To Fan:
You say only 2 drafts should have produced players for Utica. That's BS. However, name the draft picks from those 2 seasons that were assigned to Utica.
2014
Demko and absolutely nothing but high marks from me.
Virtanen did play here for most of the 2016-17 season. Go back and read all my posts which preached patience and discouraged bust talk. I said he had a lot of natural talent and he just might surprise.
McCann was totally mismanaged and now plays for the Florida Panthers instead of Vancouver.
In all fairness both Jared and Jake should have spent their first pro season in Utica.
Benning and Willie screwed up with Tryamkin who was NHL ready when he showed up.
Forsling was traded for a loser in Clendening. Another bonehead move. Petit was not extended a contract and Stewart was a lost cause from the get go.
2015
Boeser was a no brainer.
Briseboisis is in Utica and has played 68 regular season games and all 4 playoff tilts.
Zhukenov eligible this year and not here.
Gaudette just out of Northeastern. We'll see where he ends up. Guessing Vancouver ready or not. (not saying he won't prove he belongs)
Jasek - Arrived out of the blue for the last 6 regular season games and played 2 playoff games before hitting the injured list. Was recently signed to a 3-yr ELC. Should be a Comet next year.
Carl Neil and Tate Olson not extended contracts.
Everyone from this draft was AHL eligible and the only guy here is Brisebois.
Most of the guys from the next drafts were eligible, but maybe not ready yet. let's look.
2016
Every guy on this list was eligible to play in Utica this season. Olli sent back to play in Finland. You all know where I stand on guys developing somewhere other than the farm where all NA players have to go if they don't make the Vanouver roster. It's my opinion and not all agree with it, but that's just fine.
Lockwood still in college and after being injured will go back again. No injury, probably started in Utica next season.
Candella, Stukel, Abols and McKenzie were eligible as I said, but Abols signed in Sweden. The other 3 went back to Jrs. and if not signed by June 1st are just gone.
2017
Pettersson will be in Vancouver this coming season.
Lind and Gadjovich should be in Utica and Palmu should also.
DiPietro is too young. Eligible in 2019-20.
Rathbone as a US player is eligible any time they think he is ready since he did not play Canadian Jrs., but he is enrolled at Harvard.
Brassard and Gunnarsson have another year of Jr eligibility even though both will be 20, the age most decent prospects enter the AHL. Gunnarsson looks to be a mistake anyways. He has absolutely zero offensive bones in his body, but who knows.
So, in summary, Demko and Virtanen played in Utica from 2014, Brisebois played from 2015 and Jasek should be there next year. Nobody from 2016 is likely to ever play in Utica. Those 3 classes should have produced more than 4 players and one of the 4 is yet to be on the roster (Jasek).
The 2017 class will produce Lind and Gadjovich this coming season and Palmu should be here as well. DiPietro should arrive a year later. The verdict is still out on Rathbone, Gunnarsson and Brassard. So again I state, 4 drafts and I have listed all who were eligible (and right now that's all but Rathbone, and DiPietro) and the total in Utica has been 3 players and only 2 were there this season and likely only one of those will be back next year, Brisebois.
The complaint has nothing to do with the players who are actually NHL ready like Boeser and probably Pettersson and maybe Gaudette. Training camp will settle that out. The argument has been if there are really not a lot of picks sent here, Benning needs to supply his farm with guys who can play well at this level, add the undrafted guys he wants to take a chance on and utilize his European scouts to bring out 23, 24, 25, and 26 yr-old guys who have been very successful in their top leagues to fill out the AHL roster with guys who don't achieve veteran status and may just pan out as very good players with a chance to serve as call-ups for the Canucks.
It's a process followed by all the good AHL clubs and then when you do send prospects in like next season e.g. Lind, Gadjovich, Jasek, MacMaster, Dahlen
(He can't make it in the NHL without more experience. It is showing in the AHL playoffs. He is a talent. Has a nose for the game and once he figures it all out will be a very good one, but he is not ready yet and it has nothing to do with strength. Benning can force him onto the roster, but he really needs at least a couple months of NA hockey experience playing big minutes and becoming a top AHL player first. Right now he has not even come close to that level of achievement)
and combine them with Brisebois, Chatfield, Sautner, McEneny, MacEwen, Carcone, and probably D'Aoust and hopefully re-sign Boucher and Chaput these guys mesh with the non Canuck prospects I have mentioned and you have a team that can best provide the kind of environment these kids need to become the best they can be.
The lost causes in the late picks and undrafted players are not good results. The Marlies have 10 guys on their roster who were not drafted, 4 7th round picks, and 2 sixth round picks. They are combined with 3 1st rounders, 4 2nd rounders, and 2 3rd rounders. Their #1 point getter was a 6th round pick and is an 8 yr pro, #2 was a 7th rounder (2nd yr pro), #3 was not drafted and is a 10 yr pro, #4 a 6th round pick (1st year pro), #5 5th rounder (2nd yr pro), #6 undrafted (2nd year pro), #7 2nd round pick (1st year pro).
I didn't mention Kapanen because he only had 24 points. Of course he only played 28 games.
The top 7 on D all have 20+ points and 3 are rookies and one is a 2nd year pro. They are balanced off with a 4th yr pro, a 6th yr pro, and a 7th yr pro.
Only 2 of their D are veterans and one of the two is VE.
They have 4 forwards who are VETS. 2 are centers, one is the top scorer on the RW, and the other is a checking line journeyman RW who has only played 47 games. That's 6 vets period and one is a VE so all 6 can play every night. No veteran overload.
Their top center is a 10yr undrafted vet., his RW is a 6th rd pick 8yr vet, and his RW is a rookie. Between them they accumulated 145 points.
This is a well constructed roster with a perfect combination of youth (1st to 3rd yr players), middling agers 4th to 6th yr players, and older vets (7th t0 11th yr pros). The kids play with guys who make them better and grow quicker. One line is all youngsters. One d-pair is comprised of 2 rookies. One is 18 and the other is one of those older, experienced, undrafted Europeans I was talking about, Calle Rosen. He is a 24 yr old SHL vet paired with the 18 yr old Swede. They work smartly together.
Their top goalie and also the AHL's #1 goalie is a 7th round pick while his partner in crime is a 2nd round pick. Statistically they are the league's #1 tandem.
This team does not just fill out their roster with maybe undrafted free agents, left over AHL vets, and shot in the dark late round picks. Their acquisitions are obviously well scouted and have been paying off in spades. Kudos to that scouting crew both in NA and their various European scouts. This is the kind of work being done by Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton just to mention a few more.
Just as a last example of how the late rounders are not just stabs in the dark, Andreas Johnsson, who will be in a Marlies uniform Sunday, was a 2013 7th round Toronto draft pick and he is a 2nd yr pro who scored 54 points in 54 games this season for the Marlies. He finished the season with 9 GP for the Leafs and then played in 6 of their 7 playoff games. Remember he's not just an exception. There are 2 other 7th rounders and 2 6th rounders taking regular shifts while their top keeper and the league's best is also a 7th pick. Not exactly Stewart, Petit, Neill, Olson, Candella, Stukel, Abols, or McKenzie.
If the Comets end up knocking off this group, it won't diminish the job the Toronto staff has done constructing this team. By the way, Syracuse built the same way by Stevie Y and Company, took out Rochester in 3 straight and were finalists last season.
