2019-20 Minor League Thread - Rampage/Oilers

[Coach Nate]

CF has Blais signed for 1 yr at $850k. No other details.

It's one way. He's got himself a spot on the Blues roster AFAIC.

 

[Coach Nate]

I tweeted this earlier, but the common theme with these signings is "winning".

Nastasiuk won the Calder Cup with Charlotte
Piccinich won the Kelly Cup with Newfoundland
Vecchione was on a very good Lehigh Valley team edit: they weren't "very good"...disregard
Polei was on a powerhouse Bakersfield team

These guys won't blow you away with stats, but they have been ingrained in winning culture. Hopefully, they can bring that culture to San Antonio.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Fun fact: Nastusiak’s junior team was the Owen Sound Attack out of the OHL. His assistant coaches there were none other than Drew Bannister and the kingmaker Daniel Tkazcuk. So, a trusted player coming to help guide the team and show them how they want to play.

Big, big fan of all of these signings in their own way.

 

[Blueston]

Fun fact: Nastusiak’s junior team was the Owen Sound Attack out of the OHL. His assistant coaches there were none other than Drew Bannister and the kingmaker Daniel Tkazcuk. So, a trusted player coming to help guide the team and show them how they want to play.

Big, big fan of all of these signings in their own way.

He was also a teammate of Binnington's in Owen Sound.

 

[Blueston]

Blues inked Dotchin to 2-way deal too. Nice to see we signed defenseman who is fatter than I am!

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

I think the Dotchin thing was a wake up call for him last year. Barbashev had a bad summer recently as well and turned it around.

Mikkola-Reinke
Pouliot-Dotchin
Walman-Schmaltz

That’s potentially a really good D-core for San Antonio this year.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

He was also a teammate of Binnington's in Owen Sound.

So was Dotchin

 

[execwrite1]

San Antonio will now be constructed with a core group of 4A pros and only solid prospects to learn from them. The marginal prospects (Musil et al) are being eliminated.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

San Antonio will now be constructed with a core group of 4A pros and only solid prospects to learn from them. The marginal prospects (Musil et al) are being eliminated.

It’s truly the best way to run your AHL team.

 

[Oberyn]

Hope to see a more competitive Rampage team next season, a lot of solid signings.

 

[Alklha]

Crazy how much money we spent in the AHL last season and got so little out of it. The six signings we made yesterday will make less than Jeřábek and Thorburn in the AHL. Then there is another load of salary cleared with Soshnikov, Butler & Wotherspoon.

Wouldn't be surprised if we added another AHL/NHL tweener player.

 

[Alklha]

We've signed Cam Darcy, Zach Nastasiuk and J.J. Piccinich to AHL contracts.

Pinninich could be a good add for San Antonio.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Hopefully with the improved Rampage, Husso can get back on track and work his way to replacing Allen as the backup.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Hopefully with the improved Rampage, Husso can get back on track and work his way to replacing Allen as the backup.

When he’s on, he can carry a poor team. He was injured most of last year, that’s why he didn’t do great. The bad team in front of him didn’t help, but if he had been healthy he probably would have been fine.

 

[Coach Nate]

NHL Free Agency: Blues Add (Winning) Depth

 

[Shwabeal]

Solid write-up Nate! Definitely a shift in roster construction that hopefully brings some success to San Antonio. One minor thing, Pouliot was an 8th overall pick in 2012, not an 8th rounder.

 

[Coach Nate]

Solid write-up Nate! Definitely a shift in roster construction that hopefully brings some success to San Antonio. One minor thing, Pouliot was an 8th overall pick in 2012, not an 8th rounder.

Thanks. I fixed it. Had 8th overall on the brain, but fingers didnt agree.

 

[simon IC]

NHL Free Agency: Blues Add (Winning) Depth

Thanks so much, Nate! An excellent write up! I am happy to see the organization move forward with a new philosophy.

 

[Ranksu]

Schmaltz in 3rd pair. I really liked how he played last season in Blues. I really believe what I've seen about him that he has potential to be PMD in NHL level and could be at least 2nd powerplay unite player at blueline.

I wouldn't cross his name yet away.

 

[execwrite1]

Organization goalie depth - what are the options?

a) Husso and vet in San Antonio, Fitzpatrick in Tulsa, Hofer loaned out ECHL
b) Husso and Fitzpatrick in San Antonio, Hofer in Tulsa

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Organization goalie depth - what are the options?

a) Husso and vet in San Antonio, Fitzpatrick in Tulsa, Hofer loaned out ECHL
b) Husso and Fitzpatrick in San Antonio, Hofer in Tulsa

Hofer will be going back to Portland, there’s no reason to graduate him yet. Husso and Fitzy will maybe be the tandem in San Antonio (and I think Fitz is ready for that duty), but in all likelihood we’ll sign somebody else for that role and send Fitz back to Tulsa to carry most of the workload there. Coreau could be back.

 

[Beauterham]

Organization goalie depth - what are the options?

a) Husso and vet in San Antonio, Fitzpatrick in Tulsa, Hofer loaned out ECHL
b) Husso and Fitzpatrick in San Antonio, Hofer in Tulsa

Isn't Hofer going back to the Winterhawks?

I do agree we need another AHL/ECHL goalie though (on a AHL-contract?). Maybe a guy like Stephen Dhillon who's currently a free agent and who has been a trainingcamp invite in the past. Also wouldn't mind an extra D. for the Rampage. Chase Priskie is still a FA, would love it if we could sign him on a ELC.

 

[Blueston]

Organization goalie depth - what are the options?

a) Husso and vet in San Antonio, Fitzpatrick in Tulsa, Hofer loaned out ECHL
b) Husso and Fitzpatrick in San Antonio, Hofer in Tulsa

Hofer will be in juniors still. He is too young to play in AHL/ECHL.

 

[Blueston]

Hofer will be going back to Portland, there’s no reason to graduate him yet. Husso and Fitzy will maybe be the tandem in San Antonio (and I think Fitz is ready for that duty), but in all likelihood we’ll sign somebody else for that role and send Fitz back to Tulsa to carry most of the workload there. Coreau could be back.

What about Williams? He was much better at Tulsa than Fitz was.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

What about Williams? He was much better at Tulsa than Fitz was.

It’s extremely hard to say that Williams was “much better” based on stats alone. Don’t forget that Fitz was our backup at the NHL level for like a week earlier this year. Obviously you’d like to see better stats out of him, but it was his first pro year and he was doing the ole’ Peoria Shuffle between St Louis, San Antonio, and Tulsa for a large portion of the year. He’s still learning how to be an adult, and while some guys have the preternatural ability to just glide through that, it takes some guys a bit longer to get used to living out of hotels, worrying about AHL vs ECHL salaries and accommodations, etc etc. Williams had the benefit of being through all of that already, and staying in one place for a vast majority of the season.

“Better” is just kind of subjective when it comes to goalies down the depth chart. I don’t think Fitzpatrick is the heir apparent by any means yet, but if you’ve got a spot to fill, and you want to do so internally, you put him there instead of Williams easily.

That said, if we’re looking for outside help, the following guys would be decent targets:
Fucale, McDonald, Appleby, McAdam, Halverson, or Wilcox.