CANTLON’S CORNER: WOLF PACK OFF-SEASON VOLUME 12 

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings.net

HARTFORD, CT – Professional teams at all levels, all-around hockey had best hope they run short of pens, because this was a week that saw a great deal of movement. It starts in Hartford where the Wolf Pack had another busy week.

WOLF PACK

The Wolf Pack will have Boo Nieves back at center this coming season. Nieves accepted the qualifying offer he received form the New York Rangers that has him on a one-year, two-way deal paying him $700K at the NHL and $70K while playing in the AHL. His contract is the same one Steven Fogarty accepted from the organization two weeks ago.

Nieves signing leaves just three Restricted Free Agents (RFA) from last year’s team who remain unsigned.

Chris Bigras, who was acquired from San Antonio for Ryan Graves and who played well in the 18 games he played in Hartford, is the first of the three who are unsigned. The second is centerman, Peter Holland, who was acquired from Laval for Adam Cracknell. Holland was solid in keeping the Wolf Pack afloat at the mid-season for 16 games. He was recalled by the Rangers and never came back. Montreal signed Holland for $700K on a one-way deal for this upcoming season.

The last player was a trade deadline pickup, Matt Beleskey. He didn’t produce much in his 14 games, but he still has three years left on the deal he signed with Boston at $1.9 million per year. He’s listed on the Rangers’ roster and could be a buyout candidate.

The Rangers currently have 51 organizational contracts, which is one above the 50 number permitted under the CBA. They are a shade under $23 million beneath the salary cap according to capfriendly.com. The Wolf Pack’s current roster has 23 players and the Rangers have 24 with some arbitration hearings and RFA deadlines still to occur.

It’s inevitable that The Rangers are clearly going to be shifting players in one manner or another.

The cap number that’s been established for 2018-19 is $79.5 million with the 5% escalator that the NHLPA likely to exercise as they’ve done every year under the present agreement.

The Pack made a small signing in Connor Lacouvee. It should make training camp for the Wolf Pack, which should be the most competitive in recent memory, especially among the goaltenders. Brandon Halverson, who’s entering the final season under his entry level deal, and Chris Nell, in the second last year of his contract after playing with three teams last year including Hartford, Adirondack, and Kansas City in the ECHL, will compete with Marek Mazanec for the number two goalie slot behind the presumptive number one, Alexander Georgiev, assuming he isn’t the number two in New York behind Henrik Lundqvist.

Coming off a strong senior season with the University of Minnesota-Mankato, Lacouvee was signed to an ECHL deal with the Rangers new Double AA affiliate, the Maine Mariners.

Lacouvee went 23-6-1 posting a 1.80 GAA and a .914% save percentage. LaCouvee transferred out of Boston University where he played under new Ranger head coach David Quinn. The Mavericks were eliminated in the opening game of the NCAA Tournament by the eventual national champion, University Minnesota-Duluth.

PLAYERS & COACHING MOVEMENT

On Saturday, The Rangers announced the signing of former Yale Bulldog defenseman, Rob O’Gara who accepted his qualifying offer of a one-year, two-way deal paying $874,105K in the NHL and $70K for his play in the AHL.

O’Gara was obtained from Boston for defenseman Nick Holden at the trade deadline.

RW Kevin Morris, the son of former Nighthawk, Mark Morris, has gone from the Manchester Monarchs (ECHL) to the Coventry Blaze (England-EIHL) for next season.

The AHL first released the home openers of all 31 teams. The Wolf Pack play host to the Providence Bruins on October 5^th at 7 pm. On Wednesday, the AHL released the entire AHL team-by-team schedule for the 2018-19 season.

The Pack’s second home game is Sunday October 7th at 3 pm against the Laval Rocket. The top minor league affiliate of the Rangers have just five home games in the first seven weeks of the season. They will have two road trips of four and five games during that time span. Read the story HERE.

The Sound Tigers signed 10 players for the upcoming season including the Bourque brothers, Ryan and Chris.

Chris, 33, signed a one-year deal while Ryan signed an extension. This will be the third team where the pair will play for professionally, the first time was in Hartford, then Hershey and now BrIdgeport.

Tigers team captain, Ben Holmstrom, his brother Josh, and Connor Jones have also signed extensions. Jones, of course, along with his twin brother Kellen, are the grandsons of former New Haven Blades player Terry Jones and both attended Quinnipiac University (ECACHL).

Kellen is heading overseas to play next year for Vastervik IK (Sweden-Allsvenskan) after playing in Worcester (ECHL) last season.

Goalie Jeremy Smith signed a one-year free agent deal with the Sound Tigers after playing last year in Charlotte and Jeff Kubiak, Matt Gaudreau (Johnny Gaudreau’s younger brother), Mike Cornell and Tyler Mueller.

Ex-Pack, Ryan Haggerty, (Stamford/Trinity Catholic) re-signs with Wilkes Barre/Scranton.

Former Yale goalie, Alex Lyon, signed a two-year extension with Philadelphia. His first season is $750K for the NHL and $250K for the AHL. His second year is a $750K one-way deal.

Lyon’s former college teammate with the Bulldogs, Adam Larkin, has signed with Reading (ECHL) for the upcoming season.

Ex-Pack, Michael Joly, signed a one-year AHL deal with the AHL newest team, the Colorado Eagles.

Last season, his second as a pro, Joly helped lead the Eagles to their second consecutive ECHL Kelly Cup title leading the league in the regular season with 41 goals in 52 games for 67 points.

Joly was named playoff MVP with his 29 points in 24 post-season games. He played 19 games with three goals and seven points while on recall with San Antonio.

Joly will have a brand new bench boss in one-time Sound Tiger head coach Greg Cronin. He was named as the Eagles first AHL head coach.

Cronin was the second head coach in Bridgeport history. He was there for two years (2003-2005). Cronin was in his second tour as an assistant with the Islanders and has coached for over 30 years. He was an assistant coach at Colorado College for three years in the early 1990’s. Cronin’s assistants will be the Eagles ECHL head coach Aaron Schneekloth and former Wolf Pack, Ryan Tobler.

His post game rants were usually amusing, very colorful and often unprintable.

Tucson inks the Klima twins, Kelly and Kevin from Chicoutimi (QMJHL), They are the sons of former NHL’er, Petr Klima. The Roadrunners also signed one-time Ranger draft pick, and an ex-Sound Tiger, Daniel Maggio, who signed a one-year AHL contract. Maggio spent most of last year with Ft. Wayne (ECHL) and a 13-game recall time with Tucson.

Ex-Sound Tiger, Harry Zolnierczyk, signs with Springfield, his seventh AHL team.

Adam Erne (North Branford) inks a one-year, one-way ($800K) deal with Tampa Bay. The Lightning also added Iowa head coach Derek Lalonde as a new assistant coach.

Ex-CT Whale, Christian Thomas, departs from Wilkes Barre/Scranton and heads to Rogle BK (Sweden-SHL).

Former Wolf Pack captain, and Sound Tiger player, Joe Whitney, and who’s about to become a father for a second time, has signed a Euro deal with HC Linkopings (Sweden-SHL). Also joining him on the AHL-To-Euro list is Patrick Wiercioch of the Utica Comets who hooks up with Dynamo Minsk (Belarus-KHL).

Ex-Sound Tiger, Darren Nowick, who split last season with Stockton and Kansas City (ECHL), signs with Vasterik IK (Sweden-Allsvenskan).

Dustin Gazley departs Hershey for EC Salzburg (Austria-AEHL).

That makes 48 players plus a coach who have signed to go overseas. 23 teams have lost at least one player.

Greg Rallo, after 615 AHL games and over 700 pro-and-minor pro games, retires from Texas to become an assistant coach with Milwaukee. He replaces former New Haven Nighthawk, Stan Drulia, who was made a Pro Scout by Nashville after eight years as an assistant coach.

Former Beast of New Haven and NHL enforcer, Peter Worrell, was signed as an assistant coach with the Fayetteville Marksmen (SPHL). Worrell’s coaching career began after his 2010 retirement. He was the head coach at the collegiate club hockey level with the Florida Atlantic University Owls (ACHA Division-3) and North Broward County Prep School over the last seven years.

The Owls made it to the regional finals this year before losing 2-1 to the University of Central Florida Knights in double overtime.

Ex-Pack, Pascal Rheaume, was named head coach for the Val D’Or Foreurs (QMJHL) and his assistant coach is ex-Sound Tiger super pest, Pascal Morency.

Ex-Pack, Brodie Dupont, signs with Dornbirner EC (Austria-AEHL).

Ex-CT Whale, Andreas Thuresson, has signed with HV-71 (Sweden-SHL) after splitting last year with Kunlun Red Star (China-KHL) and SC Langnau Tigers (Switzerland-LNA) in the second half.

Ex-Pack, Layne Ulmer, re-signs with defending EIHL champion Cardiff Devils (Wales-EIHL).

Ex-Pack, Jordan Owens, goes from the Fischtown Penguins (Germany-DEL-2) to Sheffield Steelers (England-EIHL).

Alex Barron, the former QU Bobcat, moves from Coventry (England-EIHL) to EHC Freiburg (Germany-DEL-2).

Mark Naclerio (Milford/Avon Old Farms) goes from Reading (ECHL)/EHC Linz (Austria-AEHL) to Asiago AS (Italy-AlpsHL).

One time Wolf Pack, Brandon Alderson, goes from Heilbronner (Germany DEL-2) to Villacher SV (Austria-AEHL)

Cederic Lacroix from University of Maine (HE) signs with Wheeling (ECHL). That makes 161 Division I players to sign a North American pro deal and 213 total college players to sign North American or European deals.

A third US collegian transfers to Canadian college hockey. Freshmen Owen Stout of RPI (ECACHL) goes to Queens University (OUAA).

After all the tragedy, the Humboldt Broncos are putting back together a hockey team.

The team has named a new head coach and GM in former AHL’er, Nathan Oystrick. A Saskatchewan native, Oystrick retired two years ago was an assistant with Atlanta (ECHL) for one-year and was the head coach at Colorado Academy High School last year.

The Broncos assistant coach, Chris Beaudry, who didn’t ride on the team bus that day, not surprisingly has taken another assistant coaching job with the Melville Millionaires (SJHL). The team is interviewing presently for his replacement.

In conjunction with the North Peace Navigators of the Junior B level NWJHL (North West Junior Hockey League), located in Peace River, AB, the Broncos late coach Darcy Haugan, a native started out as a coach, they will host the first games the Broncos play this season, a two-game exhibition on September 1^st and 2^nd against the Whitecourt Wolverines (AJHL) and Grand Prairie Storm (AJHL).

The team’s regular season and home opener will be against the Nipawin Hawks, the team there were going to play that fateful day in game 5 of their SJHL playoff series. The game is on September 12 will be carried live on the NHL Network at 9:00pm EST via TSN of Canada and CTV Saskatchewan.

XL CENTER UPDATE

The RFP process is now closed and just one bidder submitted a bid to buy the XL Center. That organization is the Oak Street Real Estate Capital, LLC of Chicago. Clearly, the CRDA had hoped for a few more bids to sift through over the summer, but given the buildings dire financial picture and the complicated ownership arrangement that may lie ahead IF an agreement in principal is reached.

Whatever occurs this will be a very complicated negotiation if one is ever started.

The Chairman of Northland Corporation the enigmatic Larry Gottesdiener who owns the much needed and debated XL Center Atrium gave a lengthy and broad ranging interview with the Hartford Business Journal.

Clearly, he is staking a out a position that he is going to hold out on the XL Center atrium in the hope they he will be able to obtain the building if it were closed. By being a title holder of the portion of the property could buy it conceivably for what Oak Street said it would pay for the building $50 million and then rebuild the whole Trumbull Block as it is known.

When Northland Corporation teamed up with AEG to run the XL Center that is what one AEG official said then was the primary long term objective of Northland. Read the complete story HERE.