The Fourth 2019-20 Utica Comets Thread
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I suspect a 'flat salary cap' will have a ripple effect on teams in the AHL. In all likelihood, fewer veterans on one-way NHL contracts and more rookies and young players who will earn the league minimum if they play in the NHL, but well below $100,000 a year if they end up back in the AHL.
Makes you wonder about the future of AHL players in the vein of Boucher, Graovac, Goldy and Baertschi who were all on NHL contracts last season, but played most of the season in Utica.
But I guess every team in the NHL will be forced into penny-pinching and cutting the payroll on their AHL farm teams, which is the equivalent of 'low hanging fruit'.
Makes you wonder about the future of AHL players in the vein of Boucher, Graovac, Goldy and Baertschi who were all on NHL contracts last season, but played most of the season in Utica.
But I guess every team in the NHL will be forced into penny-pinching and cutting the payroll on their AHL farm teams, which is the equivalent of 'low hanging fruit'.
UticaHockey
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But one way contracts that pay less than roughly $1.1M (too lazy to look up the exact amount) have zero salary cap implications because the entire salary is buried and doesn't count against the cap if that player is assigned to the AHL. It doesn't matter if a player assigned to Utica is making $90K or $1M because both amounts are buried and result in no cap hit.
In fact the opposite could end up happening. Teams might be inclined to sign more tweeners to one way contracts in the $700K to $1M range hoping they can fill a NHL role than the typical $2M type player. That $2M player is an extra $1M cap hit no matter if he is in the NHL or gets buried in the AHL.
In normal circumstances it might make sense to stuff some veterans in Utica with one-way contracts in the $750,00 - 1M range to get them off the books and available for call-up. But these aren't 'normal circumstances'.
The NHL is poised to play games in empty arenas at two neutral sites in N.A. just to get through the season. Teams like the Canucks have already lost the revenues they'd have earned from completing the regular season and going on a playoff run in a jammed home rink. And they're currently stuck with a high operating payroll of guaranteed contracts, in fact one of the highest in the league.
And who knows what happens in 2020-21, a season that might not even get underway until after Xmas, with a compressed schedule of games? Again, another serious revenue hit.
My guess is that NHL teams are going to pruning everywhere, and some NHL franchises in less desirable hockey markets in N.A. will be taking a broad-ax to their entire operating budgets. And skimping on the payroll for your AHL team is just one club they'll bring out of the bag.
Let's be point blank honest. There will not be more than a couple guys in Utica with any serious possible NHL futures. If the Comets had several promising 2nd/3rd/and even late 1st round picks to develop due to no room on the big club, they might invest dollars in Utica in spite of the financial issues it might take in order to give those prospects someone to play with. Then again that hasn't seemed to motivate them up to the present.
There is no real reason to invest a lot of dough to "develop" Jasek, Gadjovich, Chatfield, Sautner, Teves, Eliot, and realistically Brisebois If Breezy is being relied upon to fill a role on the Canucks roster, they are even worse off than I have believed. Lind is the only dark horse and IMO he's real dark.
Throw in the rookies Michaelis, Lockwood, and Woo on ELCs.
Then sign Boucher and Bailey for emergency help in Vancouver. They have to put some players here for that purpose or they are dead in the water with injuries and no serviceable minor league call-ups. These guys would give the rest of the roster some reason to actually play.
Kick in a decent AHL level D-man, preferably one who hasn't reached VET status on a 2-way with a fair minor league salary.
Vancouver management can then talk up the 3,000 miles away farm. Johnson will continue to blow smoke up the asses of the gullible fan's who will believe the Comets have promising prospects really performing well.
Cull will give glowing updates to the Vanocuver media that contact him for updates.
We have watched this *** show facade since Benning came on board and it has only been exacerbated with the arrival of Johnson.
There is no real reason to invest a lot of dough to "develop" Jasek, Gadjovich, Chatfield, Sautner, Teves, Eliot, and realistically Brisebois If Breezy is being relied upon to fill a role on the Canucks roster, they are even worse off than I have believed. Lind is the only dark horse and IMO he's real dark.
Throw in the rookies Michaelis, Lockwood, and Woo on ELCs.
Then sign Boucher and Bailey for emergency help in Vancouver. They have to put some players here for that purpose or they are dead in the water with injuries and no serviceable minor league call-ups. These guys would give the rest of the roster some reason to actually play.
Kick in a decent AHL level D-man, preferably one who hasn't reached VET status on a 2-way with a fair minor league salary.
Vancouver management can then talk up the 3,000 miles away farm. Johnson will continue to blow smoke up the asses of the gullible fan's who will believe the Comets have promising prospects really performing well.
Cull will give glowing updates to the Vanocuver media that contact him for updates.
We have watched this *** show facade since Benning came on board and it has only been exacerbated with the arrival of Johnson.
604
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The more I think about it, the more trading a 2nd or good young assets to dump a guy like Eriksson makes sense.
Let's say you need to trade Demko to dump Eriksson. On a salary basis, letting Tiffoli walk and dumping Eriksson gives you enough space to sign a guy like Pietrangelo for $11m...who wouldn't trade Eriksson + Demko + pending UFA Tiffoli for Pietrangelo @ $11m x 7 years?
Let's say you need to trade Demko to dump Eriksson. On a salary basis, letting Tiffoli walk and dumping Eriksson gives you enough space to sign a guy like Pietrangelo for $11m...who wouldn't trade Eriksson + Demko + pending UFA Tiffoli for Pietrangelo @ $11m x 7 years?
It's a pleasant thought, at least for a few minutes. But the Canucks would probably need almost every dollar of that cap space to re-sign Pettersson and Hughes when their ELC's are up. A long-term contract of $11m a season to anyone would be madness for this Canuck franchise right now.
604
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Sutter + Benn + Pearson + Edler come off next year. We are actually setup fine to sign Hughes and Petey assuming we are okay replacing Sutter @ 4th RW and Benn @ 8th D with low contract players and Pearson with Hoglander/Poldi.
Also, sorry this is in the wrong thread.
No we are not.
Below something roster I did earlier in a different thread
This was pre-covid19 so some of the assumed contracts may end up a little lower but so will the cap. This is barely a playoff team and probably worse than what we have seen this year.
And yes, I agree this should have gone in another topic. Sorry from me too.
I'd really like to see MacEwen and Bailey in the Canucks bottom six next season.....even if means burying some big contracts in the minors.
But sadly they're both likely Utica-bound again, until Benning can unload a couple of his anvil-weight contracts.
But sadly they're both likely Utica-bound again, until Benning can unload a couple of his anvil-weight contracts.
Zack played barely, if at all, at center both this season and last season. Plus, there's zero chance in hell he's taking a spot from a guy they targeted on July 1st (Beagle)
@VanJack
Bailey showed absolutely nothing in the NHL outside of having NHL-caliber speed. His game flourishes in the AHL because players are allowed to drive end-to-end ad nauseam -- that 1v5 mentality doesn't work in the NHL though, where you have to legitimately be the best player in the league (McD) to pull that shit off, infrequently, at best.
Maybe Bailey hasn't shown much in his NHL career so far, but neither did UFA signings like Eriksson, Schaller, Roussel, Beagle and Ferland last season. And they were collectively earning close to $18m a season under the salary cap, while Bailey is barely over the league minimum.
Bailey was almost a ppg player in the AHL this season, and if all he does in the NHL is skate up and down the wing and hit a few people, then he's a potential valuable guy on the fourth line.
So I say again, if this roster was built properly, both Bailey and MacEwen would be everyday players. And the players listed above would all be UFA's this season, and the Canucks could simply walk away from them.
Bailey was almost a ppg player in the AHL this season, and if all he does in the NHL is skate up and down the wing and hit a few people, then he's a potential valuable guy on the fourth line.
So I say again, if this roster was built properly, both Bailey and MacEwen would be everyday players. And the players listed above would all be UFA's this season, and the Canucks could simply walk away from them.
I understand what you're saying when it comes to not pissing away cap-space on players who don't improve the team.
I just disagree with the assessment that Bailey is that guy who would improve the team if it was properly built.
Best case scenario would be if Bailey could contribute the way Tyler Motte can. Skate fast, play physical, chip in offensively at an OK clip for the TOI he gets. Hell, the Canucks penalty kill is at it's best with Motte on the ice -- that's the type of guy Bailey would have to be -- and in his (albeit limited) showings with the Canucks this season, he just looked lost -- like his game doesn't translate to the NHL, at all.
vanuck
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Pretty much. At his age, Bailey is pretty much what he is at this point: a high-end AHL player who might be able to take a shift or two on an NHL 4th line. It appears that he just doesn't have the hockey sense to be anything more than that, but that's fine as long as he comes cheap. Ideally he'd be able to kill penalties too so the ice time is more evenly balanced but for the cap savings, I'd rather take him over our current 4th line RW (Sutter).
AHL has taken a page from the NHL's book and formed a "Return to Play' committee. With the 2019-20 season officially done, they'll be focusing on ways to play next season.
Maybe by then they'll be able to play with a limited number of fans in the building; or possibly promote their AHL-live streaming service for fans who want to follow their team remotely. An expansion of AHL-live subscribers might offset some of the lost revenue from ticket sales.
But they've got their work cut out for them. The economics of minor league hockey aren't going to make it easy for a return that makes sense economically. But really hope they can find a way. Loss of AHL hockey would be an economic blow to a lot of cities, particularly those Eastern Conference teams in smaller markets. And would make for a long, desolate winter for the fans.
Maybe by then they'll be able to play with a limited number of fans in the building; or possibly promote their AHL-live streaming service for fans who want to follow their team remotely. An expansion of AHL-live subscribers might offset some of the lost revenue from ticket sales.
But they've got their work cut out for them. The economics of minor league hockey aren't going to make it easy for a return that makes sense economically. But really hope they can find a way. Loss of AHL hockey would be an economic blow to a lot of cities, particularly those Eastern Conference teams in smaller markets. And would make for a long, desolate winter for the fans.
UticaHockey
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I've been watching the news out of Buffalo and Rochester the past 24 hours and can't help but wonder what is in store for other AHL teams next season.
The Pegulas fired their GM and both Assistant GMs yesterday and named Kevyn Adams as the new GM. Adams was currently working on the business side of the Sabres and while he is a former player and coach he has no experience as a GM or AGM. After that announcement the blood letting continued as they let go the head of amateur scouting and a number of scouts. Finally the entire coaching staff in Rochester was let go even though Chris Taylor was regarded as a solid development coach and had a successful winning record in Rochester.
The reasons for the Amerks coaching staff being fired was an emphasis on development and better alignment of systems between Rochester and Buffalo.
They said that this has no impact on how the Sabres or Bills are managed but Terry and Kim Pegula have lost a ton of money in their oil & gas business and what happened yesterday screams "desperate cost savings measures" Hire a cheap in house GM with no immediate plans to give him any new assistants to work with. Gut the amateur scouting organization. Change the direction of the AHL team from a priority of winning and development under Botterill to development only and the writing is on the wall for fewer AHL vets making a decent salary with a bunch of ELCs making $75K.
The Pegulas aren't the only NHL owners that have been hurt by COVID so I wonder how many other teams will slash their scouting and AHL budgets.
The Pegulas fired their GM and both Assistant GMs yesterday and named Kevyn Adams as the new GM. Adams was currently working on the business side of the Sabres and while he is a former player and coach he has no experience as a GM or AGM. After that announcement the blood letting continued as they let go the head of amateur scouting and a number of scouts. Finally the entire coaching staff in Rochester was let go even though Chris Taylor was regarded as a solid development coach and had a successful winning record in Rochester.
The reasons for the Amerks coaching staff being fired was an emphasis on development and better alignment of systems between Rochester and Buffalo.
They said that this has no impact on how the Sabres or Bills are managed but Terry and Kim Pegula have lost a ton of money in their oil & gas business and what happened yesterday screams "desperate cost savings measures" Hire a cheap in house GM with no immediate plans to give him any new assistants to work with. Gut the amateur scouting organization. Change the direction of the AHL team from a priority of winning and development under Botterill to development only and the writing is on the wall for fewer AHL vets making a decent salary with a bunch of ELCs making $75K.
The Pegulas aren't the only NHL owners that have been hurt by COVID so I wonder how many other teams will slash their scouting and AHL budgets.
"Change the direction of the AHL team from a priority of winning and development under Botterill to development only and the writing is on the wall for fewer AHL vets making a decent salary with a bunch of ELCs making $75K."
If this is the path most of the AHL takes place, the slant the games will take will show the higher prospects shining brightly in an atmosphere of prospects vs prospects complemented by group of ECHL wannabes and cheap AHL hangers on.
There will be serious consequences with this path. You will not get development of your prospects in an advanced Jr league as this is exactly what you would have. We have seen how the prospects get rude awakenings when entering the AHL. They discover an increased speed to the game they have not experienced before. They also find a strength factor throughout the lineup that challenges them to get stronger.
We hear the rookies make these assessments of the league play and give us their own self analysis telling us to a man that they need to adjust to the speed by learning to do less thinking and more reacting, learning to play in a system so they can make quicker successful puck moves under the intense pressure that occurs every time they gain possession of the puck, which eliminates the turnovers caused by panic puck moves. Individualism often has to be sacrificed for working with your line mates and your D-men to achieve personal as well as team success.
It's not a Me vs. You game. It's an Us vs. Them game and you need to work as units, rely on one another, pass the puck to get the puck, find open space, make quick short passes in traffic, etc. Then it's forecheck, forecheck, forecheck and backcheck, backcheck, backcheck. The game involve 40-60 seconds of hard work shift after shift. Taking shifts off or coasting back to your own end, making moves without support results in turnovers, outnumbered rushes, and pucks in the back of your own net. Their hockey skills need to be kicked up several notches while honing their particular individual skill sets and learning how to incorporate them into a team game. You can still exercise your inventiveness and individual game, but it has to be done within the system. Only the very rare superstar can function outside of the box. Problem with this is most of those guys are not in the AHL and most never were.
If you are in the AHL, chances are about 90% you better learn what you are supposed to learn because that's why you are there. If you don't learn it fast and improve from game to game, chances are it's the best pro league you will ever see.
Without those better players that make the AHL what it is, the development of the prospects will be stunted. Guys will look like sure things in this pared down league, but most will fail miserably at the next level. The better AHL players cause the kids to bring their games up so that the NHL adjustment is a lot like what happened to them at the AHL level, but they are more prepared for it and the adjustments are easier to make in a shorter period of time for the prospect that developed in the AHL before embarking upon success at the NHL level. Most AHL prospects that take more than 2 years to get there never become top players, but can fill valuable roles in the bottom 6 and the 5-7 D-men. I fear this will be much more difficult if the AHL farm is watered down, which seems to be the direction Buffalo is taking with the Amerks.
There's hard truth to be faced for professional sports leagues throughout N.A. The salad days are over, and none of these leagues will likely return to their pre-Pandemic heights anytime soon.
Revenues will continue to stagnate; salaries and contracts will follow suit; and leagues from the lowest levels of the minors to the top of the heap will have to get by with fewer employees and fewer players under contract.
Brian Burke on Sportsnet predicting that the NHL salary cap might drop to $50 million before it rebounds. If that doomsday scenario plays out, it'll impact every hockey league, pro or amateur, around North America.
So sadly, the meltdown in the Buffalo Sabres front office yesterday is probably a harbinger of things to come. At the end of the day, pro sports is a business that's guided by revenues and the cost of doing business. When they're out of whack like they are right now, change is inevitable.
Revenues will continue to stagnate; salaries and contracts will follow suit; and leagues from the lowest levels of the minors to the top of the heap will have to get by with fewer employees and fewer players under contract.
Brian Burke on Sportsnet predicting that the NHL salary cap might drop to $50 million before it rebounds. If that doomsday scenario plays out, it'll impact every hockey league, pro or amateur, around North America.
So sadly, the meltdown in the Buffalo Sabres front office yesterday is probably a harbinger of things to come. At the end of the day, pro sports is a business that's guided by revenues and the cost of doing business. When they're out of whack like they are right now, change is inevitable.
Not arguing any of your points. Just illuminating what the prospects of the present and near future will face in "developing in the AHL". They won't. The NHL will survive on what it's got and the prospects will either be NHL ready or damned close to it or their time will come and go and the NHL will be a dream not lived.
If this thing lasts very long there will be the decline of the NHL in terms of talent. The only other solution would be for salaries to take a major dive and God only knows how deep that dive could be. Don't expect fans to keep dishing out the same kind of bucks for a ticket if everything else has taken a financial dive.
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UticaHockey
Registered User
More regarding the Sabres and the changes with the AHL Amerks.
http://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/sabres-decision-to-fire-amerks-coach-chris-taylor-looks-foolish/
http://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/sabres-decision-to-fire-amerks-coach-chris-taylor-looks-foolish/
Billy Kvcmu
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I’m actually surprise Boucher sticks around this long, wish him the best. He deserves to make some money
UticaHockey
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