, I know it's way too early to worry about that now. Benning thinks the same way. Meanwhile, other NHL GMs have acquired European free agents to man many of their top AHL holes. When it finally comes to Vancouver's atttention, the Darcy's of the hockey world are all that's left.

Don't hit me with "But Kero and Gaudette." There is no guarantee of either one ever setting foot in Utica especially Gaudette. I assumed the Kero trade was simply to replace Chaput with a clone that didn't meet veteran status in the AHL. Then as I observe the goings on in Vancouver, he could actually be a Canuck. Either one assigned to Utica becomes the first call-up which if they are that good is what SHOULD happen. Thus, it is imperative to finally get a couple of AHL level play makers in here. It doesn't matter where they come from or if they meet veteran status or not. Get them before everyone else does. Even Chaput and Dowd become free agents today. The prospects supposedly coming in herein October will be desperate for scoring help without them. Re-signing Wacey Hamilton to another AHL contract won't even come close to an answer.

Let GD Ryan Johnson earn his money and actually function as the Utica Comets GM!!!!!!! He could concentrate on the **** Benning won't find time to address until September or later.

 

[WestCoastExpress94]

Dahlen McMaster Lind
Gadjovich Gaudette Jasek
Banks MackEwen Palmu
X X Carcone


Juolevi Chatfield
Brisebois Blujus
McEneny x
Sautner

 

[timw33]

Seeing as there are zero spots on our NHL team for young players, the Comets are going to be loaded.

 

[VanJack]

Apparently Canucks and Archie have agreed on a contract, but after today's free agent frenzy I'm just not seeing where there'd be any room for him on the Canucks....could be a great 'add' for Utica though.

 

[VC]

With the mess of a cluster down the middle with the Canucks, Gaudette should be a good add for the Comets.

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

 

[Lindgren]

Interesting. Assuming they'll carry 13 forwards, it seems likely that they'll send Gaudette down, as he doesn't require waivers. They'll need to chance it on two of the other three. At least if Granlund clears waivers, it'll put an end to the "Bad Granlund" thread, as it will no longer be debatable whether he's worth anything.

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

I think Utica gets both Gaudette and Petersson

 

[Catamarca Livin]

I think more moves are going to happen. Would like young players start in Ahl like Hughes, Dahlen, OJ and Gaudette. However need Peterson, Demko here as we need at least one toy here. Trades of vets for youth or futures would be ideal if youth surprises. Some prospects will fail so even a couple trades will provide room needed.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

not a bad time to be a utica fan, eh?

man, pettersson, gaudette, demko, motte, juolevi, dahlen, lind, dipietro, palmu, brisebois, and if any of them make it through waivers, goldobin, leipsic, virtanen, gaunce, hutton, sautner.

 

[UticaHockey]

Another July 1 without a single free agent signing so far that is targeted for the Comets. Sure some of the signings may push Gaunce and Gaudette down to Utica but it is frustrating to watch Twitter All day and see dedicated AHL signings for our rivals and nothing for Utica.

 

[Melvin]

not a bad time to be a utica fan, eh?

man, pettersson, gaudette, demko, motte, juolevi, dahlen, lind, dipietro, palmu, brisebois, and if any of them make it through waivers, goldobin, leipsic, virtanen, gaunce, hutton, sautner.

This is, what, the third straight off season of posts like this?

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Another July 1 without a single free agent signing so far that is targeted for the Comets. Sure some of the signings may push Gaunce and Gaudette down to Utica but it is frustrating to watch Twitter All day and see dedicated AHL signings for our rivals and nothing for Utica.

well it sure seems like we traded vanek at the deadline for a guy targeted for the comets

 

[Clinton Comets EHL]

 

[krutovsdonut]

Another July 1 without a single free agent signing so far that is targeted for the Comets. Sure some of the signings may push Gaunce and Gaudette down to Utica but it is frustrating to watch Twitter All day and see dedicated AHL signings for our rivals and nothing for Utica.

they did trade for kero for you and sign archibald for you and based on my math you will be getting most or all of jasek, dahlen, gaunce, gaudette, motte and leipsic. that's a decent ahl top 6.

 

[UticaHockey]

they did trade for kero for you and sign archibald for you and based on my math you will be getting most or all of jasek, dahlen, gaunce, gaudette, motte and leipsic. that's a decent ahl top 6.

Let's see how many of the players that you listed will be Comets next season.

 

[tyhee]

I was curious, after seeing Benning & Co sign no playmaking center nor defenceman on the first day of this summer's free agency period, how good or bad the Comets' situation might be going into the start of the coming season.

I'm guessing there won't be very many more signings, so tried an exercise to guess the Comets' general level of quality and their depth. This exercise isn't to see what the lines might be and didn't really depend on which marginal players were Canucks vs which were Comets-I just wanted a general idea.

Taking a look at players on the Canucks roster I arbitrarily chose 14 forwards, 8 defencemen plus Derek Dorsett for the Canucks' roster. I've assumed one player on injured reserve in Vancouver at the start of the season. Obviously there would be more later.

Which players are on the Canucks and which on the Comets isn't too important to get an idea how the Comets will look in general, nor is who plays on what lines. In fact, the lines for the Canucks are irrelevant to the question. As for players on the margin, I'm figuring some will be different from what I have below but the depth and general quality won't be much different moving one or more players up or down.

Canucks

Baertschi-Horvat-Boeser
Eriksson-Sutter-Pettersson
Roussel-Beagle-Granlund
Goldobin-Schaller-Virtanen
(Gagner, Gaudette) (Dorsett on LTIR)

Edler-Stecher
Hughes-Tanev
del Zotto-Gudbranson
(Pouliot-Biega)


That would leave, for Utica, something like what follows. Again, the lines are totally unimportant-I've made no effort to order the players nor to make lines with chemistry-the important thing was to determine the approximate quality of players and depth of the roster. In particular, it would be surprising if every rookie pro winger, no matter how highly regarded as a prospect, is immediately ready to be productive at the AHL level.

Boucher-Kero-MacEwen
Leipsic-Motte-Jasek
Archibald-Gaunce-Lind
Dahlen--Darcy-Palmu
(Bancks, Laplante, Carcone, Gadjovich, Arseneau, McMaster)

Hutton-Juolevi-Brisebois-Chatfield-Blujus-Sautner-McEneny-Sifers-Dirk

Of course all of this is subject to change. Probably there will be another signing or 2, there may be trades and players may be gained or lost on waivers, but some things are apparent as things look right so far:

1. As things stand, in order for the Comets to have even remotely decent centers at least one and probably more players who have been wingers the last year or longer will have to play center. There simply aren't enough players who have been playing center lately so unless a couple of players switch successfully the Comets will have a couple of donut lines. Otoh, there are probably more wingers than there are spots for the Comets to play them, so moving a couple of them to center also helps clear an overabundance of wingers.

2. There is a great shortage of right handed defencemen. Barring moves, there will have to be guys in Utica playing their offside.

3. There is enough depth to ice 6 AHL-calibre defencemen. Until the injury bug hits the Comets shouldn't need to be playing ECHL-level players in their top 6.

4. There are few players likely to be with the Comets who would have to make it through waivers-not too important for the Canucks but possibly very important for the Comets.

5. There's no real #1 playmaking center, guys will have to play positions (C, RD) that they haven't been used to and there's no steady #1 defenceman, but the roster looks like an improvement over what the Comets have had the last two years.

6. Barring trades or players being lost on waivers there are enough AHL-calibre players at LW and LD that some capable players could end up taking turns sitting, at least until injuries hit in full force.

 

[Lindgren]

I was curious, after seeing Benning & Co sign no playmaking center nor defenceman on the first day of this summer's free agency period, how good or bad the Comets' situation might be going into the start of the coming season.

I'm guessing there won't be very many more signings, so tried an exercise to guess the Comets' general level of quality and their depth. This exercise isn't to see what the lines might be and didn't really depend on which marginal players were Canucks vs which were Comets-I just wanted a general idea.

Taking a look at players on the Canucks roster I arbitrarily chose 14 forwards, 8 defencemen plus Derek Dorsett for the Canucks' roster. I've assumed one player on injured reserve in Vancouver at the start of the season. Obviously there would be more later.

Which players are on the Canucks and which on the Comets isn't too important to get an idea how the Comets will look in general, nor is who plays on what lines. In fact, the lines for the Canucks are irrelevant to the question. As for players on the margin, I'm figuring some will be different from what I have below but the depth and general quality won't be much different moving one or more players up or down.

Canucks

Baertschi-Horvat-Boeser
Eriksson-Sutter-Pettersson
Roussel-Beagle-Granlund
Goldobin-Schaller-Virtanen
(Gagner, Gaudette) (Dorsett on LTIR)

Edler-Stecher
Hughes-Tanev
del Zotto-Gudbranson
(Pouliot-Biega)


That would leave, for Utica, something like what follows. Again, the lines are totally unimportant-I've made no effort to order the players nor to make lines with chemistry-the important thing was to determine the approximate quality of players and depth of the roster. In particular, it would be surprising if every rookie pro winger, no matter how highly regarded as a prospect, is immediately ready to be productive at the AHL level.

Boucher-Kero-MacEwen
Leipsic-Motte-Jasek
Archibald-Gaunce-Lind
Dahlen--Darcy-Palmu
(Bancks, Laplante, Carcone, Gadjovich, Arseneau, McMaster)

Hutton-Juolevi-Brisebois-Chatfield-Blujus-Sautner-McEneny-Sifers-Dirk

Of course all of this is subject to change. Probably there will be another signing or 2, there may be trades and players may be gained or lost on waivers, but some things are apparent as things look right so far:

1. As things stand, in order for the Comets to have even remotely decent centers at least one and probably more players who have been wingers the last year or longer will have to play center. There simply aren't enough players who have been playing center lately so unless a couple of players switch successfully the Comets will have a couple of donut lines. Otoh, there are probably more wingers than there are spots for the Comets to play them, so moving a couple of them to center also helps clear an overabundance of wingers.

2. There is a great shortage of right handed defencemen. Barring moves, there will have to be guys in Utica playing their offside.

3. There is enough depth to ice 6 AHL-calibre defencemen. Until the injury bug hits the Comets shouldn't need to be playing ECHL-level players in their top 6.

4. There are few players likely to be with the Comets who would have to make it through waivers-not too important for the Canucks but possibly very important for the Comets.

5. There's no real #1 playmaking center, guys will have to play positions (C, RD) that they haven't been used to and there's no steady #1 defenceman, but the roster looks like an improvement over what the Comets have had the last two years.

6. Barring trades or players being lost on waivers there are enough AHL-calibre players at LW and LD that some capable players could end up taking turns sitting, at least until injuries hit in full force.

Interesting exercise.

I think the Canucks will be more likely to waive Biega than Hutton, and I also think they'd send Gaudette down rather than risk losing Gaunce (who could very well go through). If I'm right, Biega would help the Comets out on the right side. But I'm quibbling -- you were just trying to get a general idea.

Another minor prediction: one of the unsigned invitees to prospect camp will end up playing centre in Utica.

 

[Lethalsniper007]

Why has Vancouver give up on Subban ?

 

[Red]

Why has Vancouver give up on Subban ?

Because he's not a good player.

 

[go comets]

Well the Comets signed the direct polar opposite of a 1st line Center ... Inking 4th liner checking center Wacey Hamilton for another 2 seasons..... and unfortunately, he will probably be our best faceoff guy.....

 

[go comets]

The above post will probably be enough along with the 100 degree heat to send BG to intensive care.....

Breath deep and relax BG.... This heat and humidity is brutal.... Just like that signing.......

Johnson.... "Jim, you forgot to sign a top line playmaking center for the comets"

Benning " who we have down there last year and whom is available?"

Johnson " We traded Chaput, Hamilton and Cassels are available"

Benning" well i don't wanna leave the comets short at center, sign whoever answers the phone first"

My God.........

 

[tyhee]

Well the Comets signed the direct polar opposite of a 1st line Center ... Inking 4th liner checking center Wacey Hamilton for another 2 seasons..... and unfortunately, he will probably be our best faceoff guy.....

The above post will probably be enough along with the 100 degree heat to send BG to intensive care....."sign whoever answers the phone first" ...

There's no 100 degree heat in British Columbia right now but this is almost enough to make some of us feel it.

Trying to sign Chaput, who was signed by the Canadiens yesterday, as a free agent would have made sense even though he isn't the true playmaking center BG would like to see. Cassels isn't a playmaking center either but signing him to an AHL contract wouldn't have been nearly so mind-boggling.

Hamilton? TWO YEARS? A vet who doesn't rate to be in the Comets top 12 forwards and, when he gets into the lineup, has a history of leaving them killing bad penalties?

Am I missing something in thinking Hamilton doesn't deserve to be in the lineup except as an injury fillin next season, given that some of the prospects even if not ready to play will be given playing time for development purposes?

Amazing.

A quick look at management looking at their AHL franchise in a competent way, which contrasts with the Canucks' system, is at Red Wings Round Out Free Agency With Depth Signings For Griffins where it is written "The Red Wings ... topped off their busy July 1st with a slew of depth signings for the Grand Rapids Griffins." It will be noticed that the Canucks yesterday didn't sign any new players for the Comets, though they did extend one player already in the system (Archi) who rates to start the season in Utica given the one way contracts given out to new players yesterday.