Month: September 2013

Just as I expected, earlier today New Jersey made its second round of training camp cuts.  A total of 9 players were reassigned, with 8 coming to Albany and 1 returning to juniors.  The roster now stands at 28, with a Monday deadline to reduce the roster to 23.  Most were expected, but there was one I was a little surprised to see at first.  The lone junior returnee is Damon Severson, on his way back to Kelowna (he had told me at the end of last season he had one more year left with the Rockets) of the WHL.   Coming back to Albany are Scott Wedgewood, Brandon Burlon, Eric Gelinas, Jon Merrill, Stefan Matteau, Rod Pelley, Tim Sestito, and Mike Sislo, fresh off doing this last night:

I’m expecting all will join the other group already in camp in time for tomorrow’s preseason opener in Hartford against the Wolfpack.  Pelley and Matteau are the only “new faces” so to speak of this group–Pelley is rejoining the organization after 2 seasons away, while Matteau…well, the 2012 first rounder has had quite the interesting last year or so, shall we say?

A little surprising to see Gelinas among the second round of cuts, he appeared in 3 of 5 games and registered a goal against the Rangers in the first game.  But it also came down to his contract status–he was eligible to be sent down without having to clear waivers.  The rest were all expected, with Keith Kinkaid sticking around as a third goalie in New Jersey for a few more days.  There are still 5 more players to be dealt with, but many of those still standing (Alexander Urbom, Jacob Josefson, Mattias Tedenby, Cam Janssen to name a few) would have to clear waivers before they can be sent down.  Come Monday it will be interesting to see the final roster decisions made and how it would affect things down here.

Camp in Albany is officially underway!

It appears a few more players will be joining the group that started out yesterday as the week progresses:

-Harry Young, Rod Pelley, and Tim Sestito all cleared waivers on Saturday, but only Young was assigned to Albany. Sestito actually appeared in Saturday’s 3-0 New Jersey win over the Islanders in Brooklyn, on a line with Ryan Carter (later Stefan Matteau) and Cam Janssen. Both he and Pelley are expected to be assigned to Albany shortly.

-Along with the 15 sent down by New Jersey on Friday, there are four addtional skaters in camp, all forwards: Kelly Zajac, Alexandre Carrier, Artem Demkov, and Dmitri Goldenkov. Kelly, the third Zajac brother, returns for a second season after splitting time between Albany and Trenton last year. Carrier spent all of last season in Trenton, appearing in 47 games and posting 6 points (and 102 penalty minutes). Demkov is a Belarus native who split last season between Elmira (23 goals in 39 games) and Germany (1 assist in 12 games with Hamburg). Goldenkov played 8 games with Moscow Dynamo of the KHL last season, posting 1 assist.

Just as I had figured, after the second game of the preseason (a 5-3 Devil loss against the Islanders), New Jersey announced this morning their first round of training camp cuts. There were a couple of surprises as to who was sent to Albany and who is still with the big club. A total of 21 players, 15 to Albany, have been sent packing.

To Albany:

Maxime Clermont
Seth Helgeson
Raman Hrabarenka
Dan Kelly
Corbin McPherson
Reece Scarlett
Reid Boucher
Riley Boychuk
Mike Hoeffel
Chris McKelvie
Harri Pesonen
Ben Thomson
Joe Whitney
David Wohlberg
Darcy Zajac

Anthony Brodeur, Myles Bell, Graham Black, Remy Giftopoulos, Ben Johnson, and Ryan Kujawinski have all been returned to their respective junior teams.

Looking at the list, all but 3 players are familiar to the Capital Region:

Scarlett, a 20-year-old defenseman, is a 2011 draft selection who spent the last four seasons with Swift Current of the WHL.

Boychuk, a 22-year-old forward, was the player acquired from the Sabres in the Henrik Tallinder trade back in July. He spent last season with Fort Worth of the Central Hockey League.

Thomson, a 20-year-old forward, is a 2012 draft pick who played the last four seasons in Kitchener (OHL).

Pesonen, Zajac, and Boucher had a chance to suit up for New Jersey on Monday, with Boucher also appearing in Thursday’s loss to the Islanders.

As for who’s still with the big club? Not surprised to still see Eric Gelinas up, especially after his performance in the first two preseason games (scoring Monday and assisting on both goals last night). Brandon Burlon, Mike Sislo, Tim Sestito, Jon Merrill, and Damon Severson are just a few who are also still in New Jersey. Same with Harry Young (I’m scratching my head on that one).

Also still in camp? Cam Janssen. In honor of that, it’s time for the first Cam Janssen Obligatory Fight of the Week of the season! From Monday’s game with the Rangers at The Rock:

The Albany group is scheduled to have their first practice tomorrow afternoon. They actually had a “secret” game against the Phantoms on Thursday at the Prudential Center, with the Flyers prospects coming away with a 4-2 win. Fire and Ice and The Post Star have the recaps.

New Jersey has four preseason games left, starting tomorrow night in Brooklyn against the Islanders. Then it’s back to back road games on Monday and Tuesday in Montreal and Philadelphia. My guess is more cuts would come by Wednesday at the latest, with Albany’s short preseason schedule starting up on Thursday night in Hartford.