2021/22 Utica Comets and ECHL Talk
- Thread starter Emperoreddy
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When he was picked up off waivers in 2017 he played the rest of that season in Vancouver playing 27 games.
In '17-18 he played 2o more with Vancouver and 45 with the Comets. He was on a Vancouver 1-way paying him $687K.
In '18-19 he was wearing an "A" in Utica on a 2-way paying him $300K on the AHL end. All he did was put up 62Pts in 56 games.
In 2019-20, his last as a Comet, he finished 2nd in scoring behind Sam Anas with 67Pts in 53GP. That's good for Sam who needed 63 games to get his league high 70 Pts. If Boucher had played 63 games he would have been the AHL's top scorer. Once again he was on a Vancouver 2-way, but was rewarded for his previous season by earning a $150K raise to $450 on the back end of the 2-way.
He was one of the Vancouver signed players assigned to the Comets for his veteran presence and as a mentor to help the Prospect forwards learn what it takes to excel at the pro game.
There were always a few of these guys on the Comets roster, but there were never many actual prospects. New Jersey has loaded up on draft picks in recent years, which teams doing a rebuild the right way usually do. I expect there to be quite a few NJ prospects in town next season. If the Devils want these guys to develop they had better sign a few of those vet types to guide them along. A shitload of rookies and more advanced ELC contracts playing without those types don't usually prosper. Given a couple 3 up front and couple more on D and those kids could combine to form a formidable outfit. It never hurts to get a vet goalie to mentor a rising young keeper either.
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Tao Jersey Jones
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The AHL post-season ends between Thursday and Saturday. The ECHL regular season ends June 5th and IIHF WC ends June 6th.
Colby Sissons has clinched with the Florida Everblades.
Brandon Gignac has a chance with the Jacksonville Icemen fighting with four teams for the last two playoff spots in the division.
David Quennneville and his P/G brother Peter with the Rapid City Rush have a tragic number of two points with five GR and Utah with six GR.
Last possible day of SCF is July 9th.
Prospects Development camps are usually anywhere from June-August. NJD is usually first week of July, but maybe June this year based on Holtz saying he will be in NJ then?
Who knows about prospect tournaments this summer? Buffalo?
Patrick Williams, Jason Iacona, and Tony Androckitis are good resources for AHL UFA lists with short player descriptions. Probably not until after the NHL SCF though.
And of course @Booba 's UFA list by team in the AHL forum:
2021-2022 AHL Contracts
Colby Sissons has clinched with the Florida Everblades.
Brandon Gignac has a chance with the Jacksonville Icemen fighting with four teams for the last two playoff spots in the division.
David Quennneville and his P/G brother Peter with the Rapid City Rush have a tragic number of two points with five GR and Utah with six GR.
Last possible day of SCF is July 9th.
Prospects Development camps are usually anywhere from June-August. NJD is usually first week of July, but maybe June this year based on Holtz saying he will be in NJ then?
Who knows about prospect tournaments this summer? Buffalo?
Patrick Williams, Jason Iacona, and Tony Androckitis are good resources for AHL UFA lists with short player descriptions. Probably not until after the NHL SCF though.
And of course @Booba 's UFA list by team in the AHL forum:
2021-2022 AHL Contracts
Tao Jersey Jones
Registered User
He regressed in yr 3 with Bridgeport after 2 good years to start. He fell off the map this season with Bingo.
Maybe not much to be sorry about. Opens a slot on NJs list of 50 that can be signed.
While I'm at it, what's the story on Gignac? Did he get hurt at some point?
Just looking at his career #s, he appears to have been depth his first season with Binghamton or was that an injury that led to only 21 games played?
Yr. 2 he had better than a .50 ppg scoring average.
Yr 3 not bad #s, but again only 36 GP.
This season it's all ECHL and he goes RFA. You seem to be high on him with your replays and high praise in his play of late with Jacksonville. There are and always have been very successful ECHL players who couldn't do crap in the AHL. However, he has had some success in the AHL. Stats don't explain the story with this guy.
In compiling my list of potential Comets, I have left him off to date. That list is coming. I have been awfully busy dealing with a new house, but I will get it posted as soon as a I can. It's not like the '21-22 season starts next week, LOL.
Tao Jersey Jones
Registered User
Gignac hyperextended his knee in more than one direction in his first year. He was injured again this year at Jacksonville.
I don't think any of the ECHL players will return. Sissons has already signed in Sweden for next season. I don't see room for Gignac or David Quenneville.
I post their highlights because they are still under contract with NJ.
St. Denis, Darcy, Irvine, and Koules probably won't return. Martel maybe.
Schmelzer and Thomson could return. Not sure about Street.
Brodeur? Mitens? Probably not both, if either.
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I’m guessing Schmelzer is a real possibility to come back since he’s a center with some size and grit that they seem to like. With Talvitie and Schnarr there’s some semblance of bottom center depth but centers are the biggest, most interesting question for me with Utica. I’m pretty down on Street, probably unfairly, mostly due to his age and I believe pretty strongly they should invest in a 1st line center upgrade to help develop the all the wingers. Maybe that’s actually Street and another UFA scoring center though, it depends on who will be in Utica as well.
The interesting questions come in with whether they want develop Mercer at center (maybe?) or Thompson at center (probably not?). Do they sign a third line center for the big club (probably?), which could push guys like Boqvist and/or Maltsev down for more AHL development at center too. If we somehow lose McLeod to Seattle, which is a possibility, then that will effect the overall center depth too.
Goalies. *shrug* We know Dawes is going to Utica. I feel like they need a real solid vet with him with the Comets for at least his first season, we’ll see what they do with everybody.
They’ll need to get some vet AHL tweener defensemen. I know people seemed freaked out that we didn’t have much other than Tennyson and Carrick but we typically did in the past, particularly since we didn’t have much going on in terms with actual defensive prospects. The 2019-20 team was helped a ton by Dakota Mermis and Julian Melchiori among others. I’m not really concerned there, the team has done a very good job getting those type of guys in the past and unless there are taxi squads I don’t see why that can’t easily do it again.
Tao Jersey Jones
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On the EP page for Senn he was listed as being with HC Davos of the Swiss National League for '21-22 several days ago. I guess this confirms what they had already listed.
From what I can see so far there are a lot of guys who were associated with NJ this past season that will be looking for work elsewhere.
Not any surprise. This is par for the course with every NHL team, it's farm, and the players eventually put together to form the franchise's 50 players every season. Then there are the few extras they scrape up from several possible sources to "help" out their farm. That "help" depends upon how serious the parent is to make that actually happen. For example, Tampa has been very serious about putting their highly regarded prospects in Syracuse with a strong on ice support corps. The Lightning have been well represented by players they developed in Syracuse and there are quite a few of them with other franchises as they have had to trim out money every season. They then replace those outgoing with the newly developed players and assign the draft picks they have picked up in the trades moving out those they decided to make expendable.
Jersey has recently made those kind of trades to pick up prospects and draft picks, but they have done so to get rid of players aging out beyond the dates they plan to be back in contention as well as those that just haven't lived up to expectations. That means they have a ton of youth and much of it is currently in the development stage.
These kind of growth patterns, restocking the cupboard or rebuilding the whole warehouse, has meant very good things for AHL franchises such as Syracuse, Charlotte, Texas, Hershey, Chicago, Grand Rapids and others throughout the past decade. When NHL teams are in a building stage, the farms get lots of fresh talent.
Teams that try to rebuild on the fly, like Vancouver has been doing, take the very top prospects and put them right onto their roster. They trade picks for players to put on the roster. They sign NHL experienced players or send down a couple of their own displaced by the new toys and stash both types on the farm for emergency call-up duty . This skips over the few prospects they do end up with and assign to the farm. A prospect who does well has a good chance of getting traded for a player who can play now because they don't have time to wait for their prospects to develop.
I can't speak for the methods used by New Jersey beyond the years they were here, 1987-88 thru 1992-93. They stashed quite a few guys who went on to play for the NJ Devils and other NHL teams in Utica. The AHL team was fun to watch, but they were never serious contenders until ironically just soon after New Jersey moved them elsewhere.
It looks like the team the Comets may put together will be filled with prospects. If the support players they acquire are actually talented, they could be pretty good. The level to which they rise will be dependent upon just how talented these kids are and how fast they grow into the pro game. NJ will have a lot to do with the development time for those kids as well. If they are too eager to get back into the fight any kid who excels will be elevated immediately. Many teams have and more will do this kind of thing. Others will leave their kids alone to develop together and learn how to play as a unit and grow their skills until a group can move up together and make an immediate impact instead of struggling at the NHL level for a season or 2. Detroit was famous for cooking and then simmering their prospects before bringing them up. Tampa has done this with some of their prospects as well and so has Carolina. The Rangers had a bunch of kids in Bridgeport this season and more will be coming. Others have done the same. Those that have done this seem to have less failures with the prospects they decide are going to be their future. Learning by the seat of your pants or being thrown into the water and told to swim or drown is not the best way to develop players.
I just hope Fitzgerald has the patience to do this the right way. Jersey was great once and it sure would be nice to see them on top once again. It would also be fantastic to to see the war between the Devils, Rangers, and Isles to escalate to the ways of old when all 3 were very good teams and the battles fought to win that division and the battle scarred winner that moved on in the playoffs was always a serious threat to win it all and they all did. Of course the Isles and the Devils did it several times while the Rangers only did it once in the last few decades. Not that my heart was broken over that.
Former Utica Comet and currently Lehigh Valley Phantom, Cal O'Reilly used the Binghamton Devils to surpass the AHL 500 assists pinnacle on April 26th.
He has amassed that total while playing for Utica and 6 other AHL teams. The former Utica captain and leading scorer now has 503 assists to go along with 130 goals for 633 points.
Cal exemplifies the kind of players NJ needs to bring in to help the multiple NJ prospects prosper and grow. Sam Anas, who was a Comet this past season, was sent here with the St. Louis Blues prospects and he's another example. Both were too small and/or not fleet enough of foot for the NHL. All Sam did was lead the Comets in scoring with 23 Pts buoyed up by his 19 assists, which incidentally tied O'Reilly's number in Lehigh Valley. Anas was paid $300k by the Blues and O'Reilly was on an AHL contract.
Interesting. Looking at Lehigh Valley's roster they had 11 forwards and have added 3 more already for the coming season. 5 of those 11 are now RFAs. They also 5 D-men on ELCs who will still be on those contracts this season. That was 16 players on entry level contracts. They did pretty well posting an 18-7-4-2 record in the North Division 2nd only to Hershey. H-m-m-m-m, Hershey iced 10 ELC Forwards and 5 D-men. Vancouver assigned 5 forwards and 3 D-men to Utica on ELCs.
He has amassed that total while playing for Utica and 6 other AHL teams. The former Utica captain and leading scorer now has 503 assists to go along with 130 goals for 633 points.
Cal exemplifies the kind of players NJ needs to bring in to help the multiple NJ prospects prosper and grow. Sam Anas, who was a Comet this past season, was sent here with the St. Louis Blues prospects and he's another example. Both were too small and/or not fleet enough of foot for the NHL. All Sam did was lead the Comets in scoring with 23 Pts buoyed up by his 19 assists, which incidentally tied O'Reilly's number in Lehigh Valley. Anas was paid $300k by the Blues and O'Reilly was on an AHL contract.
Interesting. Looking at Lehigh Valley's roster they had 11 forwards and have added 3 more already for the coming season. 5 of those 11 are now RFAs. They also 5 D-men on ELCs who will still be on those contracts this season. That was 16 players on entry level contracts. They did pretty well posting an 18-7-4-2 record in the North Division 2nd only to Hershey. H-m-m-m-m, Hershey iced 10 ELC Forwards and 5 D-men. Vancouver assigned 5 forwards and 3 D-men to Utica on ELCs.
Tao Jersey Jones
Registered User
Sam Anas is under contract with St. Louis for 2021-22.
Cal O'Reilly will be 35. I'd just bring back Street. LW Ryan Fitzgerald is who I'd look to sign from LV if Seney doesn't return.
The Devils Insiders guys went through the RFAs and UFAs - particularly the AHL and ECHL guys - and the likelihood of them being re-signed.
In the case of Street, it would seem more likely he signed an AHL deal (particularly with the younger players on the way and a more "normal" AHL season).
Or is there interest from other teams in terms of an NHL contract?
Tao Jersey Jones
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I guess it depends on the market for a vet p/g 1C 'C'.
Maybe Schmelzer gets the 'C'? Maybe they run with three 'A's?
Street might find a better deal overseas than a max AHL contract?
Maybe he retires?
I am aware of the status of Anas. I was simply stating that O'Reilly and Anas are the type of players that young forwards prosper under. There are a bunch of those guys available every season. Carter Camper in Utica last season was an AHL lifer who put up 41Pts in 41GP. 32 of those points were assists and 2 prospects in particular profited from his skills used to get them the puck, Kole Lind and Justin Bailey.Bailey had the teams 3rd highest point totals and Lind the 6th. The season before that it was Tanner Kero who put up 57Pts in 67GP with 33 assists. Kero was only 26 and Camper was 30. Street has put up the AHL numbers, but he is growing long in the tooth at 34.
Camper and Street types both on AHL contracts would be super. However, they would take up 2 of the vet spots based upon the AHL rules. That's not a big deal unless the Devils wanted to assign vet status players to Utica. They don't have a large group of those types anyway so this wouldn't be a problem. It should be noted that O'Reilly was also an AHL contract last season as well. These guys are out there and are highly beneficial to the prospects.
It's also a good idea to have a couple of these types on hand for the back end. Solid positional defenders are a godsend to young defenders breaking into the pro game. They become on ice game day coaches teaching at every opportunity both by their own play as well as verbally on the ice and even more on the bench between shifts. Ex-NHL/Stanley Cup winning defenseman Kent Huskins came into the Comets D-corps midway in 2013-14 and by 2014-2015 was highly instrumental in the excellent defensive play of the Comets on their run through the 2015 Calder Cup finals. This kind of player is invaluable to young upstarts.
A good veteran goalie is also a necessity for the development of a rookie keeper. It appears as though rookie Nico Daws will be assigned here. Sharing the load with a solid vet can only help him learn the most important part of the pro game and that is psychological part of the position. That is often more important the physical part of the game. Learning to stay relaxed and let the game come to him will be the biggest hump to cross in his first few seasons. A guy who has "been there, done that" is imperative to a kid who has never played even 1 NA pro game. 10 GP in the DEL is night and day from what he will face in the AHL.
Nothing wrong with a good winger or 2 as well. Especially if you get non vet types. Boston gave up on Fitzgerald after 3 seasons of around .50 PPG. He was a bit better last season with Lehigh Valley posting a .75 PPG in a watered down AHL. He would meet my desire of the non-vet acquisition.
It all depends upon what prospects NJ wants to see in every game day lineup. If it's expected that some can be used as depth players and outsiders can be more beneficial to their top prospects, the number of non NJ acquisitions can be increased.
Well one thing is for sure, you know NJ is going to want to see Seney in the lineup. He’s the most successful NJ draft pick since 2012.
Let's look at the keepers first. New Jersey currently has 7 goalies under contract or expiring contracts that would require them to be re-signed.
Mackenzie Blackwood is signed and is apparently the guy they are counting on to become the keeper of their future. He has 2 years left on a 3-yr contract. That contract was awarded to him after a very good 2019-20 season. He was injured and struggled to regain his form this season. It's expected/hoped he will be back on top of his game this coming season.
The major issue in NJ with goaltending is a solid backup. They don't have that guy in the system. Fact is they don't have a lot of really exciting promise below Blackwood.
So, first on the to do list is sign that solid NHL experienced proven keeper to play with Mackenzie.
Next up is who is designated as the first choice to play between the pipes on the farm.
2 guys are UFAs and about to begin their 10th seasons as pro keepers.
- Scott Wedgewood was a NJ draft selection in 2010 and through 5 seasons never made a serious impression only playing in 2o NHL games. In year 6 he was traded to Arizona where he played 20 unimpressive games and was traded to LA and assigned to AHL Ontario. He bounced around for 2 more seasons as a UFA and played a season each in AHL Rochester and Syracuse. Last season, as once again a UFA, he signed another contract with the Devils. Played 16 games and was not bad, but not so good as his starts were inconsistent.
His only hope is probably to be signed as the mentor to whomever the Devils select to be their first choice in Utica.
- Aaron Dell was never drafted and eventually in his 4th pro season manged a contract with the San Jose Sharks. He stayed with the Sharks for 6 seasons through the 2019-20 season. He signed on with Toronto in 2020 as a free agent and ended up on their Taxi squad, but when they placed him on waivers to send him to the AHL, New Jersey claimed him. He played 7 games with NJ and was pretty bad and equally bad in his 1 start in Binghamton.
He's UFA once again and I'm going to consider NJ uninterested in re-signing him.
Chalk off #1.
There are 2 more keepers who now have RFA status.
Gilles Senn was a 2017 NJ 5th round selection. He played 2 seasons in the NJ organization playing 2 games for NJ and 44 for AHL Binghamton. He had a decent season in 2019-2020, but his numbers in 2020-2021 were not good.
He has opted to sign with HC Davos of the Swiss National League for 2021-2022. That makes the decision on him real simple. He's gone.
Chalk off #2
Evan Cormier, a 2016 NJ 4th round selection, finished his ELC this year and was not very good in 11 games with Binghamton. The previous year he split time between ECHL Adirondack and AHL Binghamton and failed to impress at either level.
I'd guess the Devils will not offer him a QO.
Chalk off #3.
Nico Daws and Akira Schmid have ELC contracts, but have yet to play NA pro game. Methinks that Jersey will give these guys a try.
Daws is a 2020 NJ 3rd round selection. I believe he has dual Canadian/German citizenship. He played 3 seasons with the OHL Guelph Storm where he put up very good numbers in the 3rd season; 38GP/2.48GAA/.924 SV%/23-8-6. He opted to play the 2020-2021 season in the DEL, the German top pro league. He played 10 games and posted a 2.90 GAA and .898 SV%. He will be 20 when the 2021-22 season begins.
Schmid will be a 21 year-old Swiss native, who has spent the last 3 seasons playing in the USHL.
He posted impressive #s in 2018-19. His numbers fell off in 2019-20. Then in 2020-21 they blossomed once again: 36GP/2.01 GAA/.921 SV%/22-13-1.
These 2 guys at the moment are the future and will be the minor league assets this coming season. They will both get lots of looks during preseason and one of them becomes a Comet and the other most likely ends up in ECHL Adirondack. With Glens Falls only 2 hours east of Utica via the NYS Thruway, it's not like these 2 might not move back and forth based upon their play and even both get practice time with the Comets. It could also give them both games in Utica, thus giving both of them games in the AHL early in their pro careers.
What I read right now is that Daws will be the AHL keeper, but at this stage in their careers nothing is set in concrete. How they play will determine who plays where and no one owns anything. A serious task for NJ will be to find a real solid mentor for these 2. There is no way they should be 1 - 2 in the AHL. So, whoever is in charge of looking for for the Devils has to find a solid backup at both the NHL and AHL levels and I don't think the ones they need are currently in the system. The Comets backup has to also have the ability to play in the NHL because he will be the Devils #3 keeper. One of these rookie kids can't be relied upon to fill that need.
So, in essence the Devs have to acquire 2 NHL capable keepers to back up at both levels. One needs to recognize he has a dual function. His first is to mentor 1 and likely 2 rookies, while playing games at the AHL level to stay sharp in order to be ready if he gets called to New Jersey.
I am eager to see how close I come to having figured out what NJ will do to outfit both teams in goal.
Mackenzie Blackwood is signed and is apparently the guy they are counting on to become the keeper of their future. He has 2 years left on a 3-yr contract. That contract was awarded to him after a very good 2019-20 season. He was injured and struggled to regain his form this season. It's expected/hoped he will be back on top of his game this coming season.
The major issue in NJ with goaltending is a solid backup. They don't have that guy in the system. Fact is they don't have a lot of really exciting promise below Blackwood.
So, first on the to do list is sign that solid NHL experienced proven keeper to play with Mackenzie.
Next up is who is designated as the first choice to play between the pipes on the farm.
2 guys are UFAs and about to begin their 10th seasons as pro keepers.
- Scott Wedgewood was a NJ draft selection in 2010 and through 5 seasons never made a serious impression only playing in 2o NHL games. In year 6 he was traded to Arizona where he played 20 unimpressive games and was traded to LA and assigned to AHL Ontario. He bounced around for 2 more seasons as a UFA and played a season each in AHL Rochester and Syracuse. Last season, as once again a UFA, he signed another contract with the Devils. Played 16 games and was not bad, but not so good as his starts were inconsistent.
His only hope is probably to be signed as the mentor to whomever the Devils select to be their first choice in Utica.
- Aaron Dell was never drafted and eventually in his 4th pro season manged a contract with the San Jose Sharks. He stayed with the Sharks for 6 seasons through the 2019-20 season. He signed on with Toronto in 2020 as a free agent and ended up on their Taxi squad, but when they placed him on waivers to send him to the AHL, New Jersey claimed him. He played 7 games with NJ and was pretty bad and equally bad in his 1 start in Binghamton.
He's UFA once again and I'm going to consider NJ uninterested in re-signing him.
Chalk off #1.
There are 2 more keepers who now have RFA status.
Gilles Senn was a 2017 NJ 5th round selection. He played 2 seasons in the NJ organization playing 2 games for NJ and 44 for AHL Binghamton. He had a decent season in 2019-2020, but his numbers in 2020-2021 were not good.
He has opted to sign with HC Davos of the Swiss National League for 2021-2022. That makes the decision on him real simple. He's gone.
Chalk off #2
Evan Cormier, a 2016 NJ 4th round selection, finished his ELC this year and was not very good in 11 games with Binghamton. The previous year he split time between ECHL Adirondack and AHL Binghamton and failed to impress at either level.
I'd guess the Devils will not offer him a QO.
Chalk off #3.
Nico Daws and Akira Schmid have ELC contracts, but have yet to play NA pro game. Methinks that Jersey will give these guys a try.
Daws is a 2020 NJ 3rd round selection. I believe he has dual Canadian/German citizenship. He played 3 seasons with the OHL Guelph Storm where he put up very good numbers in the 3rd season; 38GP/2.48GAA/.924 SV%/23-8-6. He opted to play the 2020-2021 season in the DEL, the German top pro league. He played 10 games and posted a 2.90 GAA and .898 SV%. He will be 20 when the 2021-22 season begins.
Schmid will be a 21 year-old Swiss native, who has spent the last 3 seasons playing in the USHL.
He posted impressive #s in 2018-19. His numbers fell off in 2019-20. Then in 2020-21 they blossomed once again: 36GP/2.01 GAA/.921 SV%/22-13-1.
These 2 guys at the moment are the future and will be the minor league assets this coming season. They will both get lots of looks during preseason and one of them becomes a Comet and the other most likely ends up in ECHL Adirondack. With Glens Falls only 2 hours east of Utica via the NYS Thruway, it's not like these 2 might not move back and forth based upon their play and even both get practice time with the Comets. It could also give them both games in Utica, thus giving both of them games in the AHL early in their pro careers.
What I read right now is that Daws will be the AHL keeper, but at this stage in their careers nothing is set in concrete. How they play will determine who plays where and no one owns anything. A serious task for NJ will be to find a real solid mentor for these 2. There is no way they should be 1 - 2 in the AHL. So, whoever is in charge of looking for for the Devils has to find a solid backup at both the NHL and AHL levels and I don't think the ones they need are currently in the system. The Comets backup has to also have the ability to play in the NHL because he will be the Devils #3 keeper. One of these rookie kids can't be relied upon to fill that need.
So, in essence the Devs have to acquire 2 NHL capable keepers to back up at both levels. One needs to recognize he has a dual function. His first is to mentor 1 and likely 2 rookies, while playing games at the AHL level to stay sharp in order to be ready if he gets called to New Jersey.
I am eager to see how close I come to having figured out what NJ will do to outfit both teams in goal.
It makes sense the Devils would want Seney in the lineup, but he is still a prospect. The guys @Tao Jones and I are talking about are the experienced guys that need to be acquired by Jersey to complement and mentor the prospects.
What may throw a wrench into this, as you probably know, is that the Devils are required to expose a pro experienced goalie (AHL or NHL) for the expansion draft. That means we either need to re-sign Wedgewood or another experienced goaltender before the draft, or we need to re-sign Cormier.
I was initially under the impression that merely having such a goalie as an unsigned RFA would qualify, but it someone has brought up a clause that says that the goalie needs to be signed.
Seney is 25 years old and has 3 years of pro experience - he is not a prospect. He is at the stage of his professional career - had a long stint in the NHL, didn't stick, passed over on the depth chart by younger players - where the next move is usually go to another organization, but he will expected to be 'veteran' help if he stays in North America, even if he doesn't fall under that defintion by AHL/NHL games played.
I did say Wedgewood just might be the Devils backup choice for Utica. If they sign and expose him, I highly doubt he gets selected. I would prefer a historically more successful keeper for the backup role in Utica, but it wouldn't be a disaster.
The Comets also carried 3 goalies at one time with Bachman being the mentor while the other 2 played more games and when injured Bachie became more like a coach than player mentor. There are ways to deal with what you are dealt when a season starts.
It depends upon your defintion. ELC contracts don't determine how long a guy is considered a prospect. There is the theory used by many that D-men take longer to develop and are therefore prospects much longer than the ELC. Teams with loaded rosters cook prospects longer and often have them for 4 or 5 years before you see them move into the NHL.
Seney only had a 2-yr ELC after coming in after 4 yrs in college so last year would have been equivalent to a his final ELC for the younger prospect. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt as to prospect status for this season still even if he has UFA G6 status.
Our differences of opinion as to when a guy stops being called a prospect aside, I think Jersey wants to bring him back , but it will be up to Brett. I never care about these guys unless they have shown themselves to be a major contributor to the AHL team. That would have been true of Seney in his 1st 2 seasons, but this year his #s fell off. Have to believe it might have been a psychological blow not to have been given another shot with the Devils and he was recovering from the disappointment/shock and would have patched himself back together and re focused his efforts to prove the Devils needed to give him another shot. There were arguably a few Devils that did not put up impressive numbers and big year in a full AHL season might have given him new stock in the upcoming preseason camp.
It's a law of the land in minor hockey, players come and go. Rosters are overhauled annually and sometimes there is little resemblance from one season to the next. Roster building goes on every year and Seney on that roster or not isn't the telling tale of that team's future success. I think he could be an asset, but I'm not the GM.
Yep, I was just pointing out that if we re-signed him, it would have to be before the expansion draft, which kind of complicates things if we intend to go UFA goalie shopping in the off-season... especially if Wedgewood decides to test his market value on the open market. I just don't see a way out of getting stuck with a goalie we don't really want. Then again, maybe they really want him.
BTW, I'm impressed by and appreciate the effort you're putting into getting to know this organization. I'm looking forward to your insights in the future.
Tao Jersey Jones
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