AHL WEEKEND: The process continue amid trade talks
Friday nights in the AHL mean the start of a busy weekend. EP Rinkside has this look around the 31-team league to set you up for this weekend’s slate.
“IT’S A PROCESS”
The NHL trade deadline this coming Monday continues to approach, and some top AHL prospects have already seen their names floating in trade chatter as front offices scramble to make last-minute changes before it is pencils-down around the 31-team NHL.
But down in the AHL, where those players actually play, you will see a much more day-to-day mindset about those prospects. How do they progress as the days, weeks, and months of the AHL’s six-and-a-half-month regular-season grind pass by?
Speak five minutes with an AHL head coach, and you can expect to hear the mantra, “It’s a process.”
Those words add up to one of the AHL’s most prevalent clichés, but sometimes they are clichés for a reason. Patience tends to be in short order when it involves a first-round pick and the timeline required before he takes a full-time spot on the NHL roster, but, yes, “It is a process.”
Bridgeport Sound Tigers forward Josh Ho-Sang fits those words, and that process is in its third season along the Connecticut coast. Taken 28th in the 2014 NHL Draft, Ho-Sang has packed his fair share of highs and lows into his pro career for someone who turned 23 years old last month.
Ho-Sang, and the talent that he possesses, coupled with his remaining in the AHL as a third-year pro means that we see his name surface – and re-surface – in trade speculation. Expect that to continue until one of two events happen: either he sticks full-time with the Islanders or one of those trade rumors actually become reality.
To recap Ho-Sang’s journey:
Going into that crucial third pro season and doing so amid a new Islanders management, Ho-Sang made an impression early. He posted a team-leading 22 points (2-20-22) through 26 AHL games as Bridgeport delivered a strong start after an extensive offseason makeover. That prompted the Islanders to recall him December 9th, and he went on to earn a three-week NHL audition. He scored in his third NHL game after the recall, played substantial minutes, and had 1-1-2 in 10 games. Then he went back to the AHL on January 8th. He had four assists in his first four appearances back in the AHL, but the post-demotion lull that can affect young prospects after an NHL stay hit Ho-Sang soon thereafter. A seven-game pointless streak and time in and out of the Bridgeport line-up followed.
All of this followed a challenging first two pro seasons at the AHL level. After a 36-point rookie season in 2016-17 in Bridgeport, he slipped to 31 points in 2017-18.
Last weekend, the Islanders sent forward Andrew Ladd and defenseman Thomas Hickey to Bridgeport on conditioning, Ho-Sang returned to the line-up, and his spark returned quickly. Skating on a line with Ladd, who has 934 regular-season NHL games to his name, Ho-Sang ended 13-game run without a goal to help Bridgeport past the in-state rival Hartford Wolf Pack in overtime, 4-3, this past Saturday night.
Back with Ladd again the following afternoon, Ho-Sang ripped the AHL-leading Charlotte Checkers for a hat trick and five points. Falling behind 2-0 in Bridgeport, Ho-Sang assisted on a pair of goals that put the Sound Tigers into a 4-3 second-intermission lead. From there, he turned the game into a rout, blitzing the Checkers for three strikes in a 10:33 span.
That left Ho-Sang with 6-26-32 in 39 AHL games and winning the CCM/AHL Player of the Week honor.
Sound Tigers head coach Brent Thompson is in his sixth season running an AHL bench and spent two seasons with the Islanders as an assistant coach. That followed two seasons as an ECHL head coach and another three campaigns as an AHL assistant. And all of that came after 14 pro seasons in which he captained three different AHL teams.
Earlier this month, Thompson elaborated on Ho-Sang to Sound Tigers beat fixture Mike Fornabaio of the Connecticut Post.
“All it is is development,” Thompson told the newspaper. “Every kid, like I said, has their own path, needs a little bit of a boot sometimes.”
Sunday’s win, the proverbial four-point game in the standings, pushed the Sound Tigers to within eight points of the Charlotte in the Atlantic Division. Catching Charlotte will be a difficult task, at best, but a productive weekend on home ice also has the Sound Tigers holding a second-place lead by six points. At 67 points, they also are fourth overall going into this weekend, only two points behind the second-overall Rochester Americans.
Ladd has since returned to the Islanders, and Ho-Sang no longer has a wing-man of that sort of NHL pedigree. But if a weekend alongside a veteran like Ladd can give Ho-Sang that “boot” that Thompson spoke of, it bodes very well for Bridgeport’s stretch drive and for Ho-Sang’s path to eventual NHL duty.
Ho-Sang can continue his re-boot this weekend when that regular-season schedule hits the three-quarter mark with the Sound Tigers playing another 3-in-3 itinerary, their third one in as many weeks. That test starts Friday night in Providence where they face the AHL’s second-best home club in the Bruins. Saturday night features the Springfield Thunderbirds visiting, a divisional opponent barely still in contention that should be desperate. Then they finish with third game in 44 hours, a Sunday afternoon visit from the Hershey Bears, one of a pack of Atlantic Division teams still within striking distance of the Sound Tigers.
AROUND THE A
Buffalo Sabres goaltending prospect Jonas Johansson is done for the season after undergoing surgery. Rochester general manager Randy Sexton did not specify the nature of the injury, but the 23-year-old Johansson last played this past Sunday afternoon for the Cincinnati Cyclones, the organization’s ECHL affiliate. Buffalo drafted the Johansson, a product of the Brynäs SHL system, in the third round of the 2014 NHL Draft. He made the move to North America near the end of the 2016-17 season and has most of his time since then in the ECHL. In 27 games for the Cyclones this season, he had a 18-5-2 | 2.60 | .908 performance. Stationed behind number-one Scott Wedgewood and Adam Wilcox in Rochester, he also got in to five games for the Amerks this season, going 4-1-0 | 2.26 | .926. He last played for the Amerks on February 2nd at Hartford and stopped 34 of 35 shots for a 4-1 win.
Buffalo also has goaltending prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the system. Luukkonen went to the Sabres in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft and went to the OHL this season. Along with helping Finland to a gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship earlier this season, he has been a stalwart for the Sudbury Wolves, playing 42 games with a 31-8-1 | 2.55 | .919 line in net. Sudbury clinched a playoff berth on Thursday night and is fourth in the OHL’s Eastern Conference, so Luukkonen’s time there will be extended. With Luukkonen looking ready for AHL work next season, where Johansson might fit on the Buffalo depth chart could be an interesting question. He is under contract through 2019-20. Wedgewood is a restricted free-agent after this season, but he has been an excellent third-goaltender option for the Sabres – someone who can be a strong number-one in Rochester yet also serve as a capable NHL recall option. Wilcox is playing on an AHL deal for Rochester.
AHL rookie forward Vitaly Abramov became the second young prospect this week to move in a major NHL swap. He went to the Ottawa Senators organization on Friday as part of the Matt Duchene deal. Abramov, 20, had been with the Cleveland Monsters, where he went 12-10-22 in 52 games. Columbus had drafted him in the third round in 2016. With the Cleveland line-up taking a hit to key personnel recently, Abramov had been on a line with Nikita Korostelev and Ryan MacInnis. Ottawa assigned him to the Belleville Senators immediately after the trade. Before turning pro, Abramov finished his QMJHL career with the Victoriaville Tigres, but he won the Michel Briere Trophy as QMJHL most valuable player in 2016-17 just across the Ottawa River playing for the Gatineau Olympiques.
Defenseman Julius Bergman went from Belleville to Cleveland in that same trade. Bergman, 23, did not figure into Ottawa’s long-range plans after coming over from the San Jose Sharks organization in a trade last summer. After a 10-10-20 performance in 65 regular-season games for the San Jose Barracuda last season, he had played only 33 games for Belleville, garnering six assists there.
Needing another goaltender under NHL contract, the Nashville Predators gave Tom McCollum of the Milwaukee Admirals a new contract to finish the season. McCollum, 29, had been playing on an AHL contract and signed a two-way deal that makes him eligible for NHL recall. Milwaukee netminder Troy Grosenick, who is under NHL contract, left 1:50 into his start this past Monday on the road against the Manitoba Moose. McCollum is 9-9-7 | 2.77 | .895 in 26 games for the Admirals after coming over from the Grand Rapids Griffins in the offseason.
The Sharks also cleared contract space on Friday by sending Barracuda forward Vincent Praplan to the Florida Panthers for future considerations. Florida subsequently assigned him to the Thunderbirds. The 24-year-old Switzerland product went to San Jose after four NLA seasons with Kloten, where he was 15-24-39 in 47 games. Kloten was relegated to the NLB for this season. In 27 games for the Barracuda, he was 4-12-16. The move dropped San Jose to 45 contracts going into Monday’s trade deadline.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
With a 16-season playoff streak at risk, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins need a strong weekend. They stay home this weekend, starting it by hosting rival Hershey and sitting four points out of playoff spot.
Belleville’s 13-game tear (9-0-0-4) has reshaped the North Division race. They are four points behind the fourth-place Toronto Marlies. After visiting the Binghamton Devils on Friday night, they move on North Division-leading Rochester on Saturday.
At 60 points, the Rockford IceHogs hold fourth place in the Central Division. They are trying to fend off the Texas Stars (57 points), Milwaukee (56), and Manitoba (55).
Behind that pack are the 53-point San Antonio Rampage have one win through the first six games of a 10-game road trip that takes them to see the Ontario Reign and San Diego Gulls this weekend.
Fifteen consecutive wins have put the Bakersfield Condors on top of the Pacific Division. They have a three-point lead on San Diego and San Jose. Trying to tighten a hold on fourth place are the Tucson Roadrunners.
LEADER BOARD
POINTS – 64
DANIEL CARR — CHICAGO
GOALS – 28
DANIEL CARR — CHICAGO
ASSISTS – 39
JEREMY BRACCO – TORONTO
PENALTY MINUTES – 141
KURTIS MACDERMID – ONTARIO
GAMES (GOALTENDERS) – 38
ERIC COMRIE – MANITOBA
MINUTES – 2,235
ERIC COMRIE – MANITOBA
WINS – 24
ALEX NEDELJKOVIC – CHARLOTTE
GAA – 2.31
PATRICK RYBAR – GRAND RAPIDS
SAVE PERCENTAGE – .922
ALEX LYON – LEHIGH VALLEY
SHUTOUTS – 6
CONNOR INGRAM – SYRACUSE
QUOTEBOOK
“We have a good combination. If you look at what it takes to win during the playoffs, win during the year, Detroit gave us all of the tools to be a good hockey team.”
–Grand Rapids captain Matt Ford on the Griffins’ make-up this season. Ford won his first Calder Cup with the Griffins in 2017 and is one of seven players from that team still in Grand Rapids.
THIS WEEKEND
Saturday – Bakersfield at Tucson: Bakersfield will put their 15-game winning streak on the line against the Roadrunners. The run is the fourth-longest in AHL history, and they can match the 1984-85 Baltimore Skipjacks’ 16 consecutive wins. The Condors swept a two-game visit to Tucson last month.
ON THE MOVE
Washington Capitals forward Devante Smith-Pelley finds himself in the AHL after clearing waivers Thursday. Washington sent him to Hershey…. Lehigh Valley added goaltender Mike McKenna from the Philadelphia Flyers. He took Texas and the Syracuse Crunch to the Calder Cup final in the past two seasons….Belleville gained forward Darren Archibald and defenseman Cody Goloubef from Ottawa but lost red-hot forwards Drake Batherson and Logan Brown on NHL recall….Rockford defenseman Henri Jokiharju is back with the Chicago Blackhawks on emergency recall after a nine-game AHL stint (1-8-9)….Texas has Landon Bow back from the Dallas Stars for the Central Division playoff race. In 34 games for Texas, he is 18-10-4 | 2.70 | .902….Hartford forward Lias Andersson is on recall to the New York Rangers, though he had struggled for nearly two months since his return to the AHL. The Wolf Pack added Chris Nell from the ECHL, which leaves them with three goaltenders going into the NHL trade deadline….Defenseman Jake Bischoff is back in the AHL after nearly a month away with the Vegas Golden Knights….Binghamton forward Nick Lappin returned on loan from the New Jersey Devils….NHL veteran forward Patrick Eaves is on loan to San Diego from the Anaheim Ducks after going unclaimed on waivers….Through Thursday, 88 AHL players have made their NHL debuts this season.
