[UTICA COMETS] 2020-21 Season

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

 

 

A lot still up in the air for the AHL but I figured it was time to make this thread to see where we are at with Utica. This thread could be all in vain, but I figured it would be nice to see where exactly our farm club is compared to the Canucks in the pandemic.

 

Roster Composition: 2020-21 season

 

Departures: Descending by Point totals in 19/20 season.

1) Reid Boucher(LW/RW) : UTI to Avangard Omsk (KHL) ------------ GP: 53, G: 34, A: 33, Pts: 67 

2) Nikolay Goldobin (LW/RW) : UTI to CSKA Moscow (KHL)--------- GP: 51, G: 19, A: 31, Pts: 50

3) Carter Camper (C) : UTI to Leksands IF (SHL) ----------------------  GP: 48, G: 9, A: 32, Pts: 41

4) Francis Perron: (LW/C) : UTI to Released by Canucks (UFA)----  GP: 42, G: 6, A: 12, Pts: 18 EDIT: Francis Perron has signed in Sweden.

5) Stefan Leblanc: (D) : UTI to Florida Everblades(ECHL) -----------  GP: 32, G: 2, A: 4, Pts: 6

6) Seamus Malone: (C) : UTI to Indy Fuel (ECHL) ---------------------- GP: 35, G: 4, A: 1, Pts: 5

7) Dyson Stevenson: (RW): UTI to Allen Americans (ECHL) --------- GP: 33, G: 2, A: 2, Pts: 4

8) Tyler Graovac: (C) :UTI to Released by Canucks (UFA) ----------- GP: 11, G: 2, A: 1, Pts: 3 EDIT: Graovac has resigned for 1 year with the Canucks, assigned to Manitoba Moose

9) David Pope: (LW) : UTI to Released by Canucks (UFA) ------------ GP: 11, G: 1, A: 0, Pts: 1

10) Richard Bachman: (G) UTI to Retirement -------- GP: 3, W: 1, L: 1, OTL: 1, Sv%: .909

 

Acquisitions:

1) Jayce Hawerlyk (C/RW) : Free agent signing from OTT (NHL) EDIT: Hawerlyk made Canucks main roster and placed on LTIR

2) Will Lockwood (RW) : Prospect signing from Michigan (NCAA) 

3) Marc Michaelis (C) : Free agent signing from Minnesota State (NCAA)  EDIT: Michaelis has been placed on Canucks taxi squad

4) Jack Rathbone (D) : Free agent signing from  Harvard (NCAA) EDIT: Rathbone has been placed on Canucks taxi squad

5) Jett Woo (D) : Junior hockey graduate from Calgary (WHL)

 

AHL graduates to Canucks/NHL:

Zac MacEwen (RW) To Vancouver (NHL) 

 

Utica Free agents: 19/20 stats

1) Carter Bancks (C) : 2 year AHL deal expired Summer 2020 -------------   GP: 51, G: 6, A: 7, Pts: 13 EDIT: Retired from Professional hockey

2) Wacey Hamilton (RW) : 2 year AHL deal expired Summer 2020 --------  GP: 28, G: 4, A: 7, Pts: 11

3) Vincent Arseneau (LW) : 1 year AHL deal expired Summer 2020 -------- GP: 24, G: 7, A: 3, Pts: 10 EDIT: Vincent Arseneau has resigned with Comets

4) Dylan Blujus (LW) : 1 year AHL deal expired Summer 2020 --------------  GP: 35, G: 4, A: 5, Pts: 9 EDIT: Dylan Blujus has signed with the Rochester Americans

5) John Stevens (C): Trade from Bridgeport (AHL) AHL deal expired-------  GP: 33, G: 3, A: 6, Pts: 9 EDIT: John Stevens has resigned with Comets

6) Tanner Sorenson (C/RW): 1 year AHL deal expired Summer 2020 ------ GP: 12, G: 0, A: 2: Pts: 2

7) Matt Petgrave (D): 1 year AHL deal expired Summer 2020 -----------------GP: 9, G: 0, A: 1, Pts: 1

 

Wild card additions:

1) Nils Hoglander (LW) - Loan to Rogle (SHL) - out clause option to return to SHL if he does not make the NHL EDIT: Hoglander made Canucks main roster

2) Carson Focht (C) - Has not signed an ELC with the Canucks as of yet EDIT: Carson Focht has signed an ELC with the Vancouver Canucks and has been assigned to UTICA

 

Who's returning potentially: 19/20 stats

1) Justin Bailey (LW/RW) : RFA--------------------------------------------- GP: 53, G: 28, A: 19, Pts: 47

2) Sven Baertschi (LW) : 1 year remaining on 3 year deal----------- GP: 43, G: 13, A: 33, Pts: 46

3) Brogan Rafferty (D): 1 year remaining of 2 year deal-------------- GP: 57, G: 7, A: 38, Pts: 45

4) Kole Lind (RW): 1 year remaining of 3 year ELC------------------- GP: 61, G: 14, A: 30, Pts: 44

5) Lukas Jasek (C): 1 year remaining of 3 year ELC------------------ GP: 56, G: 14, A: 13, Pts: 27

6) Olli Juolevi (D): 1 year remaining of 3 year ELC-------------------- GP: 45, G: 2, A: 23, Pts: 25

7) Jonah Gadjovich (LW): 1 year remaining of 3 year ELC---------- GP: 38, G: 13, A: 4, Pts 17

8) Guillaume Brisebois (D): Resigned to 1 year deal------------------ GP: 48, G: 4, A: 11, Pts 15

9) Ashton Sautner (D): Resigned to 1 year deal------------------------ GP: 51, G: 1, A: 11, Pts 12

10) Mitch Eliot (D): 1 year remaining on 2 year ELC------------------ GP: 27, G: 2, A: 5, Pts 7

11) Jalen Chatfield (D): Resigned to 1 year deal----------------------- GP: 48, G: 0, A: 4, Pts: 4

12) Josh Teves (D): 1 year remaining on 2 year deal----------------- GP: 29, G: 0, A: 2, Pts: 2

13) Michael DiPietro (G): 2 years remaining on 3 year ELC-------- GP: 36, W: 21 , L: 11 , OTL: 2, Sv%: .908

14) Jake Kielly (G): Resigned to 1 year deal---------------------------- GP: 2, W: 1 , L: 0, OTL:0,  Sv%: .923

 

Analysis:

 

1) Yes obviously a lot depends how the NHL's return to play and how the logistics look of the taxi squad.  Most anticipate Olli Juolevi, Jalen Chatfield, Brogan Rafferty and Jack Rathbone all to fight for the bottom pairing D spots and likely 7/8 and potentially 9th spots.  It could also very well look like the taxi squad group of players called up are veteran players such as Baertschi, Sautner, Bailey to fill those gaps while more longer term prospects stay in Utica to develop their game and have game reps.  With that the composition of Utica's lineup could be very well dependent on the youth to step up.

 

2) Utica lost 4 of their top 10 point getters from last season (Boucher, Goldobin, Camper, and Perron).  Lots of open spots for the likes of Jasek, Lind, Gadjovich, Lockwood, and Michaelis to take on big roles to produce in Utica. Trent Cull has never shy away depending on the youth to produce but has been tentative to use first year prospects in prominent roles.  Lockwood and Michaelis may start in the bottom six and eventually work their way up the lineup.  With the lack of depth signings over the offseason to this point by the Canucks, it is likely assumed that this is the group that they are going with in the parent club and for the farm group barring Ryan Johnson signing AHL veterans.

 

3) Expect the likes of Wacey Hamilton, Carter Bancks, Vincent Arseneau and Dylan Blujus to be resigned. All four could've signed elsewhere in ECHL, AHL, or Europe, but all 4 have been Comets for a long time and have expressed high interest to remain with the team since the premature end of the AHL. Considering additionally all would be considered "veterans" based on the AHL rule of exceeding 320 pro games, with likely a very young lineup, Trent Cull will rely heavily on these AHL veterans to provide leadership. All have exceeded the 320 pro games played mark except Arseneau as he sits at 316 as of now.

 

4) Ashton Sautner was considered one of the development players who played under 260 games, but now as of now he has accumulated 263 professional games. He is now considered to be eligible to be one of the players who has played 320 games or less games veterans. However, he does count towards 1 of the 6 allowed veterans in the lineup. Additionally Justin Bailey is now considered a veteran after accumulating 336 professional games, and will also count towards the 6 veterans allowed in the lineup.

 

5) Utica has historically relied a lot upon PTO and ATO contracts to fill the gaps, however, with such a unique year and likely many of their top guys likely to be in the taxi squad group, I could envision Ryan Johnson signing some proven AHL players to fill the rest of the gaps. With Kalamazoo Wings in the ECHL affiliate cancelling the rest of their season, there may be an influx of Wings players coming into Utica, some already have been with the club in the past such as Tanner Sorensen and Justin Taylor.

 

6) I imagine Utica signs another goalie, Mikey and Jake are both relatively young, Utica has historically signed a goalie of their own to play in the ECHL but with the pandemic may choose to have one sitting around in case anything happens. I would like to see a veteran goalie be signed to mentor the two goalies. DiPietro made a case towards of the end of the season that losing Richard Bachman to Sweden was a tough voice to lose in the room for him.

 

7) Canucks sit at 40 signed contracts, with Justin Bailey and Jalen Chatfield still left unsigned.  Assuming that they do and likely signing Carson Focht (as Benning has said he would like to) would bring them to 43 contracts.  Still room to add 1-2 pieces as generally it seems like the Canucks may want to keep contract spots open for the likes of Podkolzin, Tryamkin, Utunen, and Karlsson towards next spring. 

 

8) Comets on a yearly basis really seem to lack that bonafide top line center since the departure of Cal O'Reilly. Utica potentially found that centre in Chris Camper last season but due to the pandemic, he was offered a 2 year deal in Sweden and Ryan Johnson of course wasn't going to stand in the way of that. Utica currently only has Lukas Jasek and Marc Michaelis under contract with the Canucks. I would assume Wacey Hamilton is resigned leaving room for another center whether that is Carson Focht or someone else. However, this has been Utica's weakness for a while was depth down the middle, particularly a point producing center.

 

Each AHL team based on their AHL roster construction must have: https://theahl.com/faq

Quote

In the AHL, player development is a top priority. The American Hockey League and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association have the following development rule in place:

Of the 18 skaters (not counting two goaltenders) that teams may dress for a game, at least 13 must be qualified as “development players.” Of those 13, 12 must have played in 260 or fewer professional games (including AHL, NHL and European elite leagues), and one must have played in 320 or fewer professional games. All calculations for development status are based on regular-season totals as of the start of the season.

I would anticipate Hawerlyk, Baertschi, Bailey, Sautner, Rafferty, and Chatfield as callups/extras/taxi squad leaving the roster to likely look like this for next season potentially.

 

            ?  - Jasek - Lind

            ?  - Michaelis - ?

Gadjovich - Hamilton - Lockwood

Arseneau - Focht - Bancks

 

Brisebois - Eliot

Rathbone - Blujus

Teves - Woo

 

DiPietro

Kielly

 

Everything is still very much up in the air, hopefully something happens so that our prospects don't lose a year of development, additionally so that 100 of other professional players do not lose a year of the career of hockey. Here is to hoping for Comets hockey in 2021!

 

EDIT: As of January 21, 2021.

 

 

13 Blues have been assigned to the Comets, 11 by the Canucks as seen above.

 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2021 by CRAZY_4_NAZZY

[Qwags]

I didn't realize just how much Utica lost over this offseason.

 

Perfect opportunity for some our prospects to make a name for themselves.

Edited December 7, 2020 by Qwags

[Ghostsof1915]

Sorry Utica. 

No chance Tram will play for the Comets. 

[UticaHockey]

As much as I would love to see a live hockey game right now I am not holding out much hope for this season. 

 

It is hard to see the details from the image below but here are the local COVID hospitalizations. 

 

Currently 146

1 week ago 112

2 weeks ago 70

3 weeks ago 44

4 weeks ago 35

5 weeks ago 22

 

It will likely get worse after the Christmas holiday and potentially break our healthcare system.  And we are not as bad as many parts of the country. 

[elvis15]

We'll see how this goes with everything. Maybe in two months things will have a better outlook. Here's hoping!

[Ghostsof1915]

1 hour ago, elvis15 said:

We'll see how this goes with everything. Maybe in two months things will have a better outlook. Here's hoping!

I'd like to hope that happens. But with Christmas and New Years coming. I think we'll see a spike until February. 

[Stierlitz]

 

[Canuck Surfer]

Three thumbs up @CRAZY_4_NAZZY , thanks for doing a great job on the Op!

 

It feels so hard to understand what will happen with the AHL, Utica this year?  Some random thoughts.

 

   - I was hoping we would see Aidan McDonough. He is in a better place if they get to play @ Northeastern. I dont think they will.

   - Really looking forward to Jett Woo on the Comets!

   - Think we will see Rathbone also, even more excited...

   - But Rathbone might make the main squad?

   - This team will be defined by Jayce Hawerlyk & Lukas Jasek.  Which is awesome IMO. Burrows like, pulse defined by work rate...

   - I still believe Gadjovich is a great hockey player.  The only question is can he get up to a speed where it is great at a pro level? Even AHL pro level?

   - Gadgy needs to absolutely burn his lungs, his legs.

   - All about having enough puff, becoming explosive, dangerous more than 1/2 way through a shift.

   - Think Juolevi will have graduated. Rafferty long gone, the bigs need a puck moving RHD.

   - Therefore D the big question. 

   - I suppose they will still be anchored by Brisbois, Sauntner. There is that, somewhat solid? It wont be exciting...

   - Sh!t, I forgot Rathbone. Maybe not so bad at all?

   - Can Kielly come up from the E and land the backup job?  Next years starter job?

 

   - Super pumped to see Marc Michaelis.  I have not seen if he is athletic enough to make it to the Nucks.

   - But he is a great player, can handle the puck, he's elusive, can pass & score; I project an AHL all star.

   - He could drag extra productivity out of Gadjovich? Lind...  

   - Jasek & Hawerlyk will define the team.

   - Michaelis & Rathbone will determine if it is any good?

 

[mll]

 

[UticaHockey]

A good update here including the possibility of the Comets having a dual affiliation this season.  Makes sense from a cost sharing perspective.

 

https://www.uticaod.com/story/sports/2020/12/30/american-hockey-league-sets-feb-5-start-2021-season/4086788001/

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

7 hours ago, UticaHockey said:

A good update here including the possibility of the Comets having a dual affiliation this season.  Makes sense from a cost sharing perspective.

 

https://www.uticaod.com/story/sports/2020/12/30/american-hockey-league-sets-feb-5-start-2021-season/4086788001/

hmmm interesting. I'm okay with that as long as Canucks prospects are given priority considering it is our affiliate.

 

Canucks shared affiliates with the Dallas Stars in 2011 with the Manitoba Moose, and several stars prospects took over some playing time in key roles for the Moose like Marc Fistric, Maxime Fortunus and Raymond Sawada.

[DownUndaCanuck]

Going to be brutal without their top scorers, basically the top line is gone. I'm hoping Hoglander wants to stay in the AHL rather than the SHL, he could play top-line minutes and get used to playing against some stronger defencemen. The way he's played last season and now in the U20 WC, he might jump straight into training camp and surprise some people.

[UticaHockey]

4 hours ago, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said:

hmmm interesting. I'm okay with that as long as Canucks prospects are given priority considering it is our affiliate.

 

Canucks shared affiliates with the Dallas Stars in 2011 with the Manitoba Moose, and several stars prospects took over some playing time in key roles for the Moose like Marc Fistric, Maxime Fortunus and Raymond Sawada.

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.

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

5 hours ago, UticaHockey said:

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.

That would be a shame Wacey Hamilton, Carter Bancks, Dylan Blujus and Vincent Arseneau have been great for the Comets.

 

That makes a lot of sense they way you put it though. 

[Googlie]

Looks like the 4 Canadian teams will only play themselves, a la NHL.  So a 48 game schedule would see them play each of the 3 other teams 16 times.  Yikes !!

[Ray_Cathode]

Since the AHL starts it’s season late, is it possible some European prospects could join mid-season? Thinking Costmar, Karlsson, Utunen, and so on.

[mll]

 

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

 

Sounds like St Louis' afilliate Springfield Thunderbirds are not playing so St Loui's prospects will head to Utica.

 

List of Springfield's supposed roster

 

 

Hope this doesn't severely impact Canuck prospects like Kole Lind, Jack Rathbone, Jonah Gadjovich, Jett Woo, and Lukas Jasek. 

Edited January 4, 2021 by CRAZY_4_NAZZY

[mll]

 

[-DLC-]

Is this real?  I didn't even know this could be a thing?