Chirps from Center Ice

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

Category Archives: The AHL

I Ain’t Scared of No Ghost

Comments Off on I Ain’t Scared of No Ghost Posted by on July 5, 2016

After a pretty meek Day 2 and beyond of the NHL Free Agency, business picked up again on the day after the Fourth of July.

It was the Philadelphia Flyers who made the most noise in bolstering their AHL affiliate about an hour down the PA Turnpike in Lehigh Valley.

The number one name on the AHL Big Board, T.J. Brennan, signed with the Philadelphia Flyers today. The Phantoms on their own a few hours later announced the signing of Mark Zengerle and Martin Ouelette to AHL contracts.

First, T.J. Brennan. Two time defensive player of the year. He is the real deal. Pairing him with Will O’Neill, the second best defensemen I had on the board will give teams fits. Couple that in with Mark Zengerle, who centered the Grand Rapids Griffins top line of Anthony Mantha and Eric Tangradi last year and you have a recipe for success considering other signings made by the Flyers such as O’Neill and Andy Miele, the top forward available on the big board.

That is, however, if the Phantoms even make playoffs. Lehigh Valley has done nothing but disappoint in its two seasons in Allentown with lineups that look in October that they can compete in June but are out of it in December and a laughingstock in March.

Long and short, I’ll believe all this July hype about the Phantoms and playoffs it when I see it in mid-April next year.

There were other signings today affecting a lot of other AHL teams that I will update on the Big Board in a bit.

The Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins today announced the re-signing of Goaltender Casey DeSmith. DeSmith, while playing on a PTO in the playoffs with the Penguins, took over the starters role in the playoffs and was one overtime Game 7 shot away from advancing to the Conference Finals against Toronto. The tandem as it stands in the beginning of July appears to be Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith. I see this as healthy competition between the two. DeSmith will be gunning for the starters role over the NHL contracted Jarry and Jarry will be looking to re-claim his undisputed number one role on Coal Street and become the next Matt Murray.

My 2016 Offseason Moves List will be updated later too, as I am hammering off this blog post, dinner is on the grill. Pork chops if you are scoring at home.

The AHL, WBS

NHL Free Agency: Day 1

2 Comments Posted by on July 1, 2016

In the first hour of NHL Free Agency Friday, names were flying across the National Hockey League and some of those moves may have a direct affect on the American Hockey League affiliate in the near future.

Breaking the moves down as they affect the AHL’s Atlantic Division as things stand as of about 8 p.m. Friday…

button_16pit200   Pittsburgh / Wilkes-Barre / Scranton   WBS

Perhaps the biggest movers on Day 1, the Penguins announced the re-signings of Tom Sestito and Steve Oleksy before noon. Sestito brings much needed toughness in a pinch for the NHL team and Oleksy did hint on exit day that he would be open to returning.

Then the signings started.

First signing was Stuart Percy, a former first round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs who was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Leafs. Best described as a two-way defenseman. Has battled injuries. 64 points (10-54-64) in 177 games with the Marlies.

Then Pittsburgh re-signed David Warsofsky. You will remember Warsofsky starting the season in Wilkes-Barre, getting called up and concussed in a freak accident with referee Tim Peel in an NHL game, his recovery and exposure to waivers where the New Jersey Devils claimed him and kept him on their NHL roster.

Third signing was Cameron Gaunce. I had Gaunce as 58 on my AHL Big Board. Gaunce was named a replacement to Derrick Pouliot in the AHL All-Star Classic in Syracuse. Gaunce led the Portland Pirates defenders in points last season.

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Gaunce played with Percy for a season in the Ontario Hockey League.

The fourth signing was yet another defender (!!!) in Chad Ruhwedel. I didn’t have Ruhwedel ranked in the Top 100 on the Board but he is at least a half a point a game player for Rochester last year. A bit undersized, he will likely see a good majority of time with Wilkes-Barre. Back to back 10 goal seasons for Ruhwedel.

So the Penguins defense is stacked for next season:

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button_wsh200   Washington / Hershey   HER

The Caps lost more than they gained today depending on who you talk to. They signed Christian Thomas, Joe Cannata and Darren Dietz. A forward, goaltender and defender, respectively. Thomas was a non-qualified Arizona piece that is a good skater. He had 10 goals between St. John’s and Springfield last season. Joe Cannata, the fourth best goaltender o by Big Board, is a calm, cool goaltender that had 20 wins in a split role with the Utica Comets. There are only a handful of goaltenders that won 20 games last year in the AHL. Solid signing by Hershey in my opinion. The other signing, Darren Dietz, is a two-way defender that saw some NHL action last year with Montreal. He, too, was not qualified by Montreal.

Hershey lost Justin Peters to Arizona and Carter Camper to New Jersey. No linking there, just trust me on those.

button_bos200   Boston / Providence   PRO

Signed Anton Khudobin, a goaltender that was with them a few years ago. He won 19 games in 31 games for a stacked San Diego Gulls team. Khudobin will replace Jeremy Smith, who signed with Colorado.

Tommy Cross re-signed and the Bruins also signed Tim Schaller. I had both in the 60 range on the Big Board.

button_nyr200   New York Rangers / Hartford Wolf Pack   button_hfd200

Adam Clendening came over from Calgary. Clendening had a few games with Wilkes-Barre during a conditioning stint. When he was called up to Pittsburgh and then exposed to waivers, he was claimed. It will be interesting to see if Clendening finds his way to Hartford this season.

Michael Paliotta was a non-qualified defender from Columbus. I didn’t have him ranked in the Top 100.

button_phi200   Philadelphia / Lehigh Valley   button_lv200

The Flyers made the biggest noise with some of the biggest signings this afternoon. They signed Andy Miele, Will O’Neill and Greg Carey, all Top 50 names on the AHL Big Board. Miele was the best forward available and O’Neill was the second best defenseman available. Carey was in the Top 50 and second in points on a terrible Springfield team.

Miele is a one way contract. That just means that he makes the same no matter where he plays. If he doesn’t get picked up on waivers should the Flyers expose him to them, he should bolster a Phantoms team that really disappointed last season.

The Florida Panthers and New York Islanders were silent on Day 1 as far as signings go for their AHL teams in Springfield and Bridgeport, respectively.

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Some other out the door stuff…

Jim Rutherford signed a three year extension as General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Winning the Stanley Cup is like the fountain of youth.

Jonathan had a blog post on the guys that Pittsburgh signed today. Seth too.

Patrick Williams had a roundup of all the moves today affecting all 30 AHL teams worth a look.

My 2016 Offseason Moves List will be updated.

I am off to New York City for the weekend. Not to see my beloved Mets, but to visit my brother and his wife and see a Brooklyn Cyclones game on Sunday. The Cyclones are the proud Short-A affiliate of the New York Mets though and will be wearing these jerseys Sunday.

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Look at that hat!

I’ll be around tomorrow on Twitter and will update Day 2 from New York City tomorrow as signings occur and affect the AHL’s Atlantic Division.

Happy Fourth!

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

Frenzy Eve

2 Comments Posted by on June 30, 2016

A couple of things to touch on before free agency begins Friday and the bedrock of a teams success starts building towards the Fall…

First, I am pinning the AHL Big Board to the top of the site so that it stays front and center for about a month and a handy reference tool to any that want to use it as free agency wears on. The changeover will be made tonight. You won’t notice anything other than the Big Board will be on the top of the site for the first month or so. Just scroll down to see the newer content.

Wilkes-Barre made a second signing this week, a kid by the name of Christian Hilbrich. A giant 6’7 forward that captained the Cornell Big Red last season. 27 goals and 21 assists in 111 collegiate games.

Pittsburgh, fresh off of winning a Stanley Cup about two weeks ago, opened their NHL Prospect Camp. The Skating on the Susquehanna blog, the team run WBS Penguins blog, has all the good stuff on local kids trying looking to make an impact, especially one from Kingston and more on Hilbrich’s signing.

Bookmark that blog and read it often.

Mattias Plachta went back to his German team, Adler Mannheim, and got a four year deal.

There was a goofy rumor about the Penguins breaking up with Wilkes-Barre and moving their affiliation to Hershey. Not only is that a nonsensical rumor this late in the season, it’s also an asinine thing to even assume. Wilkes-Barre will be playing as the AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins until at least 2019. The Pittsburgh Penguins just won the Stanley Cup with a group of players developed in Wilkes-Barre. They got their coach from Wilkes-Barre too. Washington places their prospects in the oldest, most historic and decorated team in the American Hockey League which has led the 30 team league in attendance for years. The idea that Pittsburgh would want to uproot their affiliate, itself a shining star of its own right with the longest playoff record in the AHL, premier facilities and a passionate fanbase and place it someplace else, is nonsense. That Washington would even consider it is nonsense itself. You may not get along with the Bears fan sitting next to you at the game on Friday or that Penguins fan that is loud and obnoxious at the Bears game but trust me, it’s good for one another. This rivalry that we have is not only good for Hershey and Wilkes-Barre but Washington and Pittsburgh, playing competitive hockey in hostile environments 12 tines a year. It’s also good for the AHL, two healthy, passionate fanbases drive revenue and all that other stuff that makes this whole developmental thing successful.

240 words on a bunch of nonsense. Anything for clicks these days, I assume. File this one under the rarely used, “Just Rambling” blog category.

Anyway.

#57 is off of the Big Board, as Zach Sill has re-signed with the Washington Capitals.

The fun starts noon Friday. I will have a blog Friday night recapping the days events and how they affect the Penguins, Bears, Phantoms, Wolf Pack, Sound Tigers, Bruins and Thunderbirds. This weekend I am going to New York City, so I will do my best to update the Big Board and blog about any additions to any of the teams in the AHL’s Atlantic Division as time allows. Probably in the evening hours. Just keep it locked here this weekend.

Oh, and out the door, I don’t know if you heard the news but Scott Stuccio announced this week that effective this past Monday his services with Hershey Entertainment and Resorts (the corporate name of the group that runs the Bears) has been eliminated. Suffice to say, this news was shocking. Scott is a top notch broadcaster and better individual. Rest assured that he will not be unemployed for very long. Some other team will snatch him up sooner rather than later.

Back tomorrow with a recap of Free Agency Day 1.

Just Rambling, Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

2016 AHL Top 100 Free Agents and Beyond — The Big Board

1 Comment Posted by on June 28, 2016

(Note: Big Board was last updated August 16 and will not be updated again)

Back for another year is a project first born in the mind of Jonathan Bombulie many years ago, a ranking of the Top 100 AHL Free Agents and Beyond. For anyone not familiar, there are NHL and NBA Free Agent Big Boards on nearly every corner of the internet. But instead of names like Steven Stamkos and Kevin Durant, this board focuses on the Andy Miele’s and Michael Leighton’s of the minor league hockey world.

Before we get to the Board, there are some people I need to personally acknowledge and sincerely thank for their help with the following respective teams…

Brent Baldwin – Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Brandon Curtis – Syracuse Crunch
Tracey Lake – Albany Devils
Kyle Mace – Hershey Bears
Nathan Mallett – San Antonio Rampage, Ontario Reign and San Diego Gulls
Stephen Meserve – Texas Stars
Chris Reynolds – Providence Bruins, Hartford Wolf Pack and Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Alan Saunders – Rochester Americans

Information on Unrestricted and Restricted Free Agents was gathered from Cap Friendly, The AHL, EliteProspects, HockeyDB and HockeysFuture.

I hope that you enjoy the lists that follow. The first list is the Top 100 AHL Free Agents available, then a “Best of the Rest” immediately below that list. Note that any players name that has an asterisk after it was a non-qualified restricted free agent. You won’t find many in the Top 100 list because I found it easier to rank the Unrestricted Free Agents. There was no sense in listing a restricted free agent in the Top 100 when he was only going to get tendered an offer.

Please let me know what you think of the rankings, and if there are any errors, omissions, or signings so I can make the correct edits. The Free Agency market, “goes live” July 1 at noon.

After the jump if you didn’t link in direct, dive in…..

Read more of this post

The AHL

The Calm Before the Board

Comments Off on The Calm Before the Board Posted by on June 27, 2016

Good news you guys, the AHL Free Agent Big Board is, for all intents and purposes, done.

– Full list of Unrestricted Free Agents? Check.

– Full list of Restricted Free Agents? Check.

– Capsules on every Free Agent? Through the efforts of many, check!

– Full list of Restricted Free Agents tendered qualifying offers? No. A good majority of teams announced theirs before 5 p.m. today. Teams that I do not have full information on are as follows, Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks.

– A Top 100? Check.

Everything that is left is just taking the Top 100 from paper to online in a table then taking the 250+ names not listed in the Top 100 and alphabetizing by last name. I did that last year manually and it was a real pain and took me a half a day to do. Not this year. I was able to search the internet on how to alphabetize a list on a spreadsheet. I tinkered with it Sunday night on a small sample size and it worked. So that means that at some point tomorrow, the 2016 Top 100 AHL Big Board and Beyond will be out at some point. I am going to gun for 5 p.m. If, it goes later than that, I may push it to no later than 8 Tuesday or if push come to shove, noon Wednesday.

So stay tuned. This was a massive project that came together rather quickly this year.

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There was news affecting Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Monday, so let’s get to that.

Tim Erixon re-signed with Pittsburgh. A one year, two way deal. Erixon was a pending RFA, and was part of the “Black Aces” crew that was called up to Pittsburgh after Wilkes-Barre’s season ended at the hands of the Hershey Bears in Game 7 of the Atlantic Division Finals in May. I took that as a positive sign and it panned out for Erixon who will be looking to crack Pittsburgh’s lineup in the fall.

Dominik Uher was the only other RFA tendered a qualifying offer. Uher has signed a deal with a team in his native Czech Republic. The Pens did this proactively to retain Uher’s North American rights.

Tyler Biggs, James Melindy, Dan O’Donoghue, Mattias Plachta, Harrison Ruopp, Justin Schultz and Anton Zlobin were not tendered offers and all are free agents. Biggs was a walking M*A*S*H unit, couldn’t ever stay healthy. Melindy and O’Donaghue were throw ins for Dustin Jeffrey in the trade with Arizona and never played a game for Wilkes-Barre. Plachta was a bit of a surprise, I thought he caught on a bit with the change of scenery. Ruopp was a dime a dozen ECHL also-ran that never made an impact to stick. Schultz may re-sign with Pittsburgh in a restructured deal and Anton Zlobin has a KHL tryout lined up.

Coal Street announced their first new player signing of the offseason.

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Depending on how he does in camp, he could be a player that sticks in Wilkes-Barre. 95 points and a +60 isn’t anything to ignore. So it’s worth watching. If not, Wheeling has themselves a hell of a player.

I’ll update my woefully outdated 2016 Offseason Moves List in a bit. In fact, it may be updated by the time you read this.

So big board tomorrow or Wednesday. Check back often.

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

2016 NHL Draft Recap

Comments Off on 2016 NHL Draft Recap Posted by on June 25, 2016

Not really much analysis wise I can offer on the guys that the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins drafted on Day 2 of the NHL Draft. Consider this a one stop shop link off to the other areas of the internet that have knowledge and insight on the potential Wilkes-Barre / Pittsburgh Penguins.

First the picks…

Pens opened up the day at 55…

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Then they picked again at 61…

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Then a trade of a familiar face to move up to 77…

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Bennett is an injury liability who got passed over for more durable players in the likes of Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust. He returns to the GM who drafted him in Ray Shero with the Devils and the Head Coach who knows him best in John Hynes.

With the pick, the Penguins selected…

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Pens were up again at 121, 151 and finally at 181…

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Masonius attended Penguins development camp last season and left an impression enough for the Penguins to select him with their last pick in the draft.

Analysis wise, Coal Street’s blog Skating on the Susquehanna has everything you need on these guys and more.

The AHL Free Agent Big Board is about half done as of Saturday afternoon. It was crowd sourced again this season and the help is appreciated. Depending on how quickly it comes together this weekend, look for it sometime early this week. The soft goal is Wednesday, if not sooner.

Pittsburgh, The AHL, WBS

Birds of a Feather…

1 Comment Posted by on June 18, 2016

The two newest teams in the American Hockey League were announced this week. They are the Springfield Thunderbirds and the Tucson Roadrunners.

The Thunderbirds were announced Thursday. They are the relocated Portland Pirates team and will play as the affiliate of the Florida Panthers. It’s possible and highly likely that the Thunderbirds will remain in the Atlantic Division.

At first, when I heard the name and the logo, I thought it was a weak attempt at a rebrand of a team in Springfield. But then I read about it, in the link above, and understand where they are coming from.

The Roadrunners were announced Saturday in Arizona. They are the “old” Springfield franchise and are the affiliate of the Arizona Coyotoes.

Wait. Coyotes and Roadrunners. It is your Saturday morning cartoon past revisited.

The Roadrunners have embraced the hashtag, #meepmeep which I think is as cool as all get out. What wasn’t announced was a sponsorship with ACME. If that happened, that would be downright awesome.

The Roadrunners are slated to play in the Pacific Division and most likely will play 68 games joining their California counterparts.

The AHL may need to re-align again, as there now is an imbalance of 16 teams in the Western Conference and 14 teams in the Eastern Conference, with the loss of Portland and the gain of Tucson. News on possible realignment will come sometime later in the Summer.

Happy Father’s Day!

The AHL

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