Millers Musings - Memorial Day edition

 One more trade and a look at the roster’s top 23 and under players. 

Goodrow goes to Fort Erie

After dangling him all off-season the Millers finally moved out veteran F Barclay Goodrow, sending him and $1.8 million in cash (half his salary) to Fort Erie for 2 prospects: D Gavin White and G Maxim Mayorov. 

 White just completed his first AHL season, and the former OHL Defender held his own, scoring 11 points in 49 games. Known as an offensive-minded blue liner in his OHL days, the hope is he can increase his scoring in his 2nd AHL season and possibly show enough to become a 3rd pair or depth option for the Stars in the next couple of years. 

 Mayorov is a 6’6  20 year-old goalie in Russia who has spent his last couple of years putting up monster numbers in the MHL, the Russian equivalent of the CHL. He’ll either spend the 24-25 season in the MHL for the last time or move up to the VHL. He’s a good 2 seasons away from possibly having a KHL role, so he’s a wildcard but the size, bloodlines (his father was a long-time KHL goalie) and performance make him an interesting lottery ticket. 

23 and Under Players

With the CCHL draft a little over 3 weeks away, it’s a good time to look at the youth pipeline in Georgetown and see where the strengths and weaknesses lie and how that might effect the Millers picks in the draft. Many analysts use a players age 23 season as a dividing line between potential and plateauing. Below are the U23 players eligible to play for the team this season, based on their disk age. 

Dylan Guenther (20), LW/RW. Guenther is seen as a future top 6 mainstay on the wings, and is projected to have a top 9 role and lots of PP ice time this coming season. He should be a 30 to 40 goal scoring winger with an all-around game in his prime. 

David Jiricek (20), D. Jiricek is projected by the Millers to be a top 4 D-Man and PP threat at minimum. His defensive zone reads need work, and he’s probably no higher than 10th on the blue line depth chart entering the season, but it’s hoped he can work his way to at least semi-regular duty by the 25-26 season. 

Matt Rempe (21), C. Throughout franchise history the Millers have rarely ever utilized a traditional fighter. Chris Neil played one year towards the end of his career but didn’t see much ice time. Rempe could change that, although he is more likely to be used as a depth option then an everyday player., drawing in when up against more physical teams. 

Mikael Pyythia (21), C. The Finn had a decent 1st AHL season and saw action for 17 games for a depleted Columbus roster. He’s likely a depth forward in the NHL since he lacks any one outstanding skill. He’s highly unlikely to see any time in the Millers lineup this season and would be a depth option even if he cements a bottom 6 NHL role. 

Ridley Greig (21), C. Picked up in the dispersal draft, the Millers are excited to have him on the club, although he currently profiles as the team’s 13th forward heading into the season. Greig’s got a high motor and enough skill to carve out a long career as a middle 6 forward and special teams contributor.

Jayden Struble (22), D. Struble had a good NHL debut, playing bottom 4 minutes in Montreal a year after coming out of college. He’s above Jiricek on the current depth chart but long-term is a bottom pair defenseman for the Millers.

Marco Rossi (22), C. The crown jewel of the Millers offseason acquisitions, Rossi is a future 2nd line C , and potentially a top line C with further development. Although not reflected in his ratings Rossi is considered to have strong defensive chops as well as offensive ability and should grow into a well-rounded top 6 player for the Millers within a couple of years. He’ll start 24-25 as the 3rd line Center. 

Jesperi Kotkaniemi (23), C. A former first round pick of the Millers. Kotkaniemi returns to the club with a lot less hype than he had on his draft day. Coming off a terrible NHL season, he’s at best the club’s 14th forward on the depth chart. Management is hoping for a comeback season that will at least put him into a bottom 6 role for the 25-26 season. 

Lukas Dostal (23), G. Slated to backup Skinner in net, there is hope that as Dostal gains more experience and his NHL club matures around him he could become the starter in a couple of years. The team’s best G prospect is Michael Hrabel and he’s a good 5 years from an NHL job, so Dostal is the present and near future in-system challenger to Skinner. 

Millers 23-24 Offseason Review

 Since bowing out in the first round of the playoffs, the Millers have made several roster moves

in the past few months. Looking to get younger, but still remain competitive, the team has seen

a combination of youth and experience join the club so far this offseason.

Players Out:

Claude Giroux (trade), Frank Nazar (trade), Jake Bean (trade), Reilly Smith (trade), Scott

Laughton (trade), Nathan Bastian (RFA Release), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (UFA), Brett Kulak (UFA)

Players In:

Marco Rossi (trade), Jayden Struble (trade), Vitek Vanecek (trade), Jesperi Kotkaniemi (trade),

Christian Fischer (trade), Trevor Moore (Dispersal Draft), Ridley Greig (Dispersal Draft), Brian

McCabe (Dispersal Draft)

Georgetown did not sign any UFAs.

Below is a breakdown and the reasoning behind each acquisition:

Claude Giroux and prospect Frank Nazar to Amos for Marco Rossi, Jayden Struble and

prospect Quinn Finley.

The Millers had targeted a young, future top 6 Center as their main goal of the offseason and

acquired the 22 year-old Rossi from Amos when trading resumed. Giroux was well loved and

respected in Georgetown but the emergence of Dylan Guenther meant a top 6 spot on the

wing had to open, and with Giroux getting up there in years it made sense to move him for

Rossi. Georgetown was also high on Nazar, but his NHL future seemingly lies on the wing and

the club felt Rossi offered more current and latter-day value. The trade also brought in 22 year

old Struble, who looks like a solid 3rd pair, D and collegian Quinn Finley, who’s played for the

US at the U20 WJC and projects as a possible speedy middle 6 winger at the pro level. Long-

term Rossi may not put up the points that Nazar does, but Rossi is considered to be a solid

defensive Center for a young player and a possible Selke nominee down the line who can

contribute 60-70 points a season. In other words, an extremely solid 2nd line Center. He’s

slated to start on the 3rd line this upcoming season.

Jake Bean to Baltimore for prospect Alexander Pashin

Bean ably served as a depth Dman the past couple of seasons, but the acquisition of Brian

McCabe in the dispersal draft moved him down to 9th on the depth chart. Rookies Struble and

David Jiricek, although minors-bound, are also available if needed so Bean was a $2,000,000

luxury. Once lauded as an offensive Dman, his point totals have disappointed but his defensive

play has been solid. Bean could find regular ice time in Maryland, so the Millers were happy to

move him in exchange for former Carolina prospect Pashin. Pashin’s entry-level contract was

voided last year as he left the AHL to play in Russia, where the dimunitive winger put up decent

numbers in his first full KHL year. He’s a lottery ticket, but if Pashin continues to improve and

produce in the KHL, a return to North America isn’t out of the question.

GEO 10-24 and Reilly Smith to Chippewa for Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Vitek Vanecek.

This deal serves 2 purposes: 1) Moving out Reilly Smith as the expensive vet was looking at a

4th line or reserve role, and 2) Taking flyers on Kotkaniemi and Vanecek to improve for the next

disk after poor 23-24 NHL seasons. The Kotkaniemi return is particularly risky, as he’s making

$4.6 million over the next 3 years, and will very clearly be the 5th or 6th Center on the depth

chart and could conceivably see no ice time in the 24-25 Miller’s season. If he can return to his

form of the 22-23 NHL season he’ll make a decent bottom 6 Center still with some potential to

meet his top 6 ceiling. Vanecek is no improvement over Jake Allen as the #3 Goalie, but a

comeback in the 24-25 NHL season more in line with his 22-23 showing could see the pending

RFA resigned as a fairly cheap 3rd Goalie, or possibly dealt if he shows enough to be a good

#2 option again.

Scott Laughton to Fergus for Christian Fischer and prospects Ryan Ufko and Vincenz

Rohrer

Laughton was acquired at mid-season last year and was a revelation, finding instant chemistry

with Claude Giroux on the top line and scoring a point per game and adding some needed grit

to the lineup. With his ratings going down following a tepid NHL season that included a

substantial cut in his ice-time, Laughton was pencilled in as the LW on the 3rd line with Copp

and Guenther. The acquisition of Rossi and the desire to pair him with a strong defensive

forward who can help with face-offs and with another good offensive player made Laughton

expendable. This move set-ups a potential third line of Rossi centering Copp and Guenther.

Fischer is a 4th line energy player who’s merely depth on the wings. The prospects are not

definite NHL’ers but have desirable skills and traits that could see them fit in at the bottom of a

lineup. Rohrer joins fellow Austrians Rossi and prospect Marco Kaspar in the system. Rohrer is

not as skilled as Rossi nor a 200 foot player like Kaspar, but he is a smart, creative Center

who’s likely to move to the wing due to his size if he makes the NHL. Ufko is a former WJC star

as an offensive defenseman who also had a solid NCAA career at UMass. He turned pro after

his college season ended and held his own in the AHL. On the small side at 5’10 and 180 lbs,

Ufko is likely a 3rd pair D and 2nd PP QB at the NHL level.

Dispersal Draft - Moore, Greig, McCabe

With their first pick in the dispersal draft of Sudbury and New England players, the Millers

chose winger Trevor Moore. Coming off a 30 goal NHL season, the heady winger is slated to

play to the right of Dylan Larkin on the top line. An all-around player with great speed, Moore

will also see time on the PK in addition to PP duties.

The 2nd pick was C/LW Ridley Greig, a 21-year old coming off his first full NHL season. A late

1st round pick in 2020, Greig plays a fast, hard-nosed brand of hockey that belies his size. He

also has very good skill, and should be a middle 6 mainstay for years to come. Given the

Millers current forward depth Greig probably won’t see a lot of game time this coming season

unless injuries strike a few forwards, but in a couple of years he’ll be a regular, likely on the

wing.

(Prospect Josh Filmon was the Millers 3rd pick. He’s an average-sized winger out of the WHL,

lauded for his compete and hockey IQ. A solid scorer, he’s also viewed as a potential middle 6

winger.)

Georgetown’s final pick was D Brian McCabe. The veteran comes off perhaps his best NHL

season, and is likely to pair with Shea Theodore on the top defensive pairing, as well as being

on one of the PK units. A shut-down D who can skate and move the puck, he should thrive

alongside the offensive-minded Theodore.

Iceland navigates the dispersal draft

 The league announced the disbanding of 2 teams. One team was expected, the New England franchise. The other was a complete shock, the Sudbury franchise. Shock is probably an understatement given how well previous GM Terry James had built his team. That meant that there was a ton of talent available for the remaining teams to choose from. At the top of the available list were 2 franchise centers: Auston Matthews and Sebastian Aho. There were also some very talented youngsters in Wyatt Johnston and Seth Jarvis. And if that wasn’t enough, there were top line wingers / centers in JT Miller, Zach Hyman and Brayden Point. It was clear that the Icecats would not be able to draft one of those top talents, so we looked at what was available at our #19 spot. With our lineup pretty set, we went about looking at futures. With our first pick, we took PAR 1st-24, which could yield a high end talent in the upcoming draft. It also makes our own 1st available to trade to improve our team.

With the snake order of the draft, we picked again at 26. While we hoped to draft Gavin Brindley, with him off the boards, we took his potential future teammate, Luca del bel Bulluz. Bulluz had a strong first year in the AHL and scored in his NHL debut. His talent is intriguing.

When the 3rd round pick came up, most of the better talent was gone and so were the better draft picks. As such, we took a chance on another prospect with talent, defenseman Artyom (Artem) Duda. Duda was an early 2nd rounder for the Coyotes. He has plenty of time to develop as the Icecats are in no rush to get another dman into the CCHL. It’s a good gamble.

With our fourth and final pick, we took a chance on another player who had a good first year in the AHL, Viktor Neuchev. Neuchev seems to be trending upwards from the MHL to the KHL and now the AHL. We expect bigger things from Neuchev this coming AHL season.

All in all, it was a good dispersal draft given where we were drafting. While we did not acquire a player to help immediately, we acquired future talent to continue to build our prospect pipeline. Time will tell if the picks were wise or not but for now, Icecats management is pleased. Stay tuned for more, sports fans!

Fort Erie to keep Falcons name!

 In Fort Erie, it's like they barely knew the Riverhawks and the 24s, and there is a reason for that.  The almost name change of the Falcons hockey club will not actually take place thanks to a last minute agreement made to keep the name in place.  

"We went down to the wire but after examining the cost to change the name in terms of brand awareness, we went back to the school and worked out an agreement to keep the Falcons name.  We'll be changing our colours a bit to ensure that there is a distinct difference moving forward, but we've kept the name," said GM Young earlier today.  

In return for keeping the name, the hockey club agreed to change the team colours from a navy, light blue with white trim and will now sport navy, gold and the white trim.  

The Falcons will also adopt a new primary logo on their jerseys for the navy home and white aways, which is pictured below.  

The team will also introduce a gold third jersey that will sport their old logo, with some gold added to it as pictured below.  

"Our new look is a nice and fresh, clean looking logo with the primary focus being a determined Falcon.  We like the simplicity of it and know it will look fantastic on our navy and white jerseys," quipped Young in regards to the new look.  

As much as the team liked the new simple look, they didn't want to move forward without paying homage to their old look.  In creating the third jersey, a gold jersey sporting the old logo, the team feels like they've done that.  

"If you look at us across our time since moving to Fort Erie in the CCHL, we're kind of the gold standard for franchises if you look at our regular season record.  That's why we've gone with the gold in our colour scheme.  While we haven't won a Kehler Cup yet, maybe adopting the gold will allow us to capture that cup we are missing, but in terms fo the regular season, our record for success is hard to beat.  We just need to carry that over to the playoffs," said Young.  

In addition to the new jerseys, the team also acquired a pair of goaltenders this week in Ukka Pekka-Luukkonen and Laurent Brossoit.  

"We've got three guys right now that I feel are number one goalies in the league, and Brossoit who could be rated strongly as well, perhaps the best backup in the CCHL.  Any time you have an opportunity to add depth in goal, you do it.  While Ilya (Sorokin) is far from old, we feel we've acquired our true goalie of the future in UPL and are happy to have him return to the team that originally drafted him."  

The handsome GM continued by saying the team could look at moving Varlamov once the new disk comes out, commenting that he will have outstanding ratings and he expects a few teams should be very interested in the veteran goaltender.  

There is never a dull moment in Fort Erie and with free agency quickly approaching, it will come as no surprise should the team find itself aggressive there as well.  

"There are some players we are interested in should they hit free agency.  Nicky (newly acquired Nick Foligno) will be our UFA resign.  We love his leadership, defensive play, physicality and he can score too.  I wouldn't even be shocked if he's wearing a letter for us next year," concluded Young.  

It'll be an exciting month in Fort Erie so stay tuned to see what happens as the franchise continues to try to capture that elusive Kehler Cup.  

Springfield Isotopes: A Season of Triumph, Transition, and Tenacity

 The 2023-24 season will forever be etched in the lore of the Springfield Isotopes as a testament to the team's resilience, skill, and unwavering spirit. The Topes embarked on a remarkable journey that saw them reach their first-ever conference final, captivating audiences with their determination and skill.

Leading the charge was Jeremy Swayman, whose exceptional goaltending talents were on full display throughout the season. Swayman's heroics between the pipes often kept the Isotopes in games, earning him the admiration of fans and opponents alike. His stellar play was a driving force behind the team's historic playoff run and a testament to his status as a cornerstone of the franchise.

On the offensive front, Roope Hintz was a standout performer, showcasing his scoring prowess with an impressive 27 points in just 20 games. Hintz's ability to find the back of the net and create scoring opportunities was instrumental in the Isotopes' success, making him a key player to watch in future seasons.

Jeff Skinner and Seider also made significant contributions to the team's success, with Skinner tallying 23 points and Seider adding 22 points to their impressive totals. Their offensive firepower added depth to the Isotopes' lineup and kept opposing teams on their toes throughout the season.

Looking ahead, the Isotopes face a period of transition, as multiple stars such as Courture, Carlson, and Malkin will not be returning next year. These departures signal significant changes for the team, as they look to rebuild and redefine their roster for future success.

As the Isotopes reflect on their season of triumph, transition, and tenacity, they can take pride in their achievements and look forward to a bright future ahead. With a solid foundation of talent and a relentless drive to succeed, the Springfield Isotopes are poised to continue their ascent and bring glory to their storied franchise.

Fort Erie has a new coach

After a difficult loss to Wisborg in the Corfield Conference finals, Fort Erie will have a different look behind the bench next season.  

Following the loss, Fort Erie GM Young and Joel Quenneville met to discuss the coach's future and it was decided that the team would move forward without the veteran coach.  

"After consulting with Joel, he seemed to be worn out by the grind of the CCHL season and the pressure that follows a job like this.  He wants to spend more time at home given his age, so we just felt it was time to part ways.  We can't thank Joel enough for the contribution he's made to the organization and the success we've had together," said GM Young.  

It didn't take long for a successor to be announced, as Young quickly noted that Quenneville would be succeeded by Kris Knoblauch behind the bench.  

"Kris just wins everywhere he goes.  He did great things in Erie in the OHL with four 50 win seasons in a row - that's almost impossible in junior hockey.  He's been a good head coach in the AHL and we feel he's the voice we need behind our bench for the upcoming season," said Young.  

Dylan Strome, who played for Knoblauch in Erie said that he was excited by the move and knows that the new coach will make the most of the opportunity.  

"Coach is a great communicator and he'll get the best out of this team.  We have a skilled group here and I think he'll get us the next level - one that he got us to in Erie.  He will achieve buy-in and I'm excited to play for him again," said the center.  

The team is said to be announcing trades in the upcoming days as well so it should be an exciting time in the early part of the off-season in Fort Erie.  

Stay tuned - it'll be a busy week for the regular season record setters!  

Falcons flying from the nests of Fort Erie?

With a conference finals loss this year, it was inevitable changes would be made for the Fort Erie Falcons.  

As with every playoff disappointment, teams around the CCHL make moves to change their fortunes the following season and this offseason was to be no different in Fort Erie.  

We've heard players like Gavrikov, Zuccarello and maybe even mainstay Debrincat or Marner may not be back as Falcons but what we didn't anticipate is that potentially nobody will return as a member of the Falcons.  

How's that possible you ask?  

Well, rumor started circulating this week that the team would be changing names for the 24-25 season as a result of a dispute with a local elementary school.  

It turns out a local school has also been using the moniker of "Falcons" and has taken action to ensure that they are the only Falcons in town.  

It turns out that may not necessarily be something that has upset the team, as they had already been looking at a name change having realized that the name was not unique to the border city.  

The possible new names range from Border Cats to 24's to the Riverhawks, with a blue and gold themed uniform to follow from the light blue and navy the team has worn for years.  

Let's examine the potential names and their meanings:

The Border Cats name represents the fact that Fort Erie is located right on the US border of NY state and they'd be able to leap across like a cat would with relative ease.  While it's a creative name, I think it likely finishes third in the grand scheme of things.  

The Riverhawks name is a name that carries tradition around the Fort Erie and Niagara region, while still maintaining the "bird" theme the organization has had for years.  It also looks awesome in the new colour scheme so this possibility is great!  

Now for the one that has most people scratching their heads.  The Fort Erie 24's????  It's a lot like the Ottawa 67's of the OHL where the name took place because they were created in 1967.  While that's true, there's also a lot of deeper potential meaning to the 24's name. 

Yes, it would be 2024 that the team would adopt the name so that does follow consistent with the Ottawa 67's rationale.  The 24 name is also one to celebrate the fact there are indeed 24 bottles of beer inside a case of beer - most notably known as the two-four.  

One other fact is that there is history to the 24 number in Fort Erie as well.  It was on the 24th day of the month that the Americans left Fort Erie; ending the War of 1812.  A lot of significance in the number 24 in Fort Erie.  

In any event, nothing has been finalized yet but with name changes due to the league very soon - you can bet we'll be hearing about an announcement in the coming two weeks.