AHL

[BluesDom]

What do we want to see in top 6--top 9 in Springfield?
Matt Luff RW,
Simon Robertsson RW,
Dylan Peterson C, RW
Pekarcik, LW,
Kaskimaki, C, LW
Stenberg C, LW
McGing LW, C
Zach Dean, C

??????
(3RD LINE OF BLUES) Dvorsky C, LW (I think he makes Blues right away or soon after season starts.)
ALEXANDROV--C He was offered contract. Has not accepted. May not be with organization. Any info?

[kimzey59]

Springfield signed Peca and Chris Wagner to AHL only deals.
Those two and the loser of our roster battle are probably the defacto top line for the T-Birds(Tex or Dingo probably get sent through waivers if Dvorsky makes the team).

The second line is TBD but I would think it includes Robertson and Kaskimaki. If Dvorsky makes the Blues, you probably see Dean in between them. If he doesn’t, then he gets the spot.

Third line probably gets Stenberg and one of Stancl/Pekarcik on the wings with McGing or Dean at center.

Fourth line will have Peterson and Stancl/Pekarcik on the wings. The center spot is up in the air(I’d expect a PTO to be brought in for camp or another AHL only guy to be brought in).

[dhsux]

What do we want to see in top 6--top 9 in Springfield?
Matt Luff RW,
Simon Robertsson RW,
Dylan Peterson C, RW
Pekarcik, LW,
Kaskimaki, C, LW
Stenberg C, LW
McGing LW, C
Zach Dean, C

??????
(3RD LINE OF BLUES) Dvorsky C, LW (I think he makes Blues right away or soon after season starts.)
ALEXANDROV--C He was offered contract. Has not accepted. May not be with organization. Any info?

Do you know Alexadrov's offer?

Did they give him a bump?

[STL fan in MN]

What do we want to see in top 6--top 9 in Springfield?
Matt Luff RW,
Simon Robertsson RW,
Dylan Peterson C, RW
Pekarcik, LW,
Kaskimaki, C, LW
Stenberg C, LW
McGing LW, C
Zach Dean, C

??????
(3RD LINE OF BLUES) Dvorsky C, LW (I think he makes Blues right away or soon after season starts.)
ALEXANDROV--C He was offered contract. Has not accepted. May not be with organization. Any info?

Do you know Alexadrov's offer?

Did they give him a bump?

They’re required to offer a 5% raise so the QO would’ve been for $813,750. But QOs are always two-way deals with a pretty low AHL salary. So just like last year, Alexandrov will almost certainly reject it and try to negotiate a higher AHL salary, again, like he did this past season when he got an AHL salary of $150k. To get that, he took a little lower NHL salary (league minimum). If they can’t come to an agreement, I wouldn’t be surprised if he signs in the KHL or some other European league.

[STL fan in MN]

What do we want to see in top 6--top 9 in Springfield?
Matt Luff RW,
Simon Robertsson RW,
Dylan Peterson C, RW
Pekarcik, LW,
Kaskimaki, C, LW
Stenberg C, LW
McGing LW, C
Zach Dean, C

??????
(3RD LINE OF BLUES) Dvorsky C, LW (I think he makes Blues right away or soon after season starts.)
ALEXANDROV--C He was offered contract. Has not accepted. May not be with organization. Any info?

Minor league rosters and lineups are hard to guess as they’re just always in a lot of flux, but here’s a guess:

Alexandrov-Peca-Luff
Stenberg-Dvorsky-Wagner
Kaskimaki-Dean-Robertsson
Stancl-McGing-Peterson
Bitten, Pekarcik

Schueneman-Skinner
Lindstein-Johannesson
Buchinger-Loof
Burns-Kehrer

Ellis
Zherenko

Upon first glance, there’s a few too many guys as I had a hard time finding a spot for Pekarcik. But that “problem” solves itself with 1 injury and/or Alexandrov not re-signing with us. Or maybe Dvorsky or someone else here makes the Blues. Maybe someone like Texier or Joseph end up in Springfield or maybe in that scenario, they’re traded or picked up on waivers and the logjam lessens a bit.

We’re adding Lindstein and Burns while really only exiting Harrington (Calin Addison too but he was a late season add to replace Kessel basically). Battles for icetime will be fierce.

[TruBlueFan_1970]

Minor league rosters and lineups are hard to guess as they’re just always in a lot of flux, but here’s a guess:

Alexandrov-Peca-Luff
Stenberg-Dvorsky-Wagner
Kaskimaki-Dean-Robertsson
Stancl-McGing-Peterson
Bitten, Pekarcik

Schueneman-Skinner
Lindstein-Johannesson
Buchinger-Loof
Burns-Kehrer

Ellis
Zherenko

Upon first glance, there’s a few too many guys as I had a hard time finding a spot for Pekarcik. But that “problem” solves itself with 1 injury and/or Alexandrov not re-signing with us. Or maybe Dvorsky or someone else here makes the Blues. Maybe someone like Texier or Joseph end up in Springfield or maybe in that scenario, they’re traded or picked up on waivers and the logjam lessens a bit.

We’re adding Lindstein and Burns while really only exiting Harrington (Calin Addison too but he was a late season add to replace Kessel basically). Battles for icetime will be fierce.

I know they have to balance the prospect development with a competitive roster, but in your proposed lines above, I sure would like to see Pekarcik in place of AHL fodder like Wagner on the 2nd line, and Burns getting a top 6 shot on D instead of Skinner.

[JoshInFenton]

I haven't tracked the AHL as much recently as i used to, but it as a secondary league has to contend with the pro roster taking talent and injuries, so it has 1.5-2x the amount of movement of roster players in and out of the lineup. So STL@MN might not have put Pekarcik in directly, but that wouldn't mean that he wouldn't get lets say 60-70% of the games by the end of the day... which would be 43-50 of the 72 regular season games, which is about the weight of his schedule in prior leagues. He needs to add some quality weight to his frame still to properly survive the NHL game anyways, so the weight room and training regimen might be just as important as the games.

[dhsux]

What do we want to see in top 6--top 9 in Springfield?
Matt Luff RW,
Simon Robertsson RW,
Dylan Peterson C, RW
Pekarcik, LW,
Kaskimaki, C, LW
Stenberg C, LW
McGing LW, C
Zach Dean, C

??????
(3RD LINE OF BLUES) Dvorsky C, LW (I think he makes Blues right away or soon after season starts.)
ALEXANDROV--C He was offered contract. Has not accepted. May not be with organization. Any info?

Do you know Alexadrov's offer?

Did they give him a bump?

They’re required to offer a 5% raise so the QO would’ve been for $813,750. But QOs are always two-way deals with a pretty low AHL salary. So just like last year, Alexandrov will almost certainly reject it and try to negotiate a higher AHL salary, again, like he did this past season when he got an AHL salary of $150k. To get that, he took a little lower NHL salary (league minimum). If they can’t come to an agreement, I wouldn’t be surprised if he signs in the KHL or some other European league.

I guess they dont believe the player is as good as his numbers?

You would think he's be 1st one up

[b-a-a-a-rclay]

Alexandrov will be 25 when the season starts. I find that kind of interesting.

[TruBlueFan_1970]

Alexandrov will be 25 when the season starts. I find that kind of interesting.

It’s interesting to me as well. I always thought he had a good toolkit of skating, decent hands and not afraid of the physical part of the game. He hasn’t seemed to adapt to thinking the game well at the pro level though, or he was too cautious and didn’t just go out there and play. I wonder if a coach like Monty could turn him into a solid bottom 6 or 4th line contributor. Sadly enough, it seems his time may have passed and I would guess he elects to sign in a European league or the KHL.

[moose-and-squirrel]

Alexandrov will be 25 when the season starts. I find that kind of interesting.

It’s interesting to me as well. I always thought he had a good toolkit of skating, decent hands and not afraid of the physical part of the game. He hasn’t seemed to adapt to thinking the game well at the pro level though, or he was too cautious and didn’t just go out there and play. I wonder if a coach like Monty could turn him into a solid bottom 6 or 4th line contributor. Sadly enough, it seems his time may have passed and I would guess he elects to sign in a European league or the KHL.

he's not a bottom line player.. more middle 6 and he just doesn't have the talent for that. heck, I'd take Sunny on the 3rd line over him

[STL fan in MN]

What do we want to see in top 6--top 9 in Springfield?
Matt Luff RW,
Simon Robertsson RW,
Dylan Peterson C, RW
Pekarcik, LW,
Kaskimaki, C, LW
Stenberg C, LW
McGing LW, C
Zach Dean, C

??????
(3RD LINE OF BLUES) Dvorsky C, LW (I think he makes Blues right away or soon after season starts.)
ALEXANDROV--C He was offered contract. Has not accepted. May not be with organization. Any info?

Do you know Alexadrov's offer?

Did they give him a bump?

They’re required to offer a 5% raise so the QO would’ve been for $813,750. But QOs are always two-way deals with a pretty low AHL salary. So just like last year, Alexandrov will almost certainly reject it and try to negotiate a higher AHL salary, again, like he did this past season when he got an AHL salary of $150k. To get that, he took a little lower NHL salary (league minimum). If they can’t come to an agreement, I wouldn’t be surprised if he signs in the KHL or some other European league.

I guess they dont believe the player is as good as his numbers?

You would think he's be 1st one up

He’s not. He’s a very good AHL player but a tweener when it comes to the NHL. Not good enough to really displace a top-6 scoring winger and doesn’t really bring enough intangibles to be a better option in the bottom-6 either. Maybe he could make a team like SJ but he’s a tweener IMO.

[Old_Goat]

What do we want to see in top 6--top 9 in Springfield?
Matt Luff RW,
Simon Robertsson RW,
Dylan Peterson C, RW
Pekarcik, LW,
Kaskimaki, C, LW
Stenberg C, LW
McGing LW, C
Zach Dean, C

??????
(3RD LINE OF BLUES) Dvorsky C, LW (I think he makes Blues right away or soon after season starts.)
ALEXANDROV--C He was offered contract. Has not accepted. May not be with organization. Any info?

Do you know Alexadrov's offer?

Did they give him a bump?

They’re required to offer a 5% raise so the QO would’ve been for $813,750. But QOs are always two-way deals with a pretty low AHL salary. So just like last year, Alexandrov will almost certainly reject it and try to negotiate a higher AHL salary, again, like he did this past season when he got an AHL salary of $150k. To get that, he took a little lower NHL salary (league minimum). If they can’t come to an agreement, I wouldn’t be surprised if he signs in the KHL or some other European league.

I guess they dont believe the player is as good as his numbers?

You would think he's be 1st one up

He’s not. He’s a very good AHL player but a tweener when it comes to the NHL. Not good enough to really displace a top-6 scoring winger and doesn’t really bring enough intangibles to be a better option in the bottom-6 either. Maybe he could make a team like SJ but he’s a tweener IMO.

It's always disappointing when your top pick in a draft year doesn't show much or bring much in the NHL after 6 years, but he was just one spot above being a 3rd-Rounder. Nothing really bad about him, no dislike for him, but I hope he finds a plan that allows him to be as successful as possible...as we move on at the NHL level.

[STL fan in MN]

What do we want to see in top 6--top 9 in Springfield?
Matt Luff RW,
Simon Robertsson RW,
Dylan Peterson C, RW
Pekarcik, LW,
Kaskimaki, C, LW
Stenberg C, LW
McGing LW, C
Zach Dean, C

??????
(3RD LINE OF BLUES) Dvorsky C, LW (I think he makes Blues right away or soon after season starts.)
ALEXANDROV--C He was offered contract. Has not accepted. May not be with organization. Any info?

Do you know Alexadrov's offer?

Did they give him a bump?

They’re required to offer a 5% raise so the QO would’ve been for $813,750. But QOs are always two-way deals with a pretty low AHL salary. So just like last year, Alexandrov will almost certainly reject it and try to negotiate a higher AHL salary, again, like he did this past season when he got an AHL salary of $150k. To get that, he took a little lower NHL salary (league minimum). If they can’t come to an agreement, I wouldn’t be surprised if he signs in the KHL or some other European league.

I guess they dont believe the player is as good as his numbers?

You would think he's be 1st one up

He’s not. He’s a very good AHL player but a tweener when it comes to the NHL. Not good enough to really displace a top-6 scoring winger and doesn’t really bring enough intangibles to be a better option in the bottom-6 either. Maybe he could make a team like SJ but he’s a tweener IMO.

It's always disappointing when your top pick in a draft year doesn't show much or bring much in the NHL after 6 years, but he was just one spot above being a 3rd-Rounder. Nothing really bad about him, no dislike for him, but I hope he finds a plan that allows him to be as successful as possible...as we move on at the NHL level.

Yeah, he was our top pick in 2019 but us trading our 1st that year to Buffalo as part of the ROR deal doesn’t really change anything regarding Alexandrov for me. Like you said, he was the last pick of the 2nd round. The hit rate around there would be around 25%. With a “hit” being a career in the 100-200 games played range. He looks like he won’t reach that level but most don’t. He has some skill and would be a valuable piece to our AHL roster but if he ends up choosing the KHL or some other league, so be it.

[Frank Barone]

What do we want to see in top 6--top 9 in Springfield?
Matt Luff RW,
Simon Robertsson RW,
Dylan Peterson C, RW
Pekarcik, LW,
Kaskimaki, C, LW
Stenberg C, LW
McGing LW, C
Zach Dean, C

??????
(3RD LINE OF BLUES) Dvorsky C, LW (I think he makes Blues right away or soon after season starts.)
ALEXANDROV--C He was offered contract. Has not accepted. May not be with organization. Any info?

Do you know Alexadrov's offer?

Did they give him a bump?

They’re required to offer a 5% raise so the QO would’ve been for $813,750. But QOs are always two-way deals with a pretty low AHL salary. So just like last year, Alexandrov will almost certainly reject it and try to negotiate a higher AHL salary, again, like he did this past season when he got an AHL salary of $150k. To get that, he took a little lower NHL salary (league minimum). If they can’t come to an agreement, I wouldn’t be surprised if he signs in the KHL or some other European league.

I guess they dont believe the player is as good as his numbers?

You would think he's be 1st one up

He’s not. He’s a very good AHL player but a tweener when it comes to the NHL. Not good enough to really displace a top-6 scoring winger and doesn’t really bring enough intangibles to be a better option in the bottom-6 either. Maybe he could make a team like SJ but he’s a tweener IMO.

It's always disappointing when your top pick in a draft year doesn't show much or bring much in the NHL after 6 years, but he was just one spot above being a 3rd-Rounder. Nothing really bad about him, no dislike for him, but I hope he finds a plan that allows him to be as successful as possible...as we move on at the NHL level.

Yeah, he was our top pick in 2019 but us trading our 1st that year to Buffalo as part of the ROR deal doesn’t really change anything regarding Alexandrov for me. Like you said, he was the last pick of the 2nd round. The hit rate around there would be around 25%. With a “hit” being a career in the 100-200 games played range. He looks like he won’t reach that level but most don’t. He has some skill and would be a valuable piece to our AHL roster but if he ends up choosing the KHL or some other league, so be it.

I saw that Scott Perunovich signed with Utah for an NHL minimum $775K, although it is a two-way contract paying him $400K in the AHL with an overall $500K guarantee. The $500K guarantee seems like a high dollar amount for an AHL player, if he ends up there.

I mention this because Peru and Alexandrov are in similar situations as NHL/AHL tweeners. I could see both of them playing in Europe before their careers are over.