Senators strengthen rosters before deadline for several teams | TheAHL.com
Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
The Belleville Senators prepare to make a final stand, bolstering their roster ahead of Friday's AHL trade/loan deadline.
NHL decision-makers want their prospects to be able to face the pressure that comes with the postseason every year. It provides a good barometer of where these young players stand. With daily changes in the league standings reflecting that reality, the Senators organization knows how close these games can be. Belleville, which missed the Calder Cup playoffs by two points last season, qualified for the playoffs on the final weekend of the 2023-24 season but is only four points behind in 2022-23.
This year's stretch will be another contest for the B-Sens, who entered Sunday's game five points behind the fifth and final playoff spot in the North Division. They started 0-3-1-0. The team went 2-8-4-0 from November to December, leading to a head coaching change. Andrew Campbell intervention David Bell Temporary. But that slump was preceded by a 9-3-0-0 surge that showed the winning potential of this team.
However, with Belleville dropping nine out of 10 students between February 6 and March 6, Ottawa administration took action to provide some help. At last week’s NHL trade deadline, the Senators acquired Graeme Clark From the Washington Capitals Wyatt Bongiovanni. Clark, a 2024 AHL All-Star who scored 25 consecutive goals with Utica early in his career, has seven points (3g, 4a) in his first two games in a Belleville sweater, including a goal and two assists in his return to Hershey on Saturday night. The Sens have scored 13 goals in the two games Clark has been on the court.
Earlier this week, Ottawa added defender Samuel Bolduc Dynamic striker from Los Angeles Jan Janik. In Bolduc, the organization is looking for someone who can distribute the puck and play a top pairing role. they move on Riley kidney and defenders Ryan O'Rourke From Montreal/Laval, send Hunter Shepard and Jack Chiason To the Canadiens. Keaney and O'Rourke have spent most of the season with Trois-Rivières in the ECHL, but both are former second-round draft picks with extensive AHL experience.
Several other AHL teams are also active ahead of Friday's AHL deadline. Below is a detailed analysis of the impact of these initiatives:
Coachella Valley Firebirds
The Firebirds, already a top-10 scoring team, got some serious help after adding veteran forwards Cooper Madi For future considerations. Some of Mady's best performances came in the Pacific Division, where he twice scored 20 goals for the Bakersfield Condors. He could also help Coachella Valley's power play, which ranks 24th in the AHL with 16.5 percent of the vote.
Grand Rapids Griffins
Detroit Red Wings send Griffin guard Ian Mitchell Headed to the Tampa Bay Lightning as a forward. Michael Milne and Wojciech Stachowiak Thursday. Mitchell becomes second blueline veteran to leave Griffins in a week Justin Hall Heading to St. Louis at the NHL trade deadline. But Stachowiak, who has 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in 38 games for Syracuse and played for Germany in last month's Olympics, has provided scoring help as he continues to adjust to his first North American pro season. Milne is 23 years old and has played in 191 AHL games.
laval rocket
With Rookie AHL All-Star Goaltender Jacob Fowler Rockets add two-time Calder Trophy winner and former Bastian Award winner after recalling Canadiens Hunter Shepard Trade between Montreal and Ottawa. Shepard joins kapo kahkonenLast spring, he helped lead Charlotte to the Calder Cup finals in LaVar's crease.
Lehigh Valley Phantom
trade Cooper Madi Heading to the Coachella Valley clears some ice time for guys like Forward Noah Powella newly signed 2024 Flyers draft pick out of Arizona State.
Syracuse Crunch
In a hectic week, the veteran defenseman Ian Mitchell is another driving force. Mitchell has 20 points and a +27 rating in 45 games with Grand Rapids and has 110 NHL games on his books. Syracuse University also acquired the Center Matthew PekarA first-team AHL All-Star from the Springfield Thunderbirds a year ago.
About two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. In 2016, he received the AHL's James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league.
