Prospect Info: Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL)/Maine Mariners (ECHL) Thread *Part X*

[GeorgeKaplan]

Who was that European(?) coach NYR were interested in during their coach search? The name Rikard Gronborg looks familiar. Maybe they take another look at him for the AHL gig, maybe with the hope that he could take over for Quinn eventually.

I think they talked to Gronberg about something that wasn’t the NHL head coach position, but they did talk to him and Filip Pesan

 

[GlasgowNewYorkRanger]

Pack season is so bad, we got grown men exchanging waffle recipes on the AHL Hartford page on HFboards hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I thought I'd missed something afoot in Hartford when I saw the thread had been bumped on a few pages. I was caught off guard by the waffles.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Who was that European(?) coach NYR were interested in during their coach search? The name Rikard Gronborg looks familiar. Maybe they take another look at him for the AHL gig, maybe with the hope that he could take over for Quinn eventually.

Pesan was another that was linked to us

 

[nyr2k2]

If anyone cares, these were the lines in the last game against WBS, as well as the scratches/injuries:

SCRATCHES:
Chris Bigras – (right ankle, at least a month)
Rob O’Gara – (lower body, week-to-week)
Ville Meskanen – (lower body, a week)
Ty Ronning – (lower body, day-to-day)
Derek Pratt – (healthy)
Brandon Crawley – (healthy)

LINES:
Fogarty-Gettinger-Gropp
Andersson-Lettieri-Fontaine
Holland-Beleskey-Butler
O’Donnell-Melanson-St. Amant

Gilmour-Lindgren
Tolkinen-Hajak
Day-Finn

This per Gerry Cantlon. CANTLON: PENGUINS END PACK LATE RALLY AND WIN IN OT 5-4

Not that Andersson has been anything special lately, it gets even bore barren down there. They replace Andersson with Zac Lynch, who is almost 27 and has played 36 AHL games. Going to be a fun finish to the season down there...

 

[GeorgeKaplan]

Crowley getting healthy scratched for what’s there, not so good for him

 

[nyr2k2]

Crowley getting healthy scratched for what’s there, not so good for him

Yeah I wasn't sure lately, because he had been injured, but he was definitely a healthy scratch earlier in the year. I thought he'd spend time in the ECHL this year so he's actually exceeded my expectations.

 

[cwede]

Crowley getting healthy scratched for what’s there, not so good for him

not sure he is actually fully healthy,
there was a post somewhere last week that he was hurt,

he hasn't played since 1/19,
see game log at his AHL page
TheAHL.com BRANDON CRAWLEY

 

[Joey Bones]

FWIW, I'll be going to the Hartford/Springfield game in Springfield March 3. I'll be sure to report what I see!!

 

[duhmetreE]

FWIW, I'll be going to the Hartford/Springfield game in Springfield March 3. I'll be sure to report what I see!!

Watch Hajak like a hawk, please.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Portland adds 2 more Forwards:

veteran F Ryan Siiro joins the organization off waivers from the Frankes owned Fort Wayne Komets; Siiro HAS ALSO SPENT TIME IN Peoria (SPHL) AS well as Orlando and Colorado in their final season in the ECHL;

FORMER QMJHL Standout Charles -Eric Legare becomes the 1st former collegiate/junior player to sign an ATO; Legare spent his Q Career in Rimouski, Cape Breton, Sherbrooke, and Victoriaville, before landing at Concordia University the last 2 seasons;

the Mariners continue their inaugural season tonight in Adirondack, before hosting Manchester and Worcester the balance of the weekend

MarinersOfMaine.com - Official Website of the Maine Mariners of the ECHL

 

[Mikos87]

I'm in the boat of firing the coach, bringing in a FULL STAFF in HFD... you can't tell me the Rangers can't afford that. Major league oversight by whoever is running HFD.

Follow the Syracuse model, get 4A insulation at every position who are in the 24-29 range, some character veterans who can take care of the guys in the locker room and off the ice.

I'd look at Juniors to see if there is a bright coach there that wants to make the pro ranks.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I'm in the boat of firing the coach, bringing in a FULL STAFF in HFD... you can't tell me the Rangers can't afford that. Major league oversight by whoever is running HFD.

Follow the Syracuse model, get 4A insulation at every position who are in the 24-29 range, some character veterans who can take care of the guys in the locker room and off the ice.

I'd look at Juniors to see if there is a bright coach there that wants to make the pro ranks.

THE CONTRACT WITH THE ARENA is also in play after 2019-2020, folks, as well since MSG doesn't own XL ...

 

[Mikos87]

THE CONTRACT WITH THE ARENA is also in play after 2019-2020, folks, as well since MSG doesn't own XL ...

I'd love for them to come to Bridgeport, or work a deal to be in Nassau. It's not like XL is a great arena, but it would be better to have them closer to the big club to maximize the resources for both teams. Bridgeport would be ideal with where the Rangers practice facility is.

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I'd love for them to come to Bridgeport, or work a deal to be in Nassau. It's not like XL is a great arena, but it would be better to have them closer to the big club to maximize the resources for both teams. Bridgeport would be ideal with where the Rangers practice facility is.

Bridgeport is owned by the Islanders and I'm not sure you knew this, but Webster Bank Arena will now be operated by Oak View Group, the same group that's redoing Seattle Center.... the Islanders bought Bridgeport upon the passing of Roy Boe, who had also run Worcester, before the League bylaw that states you cannot have interests in multiple teams in the same league, that's also why Kansas City and Orlando were never admitted back in 2001, and why Grand Rapids was approved.

 

[nyr2k2]

I'm in the boat of firing the coach, bringing in a FULL STAFF in HFD... you can't tell me the Rangers can't afford that. Major league oversight by whoever is running HFD.

Follow the Syracuse model, get 4A insulation at every position who are in the 24-29 range, some character veterans who can take care of the guys in the locker room and off the ice.

I'd look at Juniors to see if there is a bright coach there that wants to make the pro ranks.

I'm generally in agreement about the 4A guys, but I still don't think it was the primary reason this season sucked. Cole Schneider, Peter Holland, and Bobby Butler were all good 4A guys. Beleskey is at least a solid middle-six 4A guy. Shawn O'Donnell isn't a "good" player but he is a very good 4th line player who provides leadership and grit. Butler and Schneider were supposed to help be leaders as well. You could have added one more guy, I guess, but they had quite a few prospects they wanted to get in that lineup:

Lettieri, Meskanen, Gettinger, Fontaine, Andersson eventually, Lindqvist to start, Gropp, Ronning

And then of course you had Fogarty and Nieves who needed to play, both of whom are good AHL players if nothing else. So up front, they were kind of stuck. They would have had to make an early assessment that someone like Ronning or even Gropp (who has actually shown some development) would need to play primarily in the ECHL. Otherwise they'd have too many forwards.

The defense was similar--Hajek, Bigras and Lindgren really needed to play; Gilmour is a great 4A point-producer even if his defense sucks; O'Gara is 25 and was being leaned on to really solidify that group; and then you had projects like Day and Crawley that the team still seems to like. I could see adding one guy here, but there's really not much room for more.

Tokarski and Mazanec in goal should have been fine. Not great, not the team's primary strength, but certainly good enough to push for a playoff spot.

Unfortunately, Butler sucked. Beleskey has been up and down. Lindqvist left, and Andersson pouted after being sent back down. Gettinger was doing very well until his dreaded "upper body injury," and it's taken him until recently to really get back to form. Gropp seemed to regress offensively and Ronning isn't ready to play in the AHL. Hajek has had a tough adjustment, Bigras stagnated, O'Gara hasn't been as good as he should be, Day has done little until the past few weeks, and Crawley is meh. The goalies have underwhelmed, including Georgiev when he's down here.

It's why I'm more critical of the coaching than the roster construction. I think the roster was sufficient to win. Maybe they could have swung a trade for another 4A guy when they saw things were getting bad (instead we traded Schneider...). Otherwise, it just feels like another situation where McCambridge is like Company Man Ken in that he doesn't get anything more out of his players, just the bare minimum. No one exceeds expectations. Everyone hits them or falls short. A good coach can get his guys to play a little above their heads. I don't think McCambridge can do it.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

I will say this: For anyone who thinks we can just trade all our veterans and ice a team of 22-year olds and win games, I ask this: Take a close look at Hartford and you will see why that strategy doesn't work.

This is why trading Zibanejad and Kreider would be ridiculous (unless, of course, the return is too good to turn down)

 

[pblawr]

I'm generally in agreement about the 4A guys, but I still don't think it was the primary reason this season sucked. Cole Schneider, Peter Holland, and Bobby Butler were all good 4A guys. Beleskey is at least a solid middle-six 4A guy. Shawn O'Donnell isn't a "good" player but he is a very good 4th line player who provides leadership and grit. Butler and Schneider were supposed to help be leaders as well. You could have added one more guy, I guess, but they had quite a few prospects they wanted to get in that lineup:

Lettieri, Meskanen, Gettinger, Fontaine, Andersson eventually, Lindqvist to start, Gropp, Ronning

And then of course you had Fogarty and Nieves who needed to play, both of whom are good AHL players if nothing else. So up front, they were kind of stuck. They would have had to make an early assessment that someone like Ronning or even Gropp (who has actually shown some development) would need to play primarily in the ECHL. Otherwise they'd have too many forwards.

The defense was similar--Hajek, Bigras and Lindgren really needed to play; Gilmour is a great 4A point-producer even if his defense sucks; O'Gara is 25 and was being leaned on to really solidify that group; and then you had projects like Day and Crawley that the team still seems to like. I could see adding one guy here, but there's really not much room for more.

Tokarski and Mazanec in goal should have been fine. Not great, not the team's primary strength, but certainly good enough to push for a playoff spot.

Unfortunately, Butler sucked. Beleskey has been up and down. Lindqvist left, and Andersson pouted after being sent back down. Gettinger was doing very well until his dreaded "upper body injury," and it's taken him until recently to really get back to form. Gropp seemed to regress offensively and Ronning isn't ready to play in the AHL. Hajek has had a tough adjustment, Bigras stagnated, O'Gara hasn't been as good as he should be, Day has done little until the past few weeks, and Crawley is meh. The goalies have underwhelmed, including Georgiev when he's down here.

It's why I'm more critical of the coaching than the roster construction. I think the roster was sufficient to win. Maybe they could have swung a trade for another 4A guy when they saw things were getting bad (instead we traded Schneider...). Otherwise, it just feels like another situation where McCambridge is like Company Man Ken in that he doesn't get anything more out of his players, just the bare minimum. No one exceeds expectations. Everyone hits them or falls short. A good coach can get his guys to play a little above their heads. I don't think McCambridge can do it.

I've wondered if the Schneider / Holland trades weren't a sign that management blames them as leaders for the team's struggles this year. Stuff like this has been pretty typical from Holland recently, despite the good point production:



The funny thing with McCambridge is that, as bad as Hartford has looked under him, he's a proven AHL coach who both won a division title and made it to the Calder Cup finals with the Ice Caps in his 5 years there.

The weird thing about the Wolfpack's struggles is that, on paper, all the solutions people are suggesting - 4a players, accomplished coach, etc - were in place this season and they're getting a bad result anyway. It makes it tough to explain why they've been so bad and I'm not sure what the answer is.

 

[nyr2k2]

I've wondered if the Schneider / Holland trades weren't a sign that management blames them as leaders for the team's struggles this year. Stuff like this has been pretty typical from Holland recently, despite the good point production:



The funny thing with McCambridge is that, as bad as Hartford has looked under him, he's a proven AHL coach who both won a division title and made it to the Calder Cup finals with the Ice Caps in his 5 years there.

The weird thing about the Wolfpack's struggles is that, on paper, all the solutions people are suggesting - 4a players, accomplished coach, etc - were in place this season and they're getting a bad result anyway. It makes it tough to explain why they've been so bad and I'm not sure what the answer is.

Interesting about his team that lost in the finals--they had basically three guys that had any kind of real NHL career: Patrice Cormier, who had 52 games over 6 seasons; Ben Chiarot, a decent bottom-pair defender for Winnipeg for the past four or five years; and Paul Postma, who played sporadically over 8 years, accumulating 200 games. The vast majority of the players on that team were UDFAs, and they had no round one picks, and two round two picks, on the team. They went for a roster comprised primarily of veterans, with little in the way of actual prospects (by this point, Klingberg and Cormier were looking like busts). So, the roster construction of that team was dramatically different than our team.

The team that lost in the semis was pretty much the same. A lot of no-names, a few actual prospects. It just seems like the composition of the teams is different, with us being a lot heavier on the prospects.

Also for McCambridge, he'll now have two good seasons and five seasons out of the playoffs. A bit more consistency would be nice. Like the team in between his semifinal-losing team and his finals-losing team was basically the same, and they missed the playoffs. I'm not going to say he;s a bad coach outright, but I don't like the job he's done here. Too many guys underperforming, very few guys overperforming.

 

[cwede]

I've wondered if the Schneider / Holland trades weren't a sign that management blames them as leaders for the team's struggles this year...

Maybe, but i think these were both also somewhat hockey trades, of guys who weren't essential now or later. for need

Brickley, in a couple NHL games has looked more like what you want from a marginal NHL winger - engaged, active, decent basic skills - than NYR have gotten so far from many of the other call-ups this season - from Schneider and Beleskey to Gettinger, Fogarty, Lettieri
He was 50th overall, wont be a star, but can be role-playing NHL F, or a AAAA AHL F, at reasonable price. I wont be surprised if NYR resign him.

and Raddysh, well the facts that he is young, has been productive and top-4 in OHL, shoots righty, and is signed/controlled beyond this season, is at worst a useful AHL piece now, and later, with OGara and Gilmour about to UFA

 

[Beacon]

I will say this: For anyone who thinks we can just trade all our veterans and ice a team of 22-year olds and win games, I ask this: Take a close look at Hartford and you will see why that strategy doesn't work.

This is why trading Zibanejad and Kreider would be ridiculous (unless, of course, the return is too good to turn down)

We want to trade all the vets precisely because we want a terrible season that will result in a top-3 draftee. That's a feature, not a bug.

I'd rather get 5 firsts (could be in different years or prospects worth a first like Howden) and some b/c-prospects for Zibanejad, Kreider and Shattenkirk and then draft in the top-3 with our own pick than get yet another #7-12 pick and no other youth.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

We want to trade all the vets precisely because we want a terrible season that will result in a top-3 draftee. That's a feature, not a bug.

I'd rather get 5 firsts (could be in different years or prospects worth a first like Howden) and some b/c-prospects for Zibanejad, Kreider and Shattenkirk and then draft in the top-3 with our own pick than get yet another #7-12 pick and no other youth.

I was more referring to people here who always put together a team with an average age of 22-23 in their armchair-GM mode, expecting to win a Cup.

 

[nyr2k2]

Day from Lettieri and Fogarty. 1-0.

Don't look now but Sean Day is acclimating. 2G/2A in his past three games. 16 SOG in his last 10 games after 12 in his first 16.

 

[ManUtdTobbe]

A friend has access to "advanced" stats for AHL, Gilmour is by far Packs best D-man and Hajek by far the worst this season… Doesn't mean Hajek is a bust but he's having an awful season and Gilmour is underrated, he's far from the liability defensively he's made out to be...

Kinda funny that Day has looked much better the last week or so, 2 weeks ago i wrote a tweet that Day looked too hesitant and played it too safe, his mom responded "i agree", now he's joining the rush, skating the puck through the NZ and just overall playing to his strengths with confidence, it's probably just him finding his feet feeling comfortable but i'll take the credit either way

Edit: Bigras xG% is 9% better without Hajek then with Hajek.

 

[UnSandvich]

A friend has access to "advanced" stats for AHL, Gilmour is by far Packs best D-man and Hajek by far the worst this season… Doesn't mean Hajek is a bust but he's having an awful season and Gilmour is underrated, he's far from the liability defensively he's made out to be...

Kinda funny that Day has looked much better the last week or so, 2 weeks ago i wrote a tweet that Day looked too hesitant and played it too safe, his mom responded "i agree", now he's joining the rush, skating the puck through the NZ and just overall playing to his strengths with confidence, it's probably just him finding his feet feeling comfortable but i'll take the credit either way

Edit: Bigras xG% is 9% better without Hajek then with Hajek.

That last stat, yikes. Any chance this friend is willing to share these "advanced" AHL stats?

 

[eco's bones]

If anyone cares, these were the lines in the last game against WBS, as well as the scratches/injuries:

SCRATCHES:
Chris Bigras – (right ankle, at least a month)
Rob O’Gara – (lower body, week-to-week)
Ville Meskanen – (lower body, a week)
Ty Ronning – (lower body, day-to-day)
Derek Pratt – (healthy)
Brandon Crawley – (healthy)

LINES:
Fogarty-Gettinger-Gropp
Andersson-Lettieri-Fontaine
Holland-Beleskey-Butler
O’Donnell-Melanson-St. Amant

Gilmour-Lindgren
Tolkinen-Hajak
Day-Finn

This per Gerry Cantlon. CANTLON: PENGUINS END PACK LATE RALLY AND WIN IN OT 5-4

Not that Andersson has been anything special lately, it gets even bore barren down there. They replace Andersson with Zac Lynch, who is almost 27 and has played 36 AHL games. Going to be a fun finish to the season down there...

I was wondering what happened to Bigras. I'm glad it's not a concussion.