2017-18 Utica Comets Thread

[DeNiro]

34 minutes ago, UticaHockey said:

Time will tell how many players on the list will spend much time in Utica and if the first year rookies will struggle like those before them or if they will be productive.  There hasn't been a single undrafted first year player out of juniors that has not struggled in Utica.  Plus Dahlen and Gunnarsson have about a 90% chance of going back to Sweden IMO.  

Chaput and Megna alone will help that team big time. They were signed to be that teams offensive leaders last year. but then injuries and lack of depth kind of changed that. Not to mention Willie's love affair with career AHLers.

[stawns]

1 hour ago, UticaHockey said:

It's quite obvious that the plan is to have Dahlen play in Sweden instead of Utica but why can't they just come out and say it instead of this garbage.  This has to be the most asinine quote I've read from a NHL team president.  The AHL may be too physical for Dahlen?  Are you developing hockey players or figure skaters....

 

 

You're just a ray of sunshine these days aren't you?

 

That said, I agree It's better to acclimatize sooner rather than later.

[UticaHockey]

20 minutes ago, stawns said:

You're just a ray of sunshine these days aren't you?

 

That said, I agree It's better to acclimatize sooner rather than later.

But why can't Linden or Benning come out and say that the plan is to have Dahlen go to Sweden and hopefully get a chance to play with Pettersson.  Instead he babbles about the AHL being physical and you can see right through it as being nonsense.

[Father Ryan]

With the development of depth in Vancouver on the blue line, this is going to ripple down to Utica.

I'm not 100% on who plays what side, but the available list for Utica could look like this:

Any two of Wiercioch/Pedan/Holm (gotta figure that Biega stays as a #7-8 guy, along with one of those three, for Vancouver)

Then:  Subban, McEneny, Cederholm, Brisebois, Sautner, Chatfield.

Not a bad D core for Utica! Fair bit of size, some good offensive talent, and there's not one AHL vet in the bunch. Give these guys a chance to develop over the next few years, along with drafted talent yet to come, and we're looking at finally having enough NHL talent depth to overcome what seems to be a constant use of 10-11 guys every year. Plenty of trade bait there also. I could see Subban, Cederholm, Chatfield, & McEneny, and maybe even Pedan or Holm being available for trade...just not all in the same year!

[UticaHockey]

6 minutes ago, Father Ryan said:

With the development of depth in Vancouver on the blue line, this is going to ripple down to Utica.

I'm not 100% on who plays what side, but the available list for Utica could look like this:

Any two of Wiercioch/Pedan/Holm (gotta figure that Biega stays as a #7-8 guy, along with one of those three, for Vancouver)

Then:  Subban, McEneny, Cederholm, Brisebois, Sautner, Chatfield.

Not a bad D core for Utica! Fair bit of size, some good offensive talent, and there's not one AHL vet in the bunch. Give these guys a chance to develop over the next few years, along with drafted talent yet to come, and we're looking at finally having enough NHL talent depth to overcome what seems to be a constant use of 10-11 guys every year. Plenty of trade bait there also. I could see Subban, Cederholm, Chatfield, & McEneny, and maybe even Pedan or Holm being available for trade...just not all in the same year!

I hope I'm wrong but I think that you are over valuing the potential defense crew in Utica.  

 

Providing that there are no preseason injuries or trades I see Pedan and Holm in Utica.  If Pedan can get his head on straight he can be a very good dman.  If not he will be the turn over mess that made him a consistent healthy scratch down the stretch last year.  Green got tired of his attitude and Andrey found himself in the press box at an alarming rate. I hope that Holm lives up to the promise but until he begins playing in North America we simply don't know.  Being waiver exempt I see him starting the season in Utica.

 

Subban we know will be an offensive threat which the Comets need but now he needs to improve in his end to get that NHL chance.

 

McEneny was a pleasant surprise and I see him continuing to improve this year.  Could be a top two pairing in Utica.

 

Cederholm as much as I'd like to see what he can do my expectations are very low.  The reason why is he has yet to take a single shift in the AHL and he is in his final year of his ELC.  Travis Green is familiar with him from his coaching experience in Portland and never gave him a chance in Utica. That speaks volumes to me plus everything I read about Cederholm tells me he is a traffic cone that can't handle the speed of faster players.

 

Sautner is just plain terrible who belongs in the ECHL if Utica had more depth.  A regular healthy scratch in each of his first two AHL seasons.

 

Brisebois and Chatfield are two rookies and previous history tells me not to expect much especially undrafted dmen out of juniors.... exhibit Sautner.

 

This team desperately needs a solid veteran defenseman to both anchor the group and to provide mentorship to the young and inexperienced kids.

[canuckledraggin]

That's a silly statement from Trevor. If you watch Dahlen play all of his offense comes from below the dots. He is always around the net looking to scoop up the garbage and he's damn good at it. Maybe that's a motivating tool to get Dahlen to react, but if it's not it's a stupid thing to say. Nothing about his game indicates he can't play physical. Before the draft scouts referred to him as stocky.

[canuckledraggin]

33 minutes ago, UticaHockey said:

I hope I'm wrong but I think that you are over valuing the potential defense crew in Utica.  

 

Providing that there are no preseason injuries or trades I see Pedan and Holm in Utica.  If Pedan can get his head on straight he can be a very good dman.  If not he will be the turn over mess that made him a consistent healthy scratch down the stretch last year.  Green got tired of his attitude and Andrey found himself in the press box at an alarming rate. I hope that Holm lives up to the promise but until he begins playing in North America we simply don't know.  Being waiver exempt I see him starting the season in Utica.

 

Subban we know will be an offensive threat which the Comets need but now he needs to improve in his end to get that NHL chance.

 

McEneny was a pleasant surprise and I see him continuing to improve this year.  Could be a top two pairing in Utica.

 

Cederholm as much as I'd like to see what he can do my expectations are very low.  The reason why is he has yet to take a single shift in the AHL and he is in his final year of his ELC.  Travis Green is familiar with him from his coaching experience in Portland and never gave him a chance in Utica. That speaks volumes to me plus everything I read about Cederholm tells me he is a traffic cone that can't handle the speed of faster players.

 

Sautner is just plain terrible who belongs in the ECHL if Utica had more depth.  A regular healthy scratch in each of his first two AHL seasons.

 

Brisebois and Chatfield are two rookies and previous history tells me not to expect much especially undrafted dmen out of juniors.... exhibit Sautner.

 

This team desperately needs a solid veteran defenseman to both anchor the group and to provide mentorship to the young and inexperienced kids.

Your expectations should be very low for this team always and forever. As a fanbase the Comets are unrivaled. After the 10 game winless streak to start the Canucks association with the team, the fans showed up more aggressive and with more passion than I've ever seen and almost willed the team to victory. The same has happened many times during the past 4 years, but the reality is that your squad is subject to the whims of the Canucks.

 

It appears as though the Comets are finally the minor league affiliate to the Canucks, whereas in seasons past they needed a whole lot of help  from AHL jorneyman. Now the leadership of Hamilton, Bancks, Archibald and Pedan is all the help they are going to get and the spots leftover are going to be prospects. It's an exciting time to be a Canucks fan and Comets' fans will just have to accept this.

 

As for Pedan.... Hopefully he is spending his whole summer doing backwards crossovers. If he could increase his lateral mobility, he would actually have a shot at the NHL. From watching him these past few seasons, his speed is excellent. He won the fastest skater at Canucks skills competition one year as a callup, but straight line speed and the type of game he is playing so far in his career translates to 4th line energy players,,,not defensemen.

[DeNiro]

50 minutes ago, canuckledraggin said:

 but straight line speed and the type of game he is playing so far in his career translates to 4th line energy players,,,not defensemen.

Maybe that's what's in store for Pedan. Heaven knows we need a big fourth liner that can skate and play physical.

 

Perhaps a Byflugien type transition is what he needs to crack the NHL.

[UticaHockey]

15 hours ago, canuckledraggin said:

Your expectations should be very low for this team always and forever. As a fanbase the Comets are unrivaled. After the 10 game winless streak to start the Canucks association with the team, the fans showed up more aggressive and with more passion than I've ever seen and almost willed the team to victory. The same has happened many times during the past 4 years, but the reality is that your squad is subject to the whims of the Canucks.

 

It appears as though the Comets are finally the minor league affiliate to the Canucks, whereas in seasons past they needed a whole lot of help  from AHL jorneyman. Now the leadership of Hamilton, Bancks, Archibald and Pedan is all the help they are going to get and the spots leftover are going to be prospects. It's an exciting time to be a Canucks fan and Comets' fans will just have to accept this.

 

As for Pedan.... Hopefully he is spending his whole summer doing backwards crossovers. If he could increase his lateral mobility, he would actually have a shot at the NHL. From watching him these past few seasons, his speed is excellent. He won the fastest skater at Canucks skills competition one year as a callup, but straight line speed and the type of game he is playing so far in his career translates to 4th line energy players,,,not defensemen.

Let's face it Canucks fans and fans of the AHL farm team are always going to look at things differently.  Canucks fans just want to see prospects develop and don't really care about wins and loses (although that may change once the farm is located closer to Vancouver).  Comets fans want to see three things.  1) Future impact NHL players starting their pro careers in Utica.  2) A competitive and entertaining team to watch on the ice.  3) A team capable of a deep run in the playoffs.

 

Just a note about your comment regarding Utica fans staying with the team during that first season when they went win-less during the first 10 games.  Let's not forget the Comets only won two of their first 11 games last season which was almost as bad.  And this was with Megna (4 games) and Chaput (all 11), the two guys that people keep pointing out that will be our AHL veterans this year and the reason why there was no need to sign AHL specific depth.

 

1) Future impact NHL players starting their pro careers in Utica. - Every year I read on here that the next batch of prospects will be so much better than the last but I'm a prove it to me before I believe it kind of guy.  After four seasons only one home grown prospect has graduated to the NHL and that is Gaunce who failed to score a single goal in his first full time NHL season.  Other prospects that were hyped back in their first pro seasons for the Comets include, Jensen, Corrado, Blomstrand, Shinkaruk, Kenins, Valk,  Cassels and Subban.  Plus this doesn't include the carryover prospects before the birth of the Comets to include Grenier, Mallet and Friesen.  

 

2) A competitive and entertaining team to watch on the ice. - For the most part the Comets despite their terrible starts in October in two of four years have climbed their way back into playoff races with very bad rosters.  Travis Green was good and getting a team full of plumbers to play boring defense first hockey that could win just enough games to be competitive but exciting hockey to watch it is not.  

 

3) A team capable of a deep run in the playoffs. - Utica fans will forever be grateful for the Comets team that made it to the Calder Cup finals in 2015.  But that team was built with a lot of influence from Lorne Henning who was promptly fired immediately after....and the goaltending of Jacob Markstrom who found his grove after years of inconsistency in the Florida Panthers system.  Other than that the Comets failed to make the playoffs twice and were over-matched in the first round in 2016 when we were forced to use ECHL players on PTOs and didn't have a single player made available from Vancouver for the playoffs even though the Canucks finished 28th overall and had no hopes of making the playoffs themselves.

 

The focus on Utica changed 180 degrees in the past two years since Henning and Gilman were fired and I don't see it getting any better this season.  In the two seasons since the house cleaning the Comets roster was decimated by injuries in both Vancouver and Utica and two years in a row Benning and Linden admitted that there was not adequate depth in the system.  I have been critical of the lack of depth signing for the Comets and still 12 days after the free agent period started the only action was to resign Darren Archibald.  Even with the added free agent signings specifically for the NHL team I don't think there is enough quality depth on the farm for the inevitable injuries and the possibility of losing a player like Boucher to waivers if he is designated to be sent down.  Again I'm a prove it to me first guy when it comes to the lofty expectations for rookies like MacEwen, Chatfield, D'Aust, Molino or Brisebois (only one player on that list was drafted). 

[Boudrias]

1 hour ago, UticaHockey said:

Let's face it Canucks fans and fans of the AHL farm team are always going to look at things differently.  Canucks fans just want to see prospects develop and don't really care about wins and loses (although that may change once the farm is located closer to Vancouver).  Comets fans want to see three things.  1) Future impact NHL players starting their pro careers in Utica.  2) A competitive and entertaining team to watch on the ice.  3) A team capable of a deep run in the playoffs.

 

Just a note about your comment regarding Utica fans staying with the team during that first season when they went win-less during the first 10 games.  Let's not forget the Comets only won two of their first 11 games last season which was almost as bad.  And this was with Megna (4 games) and Chaput (all 11), the two guys that people keep pointing out that will be our AHL veterans this year and the reason why there was no need to sign AHL specific depth.

 

1) Future impact NHL players starting their pro careers in Utica. - Every year I read on here that the next batch of prospects will be so much better than the last but I'm a prove it to me before I believe it kind of guy.  After four seasons only one home grown prospect has graduated to the NHL and that is Gaunce who failed to score a single goal in his first full time NHL season.  Other prospects that were hyped back in their first pro seasons for the Comets include, Jensen, Corrado, Blomstrand, Shinkaruk, Kenins, Valk,  Cassels and Subban.  Plus this doesn't include the carryover prospects before the birth of the Comets to include Grenier, Mallet and Friesen.  

 

2) A competitive and entertaining team to watch on the ice. - For the most part the Comets despite their terrible starts in October in two of four years have climbed their way back into playoff races with very bad rosters.  Travis Green was good and getting a team full of plumbers to play boring defense first hockey that could win just enough games to be competitive but exciting hockey to watch it is not.  

 

3) A team capable of a deep run in the playoffs. - Utica fans will forever be grateful for the Comets team that made it to the Calder Cup finals in 2015.  But that team was built with a lot of influence from Lorne Henning who was promptly fired immediately after....and the goaltending of Jacob Markstrom who found his grove after years of inconsistency in the Florida Panthers system.  Other than that the Comets failed to make the playoffs twice and were over-matched in the first round in 2016 when we were forced to use ECHL players on PTOs and didn't have a single player made available from Vancouver for the playoffs even though the Canucks finished 28th overall and had no hopes of making the playoffs themselves.

 

The focus on Utica changed 180 degrees in the past two years since Henning and Gilman were fired and I don't see it getting any better this season.  In the two seasons since the house cleaning the Comets roster was decimated by injuries in both Vancouver and Utica and two years in a row Benning and Linden admitted that there was not adequate depth in the system.  I have been critical of the lack of depth signing for the Comets and still 12 days after the free agent period started the only action was to resign Darren Archibald.  Even with the added free agent signings specifically for the NHL team I don't think there is enough quality depth on the farm for the inevitable injuries and the possibility of losing a player like Boucher to waivers if he is designated to be sent down.  Again I'm a prove it to me first guy when it comes to the lofty expectations for rookies like MacEwen, Chatfield, D'Aust, Molino or Brisebois (only one player on that list was drafted). 

A lot of good points. Could not read your list of short comings by the org without comparing the history of the Canucks over those same 4 years. I certainly agree with your comments about depth in Utica and the need for more depth. One could question the direction and priorities by management. Connacher and Baer helped with the Calder run but even then I thought it was Markstrom's outstanding play that made the most dif. Irregardless it was a demo of what could be done.  

 

I see a confluence of interest in the development timeline of both Utica and Vancouver as the org rebuilds. I am hoping that Green has a big influence in management thinking on how the influx of young talent can be best supported and developed. I am not a fan of relocating the AHL franchise out west. The travel takes to much time away from practice and training. Not worth it. Utica is ideal. I have not read anything about the experiences of the AHL teams in Cali and how that is working out. 

[sharbinder]

3 hours ago, UticaHockey said:

Let's face it Canucks fans and fans of the AHL farm team are always going to look at things differently.  Canucks fans just want to see prospects develop and don't really care about wins and loses (although that may change once the farm is located closer to Vancouver).  Comets fans want to see three things.  1) Future impact NHL players starting their pro careers in Utica.  2) A competitive and entertaining team to watch on the ice.  3) A team capable of a deep run in the playoffs.

 

Just a note about your comment regarding Utica fans staying with the team during that first season when they went win-less during the first 10 games.  Let's not forget the Comets only won two of their first 11 games last season which was almost as bad.  And this was with Megna (4 games) and Chaput (all 11), the two guys that people keep pointing out that will be our AHL veterans this year and the reason why there was no need to sign AHL specific depth.

 

1) Future impact NHL players starting their pro careers in Utica. - Every year I read on here that the next batch of prospects will be so much better than the last but I'm a prove it to me before I believe it kind of guy.  After four seasons only one home grown prospect has graduated to the NHL and that is Gaunce who failed to score a single goal in his first full time NHL season.  Other prospects that were hyped back in their first pro seasons for the Comets include, Jensen, Corrado, Blomstrand, Shinkaruk, Kenins, Valk,  Cassels and Subban.  Plus this doesn't include the carryover prospects before the birth of the Comets to include Grenier, Mallet and Friesen.  

 

2) A competitive and entertaining team to watch on the ice. - For the most part the Comets despite their terrible starts in October in two of four years have climbed their way back into playoff races with very bad rosters.  Travis Green was good and getting a team full of plumbers to play boring defense first hockey that could win just enough games to be competitive but exciting hockey to watch it is not.  

 

3) A team capable of a deep run in the playoffs. - Utica fans will forever be grateful for the Comets team that made it to the Calder Cup finals in 2015.  But that team was built with a lot of influence from Lorne Henning who was promptly fired immediately after....and the goaltending of Jacob Markstrom who found his grove after years of inconsistency in the Florida Panthers system.  Other than that the Comets failed to make the playoffs twice and were over-matched in the first round in 2016 when we were forced to use ECHL players on PTOs and didn't have a single player made available from Vancouver for the playoffs even though the Canucks finished 28th overall and had no hopes of making the playoffs themselves.

 

The focus on Utica changed 180 degrees in the past two years since Henning and Gilman were fired and I don't see it getting any better this season.  In the two seasons since the house cleaning the Comets roster was decimated by injuries in both Vancouver and Utica and two years in a row Benning and Linden admitted that there was not adequate depth in the system.  I have been critical of the lack of depth signing for the Comets and still 12 days after the free agent period started the only action was to resign Darren Archibald.  Even with the added free agent signings specifically for the NHL team I don't think there is enough quality depth on the farm for the inevitable injuries and the possibility of losing a player like Boucher to waivers if he is designated to be sent down.  Again I'm a prove it to me first guy when it comes to the lofty expectations for rookies like MacEwen, Chatfield, D'Aust, Molino or Brisebois (only one player on that list was drafted). 

1. Horvat

2. HSedin

3. DSedin

4. Eriksson 

5. Sutter

6. Baertschi 

7. Granlund 

8. Dorsett

9. Gagner 

10/11/12/13. Burmistrov, Goldobin*, Boeser*, Virtanen*, Dahlen*, Gaunce, Rodin, Boucher, Megna, Chaput, Molino*.

 

1. Tanev 

2. Elder 

3. Gudbranson

4. Hutton

5. Stecher*

6. Del Zotto

7/8. Weircosh, Pedan, Biega, Holm*, Juolevi•, Brisboise*, Subban*.

 

Legend:

* - waiver exempt

• - will go to junior

 

I definitely get what you are saying, however Utica should be stronger this year.

Looking above you'll see that Canucks usually like to run a 13F 8D 2G roster.

That means only 4 out of the 11 forwards will be NHL bound, the other 7 will be AHL bound. 

Also only 2 out of the 7 mentioned Defensemen will be with the Canucks. Leaving 5 being AHL bound. 

 

Basing off the canucks going with asset management, & sending down waiver exempt players the utica will get some players like..... 

 

Molino - Megna - Boeser

Goldobin - Chaput - Virtanen

Dahlen - Cassels - Archibald 

Labate - Hamilton - Carcone

MacEwen 

 

Pedan - Subban 

Holm - McEneny 

Brisebois - Cederholm

Sautner - Chatfield 

 

Demko

Bachman

 

*** you could interchange Boeser/Goldobin with Rodin/Boucher if they impress and make the team.

 

But regardless that looks like a better & deeper Utica team. With a mix of skill and speed, as well as a few multi-year pros. I'm not saying they are Calder contenders, however you have to believe they will push to be playoff bound. 

[UticaHockey]

1 hour ago, sharbinder said:

1. Horvat

2. HSedin

3. DSedin

4. Eriksson 

5. Sutter

6. Baertschi 

7. Granlund 

8. Dorsett

9. Gagner 

10/11/12/13. Burmistrov, Goldobin*, Boeser*, Virtanen*, Dahlen*, Gaunce, Rodin, Boucher, Megna, Chaput, Molino*.

 

1. Tanev 

2. Elder 

3. Gudbranson

4. Hutton

5. Stecher*

6. Del Zotto

7/8. Weircosh, Pedan, Biega, Holm*, Juolevi•, Brisboise*, Subban*.

 

Legend:

* - waiver exempt

• - will go to junior

 

I definitely get what you are saying, however Utica should be stronger this year.

Looking above you'll see that Canucks usually like to run a 13F 8D 2G roster.

That means only 4 out of the 11 forwards will be NHL bound, the other 7 will be AHL bound. 

Also only 2 out of the 7 mentioned Defensemen will be with the Canucks. Leaving 5 being AHL bound. 

 

Basing off the canucks going with asset management, & sending down waiver exempt players the utica will get some players like..... 

 

Molino - Megna - Boeser

Goldobin - Chaput - Virtanen

Dahlen - Cassels - Archibald 

Labate - Hamilton - Carcone

MacEwen 

 

Pedan - Subban 

Holm - McEneny 

Brisebois - Cederholm

Sautner - Chatfield 

 

Demko

Bachman

 

*** you could interchange Boeser/Goldobin with Rodin/Boucher if they impress and make the team.

 

But regardless that looks like a better & deeper Utica team. With a mix of skill and speed, as well as a few multi-year pros. I'm not saying they are Calder contenders, however you have to believe they will push to be playoff bound. 

If all of the pieces fall together then the Comets would have a decent line up however that rarely if ever happens and thus the need for more quality depth on the farm.  As I stated before I don't see Dahlen in Utica and believe that he will be playing in Sweden again this year.

 

All it takes is a couple of injuries and losing another player to waivers like they did the past two seasons and suddenly that added depth starts to disappear.  My biggest injury concerns are Dorsett and Rodin not being ready for the start of the season and then add to that the inevitable unexpected preseason game injury.  That might sound like a pessimistic view but the probability of it occurring is rather high and a good GM needs to plan for it happening.

 

Last year Etem was claimed on waivers and the year before it was Corrado. The two players that I am most concerned with this year is McEneny who is no longer waiver exempt and is just 23 years old and was very noticeable as the Comets  most improved player last year.  The other one is Boucher if they try to pass him through just because he was claimed by two different teams last year and seems to be the type of player that teams are willing to take a flyer on.

 

[elvis15]

On 7/11/2017 at 3:14 PM, DeNiro said:

Kesler had 11 points in his first 33 games in the AHL. People focus too much on points.

 

The Comets sucked plain and simple. They did the best they could with what they had, but to expect guys to produce playing with plugs is asking too much.

 

This year they should be much better with guys like Dahlen, Goldobin, Boucher, Chaput, Megna, MacEwan, Brisebois, Chatfield, Gunnarsson, and Biega or Wiercioch. That's the type of AHL depth you need to produce NHL talent. Last year was just an off year where they had a void of talent due to players graduating and moving on. Extensive injuries to the big club also played a role.

Kesler wasn't a 6th overall pick who'd spent the previous year in the NHL. Clearly Virtanen's trying to rebuild his game, but that doesn't mean fans in Utica have to be excited about him.

 

We'll see who makes it with Utica and who does anything once they're there. They are getting some help, even if they could use more.

[DeNiro]

44 minutes ago, elvis15 said:

Kesler wasn't a 6th overall pick who'd spent the previous year in the NHL. Clearly Virtanen's trying to rebuild his game, but that doesn't mean fans in Utica have to be excited about him.

 

We'll see who makes it with Utica and who does anything once they're there. They are getting some help, even if they could use more.

Kesler was a highly touted pick in one of the deepest drafts ever.

 

People need to stop focusing on him being a 6th overall. History shows the majority of top 10 picks don't become stars. The sooner you get the idea that a top 10 pick guarantees us anything, the better off you'll be. I'm confident he can still be an important role player for this team going forward though.

 

Him playing in the NHL last season doesn't mean anything either. He wasn't ready for the NHL full time and it clearly hurt his confidence going into the AHL.

 

Next season is a fresh start. I think we'll see the real Virtanen start to shine.

[E. Lindros]

Dahlen and pettersson should both be in utica. Get of the euro sized rinks and play in north america. Its more physical and heck you might even get a call up to the nhl

 

We can control their developement in utica, we cant overseas

[UticaHockey]

Finally some AHL depth on defense.

 

 

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

Very good signing for the Comets. Sifers is a classy veteran who brings great leadership/mentorship ability and a never quit attitude. He was a huge part of Lake Erie's 2016 Calder Cup run. He's also built like a tank (5'11, 210), plays a solid game at both ends, good first pass, skates well, chips in around 20 points from the backend, makes smart (albeit fairly unremarkable) plays offensively, keeps it simple defensively, is always willing to pay the price for his team, stands up for teammates, etc. and he has worn a letter and/or been a leader wherever he's played. Solid AHL addition.

[BO_Scorvat]

44 minutes ago, UticaHockey said:

Finally some AHL depth on defense.

 

 

Man that's a lot of defencemen for the Canucks and comets, gmjb must have a trade he's working on because no way you need 12+ left shot defencemen, or have just been getting used to Canuck depth these past few years 

[UticaHockey]

14 minutes ago, BO_Scorvat said:

Man that's a lot of defencemen for the Canucks and comets, gmjb must have a trade he's working on because no way you need 12+ left shot defencemen, or have just been getting used to Canuck depth these past few years 

Not everyone will be in Vancouver or Utica though.  They will send a few guys to K-Zoo who the Canucks just announced as their ECHL affiliate again for this season.

[stonecoldstevebernier]

The Sifers signing is a solid one, speaks volumes about the Utica organization that he was willing to sign a two year deal as well.

Also more than offsets the departure of David Shields. I thought Shields was steady for the most part during his time with the Comets, but his footspeed was always somewhat lacking and he wound up being a regular scratch towards the end of last year.