Chirps from Center Ice

A fan blog about the AHL's Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins

Monthly Archives: June 2019

Mike Vellucci Named Head Coach of Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins

Comments Off on Mike Vellucci Named Head Coach of Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins Posted by on June 28, 2019

In a move that came from out of nowhere Friday, AHL Calder Cup Champion Head Coach Mike Vellucci announced that he was leaving the team he guided to the Calder Cup and the undisputed number one overall team in the League last season, the Charlotte Checkers.

Strange, that a guy who had as much success that he had in guiding the Category Five, 51-win regular season team that the Checkers were this past season, would just up and leave as quick as he did, weeks removed from winning the Calder Cup championship over the Chicago Wolves in mid-June.

Then, this tweet from an NHL insider got the gears moving.

I saw this, then started to dig deeper. I found this tweet from the AHL which I expounded on via a series of tweets.

I’ll die on that hill that Clark Donatelli was not the problem for the team. It’s been explained here on the blog in the post mortem of the past season. Hell, Donatelli was in Pittsburgh this week for the Penguins Development Camp.

I continued…

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Had no idea that it would take Coal Street three hours and ten minutes later to announce it formally.

Clark Donatelli resigns and J.D. Forrest and Jarrod Skalde stay on with the team as assistants.

Is Vellucci, who has long been rumored as next in line to graduate up to the NHL as a Head Coach one day just waiting in the wings if/when Mike Sullivan gets shown the door one day? Why would Vellucci leave the Carolina organization and take a job in the Pittsburgh organization when it would appear that the two franchises are headed in separate directions?

Those answers to those questions won’t be known for some time, if at all. But it would appear that the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins have acquired the biggest off ice Free Agent this summer.

Time will tell.

Elsewhere, Linus Ölund was loaded to Brynäs in the Swedish League. Press release here if you can read Swedish and the 2019 Offseason Moves List was updated.

The AHL Big Board will get stuck to the top of the blog with this next post succeeding it, probably some time Saturday as this news has to marinate for a bit.

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

2019 AHL Top 100 Free Agents and Beyond – The Big Board

3 Comments Posted by on June 27, 2019

Blogger Note: Big Board will be updated through July 20, 2019 and unstuck from top of blog on July 22, 2019.

Back for another year is an idea cooked up by the great Jonathan Bombulie a long time ago. This is actually Year Five of the on the blog of carrying the tradition that Bombulie conceived which was ranking the top AHL free agents available and putting out a list of the Top 100 and then a second list of the best available after that.

After hemming and hawing on the idea of whether I wanted to invest the time to carry this on for a fifth season, by the time I realized I was “all in” on the concept this year, I was done with half the teams. So I didn’t contract out to anyone this season as I had in seasons past. That’s not to say or suggest that I won’t ask for help in the future, but more of a, “can I do this myself” question that I answered with a resounding ‘yes’ as I was done well in advance of the July 1 start of NHL Free Agency.

Enough about how the idea came about this year and to the subject at hand, the Big Board.

All data compiled was taken from either Elite Prospects, Cap Friendly, the AHL and/or Twitter.

You will see some symbols / identifiers next to some players names. They mean the following:

^ – Group 6 Unrestricted Free Agent. Defined here.
* – Non-tendered Restricted Free Agent (RFA) – essentially a RFA who wasn’t given a qualifying offer.

They really don’t mean anything in the way that the Board was constructed, but in creating the Board I used these identifiers and just carried them over to the final product.

As always, if you spot any errors or omissions, please let me know in the comments. This Board will be updated as Free Agency begins and will be pinned to the top of the blog for a few weeks after the July 1 period.

If you didn’t link in directly from elsewhere, hit the jump and enjoy!

Read more of this post

The AHL

2019 AHL Big Board Thursday — Other Notes

Comments Off on 2019 AHL Big Board Thursday — Other Notes Posted by on June 26, 2019

I am essentially putting the finishing touches on the 2019 AHL Big Board which I took in house this season and did all on my own. The list, with a Top 100 and about 250 or so other names, will be out Thursday at noon, barring any last second snags which would delay it only by a few hours or so. Check back then and follow along as NHL Free Agency cranks up Monday, July 1 in the afternoon.

One name on the Big Board which was a restricted free agent was Penguins defenseman Jeff Taylor, who was the only player left without a qualifying offer. He will be an unrestricted free agent.

Update: After this blog post went up, Pittsburgh announced that they re-signed Kevin Czuczman and Zach Trotman to two year deals. Nice to have both in the fold for the foreseeable future. They were part of my “needs” list on the Offseason Moves List which was also updated to reflect these signings.

In Arena news, the LED board will be ready by the fall, but the zambonis won’t. Look for it later in the hockey season, around December or the start of the new year. Details here.

Back Thursday with the Big Board.

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

2019 NHL Draft Recap

Comments Off on 2019 NHL Draft Recap Posted by on June 23, 2019

Up front, I don’t know a single thing about the players that the Pittsburgh Penguins drafted other than what has been said about them. I figure that is the same boat that a lot of people are in. So consider this a bookmark so to speak when these players eventually make their way through Wilkes-Barre in the next 2-4 years.

Pittsburgh hasn’t had a first round pick in years, but this year they did and picked at 21.

Nick Hart dropped in on Twitter and had some things to say about Poulin.

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He also led the Phoenix in QMJHL playoff points, 8-6-14 in 10 games.

Jonathan has some stuff on him too that you can read about here the standard way.

Penguins didn’t have any more first round picks, and on day two (Saturday afternoon) they traded their 98th, 151st and 207th picks to the Arizona Coyotes for their 74th overall pick.

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He also finished the 2018-19 season with 45-42-87 in 68 games. His 45 goals were tied for second-most in the QMJHL.

Penguins then selected again in the fifth round.

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Pens had some picks in round seven…

He is actually under contract with HPK for next season in Finland.

Pittsburgh then traded next years seventh round pick and for that, drafted…

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So there you have it. Pittsburgh adds to their depth with a number of power forwards. It will be interesting to see how these kids develop and how many, if any, ever make their way through Wilkes-Barre in the hopes of one day playing in the NHL.

Big Board Update: I have a Top 100 rounded out. I am waiting on the news on Restricted Free Agents to be official before I move forward with the final product and move everything over to the blog12. Provided all of that is known, it’s possible that Wednesday or Thursday the 2019 Big Board will be here. Stay tuned, it’s shaping up to be a busy next ten or so days here on the blog with the start of NHL Free Agency kicking off next Monday.

Pittsburgh

Four More 6/20

1 Comment Posted by on June 20, 2019

Signing Week continued on Coal Street as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins announced that defensemen Matt Abt and Jon Lizotte re-signed on Wednesday and forwards Renars Krastenbergs and Ryan Scarfo re-sign Thursday.

Earlier in the week, the Pens re-signed Blake Siebenhaler and Maoy Erkamps.

Abt was OK in his first year pro. I liked what I saw in an extremely small sample size out of Jon Lizotte late in the year. Scarfo and Krastenbergs are support pieces.

I mean in order to build the best looking building in town, you need to have a solid foundation and a good structure. Use that analogy when it comes to how the roster for 2019-20 is being built here in mid-June.

Tyler had a thought on the signings this week I thought I should add…

The only counterargument to that statement is that the game is getting away from goonery and there are referees and linesmen out there that also are paid to prevent the pushing around (to an extreme) from happening.

I think the Pens are done with making moves this week based off of this tweet from Nick Hart…

Just a hunch.

2019 Offseason Moves List has been updated.

The Pens are drafting this weekend and I’ll maybe do a catch all post of their haul Saturday or Sunday. Look for that this weekend.

Heavy lifting on the AHL Big Board is done, I’m identifying restricted free agents now, will list the top free agent from each team then round out a Top 100 list. I don’t want to give a date and deliver the Board late but some time next week, call it either Thursday or Friday, it will be out here on the blog for all to see. I’m well ahead of schedule. The day before, I’ll drop in here with a post letting you know the time it will be out.

Did you turn your A/C on in your home / apartment yet?

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

Coupon Moves Continue

Comments Off on Coupon Moves Continue Posted by on June 17, 2019

Seemingly out of nowhere, kind of like this blog post, the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins announced two re-signings today. Blake Siebenhaler and Macoy Erkamps have re-signed and will be in the fold in 2019-20 for the Penguins. AHL deals for both.

Siebenhaler was acquired in a trade with Columbus in the Spring, played one game and then was sent to Wheeling. Erkamps was a fringe defender who appeared in 24 AHL contests with the Penguins.

So that’s 25 games between the two of them, with a whopping four assists, all scored by Erkamps.

Keeping with the theme of attempting to Boil Your Water on Two, the off season re-signings so far have been Joseph Cramarossa, Thomas DiPauli and Erkamps and Siebenhaler. Rarely do I like to compare what other AHL teams do because each developmental process is different, but Hershey has re-signed a boatload of really good players like Liam O’Brien, Steve Whitney and Brian Pinho. They are getting the band back together. A band, mind you, that had a resurgent second half of the season and made it to the second round of the playoffs only to be dismissed by eventual Calder Cup Champion Charlotte. The Penguins are doing the same, but they missed the playoffs for the first time in sixteen seasons with the group they have brought back.

There is a lot of summer left, yes. Free agency hasn’t even begun yet. But the Penguins, with these signings, haven’t made any attempt to give me hope that next year will be any different than the last.

If you are wondering, yes, I am planning on bringing back the AHL Big Board. I was actually working on it when this news dropped. I should, provided everything goes according to plan, have it done this week as far as heavy lifting goes, then it’s just primp and prime for a midweek release next week in time for the July 1 Free Agent Frenzy.

But for anything else breaking, look for a post on here announcing when the Board will be out, then the main show well in advance of the July 1 free for all.

The AHL, WBS