I think with NHL teams having up to 6 players on taxi squads dual affiliations can work. Remember Vancouver hasn't signed a single player to an AHL contract to play in Utica this year. If you take 6 players on NHL contracts that would normally be in Utica and keep them on a taxi squad there would be a need for probably close to 10 players signed to AHL contracts to fill the Comets roster. Having two NHL teams supply the Comets with NHL contracted players the need for both NHL teams to sign AHL contracted players goes away. The real losers here the career AHL players who won't be able to find jobs this season and may be forced to give up their dreams and retire to find jobs outside of hockey.
Vancouver posters are talking about the Canucks going with a 20-man roster with a 6-man taxi squad. It's not exactly clear at the moment if this would be allowed. It would let cap strapped teams take advantage of the new rule. Let's explore that possibility.
The Canucks have 24 forwards and 13 D-men on their camp roster. They would take 12 forwards, 6 D-men, and 2 goalies for the 20-man roster.
Of the 24 forwards, 15 are listed on their current roster. Their best 12 man roster leaves 3 of those guy off to begin with:
J.T. Miller - Elias Pettersson - Brock Boeser
Tanner Pearson - Bo Horvat - Jake Virtanen
Antoine Roussel - Adam Gaudette - Brandon Sutter (Gaudette and Sutter can be switched)
Tyler Motte - Jay Beagle - Loui Erikss0n
Zack MacEwen, Sven Baertschi, and Michael Ferland are the last 3 on the roster. Many have already placed MacEwen on the 4th line in place of Eriksson.
Many have shipped Baertschi to the AHL already.
Many believe Ferland will be placed on LTIR after he fails to be ready in camp.
Regardless of how it all works out Eriksson and MacEwen will be part of the final 18 counting the Taxi squad. That leaves 5 forwards to be placed there. I would think that Vancouver wants their best prospects to be playing every day so that will figure into who they keep that isn't playing.
Taxi Squad:
1. MacEwen/Eriksson - 1 is on the 12 man list and the other finds himself on the Taxi Squad.
2. Sven Baertschi - If this guy insists on collecting his last year's salary, this is the place to do it. He saves them little money by going to the AHL, isn't a developing forward, and has shown he can play at this level when healthy.
3. Tyler Graovac - He is no longer a prospect at 27 and has played at the NHL level and his contract is cheap.
4. Justin Bailey - At 25 he has become a tweener. He is another cheap contract is likely the 1st Comet to be recalled based on signed players. Therefore he stays in Vancouver.
5. Jayce Hawryluk - He was acquired during the off-season. I highly doubt he was brought on to be a Comet. It's very possible he is the winger we are talking about Eriksson and MacEwen fighting to become. He has spent the better part of his last 2 seasons in the NHL. He is still what you'd call a prospect or at least a tweener. There are no more Comets that fit the tweener model nor a guy banging on the NHL door.
6. Nils Hoglander will supposedly be in camp. I think he should get a quick trial up front with the Canucks. He is a LW and that would mean displacing on of the 3 beneath Miller and the fan posting seems to favor Roussel as the one to sit. That will all depend upon how much Pearson's injury recovery has effected his skating.
Personally, I think the kid would be a better fit getting maximum ice time in the AHL, but like others before him, Benning has given him the out card to return to Sweden if he doesn't make the team. I could see them keeping him and end up placing him on the Taxi Squad. DUMB. The kid need to play every day with maximum ice time. He doesn't get maximum ice time in Sweden either. He would in Utica. That could be an order given to Cull as he has seemed to have received with a few other players.
The D works out to be:
Alex Edler - Tyler Myers
Quinn Hughes - Nate Schmidt
Olli Juolevi - Jordie Benn
3 others appear to be in the "considered" group. They are Jack Rathbone (LD), Jalen Chatfield (RD), and Brogan Rafferty (RD).
No matter who gets the bottom 6 assignment, at least 2 more will have to land on the Taxi Squad. That depends upon how they want to structure the forward/D-man reserve numbers and how well the question marks perform in camp. Personally I see that bottom 4 as a grab bag. Aside from Benn, with whom they know what they've got, you have a rookie pro in Rathbone, 2 guys who have struggled to play D at the AHL level, but both have special skills that make them look promising (Juolevi is a very good passer,but need time and space to prove it and Rafferty is a puck rushing D-man who can spur offensive play once you get him out of his own end), and another untried at the NHL level in Chatfield that Benning has been touting for some time now. He's a hard worker in his own end, but is often puck chasing and on the other end of the ice is where offense goes to die.
Rathbone has no business on a taxi squad. It's going to be a short season anyways. Let him play 1st pairing with the Comets, QB the PP, and kill penalties. Find out what he can and can't actually be considered for in Vancouver. If he kills it down here and the others just suck, you have your answer. Call him up, quarantine him, and add him to the Canucks roster. It would probably be approaching playoff time by then anyways.
You still have Sautner, Brisebois, Eliot, Teves, and Woo already signed and they become the Comets core group which will have to be added to in any case. If the Canucks are allowed to burn cap space on the taxi squad and Ferland goes LTIR, Benning will add another proven D-man to the bottom 6 and one of those question mark D-men will be in Utica.
As to the goalies that's a real good question.
DiPietro
Kielly
Silovs
are listed as the non roster Vancouver keepers.
There will have to be an extra goalie on the Taxi Squad who won't count against the numbers.
DiPietro is by far the best keeper of the trio, but is a 2nd year pro who can't afford to burn a season of development sitting in Vancouver. He belongs in the AHL playing as many games as possible.
Kielly might be an adequate backup to Mikey, but that would leave Silovs as the emergency backup in Vancouver. Thus, Silovs as a rookie in Utica is better than an emergency standby in Vancouver as far as the Canucks are concerned.
Actually I don't think Vancouver would be pleased with either Kielly or Silovs in the standby spot on the Taxi Squad. Have to think the Canucks will look for a better choice on a cheap contract.
The Comets roster will definitely have:
Kole Lind
Jonah Gadjovich
Will Lockwood
Lukas Jasek
and that's it up front. They will be joined by whomever fails to remain on the Vancouver Taxi Squad. A couple of Baertschi, Hoglander, Hawryluk, Graovac, Bailey. I've already listed the D that will likely be here.
This is all based upon the NHL allowing the 20 man rosters and then using the extra money they can utilize, if there in fact is even any extra money, to actually improve their rosters. If they have to set up a normal 23-man roster, then the they have built in replacements in addition to the 4-6 man Taxi Squads which would eat up more players from those I have detailed above.
It's obvious that even though they don't have any AHL contracts signed, the Comets will not have a complete roster nor any extras to draw from to support injury losses. The AHL has no roster limits so AHL teams are going to have to carry more players than usual since the ECHL is not going to be available to them.
I believe Bancks and Hamilton are still on active AHL contracts. Johnson better get on the stick and find some others. I am sure the rest of the AHL is scrambling to pick up a few of these guys to fill out their rosters as well. There are also a bunch of undrafted, unsigned newbies floating around out there as well. It's not going to be your normal AHL by any means.
Lastly, Esche stating the Comets are open to adding prospects form other teams that will not ice a team this season. Binghamton is already on the verge of not icing a team. That would leave New Jersey without a farm team. Utica would be a perfect place to locate them for a season. Maybe they have a good goalie prospect to share time with Mikey. ho knows what other NHL franchise will need to find a spot to place some prospects. The Comets will have room and there will be NHL teams that need to place prospects so they don't lose a season of development.
There needs to be some serious scrambling if the Comets hope to ice a competitive team. Not bothering to complete a roster to the best of their ability could leave the Vancouver prospects in a situation where they digress rather than move forward.
I'll leave it at that for now. I'd like to hear from anyone who wishes to amend or add to this discussion.