We’ve been holding our breath in Hartford a long time now – contracts aren’t as public as they are in the NHL, so we never really have a good idea of the status of our players at the end of each year. In addition, most teams wait until they have their NHL team mostly assembled before they give much thought to their farm team, and so therefore there isn’t much press to give us any hints. It was only today, June 30th, that we even found out which of our players are under contract for next year – and which of them are not.

Answer to the latter question: most of them. And few of those will be re-signed, apparently.

With the new coaching staff both in Hartford and New York, Sather and Coates have stated publicly that they want a unified system to be played throughout. Good idea, no doubt of that. Coach Paddock, who was not rehired in favor of Ryan McGill (most recently the coach of the Kootenay Ice) and Nick Fotiu, rejected the ‘system’ that was used in New York and taught his blueliners how he wanted them to play. Well, seeing as the NY system wasn’t exactly effective, it’s unfortunate that Paddock had to do that, but understandable.

In an effort to make sure there aren’t any remnants of that renegade blue line mentality, all but a very few defenseman have been allowed to walk. Including some pretty important players, both kids with promise (and size) and vets who are crucial to showing kids how the game is played at the pro level.

Normally I go through a whole “cleaning house” phase at the end of the season, but there is no need this year - Sather and Coates have already beaten me to it. And they have left the cupboard pretty damn bare, in my opinion. Charlotte was pretty light on talent last year, and there aren’t that many kids coming in from juniors anyway. So Coates must be planning on cleaning up on the free agents, guys who weren’t signed by their own AHL teams.

Gotta wonder about the quality of a young player who has already been given up on by his team, don’t you? And of course they will be young – that’s the number one priority of the Pack now, to build a developmental team. So we are going after kids who are still young, young enough to be prospects (which means 23 at the most) but yet have already sucked enough that they have been shown the door with their first team.

I guess one thing is for certain – we aren’t going to need to worry about the veteran’s rule next year.

*sigh*

Below are two lists – who we have signed and who we ‘are likely’ to sign. I have also noted what level I think that player will be at – in terms of skills, what would be appropriate – for this coming season.

Here’s who we currently have signed for next year:

D Tomas Kloucek – big, tough, stay at home (NHL)
D Matt Kinch – small, tentative (ECHL)
RW Rico Fata – small, very fast, but can't produce at the NHL level (AHL)
C Jamie Lundmark – better on wing with less responsibility (AHL)
C Benoit Dusablon – good second line center (AHL)
C Layne Ulmer – nasty, fast, enjoys annoying the other team (AHL)
C Bobby Andrews – small, tentative (ECHL)
C Garth Murray – he’s going to be a big kid, and he’s good and tough (AHL)
LW Boyd Kane – too old to be a prospect, zero hockey sense (AHL/ECHL)
LW Richard Scott – two knee surgeries, will be out a while – tough guy (AHL/NHL)
G Jason LaBarbera – tall, goofy, erratic in net (AHL/ECHL)
G Bryce Wandler – small, dumb (ECHL/beer league)

Out of the 17 free agents, we are ‘likely to keep’ (I have no idea what this means, the reporter who wrote the article I read tends to be trustworthy, but he could be another Larry Brooks, you never know) only a few:

D Mike Mottau – hard to let this one go, given all the hype (AHL/NHL)
D Chris St. Croix – good stay at home, not necessarily better than those let go (AHL)
RW Ken Gernander – the captain, getting slower and often injured (AHL)
RW John Tripp – fast, aggressive, and scores (AHL/NHL)
C Roman Lyashenko – seemed good enough before he left for Europe (AHL)
G Scott Meyer – good goalie, very compact and quick (AHL)
G Johan Holmqvist – good goalie, more acrobatic and aggressive (AHL)

So now you see why it took me so long to get back to you – I really have very little true information for you. I’ll summarize it as this, and get back to you when I actually have something more to tell you (or if I am inspired to rant):

NEW COACH – NEW SYSTEM – NEW TEAM

*Pardon our mess while we renovate to better serve you!*

(careful, don’t step in the improvement)

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