stonecoldstevebernier

Tierney is massively underrated, that's a great number for him.

Confirmation of the Kulbakov signing as well as another ECHL depth forward for the Comets.

I got Gagner and uh.... G'âunce? and a third. Let's make a deal, Bergy!

He's one of those guys where if he isn't scoring, he doesn't contribute much. Doesn't kill penalties, doesn't hit, isn't a matchup guy. So for long stretches of the season he was essentially invisible. I agree that 31 points isn't bad but you have to be able to do other things if you're not scoring. Getting 2 minutes of PP time per game in a prime scoring position is a lot to only come away with 10 goals too. I don't hate him or anything, but I can't imagine Goldobin or Leipsic wouldn't hit 31 points given the same opportunities, plus they'd be developing at the same time. I'd rather that than have them in the press box to start the year because of our forward logjam.

Yeah for a PK specialist he sure takes his fair share of bad penalties, especially those in the offensive zone. Having two vet spots tied up in Bancks and Hamilton just doesn't strike me as a great way to utilize those roles either, although it doesn't look like they'll have any vet issues for next season at this rate. Boucher, Archibald (probably), Bancks, Hamilton, Sifers.

Wow, two years? Yikes. Wasn't expecting him to return at all with the amount of forwards that'll be packed down there on Utica... definite head scratcher for me. I can understand Bancks but giving Hamilton the extra year is strange. I can only assume they're concerned about the what the PK/defensive matchups would look like without both Cassels and Hamilton there.

Have to think today's moves make it more likely that Gaudette plays in Utica to start... being one of the few players up front who doesn't require waivers might be the deciding factor in camp. If the Canucks roll with something like Baertschi-Horvat-Boeser, Pettersson-Sutter-Gagner, Eriksson-Beagle-Virtanen, Roussel-Schaller-Granlund, Goldobin/Leipsic, then that leaves Utica with possibly Gaudette, Gaunce, and Archibald, which would change the landscape quite a bit. I still think there has to be a move or two made before the season starts to alleviate the logjam there but we could see two things... a more competitive Comets team, but less ice time for the newcomers. Boucher-Kero-Motte Gaunce-Gaudette-MacEwen Dahlen-Darcy-Jasek Archibald-Bancks-Lind (Carcone/Gadjovich/Palmu/MacMaster) Lines are somewhat random, mostly just to showcase how the current depth chart could squeeze a few prospects into the press box to start the season; you can swap out whoever you want for Gadjovich, Palmu or MacMaster but the end result is that a few players will be watching from the sidelines at first. Injuries and call-ups are inevitable, of course. And this is all predicated on the Canucks keeping 14 forwards which is unlikely; I just can't see Leipsic or Goldobin being waived though, as unlike Gaunce or Archibald (who are maybes) either one of those two would get claimed for sure. So something has to give.

Given the other signings today, figure that Archibald could be Utica-bound to start the year... the forward group is getting crowded. Glad to have him back though, he really earned his way back to the NHL. He'll be good call-up depth once injuries hit.

Good for him, I'm sure he's just happy to get an NHL deal even if he'll be the #3 there. Always liked Eddie, hope he gets some games in and bounces back.

What would you say about a Sautner-Brisebois pairing? Blujus was really good with Sautner in the regular season but looked completely out of sorts in the playoffs, albeit being a small sample size... I wonder if playing with a guy like Sautner who has become much more responsible would help Brisebois take more initiative on that offensive side of his game.

haha, I'd love to contribute more, unfortunately real life (and AHL Live's pricing ) gets in the way of being able to watch as many games as I'd like. I'm gonna try and buy some more game packages next year though, with all the young talent that'll be filtered onto the Comets roster - I have a feeling people around here are more interested in what guys like Dahlen, Lind, Juolevi and co. are doing instead of the likes of Carcone, Molino and Labate. Should be an interesting season coming up. Thanks for the kind words!

Botchford and Paterson have zero idea what goes on in Utica, Botchford's campaign to bring up Subban two years ago was entirely based on stats and nothing else. He said several times in his pieces that his defense "can't be that bad" because he'd never actually watched him play to be able to tell. Similarly, he doesn't watch Brisebois so boring stats = boring player by his logic. Not everyone needs to be a Hughes or a Juolevi though. Watching the Comets last year, Brisebois was mostly positive. He's a cerebral player who has a good idea of where the puck's going next, doesn't skate himself into bad situations, has decent offensive instincts but was often paired with Wiercioch and assumed the role of hanging back. Needs to work on being more on top of his opponents in front of the net as most of his mistakes came from letting players get separation on him. Which isn't a dealbreaker since he's now dealing with grown men who are stronger, faster, and smarter than what he was used to in the Q... his sophomore season will be interesting to watch, now that he'll have a full summer of training under his belt with the knowledge of what the AHL is really like. I don't see him getting a call-up quite yet, I think Sautner (who improved massively) and McEneny (depending on how he returns) are ahead of him, but Brisebois has the highest upside of that young group of Comets' d-men. If he keeps on track though he could easily pass Sautner this year, his rookie year was miles better by comparison.

I like him as a player actually. But I'd definitely rather use that roster spot for one of our younger skill guys.

Sounds like Reaves back to Vegas is indeed the move. Talk about a short lived rumour, lol

Well, maybe not: